Chapter 71
‘Miss.’
‘Hmm?’
After finishing her corrections on Jane’s paperwork—which had improved considerably from her initial attempts—Riina was taking a brief breather when Becky quietly slipped her a note.
Riina blinked as she looked down at the slip of paper with a specific location and time written on it.
‘What’s this?’
‘Young Lord Bartorio and…’
The story that poured from Becky’s lips left Riina speechless.
Riina looked back and forth between the beaming Becky and the note before finally managing to speak.
‘Where on earth did you… How?’
The rest of her question didn’t need to be voiced—it was clear enough.
Where did you get this kind of information…?
‘There are some servants in that household who share my interests.’
The dangerous fact that servants were sharing information about their master’s movements wasn’t exactly something that could be brushed off as casual hobby talk.
As if reading Riina’s thoughts, Becky waved her hands frantically.
‘Oh, I only listen! Just listen. I’m really good at the listening part, you know.’
Being good at listening alone wouldn’t be enough to loosen the tongues of those who had been properly trained by another noble house.
Riina chuckled softly as she spoke.
‘You have many other talents besides that. There’s no need to be so modest. I know your worth well enough.’
‘Yes.’
Becky’s cheeks flushed red as she bowed her head demurely, while Riina fingered the note and tilted her head thoughtfully.
‘A double date… But Becky.’
‘Yes?’
‘What’s your reason for bringing me this information?’
That’s right. Riina had never once asked Becky to investigate anything for her.
She’d never even mentioned keeping tabs on anyone’s activities.
When Riina stared at her intently, Becky smiled sheepishly and answered.
‘You seemed to be showing interest lately, Miss. Oh, but it’s absolutely not like I did this just for you or anything. You know that, right? Please understand. It’s absolutely not for your sake. It’s just that if you’re satisfied, my future becomes brighter…’
Just as an irrepressible smile began to spread across Riina’s lips at Becky’s repeated denials—
-Knock knock.
Einar arrived with the sound of knocking.
‘Do you have time now?’
‘Not right now.’
Despite Riina’s flat refusal, Einar didn’t obediently turn to leave.
‘You could make time, couldn’t you?’
‘If it’s something that can’t wait.’
Einar approached Riina in an instant.
Pulling her chair away from the desk, he gripped both armrests with his hands, trapping Riina between his arms.
‘Could I have some of your time?’
He whispered at a distance so close their noses nearly touched.
‘What’s this about?’
But Riina simply asked back without so much as batting an eyelash.
The perceptive Becky had long since disappeared, and even though they were alone, he kept his voice deliberately low.
‘Soon, Young Lord Bartorio, his fiancée, and her friend will be—’
‘Going on a double date.’
Before Einar could finish speaking, Riina glanced toward the note sitting innocently on her desk.
Following her gaze to confirm the date and location written on the note, Einar smiled with his eyes crinkling at the corners.
‘This conversation will move quickly. Ah, of course, I could send someone to find out what happens.’
Riina, who had been planning to do exactly that, immediately responded.
‘But you’re going to start with “however,” aren’t you?’
‘But nothing can be more accurate than seeing and hearing it firsthand, right?’
And now…
Hidden in the ‘shadows’ to observe without being noticed, holding their breath.
Riina, now quite accustomed to settling comfortably in Einar’s embrace, had completely relaxed, leaning the back of her head against his solid chest.
Seeing is believing.
It was an indisputable fact in this situation, but it wasn’t as if she’d been swayed by those words into ending up in this predicament.
Of course, the other reason wasn’t particularly special or important…
She’d simply wanted to be somewhere comfortable without thinking about anything.
Because that’s how she felt when she was with Einar.
Well, at least major incidents and accidents based on her own misfortune weren’t breaking out…
“…ina, Riina?”
“Oh, yes.”
Riina blinked slowly as she gave her delayed response.
As her hazy vision began to clear properly, she realized she was making eye contact with him.
Einar gathered Riina closer, pulling her even more securely into his embrace.
“Are you tired? Should we go back?”
