I Don't Want to Be Loved

“Oh, you didn’t know? Your sister is currently in prison for attempting to assassinate you.”

Rihannan looked at him, perplexed. Honestly speaking, this was the first time she was hearing about this.

“Judging from your expression, you didn’t know any of this, did you? You recently called some merchants into your Palace for your birthday celebration, right? Leticia disguised herself as a merchant and tried to kill you. The King had her arrested and placed in prison.”

“How could she…”

“The King had issued an order of arrest for both Count Clovis and Leticia. That woman barely managed to escape alive thanks to me and became a fugitive. She wanted her revenge, so I used that in my favor. While the guards were busy arresting her, we managed to place a few Arc Stones around your Palace. That’s why the King immediately sent you away, just like we anticipated.”

So… that’s why Igor sent her off. For her own security. But… why didn’t he say anything? If he had told her why, then…

Rihannan suddenly remembered how she’d been treating Igor all this time. Whenever he’d asked to speak to her, she firmly refused. She even got angry at him and said she didn’t want to hear anything about Leticia.

So, even if he’d tried, he didn’t have the chance to properly explain things to her.

“Then… why did you kidnap me for?”

There was no time to regret not listening to Igor. Right now, what was more important was for her to understand why she’d been kidnapped under Chrichton’s Crown Prince’s orders.

“Dimitri has overstepped his boundaries. The Crown Prince decided on sending him a warning… with you.”

“So you are saying you’ll kill me because of Dimitri?”

“Only then will he realize he’d made a mistake opposing the Crown Prince and back away.”

“I’m not Dimitri’s blood sister, but a simple cousin. Why would you choose me?”

“I’m sure you already know this better than anyone else, but you are not just a cousin to him. Dimitri was never interested in political power, but because of you he is actively involving himself in the struggle, is he not?” Danil had an amused expression on his face. He smirked. “You know, Dimitri has always hidden his true potential, but because of you, he went out of his way to win the Kiritte competition. Just for you.”

Looking at Rihannan’s confused look, he narrowed his eyes and went on.

“I once told Dimitri that If I ever won the Kiritte competition, I’d ask for your hand in marriage. I only said that to irk him. I was wondering if he would show his true colors with such threat.”

Danil had always disliked Dimitri. To be precise, he’d always felt jealous of him and deeply resented him.

Even when Dimitri made the conscience decision of keeping a low profile, Danil could sense that in reality Dimitri regarded the rest of them as beneath him, which was why he didn’t even bother seriously competing against them. Danil soon realized that Dimitri would lose on purpose whenever he challenged him in anything, be it fencing, academics or even friendly sport competitions.

“If I win the next Kiritte competition, I’m think of asking the Crown Prince for your cousin’s hand in marriage. I’ve always been attracted to her.” That’s why Danil couldn’t help but taunt him with those words. He said that the Crown Prince would definitely agree since he was his loyal servant.

However, Dimitri’s eyes suddenly turned dark. The man who used to spend his days as though nothing in this world mattered to him suddenly turned into a demon with superpowers at the Kiritte competition.

“The Dimitri who didn’t care about anything suddenly won that competition with frightening ease. That’s when I realized… you are his major weakness. If I want to break his spirit, all I have to do is ruin you. Or kill you.”

Since Rihannan was taken to Arundell as a hostage in the stead of Princess Helena, Danil wanted to put his theory to the test. If the girl that suddenly became Queen of Arundell suffered some sort of disgrace, or if she died in an accident, Dimitri would surely crumble to pieces.

However, unlike what he imagined, this girl did actually manage to persuade the King of Arundell, and was even being treated as a real Queen. After she’d crossed the sea, Danil ocassionally heard some rumors about the King and Queen of Arundell. He even heard that they were deeply in love, as though they’d been destined to be together.

During this period, Dimitri actively began seeking for power. His goal was clear. He wanted to block the Crown Prince from attempting to do any harm to his precious cousin.

The Crown Prince only took notice of Dimitri’s increasing power after he’d started pressuring him as the close advisor of Prince Ivan.

“I cannot allow Dimitri to keep gathering power. What’s his weakness? How do I destroy him?”

The Crown Prince was now wary of Dimitri. He had realized too late that Dimitri had been hiding his true nature all this time, which made him increasingly nervous.

That’s when Danil used this opportunity to whisper in his ear: “it’s his cousin Rihannan! He once ignored a royal edict to attempt running away with her!”

“But harming Arundell’s Queen is too risky! I should just kill of Dimitri…!”

“The death of Arundell’s Queen would open a window for you, Your Majesty! You could use it as a decoy! Think about it… you could solve your inner problems by shifting the attention abroad. If she dies by the hand of an Arundell citizen, in Arundell… what could happen? All of Chrichton would be enraged by the news… their hatred towards Your Majesty would be shifted to the King of Arundell. We would also be able to use her death as an excuse to pressure Arundell… if you make the best of her death, the nobles who are trying to rebel will surely land on your side!”

“I see! Understood!”

The Crown Prince looked cheerful upon hearing his advice. He was the type of person who enjoyed getting revenge on whoever opposed him.

To prepare for his plan, he personally traveled to Arundell to approach Count Clovis. The Count was quite interested in his offer: if he helped him in killing the Queen, Danil would help Clovis in becoming the new King.

The negotiations went on smoothly… until the King ruined their plans by suddenly arresting Count Clovis. Danil made sure of first rescuing Leticia. He had already calculated that even if her chances of successfully killing the Queen were small, he could use her failure to lure the Queen out of her Palace.

“That’s why, Rihannan Cheska… you have to die here, now.”