Secret Love Affair between a Former Saint and a Dark Hero - Chapter 94
The carriage jolted with a clatter. Shana, who’d been dozing off in her seat, jerked awake in a panic, eyes flying open like she’d just been startled from a dream. Iora, watching her the whole time, couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Shana discreetly wiped her chin, just in case she’d drooled, then gave a sheepish grin. In that moment, she couldn’t have looked cuter.
Iora sank into a quiet reverie, lost in her thoughts.
‘The more I look at her, the more she reminds me of Sol.’
It was something Iora tried not to think about. She was afraid that if she let herself remember, the longing would swell into something unbearable.
Through the truths she discovered after returning to the past, Iora had come to understand that she could never go back to being Kim Jiyeon. No matter how much she missed it, prayed, or wished, the days of walking down alleyways with Sol, joking and laughing together, would never return.
Iora clenched her teeth.
My gentle friend.
My poor friend who sacrificed herself for me. I wonder… were you able to live happily after that?
“You look sad, my Lady.”
“So you’re not afraid of me anymore, I see. You used to tremble so pitifully.”
“Well….”
A small hand scratched at a head of fluffy red curls. Her glossy black eyes sparkled.
“Shana?”
“I’m sorry, my Lady.”
Iora was startled when Shana suddenly bowed her head. With the carriage rattling beneath them, she nearly toppled over, only to jerk her head back up in a flustered recovery. When Iora stared at her in baffled silence, the girl only smiled again, as innocently as a child.
“I had the wrong idea. There were just so many terrifying rumors. I honestly thought you were some kind of ghostly person, my Lady… Hehe.”
“You really have no filter, do you? Saying that right to my face.”
“I knew you wouldn’t get mad! That’s what I figured from watching you all day!”
Shana planted her hands on her hips with the pride of someone delivering a grand truth and declared:
“My Lady isn’t a villainess!”
“…”
It was so unexpected that Iora was momentarily at a loss. Not a villainess, she’d said.
“Me?”
“To be honest, the Marquis, the Marchioness, even the Young Master… they’re all weird. So please don’t be sad, my Lady. I’m your personal maid now… so I’ll be on your side! Hehe!”
If the carriage hadn’t arrived at its destination and come to a stop just then, Iora might have shed a tear, overwhelmed by the emotion welling up inside her. That round face, smiling so brightly, had momentarily transformed into that of her old friend. She might have blurted something strange in that instant.
Knock knock. From outside, the knight who had been escorting her, Guillen, rapped gently on the door.
Only then did the weight of reality come crashing back.
“Thank you.”
Maybe the scared, trembling Iora was still somewhere inside her after all.
A gentle warmth spread deep in her chest. Iora gave Shana a nod — one of gratitude toward the girl who had given her courage. It felt like rediscovering what it meant to be truly believed in.
She pushed open the carriage door. Then she looked up at the Saint’s mansion, which had always loomed before her like an oppressive shadow.
That was when she noticed the knight, so still and quiet she hadn’t even sensed his presence, raising his head and stepping forward. The shadow cast by his large frame stretched toward her, heavy and steady.
“I shall accompany you,” he said.
It was Guillen von Vendas.
“I’m counting on you,” she replied.
“…”
So you’re not even going to answer, huh?
Iora knew that Guillen didn’t like her. She didn’t even need to have read the novel to know that. As a knight with a bright future ahead of him, it was probably irksome to him that he had only been assigned as the escort of a mere young lady. Or, it could be that, just like in the original story, he didn’t like the fake saint threatening the saintly Arcanda.
Either way, Iora had no reason to care.
Although Shana didn’t know, in The Saint’s Flower, Guillen was Arcanda’s most devoted servant. Having someone like that nearby was also something Iora didn’t particularly like.
Her memories, now clearer after her regression, vividly replayed scenes from the original story to remind her.
「The knight gazed passionately at the one he would devote his heart to. His affection, as intense as his sharp sword, would never waver for anyone. But today was different.
“Huh…h-huh, oh, oh, Ovid…”
“It’s alright, Arcanda. I’m here, so why are you trembling like this?”
“Hmph!”
As he listened to their whispered exchange, Guillen lowered his bloodstained sword. The blood that clung to it dripped onto the ground with a sharp plop. Guillen pressed his lips tightly together. The Saintess was crying. All because of the actions of one woman.
He was filled with hatred. That woman — Iora von Ribandt.
Had she gone mad? Disregarding all noble dignity, the Lady of Ribandt had done something utterly unforgivable. An assassin group that tried to kill the Saint? If she had been standing before him just now, his sword might not have cut down those assassins, but her neck instead.
“I will never forgive the one who made you cry.”
“I-It was so frightening… truly terrifying…”
How dare she… To someone so gentle, someone who seemed capable of embracing all things!
The knight clenched his fist in silent fury. The Saint’s delicate shoulders trembled like butterfly wings within the embrace of the man she loved. Crown Prince Ovid’s eyes blazed with wrath as they swept past the Saint’s back. He looked as though he were recalling the severed heads — and whoever had ordered the attack.
A storm of blood would soon follow. Guillen von Vendas let out a cold smile.
Perhaps this was all for the best. At last, he might get to see that wicked woman disappear from the world.
Even if the fragile and beloved Saintess never knew, all the filthy, unspeakable deeds would be handled by others on her behalf.
‘May your beautiful eyes be filled only with happiness and joy.’」
What a spectacle. Just the thought of Arcanda, who had staged her own kidnapping because the plot wasn’t going the way she wanted before the regression, was enough to give Iora goosebumps. Did she do all of that just for the sake of that exact scene she’d just recalled?
In that moment, Iora met the knight’s sharp gaze. The look in his eyes mirrored the very scene she had just remembered, making her feel even more uneasy. With that upright, unwavering expression, Guillen von Vendas had declared that he would see Iora von Ribandt dead.
Perhaps it was a glimpse of the future that might yet come.
Who could say whether just one glance exchanged with Arcanda might send everything hurtling down the path of the novel’s original storyline?
‘Whether he glares or not, it’s none of my business.’
Iora spun on her heel. There was no reason to tolerate such insolence from a knight like that. His job was to protect her, not glare daggers at her.
