**Chapter 32**
After a simple meal, Riley sat in the garden, drinking tea and chatting with Ren. The morning sunlight and refreshing breeze made her feel good.
“Riley, what happened when you went to see Veron yesterday?”
“Did he say anything to you?”
Riley took a sip of her tea and savored the flavor. Ren, with a dissatisfied expression, rested his chin on his hand and muttered.
“He told me to call him if things got dangerous… What makes him so fearless? he haven’t even called me lately, and when I’m around to protect you…”
“There was no need to call.”
Someone else had shown up instead. It seemed Veron hadn’t mentioned anything about Carver.
‘Ren and Carver must have been in contact. But why didn’t he say a word to me?’
It was hard to understand his intentions. There were many things he hadn’t told Riley, and bringing them up could lead to endless discussions.
Seeing Riley’s complex expression, Ren frowned and said, “You should have called me.”
What kind of logic was that? Riley couldn’t understand Ren’s words. In fact, anyone would struggle to make sense of it.
“Why would I call you when there was no need?”
“That means your abilities were used. Do you really think you can control it properly without a contract with me?”
“…Then tell me. What exactly is this ability?”
Ren kept his mouth shut. As Riley set her teacup down, she stared at him. When she removed the scarf around her neck, a distinct pattern became visible.
“…This pattern that both the royal family and my father were searching for. The contract with the sword—don’t you think it’s time to talk about everything?”
“If you can handle it.”
“…”
“Are you sure you won’t run away after hearing all of it?”
Riley’s pupils trembled. For the first time, Ren’s playful face looked serious. His lazily drooping eyes became sharply focused.
“You’ll know everything soon anyway. Do you think I could run away? I have to accept it now.”
However, she vowed not to be used. No matter what happened, she promised herself she would never live a life like the past again.
“I warned you. It’s you who didn’t listen.”
Ren’s throat bobbed. It was a moment when he was about to sigh deeply.
“Riley, you!”
The shout was almost a scream..
Anna approached, huffing and puffing, with a plate of food in her hands.
As if she had anticipated Anna’s reaction, Riley slowly stood up.
“Ren, I’ll warn you too. Stay away from me as much as possible.”
Ren blinked at Riley’s words. Behind the furious Anna, Theo hurriedly followed.
‘Looks like something happened.’
With an interested expression, Ren sat back down, sipping his tea and observing. Well, it wasn’t a bad situation for him since something awkward had come up at a delicate moment.
‘I still haven’t figured out how to explain everything. And I haven’t wrapped things up with that guy, either.’
It seemed she recalled Carver, but her memories didn’t appear to be complete. Although they were exchanging letters, they hadn’t reached an agreement yet.
‘Something must have happened, but she’s not saying anything, so she must have met Carver.’
What Riley didn’t know was that Ren was quick to catch on. He just pretended not to notice.
Ren leisurely sipped his tea, watching Anna and Theo approach. Judging by Riley’s expression, she had anticipated this situation as well.
“Are you crazy?!”
Anna rushed over and shouted at Riley. Riley tilted her head in confusion and asked, “Anna, why are you so angry? Using such vulgar words… Others might criticize the Prince family.”
Anna’s face turned red with anger as she trembled, gripping the plate. She tried to hold back her fury but couldn’t control herself, glaring at Riley.
“Anna, you need to learn to control your anger. Yelling so loudly that everyone can hear is quite unrefined… Has Theo’s judgment deteriorated in my absence?”
Theo’s eyes narrowed at the remark about his lack of discernment. He grabbed Anna’s hand and scolded her.
“Stop it! What kind of behavior is this? Riley, why are you with that man…?!”
“Let go of me! Is that really important right now?!”
“Of course it is! There’s another man by her side!”
Theo looked at Ren and questioned Riley. Anna, shocked by Theo’s behavior towards Ren, slapped his hand away.
“Just stay out of this! Don’t interfere anymore—I can’t take it. You ate it too!”
Anna shouted, breathing heavily.
“Do you have any proof that Riley did anything? What’s going on with you lately?!”
Theo’s face crumpled in frustration.
