You never know my heart
Without hesitation, Riella took the Emperor’s hand that was offered to her.
Fabian saw that, his big eyes trembled and his lips opened.
“Riella….”
“Fabian.”
Fabian unconsciously tried to reach out, but Greta blocked him.
Greta’s grip on one of Fabian’s arms was strong. Her grip was strong enough to leave handprints on his expensive jacket.
Then, like a well-trained dog, Fabian immediately took his gaze away from Riella and kept his mouth shut.
Riella didn’t even find that funny.
‘How is it that they haven’t changed at all?’
“Sit down. Everyone will be hungry.”
It was from then on.
Fabian began to take care of Greta with a very gentle hand. He pulled out a chair for Greta to sit on, laid out a napkin neatly on Greta’s lap, and even took the food that the servants had started to bring and placed it neatly in front of Greta.
‘Did you purposely ask me to eat so I can see you like that?’
Riella smiled bitterly as she clearly saw Greta’s intentions.
Herhan must have been the same, as he grinned and gave Greta the reaction she wanted.
“You two get along really well.”
“Heheh. Was the affectionate behavior too severe? I apologize. Your majesty. All couples about to get married are like this.”
“It’s okay, it’s nice to see.”
Fabian was desperately looking away from Riella now, unlike when he’d looked at her earlier.
He was busy playing the role of Greta’s loving fiance while only looking at her.
Greta seemed very satisfied with that.
From then on, Greta worked hard to display her happiness. How well Fabian was accepted by the royal family and noble society of Liotta, and how smoothly their marriage was going.
“It’s all thanks to Your Majesty.”
“Thanks to me?”
“Yes. Thanks to Your Majesty covering up our mistakes, we were able to get married like this. So to speak, Your Majesty has become a misguided bridge of our love.”
Although it was clear that the words were deliberately intended to distort the emperor’s judgment, Herhan just chuckled.
His eyes flicked to Fabian, intrigued.
“Is that true for you too?”
“Yes?”
“Are you happy that you have finally married your destined partner?”
“Ah….”
“Isn’t that right, that the princess is your destined partner?”
It was only then that Fabian glanced at Riella with disturbed eyes.
At that moment, Greta deliberately clinked her plate.
Fabian seemed to come to his senses and answered ‘yes’, and Greta raised an eyebrow and turned the topic to Herhan.
“I think His Majesty has done too many good things for our royal family. But didn’t you suffer a loss?”
“No. What I gained was greater.”
Herhan did not bite Fabian any further.
Instead, he smiled leisurely and placed his hand on Riella’s hand that was on the table.
“I swear, I got the biggest one.”
Herhan’s hand moved subtly, as if showing off.
He gently caressed the back of Riella’s white hand, and deliberately raised his fingertips and rubbed the crevices of Riella’s hand as if tickling them.
Soon, he slipped his long fingers into the gap between Riella’s fingers and held them tightly together.
It was at that time that Fabian, who was very agitated, tried to pick up a wine glass and knocked it aside.
“Ah! Sorry, sorry…”
The spilled wine stained the table red before he could clean it up.
Sitting at the round table, to Fabian’s right, was Riella. Naturally, the spilled wine dripped down the table and soaked the hem of Riella’s dress.
“Riella! Uh, what do I do? Are you okay?”
Fabian reflexively got up and knelt in front of Riella.
“Sorry. I’m sorry, Riella. Put your leg over here.”
In that position, the hand that was urgently wiping away the stains on Riella’s dress suddenly stopped.
There was silence everywhere.
Fabian belatedly realized what he was doing and the looks in the eyes of the princess, the emperor, and Riella.
“I’m sorry…. I didn’t realize…. It’s just my usual habit.”
The excuse he said was enough to inflame everyone’s anger even more.
It was at that time that Riella stood up from her seat.
“Excuse me. I’m going to change my clothes and come back.”
“Ri, Riella.…!”
Fabian followed Riella out of the banquet hall.
Then Herhan clenched his fists and stood up.
It was Greta who blocked Herhan, who was trying to follow the two people out.
“Your majesty. Just leave them alone.”
“What?”
“Aren’t you curious about what the two of them will talk about?”
“……”
“Let’s just be honest. You want to know what Riella is going to do, and will she be swayed by Fabian yet?
* * *
“Riella. Riella!”
“Don’t follow me.”
“Sorry….I’m sorry for everything…”
Riella could not bear it any longer and turned towards Fabian, who continued to follow her while crying.
“What the hell are you doing, what are you trying to do? Please just do one thing. Either pretend to be happy with the princess, or pretend to feel sorry for me to death!”
“I tried to do that too! however…The emperor…That man is playing with you!”
“What?”
Riella was left speechless by Fabian’s hostile expression.
‘Is that so? Are you saying that the sight of me being loved by someone other than you just looks like he is playing with me?’
While she stopped because she couldn’t even laugh because she was bewildered, Fabian dared to hold Riella’s hands together and beg.
