I Don't Want To Be Loved

“Lady Rihannan!”

Soon as Rihannan jumped off the carriage, people poured out of the mansion at once en masse. They chatted freely amongst one another as they saw a carriage emblazoned with the royal seal in front of the mansion. Then in front of their sight was a silver-haired woman getting off the carriage, her hands clutching onto a man. The memories of their young lady came to mind. She had grown up… and she had returned, at last…

“Oh my god, My Lady, how could you not give us notice in advance…!” Mrs. Burns, the head chef, hugged Rihannan tightly. Tears streamed down her face.

In her past life, Mrs. Burns watched over the ever-so-young Rihannan until the count fired her. Rihannan looked around and saw familiar faces. They stuck around, it seems like.

“It’s been a long time, everyone,” Rihannan said.

Yes, a long time had indeed passed. Mrs. Burns’ slight graying hair, though not as noticeable as before, now covered most of her locks. And next to her was Tom who had grown to be a reliable young man.

This was a sight Rihannan had never seen before. They had left or were kicked out before she became an adult previously.

“You’re all here… I didn’t expect that you would all stay… Jeffrey sends a letter once in a while, but I…”

“There is no one in this world who pays us generously as you do, Miss. And Jeffrey’s a bit of a tough old man to crack. Oh… I’m still having a difficult time dealing with that nagging butler. He’s not getting any younger. He needs to relax a bit.”

Looking at the chef who did not hesitate to make a snide remark against the old butler, Rihannan burst out in laughter. It was still the same. Mrs. Burns and Jeffrey had always quarreled, bantering back and forth with their opinionated mind.

“Where is Jeffrey?” Rihannan asked, “I don’t see him anywhere.”

“He went out to inspect the land. He should be here soon. Oh… speak of the devil, he’s here.”

Rihannan turned around and saw Jeffrey from afar. Jeffrey, too, was surprised to find Rihannan’s silhouette. He rushed over at immediate notice.

“Lady Rihannan? Oh my god, it’s you!” The old butler puffed out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his forehead. “I thought I was seeing things… haha, my eyesight’s growing worse. But Miss, you didn’t notify me beforehand? Did you make a surprise visit to see if this old man was doing his job right?”

“No, of course not. I just heard from Mrs. Burns how good you’re doing,” Rihannan smiled.

Jeffrey gave Mrs. Burns a mysterious glance. She looked the type who never had a good thing to say about him.

Then he looked back at Rihannan with a nervous look and said, “But, Miss, that man in the back…”

At Jeffrey’s remark, Rihannan became cognizant of the fact that she had forgotten to introduce Igor. She dropped her head in a hurry and apologized.

“Your Majesty, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t in the right mind…”

Her servants jumped at her words. They knew it was someone that came from the palace based on the royal seal but they never thought it’d be the king himself!

The servants, once clustered together in front of Rihannan, spread out in a flash and lined up in two straight lines and bowed deeply. Their eyes shook in all directions, fearing that they might be punished for daring to ignore the presence of a king.

“No, it’s alright. I was the one who asked you to greet them.”

At his words, the servants ejected a sigh of relief.

The old butler closed and opened his lips repeatedly. After summing the last vestige of his courage, he wiped off the sweat dripping from his temple and said, “Miss, may I ask what is going on? Why is the king…”

The old butler knew that Rihannan had gone to Chrichton six years ago and that Arundell had gone to war with Crichton as of recent, and now, they had appeared here in the estate together. There was a possibility that they met in Chrichton, but there was no way of knowing…

Igor answered in Rihannan’s stead and said, “She’s to marry me and become my wife.”