When I looked up in surprise, I found that he was smiling a little at me. I wondered how he could read my mind when I realized that I had instinctively placed my hands on my stomach. Quickly, I yanked my hand away from my own belly. He’s getting it all wrong…but I don’t know how to tell him…It would be weird for me to tell him that I actually don’t want to get with child, right? I mean, I am supposed to be working hard to make a baby with Ren…and perhaps we are actually doing that…but…“Umm…” I said, not knowing what to say. “Oh…sorry if I embarrassed you. Please forgive me, My Lady. You just looked so worried that I thought…” the doctor apologized rapidly. “Oh no, that’s alright. You are right. I am a little worried about…conceiving…” I replied before offering him a tight smile. “Well, I am sure that there’s a lot of pressure on you. Please try not to stress and get enough rest. Stress can make it hard for you to get with child,” the doctor advised. I guess, I couldn’t ask him

I shook my head from side to side as I realized that I had gotten ahead of myself. Somehow, my mind had already assumed that Ren would allow me to go and that he would come along with me. That was clearly wistful thinking. It would delight me beyond description if we could go to the festival together, but I knew that the possibility of that happening was probably very slim. When I was about to arrive at my room, to my surprise, I ran into Ren. He didn’t send a message to me to tell me that he would be coming by, so I wasn’t expecting to see him tonight. “Rin, you’re back,” Ren greeted me as he came to my side and put an arm around my waist. “Yeah...I just got back. Were you waiting long?” I asked. “No, I just got here,” Ren replied. “I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight. You should have sent word in advance if you were going to drop by…” I said, sounding a little worried. “I wanted to surprise you,” Ren said with a small laugh. “Well, it worked. I am pleasantly surprised,” I a

“That’s to be expected. This festival was designed to bring in food, clothes, art, performance and various other things from many cities across the empire. So, it’s normal if you don’t know them all,” Ren replied casually. “Do you know them all?” I asked curiously. “No…but I do know most of them,” Ren replied with a grin. “Tell me…please…” I pleaded as I smiled sweetly at him. We walked around hand in hand and Ren pointed out and explained the various dishes to me. For a while, we forgot about buying anything to eat. Ren was busy explaining things to me, and I was busy listening to him. We walked around like that for a while until we almost reached the end of the first row of food stalls. Seeing that it would take forever for Ren to explain everything to me, I suggested that he recommend some food to me instead so that we could buy some and start eating. “This is so good. The flavor of these spices is so unique, I’ve never eaten anything like this before,” I complimented as I sta

There was no one here who could help him look for Rin and going back to the palace to bring a search party would take too much time. If he asked for help and his or her identity is revealed, she could be in even more danger from thieves and the like. He had no option but to go search for Rin himself. The biggest question was where to look. Ren looked down the path that the crowd seemed to have travel. If Rin was swept up by the crowd, then she probably went that way, he thought before he began running at full speed down the path. The path was quite clear of people now as most people had already left. Running past a couple of men, Ren paused and asked them if they had seen a woman that resembled Rin. “Sorry, we’re not sure…” the man replied, shaking his head. “Thank you…” Ren thanked them softly. It wasn’t like he was expecting any leads. Rin was dressed up well enough, but she still looked just like any more well-off commoner. There was nothing on her that would be memorable to a

Ren didn’t say a word to me, and I didn’t dare to start a conversation with him. That meant that the whole ride back to the palace past by in silence. I couldn’t understand why Ren was so angry all of a sudden and I wasn’t sure if I had the courage to find out. What I knew for sure was that I would find out when we got back to the palace…It was completely dark by the time we arrived back at the palace. Without saying a word to me, Ren took me to his palace. To my surprise, a worried-looking Shin was waiting for us when we arrived back. It seemed as if he had been waiting for us there for a while. “You’re back later than I thought. I heard there was some trouble at the festival…” Shin said, clearly worried. The news regarding the incident with the horse must have reached the palace. It wasn’t surprising, considering that the festival was a big one and so many people attended. I figured that Ren must have told Shin that we would be going. Ren was silent and didn’t answer Shin’s que