I Don't Want to Be Loved

Igor crumbled the letter in his fist, making it into a ball.

“You mean… the Crown Prince of Chrichton wants to assassinate Rihannan?”

Mrs. Cessly nodded her head. “According to the letter, yes. Princess Helena’s words are quite straight forward, don’t you think? They have a close relationship, like best friends. After reading this letter… I’m worried Her Majesty might be in danger if she’s send to the Villa.”

“But there’s no other way to guarantee Rihannan’s safety…”

Igor suddenly realized the identity of the man he was so worried about.

Everything was going on smoothly. Too smoothly, actually, as though the world was on his side. Even catching Leticia had been too easy. She herself entered the Palace, and her suspicious behavior was soon detected by the guards he’d previously planted.

The Stone Arc was hidden in a place too easy to locate. Hell, they’d even found it within the day. That’s why Igor had sent Rihannan off to the Villa the very next day.

What if all this was actually someone’s plan?

What if even Leticia’s infiltration in the Queen’s Palace was nothing but a trap? A trap to make Rihannan leave the safety of her Palace…

“Your Majesty!”

Someone else was running towards them. It was the person in charge of interrogating Count Clovis. He quickly knelt before the King.

“Count Clovis has confessed the identity of the mercenary. He said it’s a high ranking noble from Chrichton.”

“A noble from Chrichton…” Igor’s voice suddenly faltered. “Yes. Danil Durik. He is a member of Duque Durik’s family, and the personal advisor to the Crown Prince. It looks like they’ve joined hands and are working together now.”

Three pairs of eyes suddenly widened in astonishment. Mrs. Cessly and Basil looked at Igor at the same time.

“I…”

Before Basil could say anything, Igor quickly set off, running. Basil said something to Mrs. Cessly in a hurry and run after his king.

“Don’t worry, my lady. I promise we’ll bring the Queen back safe and sound.”

Mrs. Cessly nodded a couple times. Her brave eyes were now wet with tears. She clasped her hands together and prayed with all her might for these three people to come back safely.

Igor was running with his mind blank. His heart was pounding quickly. He had been careless.

In the past, the people that had harmed Rihannan had been his mother, Count Clovis and her own family, so he had actually thought that if he dealt with them first, she’d be safe.

However, as he’d changed the future, an unexpected turn of events unfolded. Igor had forcefully taken Rihannan to Arundel to marry her. if he hadn’t done that, her cousin would have stayed still. However, the Dimitri now had gone against the Crown Prince, since he knew the Crown Prince was someone willing to sacrifice Rihannan if it meant an excuse to go to war against Arundel.

Igor also knew that the Crown Prince would use Rihannan’s death as a warning to Dimitri, as a sign of how far he was willing to go just to stop him.

In the end, all his efforts had been in…

“You gained this yourself.”

He remembered his mother’s words from his past life, the answer she had given him when he asked why she’d done all those things to Rihannan.

You pushed people to the edge, to the point in which things turned out this way! Have you never thought of how rats will bite when cornered? I didn’t want to do this either, you know how much I loved that baby! In the end, it’s your fault Rihannan died!

Igor bit his lips till they bled. If she died again because of him again…

He didn’t even want to think about it. He wanted to believe that God couldn’t be so cruel.

Igor and Basil quickly broad the Royal Guard with them, and soon set rode off full speed on their horses. When they were about to reach the path that led to the forest, they found the carriage Rihannan had left in.

It didn’t seem like a battle had happened anywhere near. There was no fallen soldier nor anyone injured. Ahead of the carriage, they could see some tree trunks on the side of the road.

Perhaps they stopped for a moment because those trunks were blocking the path. If that had been the only issue, then everything should be fine.

Igor let out a relieved sigh. He led his horse near the carriage.

“Your Majesty!” the guard’s commander immediately approached Igor when he saw him.

“Where’s the Queen?”

Igor quickly asked for the Queen as soon as he got off his horse. However, the commander was silent. He looked nervous, as though there was no possible way for him to answer his question without getting into trouble.

Suddenly, the commander knelt on the ground and lowered himself.

“My apologies, Your Majesty!”

Igor’s expression turned cold. “I asked you about the Queen’s location. Why do you answer with apologies?”

“Actually… we are looking for her right not…”

“Looking for her?” Igor’s voice was calm as usually, but it was obvious that he was barely containing his anger.

“While we were on our way to the Villa, some trunks were blocking our path and…”

“Straight to the point. What happened to the Queen.”

Igor’s anger was barely in check. The commander swallowed loudly and answered, a shake in his voice.

“We lost sight of the Queen a moment ago. She disappeared when the soldiers were distracted by some children. The kids said the Queen went to the lake after receiving a letter from somebody. We are currently looking around the ar-“

Igor brusquely left towards the river bank, Basil and the commander right behind him.

The river bank was covered on both sides with rattan forage that had grown so tall, they were taller than the average person. The wind was gently blowing by, making them swing like ocean waves. The sound of tall grass rattling was so loud it was hard to listen to anything else. Even if someone were to pass them by on a boat and walked right nex to them, they wouldn’t know.

“Find her! Cut the grass if necessary!”

Hearing the King’s furiously screaming, many soldiers went into the grass immediately. Soon, they covered the whole area.

Just when Igor’s patience was about to run out, Basil run to his side.

“We found this.”

Basil gave Igor a shawl that women would to wear around their shoulders. Igor recognized this shawl. Seeing it dirty, covered in mud, Igor’s eyes trembled.

“There are traces of lots of people heading to the lake. It definitely looks like they took a boat and went off somewhere else.” Basil quickly reported his findings. “There are no signs of blood spilt anywhere. We believe she is alright.”

“Where is this lake headed to?”

“Well… the lake is split in three different directions: South Dalia, West Anz and North Calsis.”

That meant there was no way of knowing for sure in which direction they headed to. Igor held his head and let out a disgruntled scream. Time was running out. These people did not want to negotiate. They wanted Rihannan dead.

There was no way to chase after them in the three different paths, either. If he wasted time, Rihannan could…

When Igor imagined the worst possible outcome for a moment, his eyes trembled in fear. His mind went completely blank and he couldn’t think of anything else. What if he arrived too late again? No, perhaps it was already too late. To see her cold corpse in front of his eyes, just like that time again…

“Your Majesty!” Basil grabbed him by the shoulders and violently shook him. “Please, get a hold of yourself. If you don’t, you will not be able to save the Queen!”

Basil kept shaking him roughly. He knew that if he stepped out of line, Igor would strangle him himself. The other soldiers held their breath as they saw Basil roughly handling their king.

“If you don’t want to regret this moment later, you have to make a decision, now. There’s no time to doubt.”

Igor pursed his lips and nodded his head. Just like Basil said, if he continued wasting time like this, it would be like allowing the events from his past life to happen again. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. In a moment, his head was cold and tranquil. Where could this people head off to?

…a place with many trees, like a dense forest!

Suddenly, he remembered Leticia’s words.

It would not be easy for a foreigner to find a good hideout. They were most likely to go to the same place Leticia was. In that case, where could he find huge trees in this area?

“…huge trees.”

“Uh?”

Igor opened his eyes and looked at Basil.

“The Black Forest is in Calsis, right?”

“Ah… yes, that’s correct. That place is filled with trees so big they don’t allow any light in, which is why people call it Black Forest”.

“Is there anywhere else with those same characteristics?”

Basil thought for a moment and shook his head. “No. That’s the only forest of its kind in Arundel. After all, not many places gather so many thousand-year-old trees.”

“We are going to Calsis.”

“Yes! We’ll follow your orders!” Basil replied energetically.