Kristina didn’t reply immediately. She quickly grabbed hold of her lips, which had just been about to part unconsciously, and she struggled to maintain her expression. She didn’t know what kind of expression she might make if she lost hold of herself, but she didn’t want to know either, and she also didn’t want to show that kind of expression to anyone.

“...Ah, now that you mention it, you seem to have acquired a new accessory,” Kristina replied as if she hadn’t been paying any attention to it and had just now noticed its existence.

Hiding her true feelings behind a well-practiced expression was something that Kristina was familiar with.

She finally took a good look at Eugene’s finger and said with a bright smile, “It’s on the ring finger of your left hand. Could it be that you’ve gotten engaged to someone? It’s not uncommon to do so among members of the nobility, and you aren’t too young either. However, if Eugene Lionheart were to have been engaged to someone, then surely rumors would have spread….”

Kristina said all this in a gentle tone of voice. As the train set off with a rumble, Mer immediately put both of her hands on the window and stuck her face to the glass.

As the carriage gently shook, Kristina continued speaking, “Ah, could it be, was the engagement itself meant to be a secret? Indeed, I have heard that among nobles, engagements are often polluted with political intentions and that it is easy for engagements to be broken due to changes in the positions and situations of both families. However, no matter what the case may be, being labeled as someone who broke their engagement won’t be of much benefit to either party.”

Kristina had a bright smile that hid the direction of her gaze. However, Eugene was able to tell that those blue eyes behind her thick lashes were obviously staring at his fingers.

“That’s why you must have kept the secret so tightly,” Kristina continued. “Of course, seeing as how they’re so careful of their reputation, they are sure to be a high-ranking aristocratic family, and for them to secure an engagement to someone like you, Sir Eugene, whose stock price is rising by the day… they must be a family whose reputation equals or even exceeds that of the Lionheart clan, right? Could it be that you have entered a betrothal contract with royalty?”

Eugene just smirked instead of replying. Kristina really didn’t like the look of that smile. His expression was definitely meant to annoy her. She just couldn’t understand why Eugene was using the matter of his ring to tease her.

No, he wasn’t someone that she could even try to understand in the first place. In Samar, Kristina had been made painfully aware of the fact that Eugene Lionheart wasn’t the kind of person that could be understood rationally. He was someone so incredibly violent, shameless, irritating, and childish that it was impossible to believe that he was the descendant of the prestigious Lionheart clan and a Hero chosen by the God of Light.

“I can’t help but think that the timing of this engagement is a bit too perfect. Right after we parted ways, you won your duel in Aroth against the Green...