Chapter 100
Rixion once again recalled all the images of her that he had seen so far.
From the times she avoided him with clear dislike or got angry at him, to last night when she looked at him and said she thought she had missed him.
As he went through every memory he had of Elizabeth, he smiled—something he rarely did in front of others—and spoke.
“A dazzling and beautiful gold, like the sun.”
‘Oh my, oh my.’
The merchant’s eyes widened when he saw Rixion’s smile.
Inside, the merchant let out a silent cry mixed with surprise and admiration, and looked at Rixion’s face more closely.
Even though half of his face was hidden under a deep hood, it was obvious that the man in front of him was a rare beauty.
He was tall as well, at least a head taller than others, so he stood out clearly even from afar as he walked down the street.
Because of that, most of the nearby merchants were openly sneaking glances at him.
To think that such a fine man was deeply in love with someone—whoever that person was, they were unbelievably lucky.
Earlier, it seemed like he was one of the people escorting a noble-looking woman. The merchant wondered if she might be the owner of this ribbon.
That woman was also wearing a hood, so he could not see her hair color clearly.
The merchant, who had briefly drifted into his own thoughts, suddenly realized himself and refocused on his business.
“Then I think the hair accessory you chose would be a good match. It would suit her very well. Whoever receives it, I’m truly, truly jealous.”
With a bit of genuine feeling mixed into his sales pitch, the blue ribbon was finally chosen by the incredibly handsome customer.
“I’ll take this.”
Unlike the first time she came to this world and joined a festival, Eunha was not enjoying herself at all.
Watching Rixion deliberately keep his distance from her only made her feel miserable and sad.
He had come out to the streets with her under the Emperor’s orders to act as her escort, yet he watched her only from far away, as if he did not even want to get close.
Even before, Rixion always felt like he drew a clear line and kept his distance from her.
But it had never been this bad.
Eunha knew exactly why it had turned out this way. It was since he found out that she had gone to meet Elizabeth Christener some time ago.
After he had gotten frighteningly angry at her back then, he completely avoided even coming near her.
She could not understand why he had been so angry just because she went to meet Elizabeth, or why he now openly avoided and ignored her.
She asked other knights and even the Emperor, but all she got back was that they did not know either.
‘Maybe Lady Christener knows.’
In that situation, it was only natural for Eunha to think of Elizabeth.
She felt that the kind and gentle Elizabeth would surely clear up her doubts and comfort her wounded heart this time as well.
She wanted to meet her and ask right away, but she worried about Rixion’s reaction. She was afraid that going to see Elizabeth again might make him angry once more.
It was not that she was scared of his anger itself—she simply did not want to earn any more of his dislike.
‘This isn’t fun at all. I just want to go back.’
With a gloomy face, Eunha looked around and spotted Rixion, then walked toward him.
For some reason, Rixion was giving a careless glance to a merchant who was talking to him. He did not even seem to notice Eunha approaching.
“Are you perhaps buying a gift for your lover?”
At that moment, Rixion, who had turned his body slightly in Eunha’s direction, froze and turned back to face the merchant.
Then, with serious eyes, he looked down at the goods displayed on the stall and spoke.
“I want to give a gift, but I’m not sure she’ll like it.”
“Hmm, what color is the lady’s hair?”
Standing only three or four steps away, quietly listening to their conversation, Eunha flinched.
Rixion did not deny the merchant’s confident question about buying a gift for his lover.
Instead, he actively said that he wanted to give her a gift.
That he had a lover—it was something she had never even imagined.
‘He said it wasn’t Lady Christener. He said the Duke didn’t have a lover…’
As Eunha stared at Rixion’s profile with confused eyes—
“A dazzling and beautiful gold, like the sun.”
It felt as if her heart dropped straight down.
Seeing his smile for the first time made her heart flutter, but at the same time, despair washed over her.
Because the moment she heard that answer, only one person came to her mind.
‘Elizabeth Christener.’
Eunha stepped back hesitantly.
