Chapter 97
At the name that flowed out like a sigh, Riina’s eyes sank deep in thought.
She had expected this to some extent, but with circumstantial evidence now present, it was almost certain.
That Smith and Jane had joined hands.
It wasn’t simply Smith continually summoning Jane after catching the scent of something potentially beneficial to him; Jane had also extended her hand to Smith.
As Riina organized these thoughts, a careful touch brushed against her cheek.
“Riina?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I was lost in thought.”
“No, that’s fine, but what were you thinking about that made your cheeks so pale?”
As his rough fingertips tickled the fine hairs on her cheek as they passed, Riina instinctively leaned her cheek into his palm.
And the next moment.
Both Einar and Riina froze in place together.
Of the two, Einar was frozen by the sensation and warmth of the soft cheek pressed against his entire palm, and the smooth red hair that tickled the back of his hand—all felt with overwhelming vividness.
He had reached out because he was worried about her suddenly becoming pale, but he hadn’t expected this…
And Riina likewise.
She had stiffened because she felt the mild heat transmitted from the large hand cradling her cheek and the familiar scent of wind from his nose with terrible clarity.
She had instinctively leaned her cheek into his hand because she couldn’t bear the tickling sensation, but she hadn’t expected to feel this much…
The two faced each other, completely absorbed in one another.
Though they didn’t speak it aloud, their final thoughts were identical.
Why does a simple action like this make my heart plummet from top to bottom, from the highest point in the sky to the depths of the earth?
As if their hearts had relocated to his palm and her cheek, the throbbing caused their heartbeats to slowly synchronize.
How much time had passed like that?
Just as their heartbeats aligned completely as if they were one person, and the air between them swelled as if about to burst:
“Jane and the Third Prince have joined hands.”
“It’s because of someone inside Bolshevik who has joined hands with the Third Prince.”
Riina and Einar blurted out similar words simultaneously, and though their voices overlapped, they clearly heard each other and both fell silent.
How long had they been blinking at each other after that?
At some point, Einar’s eyes crinkled into a smile, and Riina’s lips also curved upward.
Eventually, with perfect naturalness, Riina removed her cheek from Einar’s hand, and he likewise withdrew the hand that had cradled her cheek.
The warmth of their contact had disappeared, but somehow it felt alright.
Because you are before me now.
Because I was before you.
Picking up the document in question, Einar pointed to the empty author field and asked:
“You said she joined hands with Jane. The shadow?”
“Yes.”
“You mentioned that the shadow replaced you after your regression. And if you were to leave Bolshevik this time as well.”
Riina nodded slowly, and Einar’s brow furrowed.
“I understand why the Third Prince would want to secure someone from Bolshevik, but why would the shadow do this?”
“That’s what puzzles me too.”
Why?
Even a passing monkey could guess why Smith approached Jane.
He was aiming for the Crown Prince position, and for that, he desperately needed Bolshevik.
But did the Third Prince have something that could secure Jane’s cooperation?
“Perhaps he promised her the position beside him if he became Crown Prince.”
Riina immediately shook her head.
“That can’t be. The Third Prince? Jane is a commoner. And the fact that she would replace me is something only you and I know about.”
At Riina’s answer, Einar tapped his chin a few times and added:
“The only assumption left is that the shadow is aiming for your position, and for that purpose, she’s joined hands with the Third Prince who needs Bolshevik.”
Riina opened her mouth at Einar’s words but said nothing.
“If the shadow were to obtain Bolshevik with the Third Prince’s help, it would be a reward greater than becoming the Crown Princess.”
Her cheeks, which had briefly flushed, once again turned bloodlessly pale.
Yes. Deep down, Riina also knew.
Jane’s suspicious behavior and unknown items.
And the reason she had joined hands with the Third Prince.
Jane wants Bolshevik.
Looking back at the time before her regression—no, recalling Jane’s sincere affection and devotion to Bolshevik—it’s not particularly surprising.
Although it was her own self-destruction that led to Jane inheriting Bolshevik, she was confident that Jane would have done well afterward…
“But then and now are different.”
Riina bit her lip at the words that unconsciously escaped her.
Jane’s genuine concern for Bolshevik would have been the driving force behind removing the completely ruined Riina from the successor position before her regression.
