Secret Love Affair between a Former Saint and a Dark Hero - Chapter 136 - Who Is Stirring My Heart?

“That’s not proper.”

The rigid knight said it with his usual seriousness. Neither Shana nor Iora looked the least bit surprised. The stern expression on his face could still feel rather intimidating, but by now they both understood his personality well.

It was not a warning not to disgrace herself as the Crown Prince’s fiancée, but rather advice—and, in its own way, concern—that she should avoid giving others grounds to find fault with her.

Suppressing a giggle, Iora and Shana carried out their plan.

The moment they arrived at the plaza, Shana grabbed Guillen’s hand and tugged him away with surprising force. A knight would never actually stumble from the strength of a young girl’s pull, yet he could not bring himself to shake off her delicate hand. Instead, he hesitated awkwardly, clearly flustered.

“Have a wonderful date!”

With Shana’s cheerful send-off ringing behind her, Iora broke into a light run.

It was, incredibly, the very first time she had ever run as a noble lady.

A short while later, thoroughly out of breath, Iora collapsed onto a bench in the park. She couldn’t stop smiling as she panted, savoring the unfamiliar sensation after so long. Her ribs ached sharply with every breath, but even so, she felt good.

The passersby didn’t stare at her or pay her any particular attention. Young couples enjoyed their dates. An elderly husband and wife sat watching the fountain. Children played with a ball while their parents looked on.

Ah. It wasn’t any different from her previous life.

Even when she had been Kim Jiyeon, she used to sit in parks like this and watch people.

Seeing their happy smiles, watching them share joy with their families, somehow made it feel as though that happiness belonged to her too.

Happiness is contagious. Even if returning home meant stepping into an empty, lonely apartment, she had been happy in those moments. And she would imagine it. Someday, far in the future, if she ever met someone she could truly trust and open her heart to, she would have that kind of happiness too. She imagined herself smiling just like them, holding hands with someone whose face she had never seen, cradling a daughter or son who resembled the two of them.

“What are you doing?”

Her vision went dark as someone covered her eyes. She’d told him it was old-fashioned, and yet he did it again.

The peaceful scene vanished behind the hand covering her eyes, but somehow, she didn’t feel lonely.

She poked at the hand over her eyes with a finger until the man retreated with a grumble.

“Oh…”

“Explain what that little sigh was supposed to mean. It was a compliment, obviously?”

“…You really put in the effort today.”

Smiling faintly, the man stood with the sunlight streaming behind him like an ornament, making him truly…

She had once had a college friend who’d seen a famously handsome actor up close. Her friend had said that, in that moment, she couldn’t think at all. She’d been completely spellbound.

Having never seen a celebrity in person herself, Jiyeon had only laughed and thought, As if it could be that overwhelming.

She already knew that Vigros was handsome.

But seeing him now, dressed as though he had deliberately gone all out, she couldn’t stop staring.

She had never realized a perfectly tailored suit could look so striking. Draped over his lean, powerful frame, it accentuated the clean lines of his long limbs so flawlessly that Iora had to tear her gaze away with considerable effort.

Today, more than ever, his smile seemed to shine—half icy, half irresistibly alluring.

Iora lightly slapped her own cheek.

‘This is dangerous. Seriously… dangerous.’

When he sat down beside her, she found herself growing a little tense. Not wanting to let him notice, Iora curved her lips into a smile instead. The pleasant fragrance drifting from him must have been his cologne.

A thought suddenly crossed her mind. He had once said that she had a scent. What did that even feel like?

Just then, Vigros rested an arm along the back of the bench and leaned slightly toward her. His hair swayed softly across his forehead, casting a faint shadow over his eyes. His eyelashes were remarkably long and thick. If he closed his eyes, she thought, they would probably look as flawless and delicate as a doll’s.

‘If I brushed them with my fingers… I think they would tickle.’

She felt a little embarrassed. His playful eyes seemed to know exactly where she had been looking. The same went for the smile that gently curved his eyes, like a flower bud slowly blooming. At first, she didn’t think he had smiled so easily. When had this happened? And when had this mastermind of hers started to feel so natural?

“…Ah!”

“Here.”

Ah. Her heart jolted as though it had been caught in a storm.

His expression was serious, and his voice was incredibly low, like chocolate that had melted into a sticky sweetness. The place where Vigros’s finger brushed was where the glass had grazed her.

The memory of that moment flashed before her eyes. The shards of glass that had fallen dizzyingly, the fear she felt then, the memory of death.

But the heart that had trembled with fear slowly grew quiet beneath the finger resting against her cheek. The figure of the Crown Prince who had shielded her, looking at her with a sorrowful expression, briefly passed through her mind as well.

But…

The person in front of her now tickled her cheek, like he was refusing to allow her to think of anyone else.

‘Ah.’

Every time his fingers gently brushed against her, an oddly dizzying sensation shot down her spine. Her shoulders tensed, and her fingers curled inward. Iora bit down on her lips, suppressing the urge to stand up immediately and take a step back.

“Here, right?”

Her heart was incredibly, incredibly loud.

“Um…Vigros?”

“I saw it.”

No one else could have noticed at the time, but one of the shards of glass had grazed Iora’s cheek, leaving behind a small scratch. Iora had immediately used her healing power to erase the wound. She hadn’t wanted to draw unnecessary attention, so even Ovid, who had been right beside her, hadn’t noticed.

“This wound, here. What do you think I felt the moment I saw it?”