I Don't Want To Be Loved

Chapter 149: Finding the Culprit

She could not remember much of what happened after deep sleep overtook her. Half-awake, her consciousness slowly came back to its senses, noticing that she was in the arms of someone.

A large hand stroked her face with profound gentleness.

“…Igor?” she said, unwittingly calling out his name.

She saw the man’s lips tug to a smile.

‘Why’s he smiling so happily?’ Rihannan wondered.

“Go on. Sleep a little more. We have a long time till we arrive back at the palace.”

Rihannan came to notice that she and Igor were currently inside a moving carriage and that she had on a white sleepwear and a blanket wrapped around her. He may have carried her to the carriage while she was passed out in a peaceful sleep.

She blinked her tired eyes several times as Igor leaned over to kiss her, as if soothing her to go back to sleep.

“Mmn.” Rihannan nodded, following his recommendation and let sleep flood in. His warm embrace allowed her to drift away comfortably.

Igor smiled, wondering what she was dreaming of.

Even after arriving at the palace, Rihannan slept in the arms of a dream so beautiful, as if making up for the many struggling years of little to no sleep. She spent the following days doing nothing but eating and sleeping.

Meanwhile, in the backdrop, the investigations at what had occurred in the hunting ground days ago continued silently.

“No illegal trespassing that came from the outside was found, Your Majesty…” Basil answered, eyes and face droopy.

Igor growled lowly and slammed the table.

“There was no evidence found from the guests and anyone entering the hunting grounds with ulterior motives. We’ve thoroughly investigated the butlers, servants, and maidservants as well as the hired employees during the event, but we’ve confirmed that each of them were at a different venue the moment Her Majesty fell into the water.”

Igor’s finger quietly rapped on the table. No evidence of an assassin sneaking in had been found, and the hired folks were nowhere near the site when it occurred.

Then… there was only one thing remaining.

“…So it means that among the guests officially invited to the event, one of them dared to push my wife into the cold water.”

Basil nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty. I’m sure one of the guests was the perpetrator.”

“Did any of them behave strangely?” Igor asked with a thundering voice.

“Currently, it’s a bit of a difficult situation to characterize all the invited guests. We’ll need to bring in all of the nobility in one space and investigate their houses, but as Your Majesty knows, my authority doesn’t reach that far…”

“Right.” Igor bobbed his head.

It was not possible nor right to label all the nobility as possible perpetrators from suspicions alone. Though it was possible in Chrichton, but in Arundell where the nobility traditionally held the seat of power… to do such a thing would only incite their rage and resistance. Should they act rashly, they’ll only fall to the possibility of a trap. They’d be attacked in the heat of confusion.

Igor needed proof of circumstantial evidence, but where should he begin? Even finding hints of clues proved itself taxing.

“Could it be Chrichton who did this?” Basil carefully suggested the possibility.

“They wish to avenge the losses that happened in the past,” Igor said, “If anything happens to the queen, wouldn’t it be a good enough excuse for them to point fingers. But… it’ll only lead to an all-out-war, which Chrichton can’t afford. At least not yet. They’d not do this. It was someone else.”

A few weeks ago, a rare event occurred in Chrichton. The crown prince pushed his plans ahead to prepare for war, but Prince Ivan and the nobles clashed with his plans vehemently and disagreed with all their might, different from the past where the orders of the king were absolute.

Basil nodded in agreement. “You’re right, Your Majesty. Even if they’ve fabricated the situation, time isn’t ripe on their side.”

Igor rubbed his chin. “Hmm… perhaps… was Count Clovis acting strange?”

Hearing the name of the previous king’s eldest son, Basil looked up in surprise. “Why do you suddenly speak of his name, Your Majesty?”