At breakfast, he’d noticed a weird taste and smell coming from the food. When he summoned the head maid, she insisted everything had been made as usual, which made him set down his fork and knife. Anna, looking sick from the smell, had jumped up and grabbed the maid, asking:
“Did that woman, Riley, come by while preparing breakfast?”
“Yes? Ah… She left a little while ago. I watched her while she helped with the meal, but nothing unusual…”
Before the head maid could finish, Anna stormed out with the food on her plate.
Seeing Riley calmly sitting and drinking tea with another man in the garden made her lose it.
“What did you put in this?! How else could it—”
“Anna, I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Theo told me to take good care of you, and I just helped the maids for a moment.”
“Be honest! You’re just pretending. If you don’t remember, then this…!”
Anna almost let slip details of the past without realizing it. Her hands trembled with rage.
‘I know for sure. There’s no way she would have put the same drug in the food!’
The infertility drug that she had secretly added to Riley’s food had the same scent. But one strange point was that Theo had also noticed it.
‘This is strange; something is off…!’
However, Anna couldn’t voice that fact. The drug she had traded for had disappeared, and she could no longer obtain it. That meant she had no evidence to prove that Riley was responsible.
“Anna, why are you doing this to me? I understood that you would take my place next to Theo. But why…?”
As she lowered her eyes slightly, her eyelashes trembled delicately. She wrapped her arms around herself and let out a teardrop.
“Riley… no, I never thought you did anything. It must have just been that the food went bad.”
Theo flustered, tried to comfort Riley as he approached. But Anna, unable to contain her anger, finally screamed and lifted the plate.
“Liar! You’ll know if you taste it!”
The food from the plate flew toward Riley.
Riley quickly leaned to the side, causing the food to spill all over Ren instead.
“……”
Ren froze, still holding his teacup.
Plop—plop.
The food that had clung to Ren’s hair and face started to fall off.
“What is this nonsense? How ridiculous, Anna.”
Riley hurriedly took out a handkerchief and began wiping Ren’s face. Ren remained motionless.
His clenched fists trembled, and a faint aura began to surrounded around him.
“……I’ll kill them. I’ll kill them to end this ridiculous play.”
Riley covered Ren’s mouth with her hand and awkwardly raised the corners of her mouth. Pretending to wipe away the food, she leaned in closer and whispered in his ear.
“Just hold on. Didn’t I tell you to stay away from me?”
“……Wouldn’t killing them just end it?”
“Does that really seem like revenge? No, I want to see them fall into despair. Len, everyone dies eventually.”
She patted Ren on the shoulder and handed him the handkerchief. Though Ren’s lips twitched at her words, he ultimately remained silent.
“Theo, I’m really disappointed in you. Do you really think I put something in the food?”
“……No, that’s not it, ma’am.”
Theo stuttered, flustered by Riley’s gaze. Still, his attention was fixed on Ren.
‘Why is she always around that guy?’
It had bothered him since he saw them together at the shop. Yet, he couldn’t do anything because he found no information about him.
‘Damn it, I just wasted money on the guild for nothing.’
And yet, here he was again, casually with Riley. There were too many strange things.
Just worrying about that man was giving him a headache, and Anna was making things worse by stirring up trouble since Riley had arrived.
‘Tsk, if only there were no child…’
Theo let out a deep sigh, rubbing his face in frustration.
But Anna, instead of cooling off, kept simmering with rage.
“Ha! ‘Madam’? Did you just call her ‘Madam’? I’m your wife! Did you forget? It’s on the documents! It’s me, not her!”
Theo frowned at Anna’s words. His gaze held the same emotions he once had for Riley.
“Hah… Anna, please maintain your dignity. This is disgraceful. What’s with all this commotion?”
“How… how can you do this to me? Don’t you care about the baby I’m carrying?!”
Anna screamed, clutching her stomach in shock, tears welling in her eyes.
‘I can’t watch this anymore. Ren also needs to clean up quickly.’
Riley, who had been silently watching the two, raised her hand and called someone over.
“Kaven, could you come over and clean this up?”
At Riley’s gesture, a man hesitated, glancing between Theo and Anna before approaching. At the mention of the name “Kaven,” Anna whipped her face.
Her hands, still clutching her stomach, tightened in response.