But isn’t the current Riina entirely different from back then?
Yet she still desires to obtain Bolshevik?
Suddenly, Riina’s gaze turned toward her father’s office.
Naturally, she doesn’t know what happened after her death.
The reason she had thought Jane became Bolshevik’s successor after her death was simply because Jane had already taken over most of the heir’s duties even before she died.
But isn’t that what a “shadow” is by nature?
A role that fills in the gaps for the one they serve.
While knowing how much Jane loved Bolshevik, why had she never once considered the possibility?
The fact that Jane might want Bolshevik enough to push her off a cliff.
Riina mocked herself for being foolish and thoughtless.
No, she probably didn’t want to think about it.
If she acknowledged that Jane had such desire, she wouldn’t be able to entrust Bolshevik to her and simply leave.
Jane had ability and luck.
But if she harbored greed for something that wasn’t hers, what meaning would those qualities have?
Given the circumstances, Riina could no longer trust or entrust this place—Bolshevik, which she loved enough to resolve to expel herself from the family despite her failures—to such a person.
The next moment, as if reading her thoughts, Einar said:
“Though it’s just an assumption, if the shadow covets your position, I don’t think it would have been any different before your regression.”
Riina closed her eyes.
Until now, the fact that Einar—who had been merely a third party before her regression—could so easily deduce this from just hearing her story…
Taking a deep breath, she slowly opened her eyes.
Self-reflection could wait for bedtime when she had spare time.
Now that she had properly faced reality, she needed to do what needed to be done.
She could already predict the results of the ongoing investigation into the suspicious plant and device without having to hear them.
Whatever they were, they certainly weren’t good for her, and their effects when used would be significantly harmful, given the secretive preparations.
Riina’s blue eyes, as she mentally laid out what needed to be done step by step, were bursting with flame.
Staring at her intently, Einar suppressed the smile that had somehow spread across his lips and took another step back.
“Isn’t your mind cluttered right now?”
Though she should have felt relieved by the increased distance between them, Riina somehow felt unsettled and didn’t deny it.
“It is… cluttered.”
“Then how about going out?”
“What?”
When Riina asked, barely catching the back of her departing common sense at his words that seemed completely disconnected, Einar added:
“If I, and no one else, resolve the matter of the suspicious group, His Majesty won’t be angry. So I was thinking.”
After a brief pause, he continued:
“How about we go out together to uncover the identity of that suspicious group? I’ve found some clues while looking around here and there.”
Riina asked him as he shrugged his shoulders:
“By chance?”
“By chance.”
Nodding as if it were only natural, Einar urged again:
“So, how about going out for now?”
At his suggestion, made while gazing at the brightly sunlit window, Riina unconsciously started to nod up and down before shaking her head sideways.
“I have too much work.”
There wasn’t a grain of falsehood in her words.
Her head was cluttered, and her heart was troubled, but that was that.
“You know that with the trade agreement ending, it’s a time when work piles up.”
Riina narrowed her eyes and added:
“You must have paperwork piling up that needs your signature too, Your Highness?”
To this, Einar waved his hand lightly.
“I finished it all before coming. Hmm.”
At his all-too-simple answer, Riina’s eyes narrowed further.
Saying he had finished everything, the paperwork he needed to process would have been at least as much as what was currently piled around her.
He would have had to finalize the test the Emperor had given the princes during the trade agreement period.
Just as Riina was about to open her mouth, Einar was faster.
No, he was also quick to act.
“I’ll help with everything except confidential documents. We can finish quickly.”
“There’s no need—”
“There is? Great. Let’s get started then.”
Einar took a seat beside Riina and picked up a document.
His luck was truly legendary, as he deftly avoided the stack of documents classified as confidential.
While it was already a major issue for an outsider to handle family documents, and she had many other things to say, Riina eventually had to call out to him with a slight sigh:
“Einar.”
“Yes?”
“Why are you sitting on the floor?”
Indeed, even if there were no chairs, there was plenty of space on the sofa.
Yet he was sitting right beside her on the floor, casually examining the documents.
“If the sofa is uncomfortable for you, I’ll stand up.”
As Riina rose, he grabbed her wrist to stop her.
“No.”
