Chapter 69
I was stunned and dumbfounded, staring blankly at his face at a situation I hadn’t anticipated.
Even then, worried about Jieunha’s reaction, I instinctively turned my gaze toward her.
I saw Jieunha’s expression, confused, looking back and forth between me and Rixion Luhanes.
‘Ah, this isn’t good.’
I suddenly realized my mistake.
With Jieunha’s appearance, it finally felt like things had returned to the original story.
There was no need for my presence to be imprinted on Jieunha in this situation.
I was supposed to be just an extra who accidentally collided with Jieunha, knocked her down, and allowed Rixion Luhanes to lift her up, then exit. My heart raced.
How did he recognize me? Why did he grab me? I should just pretend I don’t know him and let him go.
I managed to organize my chaotic thoughts and tried to pull my arm free from Rixion Luhanes’ grasp, lowering my head deeply.
“Why does your face look like that?”
But another hand came up and placed itself under my chin, forcing me to lift my head.
The sapphire eyes touching my right cheek shone sharply, like the wound I had from the masked man’s dagger earlier.
I couldn’t hide my embarrassment. What is this person even doing?
Jieunha was right next to me—why was he focusing on someone like me?
By the story’s original timeline, Rixion Luhanes shouldn’t be noticing anyone besides Jieunha right now.
“Let go of me.”
“Why does your face look like that?”
I pulled with all my strength, but his immovable hold startled me once, and his cold gaze fixed solely on my right cheek startled me again.
But soon, as I silently reviewed the situation, I glared at him with the same icy eyes.
“That man? Where did that man go, and why are you alone…?”
“Why do you care?”
Suddenly, his actions—grabbing my arm, forcibly turning me, asking about my face, speaking so bluntly, and even exposing my presence in front of Jieunha—irritated me.
My defiant attitude deepened Rixion Luhanes’ expression further.
The standoff between Rixion Luhanes and me continued, right in front of Jieunha.
Neither of us yielded. Finally, the tension ended when he brushed his hand across his face first.
“Why is your face like this? What bird… who did this?”
Wasn’t he about to ask which bastard did this? I raised one eyebrow, a bit surprised.
Though his personality usually matched refined speech and manners, this sudden rough tone felt unfamiliar.
‘No, why is he so fixated on my wound? Shouldn’t he be checking on Jieunha?’
I furrowed my brows at his inexplicable behavior.
Still, I had to answer if I wanted him to release my arm, so I sighed and replied.
“This wound… it happened from a simple fall…”
“No, it clearly looks like a sword wound. Who did this?”
Rixion Luhanes didn’t believe me and insisted on his own opinion.
I furrowed my brows again. His words were technically correct, leaving me speechless.
Just as I was about to add a defense with my expression hardened,
“Duke, is… she someone you know?”
Jieunha’s voice came from behind, and Rixion Luhanes’ eyes flickered.
From his expression, it seemed he had entirely forgotten Jieunha’s presence until now.
“Are you alright, Ms. Eunha?”
As if on cue, three men approached from behind her and asked.
They looked like ordinary people at first glance, but the swords at their waists and their aura clearly marked them as royal knights assigned to protect Jieunha.
Rixion Luhanes glanced back too. My hand was still tightly held, and my attempt to slip away failed immediately.
“Eric, Dean, Luke.”
“Yes!”
“I have somewhere to go briefly, so guard the saint in the meantime.”
“Yes? Ah, yes!”
Rixion Luhanes didn’t even look at Jieunha, issuing a brief command to his subordinates.
Jieunha stood there blankly, staring at Rixion Luhanes, trying to make sense of the situation.
I was equally bewildered.
“Wait a minute.”
Just as I tried to speak, Rixion Luhanes briskly walked forward, still holding my hand.
I was pulled along, losing my balance, and followed him.
Seeing that he had no intention of letting go or stopping, I turned my head in disbelief.
I caught sight of Jieunha, standing like a statue, protected by three knights.
Her black eyes, behind the confused expression, trembled with pain.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her as Rixion Luhanes dragged me along.
Eventually, lost among the crowd filling the square, she completely disappeared from my view.
Just as when we had collided abruptly earlier, it happened in an instant.
Eunha blinked consciously, once, then again.
She realized belatedly that she hadn’t blinked even once since he disappeared from her side, and her eyes stung.
Her gaze fell with a somewhat absent expression.
‘He abandoned me.’
The emperor had clearly instructed him to stay by her side at all times and protect her. Yet, despite that…
He abandoned her right before her eyes, disobeyed the emperor’s orders, and took someone she didn’t know.
He didn’t even glance at her once.
‘Who was that person?’
Who was the person Duke—or rather, Rixion—had taken?
Even in the dim square, she remembered the golden hair that shone like the sun.
And eyes that shone even more brilliantly.
Though dressed in old, worn men’s clothing, the person was clearly a woman—an exceedingly beautiful one.
When her hood was removed by Eunha and she was turned around by Rixion, Eunha momentarily held her breath. It was the same as when she first met Rixion.
She was too beautiful, too striking, and in that instant, she captured her entire attention.
Her heart raced.
Eunha pressed her hand to her chest and looked up with anxious eyes.
“W-who was that person just now?”
She asked the knights surrounding her like a protective barrier, and they looked embarrassed.
In fact, the knights had already guessed who the woman taken by Duke Luhanes was.
She was unforgettable at first sight, and their relationship had already been the talk of the noble society for some time.
Above all, if Duke Luhanes went so far as to disobey the emperor to take a woman, there could only be one person in the empire.
However, explaining this to the saint was awkward.
The saint was very bright and pure, so she was poor at hiding her emotions.
Just from her gaze at Duke Luhanes, anyone could tell how she felt about him.
It was particularly delicate to reveal that the woman was the duke’s fiancée.
The small young girl before them, Saint Jieunha, was a sacred presence.
Having descended on the emperor’s holy pond atop a massive pillar of light, she was essentially a treasure of the empire.
Even the emperor fawned over her to win her favor.
The quick-witted emperor assigned her protection to Rixion immediately when she showed interest in him.
If she openly wanted him, the emperor might even push for their marriage.
Saint Jieunha was a valuable asset for the empire’s unseen future conflicts with the Holy Kingdom.
Likely for this reason, Duke Luhanes reluctantly accepted her protection, according to those present.
“We don’t really know either. It was dark, and we couldn’t see faces clearly.”
Eric, one of the three knights, stepped forward to answer her. It was the best he could do under the circumstances.
“I see…”
Eunha’s gaze fell wearily.
Then, a sudden thought made her expression tense.
“Could it be… that the duke has promised a future to a woman?”
The moment had come.
The knights exchanged quiet glances, trying to maintain neutral expressions. Each was calculating how to respond, and Luke finally spoke.
“To my knowledge, he does not have an official fiancée or lover yet.”
