“I’LL protect you, Fiona. So, in exchange, stay by my side forever.”
For Fiona, those words were the truth of this world. The cornerstone of her heart. If Linus said he would protect her, then she wanted to become someone worthy of his protection. But she didn’t just want to be protected. She wanted to stand proudly by his side.
A precious promise, a precious person, a precious place.
She refused to lose any of that, so Fiona decided she would do everything she could and more. She felt only gratitude to Linus and Charles for watching over her this last decade. If she had proved even a little useful to them as a fake saint, then her black hair wasn’t such a terrible thing. The thought made her smile.
The matter of the saint, this country’s history, the materials needed to make cobblestones shock- and sound-absorbent. While she absorbed herself in consuming all sorts of books, she vaguely heard a commotion outside the door.
When Fiona looked through the window, she saw the moon high in the sky, indicating quite a few hours had passed. Were the knights training in the middle of the night, then? As she tried to immerse herself again in her book, the doorknob suddenly rattled. Startled, she jumped up, and after a moment of heavy silence, the door blasted open with a thunderous roar.
“Fiona!”
Dumbstruck, she could only stare as a beautiful young man with silver hair flew inside the room and snatched her up in his arms.
“Heavens above, I’m glad you’re safe. Once I heard you’d disappeared and no one knew where you went… You have no idea how worried I was.”
Linus squeezed her so tightly that she struggled to breathe. From above her head, his rough breaths, strangely erotic to her ear, enveloped her. He had hugged her countless times and even held her extremely close during the dance at the ball.
But, somehow, this time was different from all the others. Despite the restless ache in her chest, his embrace satisfied something within her and warmed her heart. What exactly was this feeling?
“Why are you here, of all places?”
“Um, I think the lock broke. Though I think we should be more concerned about the door itself.”
It lay sadly on the floor, sporting a gaping hole.
“Ah, right. It’s fine since I’m the one who broke it.”
Any way she looked at it, it was most definitely not fine. Something else bothered her, too.
“But how did you even…?”
The door was incredibly thick, not the type to come off with a push.
“I kicked it open.”
“You kicked it. Open.”
Her eyes widened in astonishment at the unexpected action from the always gentle Linus. At the same time, she felt a jolt of surprise at the realization he possessed the strength to destroy a door like that.
“Fiona!”
While she blinked in amazement within Linus’ arms, Charles charged through the damaged frame of the dearly departed door. He spared a single scowl at the fallen door before rushing over to her.
“Fiona, I was worried because you were late. I assumed His Highness refused to let you go, so I stormed over to his office to get you, only for him to tell me he had no idea where you were. I lost too many years of my life right then and there… Incidentally, my lord, would you kindly set her free already?”
“No. I don’t want to.”
Linus’ hold on her tightened even more. When a croak like a frog stomped to death escaped from Fiona’s lips, he hurriedly loosened his grip.
“She’ll be staying in the palace tonight.”
“Your Highness! That would be highly improper!”
Linus slowly shook his head in response to Charles’ uncharacteristically sharp tone.
“It’s for her safety, so relax. Summon Ada, please.”
“Well then…in that case.”
Just when his hold finally slackened, Linus suddenly lifted her into a princess carry.
“What?! I can walk, you know?!”
“I don’t want to make you walk.”
“I’m sorry?!”
Fiona sent a baffled glance at Charles, who patted her head, his expression conflicted.
“Just do what he says for now. Lord, I was so worried…”
Lost at sea, she nodded obediently, and Linus carried her off, striding imperiously through the palace. On the way, several members of the palace staff saw them, which embarrassed her terribly, but he was unfazed. As expected of a crown prince used to being the center of attention. She couldn’t help being impressed by his attitude.
They entered a room through a snow-white door, and he gently lowered her onto a sofa inside.
“Your Highness, I apologize sincerely for making you worry.”
“It’s fine. I have an idea what happened to the door. The same person is probably responsible for nobody notifying me of your presence in the palace, Fiona.”