“We all know how arrogant and light-hearted the emperor is. Riella, you know how powerful that person is. That guy is just playing with you for a little while. If he loses interest, he will abandon you right away.”
“So what you’re saying, Fabian, is that I’m not good enough to be truly loved by the Emperor, just as you’ve abandoned me for a better deal. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s not what you’re saying, Riella!”
Riella shook her head.
Fabian caught Riella again as she tried to shake off his hand and turn around.
“You refused to help me when I was sick and asked for help. It wasn’t your decision, right? The letter wasn’t in your handwriting. The emperor did it, right?”
‘What does Fabian expect, does he still think he is the only one I love?’
Riella even felt sorry for Fabian.
“Yes. It was a reply on behalf of His Majesty.”
“I know! You’re being tricked, too, aren’t you? If you are being held by force, I will help you escape. Because I have that much power now…”
“I’m sorry, Fabian. If I had written a reply, I would have written the same thing.”
Fabian widened his green eyes.
While he was dazed, Riella firmly shook off his hand again and continued speaking.
“The princess once told me about you in the kingdom. You’re dying. Asking for help. Do you know what I answered then?”
“…..”
“I said it wouldn’t matter if you died. I meant it.”
Tears welled up in Fabian’s widened eyes.
Riella once had a habit of imitating Fabian’s facial expressions. There was a time when she blindly laughed along with him when he laughed and cried along with him when he cried, without even knowing why.
But now, even though Fabian’s despair was clearly felt, she did not cry at all.
“So what is important to you now? No way,… Do you really love the emperor, Riella?”
Why does the word ‘no way’ come along? Does Fabian think the emperor is too much of a person for her to love?
Still, Riella didn’t care.
“Yes.”
“Riel…!”
At that moment, Fabian, who was trying to hold on to Riella’s shoulders, was stopped by someone.
“I think this is enough for the conversation.”
It was Herhan.
“Do you mind if I take my person with me now?”
Fabian glared at Herhan with tearful eyes, but Herhan only focused his eyes on Riella.
The emperor soon left, taking Riella with him.
Behind the hallway where the two disappeared, Greta was staring at Fabian with her arms crossed.
Compared to Fabian, who was suffering, Greta was calm.
“You said you would believe me only if you saw it, didn’t you, Fabian?”
Greta’s voice was cold as she stepped forward.
She gently wiped the tears from Fabian’s cheeks.
“Is it still not enough? Fabian. Do you really need to see it for yourself?”
* * *
“You were eavesdropping on everything I was talking about with Fabian, right?”
“Yes.”
“I guess you still don’t trust me very much.”
Herhan did not answer Riella’s pointed question.
Riella let out a bitter sigh and quickened her pace.
“I want to go back to the Lake Palace.”
“Let’s go together.”
“I’ll go alone.”
“No.”
Herhan’s answer was firm, his grip firm. No matter how many times she tried to pull away, it never came off.
That made Riella feel even worse.
‘You didn’t even look at me properly before….’
Herhan had made eye contact with her, held her hand, called her ‘my person’, and caressed her affectionately.
It was all done on purpose to show Fabian and the princess.
“I hate your Majesty.”
“…….”
“You are the same as the princess.”
“I know. Same childish, same petty.”
Riella bit her lip hard at the blatant admission.
At that time, Herhan stopped walking and came to stand in front of Riella.
Riella expected him to yell at her, but he didn’t.
His grip on her shoulders was gentle, and the way he bent his head down to her eye level was sweet.
“How could I not be? How could I stay calm when they’re touching my woman?”
“……”
“How dare they be like that in front of my treasure. How can I be intolerant without being equally petty?”
If she just listens to it, it’s clearly a lame excuse.
But strangely enough, the sadness that had been building up inside Riella for a few days began to dissipate and she began to feel relieved.
It was quite strange that the emotions that did not budge even when the princess was bothering her or Fabian was complaining in tears, were now stirred by a few words from the Emperor.
“Am I your Majesty’s treasure?”
So Riella asked more deliberately.
Since the emperor was being petty, she wanted to feel free to be childish and petty for once.
“Where in the world is there such a damn treasure? No matter how many times I go to see you, you just kick me out. You say I am your treasure, but why don’t you tell me anything and just act sullen and scary?”
“Were you scared of me?”
“Yes, I was! You don’t realize how much I’ve been…”
Riella was unable to continue speaking as all kinds of emotions rose up.
She can barely hold back her tears because if she shows them, she’ll really feel like she’s losing to Herhan.
“I was more scared.”
Herhan spoke with a more pitiful face than Riella.
“I wonder if you still have feelings for that man. I thought you might be wavering for someone other than me. You have no idea how scared I was.”
“Your majesty! Why would you worry about….”
Riella had no time to make excuses as Herhan’s sincerity poured out like a flood.
Herhan gently cupped Riella’s cheek and lowered his head to kiss her.
Their lips parted urgently, their tongues entwined deeply.
Even when both of them were breathing heavily and their lips parted for a moment, Herhan confessed while pressing his forehead against Riella.
“Never. You never know my heart. How much I love you.”
* * *