‘I don’t want to know. I don’t want to.’
And as if she were being chased by something, she suddenly started running.
“Lady Eunha!”
Unlike her small body, which slipped easily through the crowd, the knights escorting her panicked.
Unable to immediately follow, they stumbled behind as Eunha kept running.
Then suddenly, she collided with someone who appeared from the side. The impact was so strong that she let out a cry.
‘That’s strange. I’m sure there was no one in front of me…’
Even while shocked and flustered, Eunha wore a confused expression.
“Oh dear, are you alright?”
A gentle, concerned voice fell by her ear. Only then did Eunha come to her senses and hurriedly bowed her head.
“I-I’m sorry.”
After apologizing clumsily and lifting her head again, she saw a man whose face was mostly covered, just like hers.
Only the tip of his chin was visible. If she had not heard his voice, she might not have known whether he was a man or a woman.
The man spoke to Eunha with a voice filled with apology.
“No, it’s fine. I should be the one apologizing. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“N-No, I’m okay…”
“Lady Eunha!”
Because there was something unusual about his presence, Eunha looked at the man with curious eyes.
But only for a moment—realizing that the voices of the knights chasing her were getting closer, Eunha startled and turned around.
She saw Rixion as well, approaching with the other knights, his expression stiff.
Eunha shrank back instinctively, then quickly turned to look at the person she had just collided with.
But the man had vanished, as if he had never existed at all. No matter how she looked around, she could not find anyone dressed like him.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Rixion’s cold voice struck Eunha’s ears as he approached. Her shoulders shrank even more.
“Did you deliberately shake off your escorts?”
“I’m sorry, Your Grace. This is all our fault. We should have paid closer attention… we truly apologize.”
As Rixion advanced on Eunha as if to corner her, the knights hurriedly stepped in front of him and bowed their heads. But their actions only fueled his anger further.
“I’ll deal with your punishment later, so keep your mouths—”
“It’s because you weren’t properly watching me.”
At that moment, Eunha’s resentful voice cut him off.
Rixion’s cold blue eyes turned back to her. Eunha did not avoid his gaze and met it head-on.
“If you’re going to be my escort, then you shouldn’t be distracted. You should be watching only me.”
An expression of disbelief crossed Rixion’s face as he looked at Eunha.
“So you did that on purpose?”
“What if I did?”
Ha. A hollow, incredulous laugh slipped from Rixion’s lips.
Eunha desperately held back the urge to lower her head and avoid his icy stare.
“You’re not worth dealing with.”
Rixion scoffed at Eunha’s unexpectedly bold, defiant gaze.
After briefly looking at the knights who had crowded around her, he spoke as if delivering a final notice.
“Today’s walk is over.”
Without caring to hear Eunha’s opinion, he turned his back after stating his decision.
“We’re returning to the Imperial Palace. Inform the others as well.”
There was no one there who could refuse Rixion’s order. The knights gently guided the completely dejected Eunha and turned to leave.
As Eunha silently followed them, heading for the carriage that would take them back to the palace—
“Move aside!”
Just as it felt like the area around the square was becoming strangely noisy, dozens of knights in silver armor suddenly appeared, pushing people aside and taking position in the center of the square.
Sensing the odd shift in atmosphere, the imperial knights and Rixion quickly surrounded Eunha to protect her.
“Holy Knights.”
“Why are the Holy Knights here?”
“Did something happen at the temple?”
People who recognized the emblem of the Holy Kingdom engraved on their armor began to murmur.
As the Holy Knights formed a circular wall, a man dressed in the formal robes of a High Priest stepped forward at the center.
With a huge body and greedy, gleaming eyes, High Priest Pheriad appeared, his voice booming across the square.
“All citizens of the Empire, pay attention!”
As people were naturally pushed to the edges of the square, the murmuring grew louder.
Eyes filled with anxiety and curiosity turned toward Pheriad. Seeing everyone stare at him with shocked expressions, a satisfied smile slowly spread across his lips.