She didn’t know why Linus’ eyes narrowed menacingly. At first, she thought it might have something to do with the lock on the door failing, but she was likely wrong.
“In any case, I’m just glad you’re all right, Fiona. So, tell me what you were doing there in the first place?”
“Research.”
“The whole time?”
“When I tried to leave to go home, the door wouldn’t open, so I saw it as my chance to read up on a variety of topics.”
His eyes widened in surprise at her reply before he let out a strained laugh.
“Huh. I see. You know, Fiona, at times like that, you’re supposed to shout, ‘Help me!’”
“I didn’t think the situation was that grave.”
“In hindsight, sure. But what if something had happened that couldn’t be undone… Land’s sake, I was terrified for you.”
Linus wrapped his arms around Fiona. She wondered if she hallucinated the gleam of tears in his eyes. That’s how serious they looked, so she could only nod.
“I’m sorry it took me so long to notice, even though you were literally in the palace.”
“What? No, how could you have known? You mustn’t blame yourself… Wait a moment. You’re notified every time I visit the royal palace, Your Highness?”
It was one thing if she had business with him, but she thought it unnecessary when her work here had nothing to do with him. What was the meaning of that?
“Of course I am. After all, you’re my dearest fiancée. ”
Linus’ indigo eyes were far too close because she looked up at him, so Fiona hurriedly faced downward. That only ended up burying her face in his chest, which didn’t improve the situation for her at all. She tried pushing against him with her hands to create some distance between them, and he gave in with a wry huff, loosening his arms just the slightest bit.
“Um, I also read up on saints, that no one with black hair is born in the surrounding region and that it’s a sign of a saint.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Right now, my hair works in our favor since I’m playing the part of a fake saint. But please keep in mind that should things turn ugly in the future, you’re free to throw me to the wolves.”
“That’s not going to happen. I hate even the idea of it. So no.”
Fiona sighed in exasperation when Linus responded without hesitation and patted her head.
“Goodness, do you love black hair so much?”
“I won’t say I don’t.”
He grinned as he scooped up a skein of her tresses.
“There’s no way I’m letting you go now, Fiona, not after all this time.”
The way he pressed his lips against her hair made him as pretty as a picture. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sight. A sight she’d seen too many times to count over the past ten years. Though Linus remained steadfastly beautiful, something felt different about him now.
Smile broadening, he lifted his head and reached towards Fiona’s cheek.
“And that is where we shall call a halt.”
Fiona jerked in surprise at the sudden remark. When she looked to the door, she found Ada standing there with her hands on her hips.
“Well, hell and damn, you sure got here fast. You know you could have taken your time.”
“I had a feeling you’d say exactly that, which is why I rushed right over.”
Linus laughed at Ada, who curtsied ever so politely at him, then stroked Fiona’s crown.
“You must be tired, right? Go to sleep now.”
She didn’t even have time to reply before he dropped a kiss on her forehead and walked out of the room.
“Good grief. That young man is a pain in my backside. He hasn’t changed at all in a decade.”
“Be that as it may, he told me to stay the night for my safety because I’m a saint, albeit an imposter.”
The measure must have been necessary to quell the commotion, especially since he mentioned something about her disappearing.
“You are most categorically wrong on that score, Fiona, darling.”
“You’re right. His Highness has always been kind, so he must have simply been worried about me.”
After all, he was the same person who’d picked up Fiona after she lost her memories at the age of ten and watched over her since then.
“I’m not saying he isn’t kind. However. He’s very selective about the company he keeps. Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say his attachment to some is powerful… Well, someone who doesn’t notice that is also amazing in her own right.”
“Ada?”
The Everetts’ housekeeper mumbled something to herself, but her voice was so low Fiona only caught confusing snatches.
“They kept you far from even the notion of romance and discouraged everyone around with all their might. Those two only have themselves to blame for raising such a splendidly oblivious individual.”
Ada smiled cheerfully and gently patted Fiona on the head.