Those gray eyes held nothing but sincerity as he asked, making Riina laugh.
“What are you saying? You’re the one who suggested we come out here, Einar.”
At those words, he declared firmly, with absolutely no room for argument.
“No matter what, you come first above all else.”
Riina opened her mouth, then closed it again.
The sincerity contained in his voice and touch, the worry and consideration in his briefly meeting eyes, slipped quietly into her heart.
First priority.
Putting myself before anything else…
Riina unconsciously rubbed her chest.
There were moments like this when his sincerity would suddenly make her heart flutter.
But the pounding toward him would settle with time.
This too would pass.
Just as Einar’s lips parted upon seeing her blue eyes sinking lower and deeper—
Lione suddenly entered their field of vision.
Riina reflexively leaned forward, while Einar wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back instead.
Having created a situation completely opposite to their respective impulses, the two melted instantly into the shadows, and soon Lione’s fiancée appeared following behind him.
“Miss, thank you for coming out with me today.”
To Lione’s polite words, his fiancée responded with equal courtesy.
“Not at all. I should thank you for inviting me.”
But judging by the sidelong glances she cast at Lione and the way her cheeks turned peach-colored every time he spoke, she was already thoroughly smitten with him.
Soon after, the friend who was the other half of the double date also appeared.
“Oh my, I’m late. My apologies, Miss.”
The friend bowed only toward Lione’s fiancée, and she shook her head.
“Let’s sit first, but…”
Lione tilted his head, looking over his friend’s shoulder toward the back.
The person who should have appeared with his friend was nowhere to be seen.
Following his gaze, the fiancée also couldn’t hide her puzzled expression.
Naturally feeling the attention of both, the friend lowered the corners of his eyebrows in an awkward smile.
“She couldn’t keep the appointment.”
The friend then bowed deeply, and it was only natural that Lione would stop him at such a gesture.
“No, there’s no need to go that far…”
“I apologize, Miss. This makes it twice I’ve had to apologize in such a short time.”
But the friend didn’t even look at Lione, directing his words solely toward his fiancée.
Watching the meeting of the three from the shadows, Riina clicked her tongue inwardly.
‘As expected.’
Someone who thought of Lione as more than just a friend.
And such a person claiming to have someone he was pining for?
Of course it had been a lie.
You can’t bring a non-existent person on a double date.
“Why would he bother arranging such a meeting when the lie would obviously be exposed…”
Riina’s question, whispered to Einar in a barely audible voice, was answered before she even finished speaking.
“Look here, what exactly has gotten into you since earlier?”
Lione grabbed the shoulder of his friend, who had been looking only at his fiancée since the moment he’d appeared, treating Lione as if he didn’t exist.
The words that came from the friend’s mouth left everyone present speechless.
“I fell in love with you at first sight. So intensely that the long-held love in my heart vanished in an instant.”
As the friend fell silent, the surroundings were engulfed in deathly silence.
The fiancée froze with her eyes wide, and Lione also remained frozen, still gripping his friend’s shoulder.
Riina and Einar, watching the three of them, were equally at a loss for words.
Suddenly?
A confession so out of nowhere to someone else—and to his friend’s fiancée, no less?
Of course, since human hearts don’t follow set formulas, it was possible to fall for someone else at first sight even while harboring unrequited love.
So generally speaking, it wasn’t an utterly bizarre story.
But the person who had spoken those words of ‘love at first sight’ was none other than…
Wasn’t this absolutely ridiculous?
A faint crack appeared between Riina’s brows.
“What is he doing now?”
She wholeheartedly agreed with Einar’s whisper.
What on earth was he trying to pull?
First the lie about having someone he was pining for, and now suddenly confessing to Lione’s fiancée?
Riina’s blue eyes sank slowly like dawn mist.
There had to be a reason why Lione’s friend had deliberately told such lies.
And every reason for his actions centered around possessing ‘Lione Bartorio.’
‘He’s trying to break up the engagement.’
Having instantly seen through the friend’s scheme, Riina clicked her tongue briefly.
