Chapter 31.1

Pepe rolled her eyes and boldly stopped Ian. He looked down at her blocking the entrance with her arms wide open and raised his eyebrows with a comical look on his face, “What are you doing?”

“Master said that you are not allowed to leave the house. Also, it’s dangerous to go out alone,” Pepe replied, standing her ground.

“I’m going for a short walk. Lian is late.”

“He’ll be back soon. If something happened to a guest, there would be consequences for me.”

“Don’t worry about that. I won’t go out alone.”

“Pardon?”

Ian bent over and ducked under Pepe’s wide-open arms and opened the front door. Surprised by his sly actions, Pepe turned to follow him but then saw an attendant appear. So she decided not to pursue the matter any further.

Ian strolled across the garden that was scattered with colorful hydrangeas and then walked directionless down the road. Sunshine shone in patches through the moist air as the weather changed from being clear, in the morning, to overcast now. He looked up at the cloudy sky and started to speak, “Deliver this message. I’ll be back in a year.”

“That’s not allowed. The order is to come back immediately.”

“Why? Is my brother thinking about starting a war?”

“We can’t leave you here. Things have changed. The atmosphere of the neutral region has changed, and they’re worried about you.”

“As if they care. The men only worried that if a war started, I wouldn’t be there to lead the charge,” Ian replied with a note of irritation in his voice. The man was an attendant that had been with him since he’d crossed the border of Kayan. To be precise, he was more like an observer and one of the few people that could use a bird to communicate with the mainland.

“Prince, this is for you.” The attendant carefully handed a letter to Ian. It had arrived in the early dawn from the mainland. “You will inherit the throne of Kayan soon.”

Ian sat down on the wooden bench by the riverside and watched the children playing games. After taking a deep breath, he calmly opened the secret message, and his eyes narrowed as he started to read the letters on the small piece of paper. Ian seemed tense and had a stern look when handing the letter back to the attendant. Bending forward, Ian placed his elbows on his knees and sighed while he watched the man burn the message with a cigarette lighter. “Is there a chance for success?” Ian asked, and the attendant nodded.

Observing the tranquil scenery of Leon River, without saying another word, Ian thought about Canillian Vale, Marquis Vale’s bastard child and a lady that was raised as a boy instead of Kieran. The moment he’d seen her in downtown Cosoar, his world had changed, and it had been a pleasant experience. He didn’t know that a lady pretending to be a man could be so lovely.

Of course, she hasn’t grown up enough to be a lady yet, but the serious-looking face she showed unwittingly was so pretty that it was enough to smite a god. And Ian wondered if this was what it felt like to fall in love at first sight. Many things went through his mind as the time passed slowly, and he felt like he wanted to act like a child, then as a dog or a beast. And perhaps even as a guardian.

Finally, Ian saw a carriage approaching from afar and stood up. The attendant also seemed to recognize the owner of the carriage, and he lowered his hat. “Tell my brother it’s too early for such an action. It’s a waste to bring down Kayan because it has too many beautiful things,” Ian instructed.

After the attendant went away, without saying anything, Ian jumped on the road. The horseman slowed down as he saw him. And when the carriage door opened, an angry Canillia yelled, “Ian! You cannot be going around like this!”

He laughed as Canillia shouted his name. Because, for some reason, she couldn’t call him prince out loud. “Then may I ride in the carriage?” He teased.

“Of course, get in.”

Lia was in a school uniform which gave Ian the same strange feeling he’d felt when he saw her earlier in the morning. It felt like the same feelings between a boy and a girl, or rather, a boy and a lady. Sitting across from Lia after getting into the carriage, he pouted his lips as she glared at him.

“It’s dangerous. Many people in the capital dislike Geore people.”

“I know. But you were so late, so I came to meet you.”

“Why would you meet a carriage?”

“I wanted to see you sooner?” Ian said innocently and then smiled broadly, flashing his pearly whites.

Lia let out a chuckle at his casual response and wondered if his proposal the prior evening was not meant as a joke. Her eyes felt heavy as she let out a sigh while looking at Louvre through the small window. Lia was sure that it was her mother that she’d seen. Even though time had passed, there’s no way she wouldn’t recognize her. And she feared that if she dragged her feet, she might miss an opportunity to find her again.

After returning home with Ian, who seemed to enjoy observing her, Lia excused herself and walked upstairs to her bedroom. She enjoyed being in the sanctuary of her own space. Standing in front of the wardrobe, which had lady’s dresses inside, Lia felt an urge to change her clothes and run to Louvre immediately. But as she’d promised to help General Bryton, it’d be dangerous to show up first. Besides, if the Duke’s private soldiers were patrolling there, there was a higher chance of meeting Claude as well.

That wasn’t the only thing bothering Lia. She was concerned about her relationship with Claude that had become cold. It made Lia feel like she was chewing on the sand when she was around him. No matter how much she analyzed this, she couldn’t understand Claude’s sudden change of attitude. Wasn’t it the right thing to do to bring Prince Ian Sergio to the Marquis mansion? There was no reason for Claude to become so cold toward her.

“I just don’t understand.” She threw herself on the bed and then looked at the address for Marilyn that Bryton had given to her.

It was something she’d found out later, but Bryton was a long-distance cousin of Marilyn Shelby. After the terrible experience the family had had, the house of Marquis Shelby offered to support the authorities fully in tracking down the criminal.

After staring at the address for a while, Lia relaxed her body. She spread her arms across the bed while lying down and then looked at the cloudy sky through the window. It had grown dark all of a sudden and looked like it was going to rain, and she turned on her side while remembering the long, monsoon season.