Chapter 67
If someone were asked, they might answer that it was just an accident and couldn’t be blamed on Riina’s ‘misfortune.’
Even if Riina had begged to go out, they might defend her by saying what child could have predicted a landslide.
And her father had told her countless times:
‘It’s not your responsibility. It was just an unfortunate accident.’
But even in that young age, Riina vaguely knew.
The fact that she had terribly worse luck than others.
That accident might have nothing to do with her misfortune, as everyone said.
But it might also be related.
Therefore, Riina couldn’t free herself from responsibility for that incident that had plunged the entire family into grief and nearly cost her father’s life too.
She closed her eyes deeply then opened them, dispersing the remnants of the past.
“Well, now that I know what Jane’s trying to do, I should keep watching.”
She had neither reason nor desire to care about Jane’s personal history or life like she had before the regression.
The Riina of this time had no way of knowing.
That while Jane’s love for the Bolshevik family was genuine, she hated Riina from the depths of her heart to achieve that love.
* * *
At the moment Riina was deciding to at least grasp the outline of Jane’s movements,
Einar encountered an unexpected figure in a place where all sorts of goods gathered.
“Your… no, greetings.”
Though clearly dressed as a noble, it wasn’t as if ‘Second Prince’ was written on his forehead, so it would be better to omit titles at times like this.
“Young Lord Bartorio, we meet often.”
Einar nodded, lightly acknowledging his greeting.
And contrary to expectations, Lione couldn’t hide his puzzlement at Einar’s very limited response.
Though he still seemed to have not even an ant’s leg worth of interest in him, he wasn’t hostile like during their last meeting.
“…Yes, we do meet often.”
Einar glanced lightly at Lione, who was bowing somewhat awkwardly.
Naturally so, as Einar’s reaction of wanting to devour Lione on the spot had been purely because he had been with Riina too often, and in unfavorable situations at that.
But when not with Riina, Lione was of no consequence to Einar.
Of course, Einar wasn’t kind enough or free enough to explain all these circumstances to Lione.
“Lione, over there…”
The silence – awkward for Lione and inconsequential for Einar – was broken by someone’s voice.
“Ah…”
His friend, who had been looking at other items slightly apart from him, paused upon discovering Lione and Einar beside him.
He reflexively tried to pay respects to the prince, but Lione caught his shoulder and stopped him.
Though goosebumps rose on the back of his friend’s neck as the area around his shoulder where Lione’s hand touched seemed to suddenly grow hot, it was a change only the person involved could notice.
No, normally such bodily changes should only be felt by his friend himself.
But the one standing before Lione and his friend now was none other than Einar.
“Greetings are done.”
At his words, the friend and Lione bowed their heads simultaneously, and Einar narrowed his eyes and stroked his chin.
“More importantly, what brings you here? We met in a similar place last time too.”
Einar initially engaged them in conversation to keep them there.
Since they weren’t committing treason, why would they ignore anyone’s question?
Naturally, his friend and Lione answered Einar’s question sincerely.
“I’m preparing a special gift.”
“A special gift? Must be a special occasion.”
“Yes. A meeting arranged between this friend’s long-time love interest and the lady I’m to marry.”
Lione, well aware that he had been entangled with Riina at bad times and places, elaborated unnecessarily on details he didn’t need to share.
His friend’s face momentarily stiffened, but it was just for an instant.
He too, like Lione, supported his words with a faintly smiling face.
“Yes, as this is the first such occasion for all of us…”
While listening to their story, Einar never once took his eyes off the two.
Just seeing the two together somehow gave him a bad feeling.
Whether due to the absolute ‘luck’ that governed him, his intuition had rarely been wrong.
No. Not rarely – never.
At the hunting competition, hadn’t he sensed Riina was in danger based purely on intuition and instantly deduced her location?
Moreover, he often found her just by intuition when he moved to look for her.
So he couldn’t dismiss this very bad feeling he was having now as just a mood.
“Young Lord.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
After staring at Lione for a moment, Einar soon spoke words that sounded quite childish.
“You two seem very close.”
But Lione received these childish words quite happily.
“Yes. He’s my only friend.”
And his friend waved his hands and added.
“Haha, not for me though.”
Einar’s eyebrow twitched as soon as his friend’s words fell.
It could have been passed over, but that one statement from the so-called friend grated like a thorn in his throat.
And Einar’s intuition was, as always, extremely accurate.
Thinking normally, it would sound like while Lione had only him as a friend, this friend had several other friends besides Lione.
However, that wasn’t the meaning of his friend’s words.
Because to him, Lione wasn’t a friend.
Einar shifted his gaze from Lione to his friend.
Though smiling, there was something strangely twisted about it.
This one will be trouble.
It was certain that something bad would happen if these two stayed together.
But even if he wanted to warn them, what could he say?
That they should stay apart because he had a bad feeling?
“Your only friend.”
“Yes. Everyone else besides this friend has ended up not being friends.”
Though Lione threw it out like a joke, it wasn’t a particularly pleasant jest.
That’s why Einar found it even harder to speak up readily.
The moment he said “because of my intuition, you’d better cut ties with your so-called only friend,” rumors might spread that the Second Prince was slightly mentally unstable.
Moreover, they seemed more than just close – Lione clearly thought very specially of his friend.
He shrugged lightly and decided to forget about this matter.
He had no hobby of agonizing over unsolvable problems, and even if he sensed some premonition and detected a threat, he had no obligation to remove all threats.
He couldn’t save everyone, and he didn’t want to either.
Hadn’t they said this aspect made him very unsuitable as an ‘Emperor’?
In his younger days, when he had spoken with an indifferent face, his teacher had been distressed.
‘To stand above all people of the empire, you must take responsibility for them and do everything you can for their wellbeing.’
Einar, who had been tracing past memories, returned to reality at Lione’s words.
“May we take our leave?”
“Ah, yes. I kept you long. I hope you find a good gift.”
Thus, not long after their chance meeting with Einar, Lione and his friend had another completely unexpected encounter.
“Ah, excuse me.”
Lione, who had apologized to someone whose shoulder he had accidentally brushed against in the crowded space, paused.
“Young… Lord Bartorio?”
The one who called out to him was none other than the viscount’s daughter with whom marriage talks were ongoing.
Lione’s face stiffened slightly, but he offered a polite greeting.
“Ah, my lady. What a place to meet.”
At his perfunctory greeting, the viscount’s daughter’s cheeks reddened.
Her voice grew small with joy at unexpectedly meeting the one she loved enough to be lovesick, excitement, and embarrassment at not being properly prepared.
“Yes. It’s nice to…”
And before she could finish speaking, his friend stepped forward.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance. I apologize for not greeting you properly. I am…”
His friend bowed his head while offering an extremely courteous and friendly greeting, and bewilderment rippled in Lione’s eyes as he watched him.
This was the first time his friend had so actively offered greetings first to someone approaching them.
But Lione soon nodded.
Wasn’t this the friend who had suggested meeting together with his hidden love interest because he so wanted to see the lady Lione was about to marry?
Such an unprecedented reaction must have been foreseeable.
“Nice to meet you. I am…”
She too offered her respects while hiding her slightly trembling hands, and his friend gazed at her with a smile.
But soon after, he threw out quite a barbed comment.
“This is quite an extraordinary coincidence.”
And only Lione caught the implied meaning in those words.
The reason his face had slightly stiffened when they ‘coincidentally’ met the viscount’s daughter was that he first thought this ‘coincidence’ might be artificial.
After all…
