Unable to Give Up

Although Ryan didn’t intend to delve deeply into Flora Haggia’s affairs, it was difficult for him to ignore or remain unaffected by the information he already possessed.

Especially since this visit was, in fact, something he had actively pushed for…

So, after saying this as calmly and casually as possible, he couldn’t help but observe Flora Haggia’s expression.

“Miss Arlos… is she Your Highness Ryan’s fiancée?”

The golden-haired girl’s face was devoid of expression, and her voice was unusually calm and flat.

But this was abnormal. In Ryan’s imagination, Flora Haggia should have sparkling eyes, looking curious and eager to hear more gossip.

Her current calmness clearly indicated that she already knew the situation and was intimately familiar with Stella Arlos.

This further confirmed Ryan’s long-held suspicion:

Flora Haggia was likely sent by the Blue Lion heiress to investigate her fiancé in advance, acting as a kind of confidante.

That’s why her identity and name were all fabricated, and why, when using her connections, she was inadvertently exploited by that boy Arnos, used as a smokescreen to interfere with his judgment…

But looking at the outcome, Ryan was very glad to have met Flora Haggia.

The only question was her loyalty to the Blue Lion family.

Considering Flora Haggia’s previous obscurity, Ryan knew that the Blue Lion family’s old habit of being blind to talent had resurfaced.

It was one thing to miss out on that person in the past, but now that a Flora Haggia had finally emerged, they were underutilizing her, only using her for such a foolish task as investigating her fiancé…

Ryan decided to seize the opportunity to win Flora Haggia over to his side.

“That’s right.”

“Did Your Highness Ryan invite Miss Arlos?”

The golden-haired girl seemed to realize her expression had been a little off just now, and quickly, belatedly, put on a curious look.

She was truly quite clumsy.

Ryan couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.

Especially when he thought of the contrast:

Flora Haggia was sharp and diligent in serious matters, but remarkably clumsy and foolish when inexplicably trying to please him, or when telling minor, harmless lies to cover things up…

Ryan found it even more amusing.

“Yes, I thought I should, in any case, properly evaluate my fiancée, so I asked her to come.”

At the same time, Ryan also looked forward to Flora Haggia’s future reactions—he intended to stimulate the golden-haired girl by bringing up the Blue Lion heiress, to understand her attitude towards the Blue Lion family, so he could better poach her later.

So, he showed a somewhat dissatisfied expression and a tone that sounded very casual.

“Your Highness, are you displeased with this engagement?”

Sure enough, the golden-haired girl clearly became more concerned, not even realizing she had spoken somewhat out of turn.

However, Ryan felt no offense at all, as this matter wasn’t something he had decided.

So half of the expression he showed just now was genuine—

“In my eyes, this is nothing more than a political marriage.”

Ryan stared at Flora Haggia, “As for what kind of person Stella Arlos is, I actually don’t have much interest…

ut everything must be experienced before a conclusion can be made, and I also don’t wish for my future wife to be someone who would bring shame to the royal family.”

But he didn’t completely shut down the conversation, giving Flora Haggia enough respect… mm, yes, he was just giving Flora Haggia respect.

The Blue Lion family and the fiancée he had never met… were not worthy of it yet.

Upon hearing his words, the golden-haired girl’s face clearly changed.

“Your Highness, rest assured, I believe Miss Fiancée will definitely not disappoint you!”

At first glance, this seemed like the golden-haired girl’s usual unfounded encouragement, merely meant to cheer someone up.

But if one wasn’t familiar with her, it would be impossible for her eyes to be as firm and convinced as they were now.

Considering the golden-haired girl’s consistent behavior, even Ryan couldn’t help but feel a slight expectation for the fiancée he had never met.

At least, for Flora Haggia’s sake, he wanted to offer the other party a small convenience.

“Then when she arrives, you will personally attend to her and observe her situation.”

Although Ryan had decided to trust those around him… first, they had to be trustworthy.

Not to mention, this was a matter of marriage.

Ryan didn’t want to casually bring a dangerous individual home… that old man had made arrangements, but if Ryan didn’t want to marry, all those arranged marriages and engagements were just nonsense.

So, no matter what, one or two ordinary inspections and tests were unavoidable.

Ryan wouldn’t send only Flora Haggia to investigate, but Flora Haggia as one of the judges who knew the inside story… this could already be considered a backdoor privilege; he had no intention of making further concessions.

“I will definitely work hard!”

The golden-haired girl also didn’t ask for more, displaying her usual enthusiastic demeanor.

“Then it’s settled. Do you have anything else?”

“It’s like this, I think the mansion could hire some male servants.

Some heavy lifting and tasks are not very convenient for girls to do…”

Flora Haggia immediately entered work mode, seemingly completely unaffected by the previous conversation.

Ryan felt even more satisfied.

An hour later.

After finishing the remaining work and returning to her room, Flora Haggia couldn’t help but let out a heavy sigh.

She had almost, just barely, asked Ryan why he wouldn’t dissolve his engagement with Stella.

But that was wrong.

She couldn’t do that.

It wasn’t that Flora Haggia had forgotten her goal of breaking the engagement.

It was that the Blue Lion family could no longer withstand any more turmoil.

This engagement was, in fact, an act of grace from His Majesty, recalling the Blue Lion family’s past merits.

The Blue Lion family could not refuse, nor could they offer any opinions.

Even if the Crown Prince’s side proposed dissolving the engagement, it had to be reasonable and justifiable.

At least it couldn’t be perceived as the fault of the Blue Lion family or Stella.

So, what Flora Haggia truly needed to do was to make Ryan break off the engagement for her.

And she had to be known to the world as the wicked woman who had seduced the Crown Prince.

She had to be publicly condemned and cursed.

Only then would people not blame Stella and the Blue Lion family.

In fact, they would even sympathize with them.

The most ideal scenario was that after the engagement was dissolved, the Emperor would feel even more guilty and compensate the Blue Lion family again…

No, not ideal.

It had to be achieved.

Flora Haggia wanted to do that much for them.

Now, she also wanted to accomplish one more thing.

That was, only she would be the wicked woman.

Ryan would be innocent.

In fact, Ryan would become better and better after she left.

All the bad things Ryan had done before were because of her.

Mm, she knew this wasn’t very logical, considering she had only arrived recently.

But rumors typically didn’t care much for logic or facts.

As long as she was the villain, the evil one, people would naturally heap all the blame on her.

This was what she, the deceiver, deserved…

Therefore, when Stella arrived tomorrow, she not only couldn’t cause trouble, but she also had to help the other party leave a decent impression on Ryan.

And in the future, she would have to surpass the well-regarded Stella in Ryan’s heart…

Just thinking about it made it seem difficult.

But she would not give up.

She had no right to give up.