For the next few minutes, n.o.body spoke. The only sound anybody could hear was the sound of rustling leaves due to the wind, small signs of life from the distance. Allen chose the perfect spot, not too far and yet not too close to the main building. It felt very strange to her, attending this event without disguising herself."Lyn." Allen suddenly said. She turned to him and saw a troubled expression on his face. "After this party ends your aware of what will happen, right?"
"Yes."
"Under these circ.u.mstances, I am afraid that your actions will be monitored. I know you are used to people watching over you. But this is different. You will be watched by not just by your sister. But those with malicious intentions."
"Are you asking me to stop seeing Rhys?"
"Yes."
Lyn shook her head. "Sorry." she apologized. "I know you mean well. But I cannot do that to him."
Even if she wants to, she can"t. The image of his pained face would appear in her head.
"It will be fine, Allen. I"m stronger than I look."
"Again you seem to be missing the point." Allen sighed. A troubled look appeared on his face. "I"ve heard what that man has been doing to you."
Lyn"s entire face turned red. She finally understood what Allen was talking about. So the reason why he personally fetched her was this?
"That hasn"t happened. I"m still --" Lyn didn"t know how to say it. Thankfully, Allen quickly picked it up.
"Apologies, that was rude of me. I simply a.s.sumed because you"re a lot holder recently."
Lyn blinked. "I thought you knew I was hard to handle."
"My dear you do realize that you quietened down for so long. Isn"t it normal for me to be off guard?"
"Is that so?"
The look on Allen"s face was priceless. Lyn laughed. "I"m kidding Allen, I appreciate you going along with my act for so long."
"Is it fine now?"
"Yes." Lyn nodded. "I appreciate it. If you did not go along with my act then, my sister would have noticed it."
Over the past few years Lyn has put on a front - an act in front of others. A naive, weak, and clueless Princess? That was wrong. She knew nothing about the world? All of it was a lie, she is nothing like the rumors say. She put on an act to deceive her older sister.
"Eldest sister noticed only recently it seems."
Allen paused, but he agreed. "So it seems, from now on the battle will truly start. You will suffer more and see such terrible things every day. The grief you experience will lead to emotional turmoil. Despite this, will you still continue Lyn?"
"What are you saying, you know I can"t turn back now?"
"Do you truly believe that?" Allen said seriously.
The entire evening Lyn remained calm and composed. Nothing could phase her. But now? Lyn sighed quietly. It seems like she can no longer trick him.
From the very moment Lyn met Allen, she understood something. If it"s this man, he will remain loyal to her. He will keep her secret, even if they aren"t close. "This is only if I remain his fiance." If they weren"t engaged, Allen wouldn"t keep it a secret.
"You already know my answer, right?" Lyn questioned.
"Yes. But I wish to hear you say it."
Lyn shook her head. "There is no need for me to do that…" she trailed off. Her gaze fell on the pitch black skies. "For a long time all I could do was watch everything from the sidelines. I want to do something for the Kingdom, just that thought alone isn"t enough."
"But you"re tired."
"If I truly tried, I would have done something more. I would have gone directly to the Mist Kingdom elders about my ident.i.ty."
"Under your situation, even that would be difficult."
"Don"t make excuses for me. I"m you"re fiance, and yet for the past few months I have treated you…" Lyn couldn"t get the words out. She genuinely felt bad. This is why she avoids speaking to him for long. "These feelings of guilt don"t vanish."
Allen shook his head. "Even if you belittle yourself, my opinion will not change."
Lyn sighed. "You"re harder to handle than me."
Where do Allen"s unwavering faith and conviction come from? Most royals do not trust each other. Among the elite population, seldom anyone trusts one another. That"s why Allen"s behavior towards her is unusual.
"So did you find out?" Lyn asked.
Allen nodded. "King John is frequently meeting with the council members. These members are the ones who disrupted the meeting last week."
"The ones who caused problems for my brother?"
"You already heard?"
"More like that man purposely told her that."
"Yes, mother could not attend the meeting so brother went instead. Those people complained a lot and caused a bad ruckus. It led to the meeting getting canceled."
Allen nodded. "King John and they are frequent visitors to a particular brothel."
"Are you saying they purposely drew attention to themselves, under his orders?"
"Correct, but this is only one theory. We should consider that they caused these problems by themselves."
Her eyes twitched in annoyance at that comment. "You already saw them together. So is that second possibility even necessary?"
Surely Allen understands the current situation.
"It is, as stupid as it may seem. We cannot discard one piece of truth for another."
A strong gust of wind blew before across her face. For a moment n.o.body said a word. Whenever she spoke to Allen, it ends up this way. "He always gets the last word in." Her gaze fell on her surroundings. She wanted to get her mind off things, but it was too dark to see anything.
Allen suddenly brushed his hands across her hair. "Huh?" she looked at him puzzled until she saw the red rose in his hands.
"Stay still."
Lyn nodded, and Allen carefully placed the rose on her hair.
"You find these things beautiful, do you not?"
"I do," Lyn agreed. "Thank you."
But did he pick this rose from the garden? The gardener won"t be happy, hopefully he didn"t see.