"Don't be anxious first." Claire stabilized Irene's mood first, and then continued to ask, "What happened?"
"I..." Irene opened his mouth, not knowing where to start for a moment, and suddenly he looked anxious and about to cry.
"No hurry, no rush." Claire slowly stroked the other person's head and comforted him.
After a few minutes, Irene finally spoke.
"My father is dead..."
After hearing the news, Claire was even more shocked than he had just been proposed to by Irene.
He did not receive this news at all. Claire had asked Regan to cultivate Nafu City's intelligence network a long time ago. Claire would read the latest news about the kingdom whenever he had time. But these days, he has been idle in Nafu City and has not heard any news about this.
Moreover, Shane did not notify him, which means that the death of Norris is still limited to the high-level circles of the kingdom. Otherwise, it would be impossible for Shane not to notify him after knowing about such a big matter.
Indeed, as Claire guessed, the news of Norris's death was blocked. Whether it is to calm the people's hearts or to prevent enemy countries from taking advantage of the situation, the news of Norris's death cannot be spread out casually. We have to wait until everything is settled before the news can be announced. For example, Charlie and Second Princess below actually have only a little knowledge of this matter.
But Irene was different. She was the first to get the news besides the seven people Merlin. Because Norris was playing with her at that time, but the next second he suddenly bled to death from all his orifices. The scene made her wake up from nightmares several times.
After Norris died, Irene was in a daze for the next few days. She couldn't believe that her father, who loved her so much in the past and had such a healthy body, would die in front of her like this.
On the third day after Norris died, First Prince and Second Prince, who were originally located in Blazing Flame Plane, also returned to the royal capital and began to recruit high-level nobles in the royal capital, intentionally or unintentionally testing the throne. Norris was in the prime of life, and his death was so sudden that he did not leave any intention to appoint someone to succeed the throne.
Although First Prince changed its name to make sense, Second Prince is much better than First Prince in many aspects. During the overt and covert fighting between the two sides, Irene also recovered from his trance.
Irene lost Norris and fell into confusion. The only support he could find was Claire. Although they had not known each other for a long time, Irene had great trust in Claire.
"Is Norris dead?" Claire was still a little unbelievable.
Irene felt depressed again when he thought of this, and nodded slightly, "My father died in front of me..."
"My condolences." Claire comforted softly. Although his relationship with Norris was not very good, he had a good relationship with Ellie, and it was impossible to say anything unpleasant in front of others.
"My eldest brother or second brother will succeed me later... I am no longer Princess." Irene said in despair, "Are you still willing to marry me?"
Irene was like a helpless little white rabbit when he said this, and his tone couldn't help but become humble. After Norris died, Irene felt that she had no support, and her life suddenly became confused. It can be said that she suddenly grew up overnight. In the past, when she was Princess, she could still be leisurely because she knew that she still had a father who pampered her.
But if she loses her title Princess, can she have anything else to attract Claire?
Irene actually had a bad relationship with First Prince and Second Prince. When she was born, Norris had already sent the two princes away. They only get to meet each other on some major festivals. Other than that, they rarely have the chance to meet each other throughout the year. To each other, they are just blood strangers.
Therefore, no matter who succeeds next, First Prince or Second Prince, it is impossible to be as friendly to Irene as when Norris was around. After succeeding to the throne, Irene will be married off as a marriage tool.
So, after losing Norris, Irene, who suddenly grew up overnight, fell into confusion while suffering the pain of losing her father. She didn't know how to make a choice, and she didn't know what choices she could make. She didn't want to be married off like this, but she didn't know what she could do.
When he was the most helpless and desperate, Irene could only think of Claire.
She struggled for a long time during that time. She liked Claire, so she didn't want her appearance to be seen by the other party. She felt that she was dragging him down by looking for Claire. She hoped that she could bring help to Claire instead of being a burden. Moreover, it is impossible for Claire to stop the order issued by the new King who succeeded to the throne.
But she was just a ten-year-old child. In the end, she couldn't bear the despair and confusion that kept pouring out of her heart, so she still picked up a pen and wrote a letter to Claire.
During the days of waiting for Claire, Irene kept telling herself to be strong when she saw Claire. But after seeing Claire and Claire's gentle actions towards her, Irene also broke her guard. She was just a teenage girl. She couldn't afford these things to happen to her.
"Marry me." Irene lowered his head and cried again, "I don't want to be married to anyone else. If I marry you in advance, they won't be able to force me. Although I am no longer Princess, I can do anything, and even those who don't know how can learn..."
"Don't say such things." Claire looked at Irene's appearance and sighed, "Whether or not you are Princess has nothing to do with me dating you. Even if you are not Princess, it will not affect our relationship."
Claire touched the other party's head and said softly, "And girls can't marry so carelessly. I don't want you to want to get married because of these things. You should regard marriage as a way to solve something or a way to escape from something. Marriage is a very sacred thing."
"But you should listen to your inner voice. Don't get married just for the sake of getting married. Instead, find someone you like. After you decide it's him, you can get married. Do you understand?" Claire This is not a polite rejection of the other party, but a way to understand the other party. What he said is from the bottom of his heart.
"But I like you!" Irene now no longer wanted to hide his thoughts like before.
"I know you have a crush on me, but not now. Wait until this matter has passed and you can tell me after you think about it seriously."
Claire continued, "Don't worry, as long as I'm here, nothing will happen. If you feel uncomfortable staying in the capital, you can also move to Nafu City. As long as you don't want to, no one can force you to do something you don't want to do."
Hearing Claire's assurance, Irene instantly felt at ease. This was the most peaceful moment for her in these days.
After comforting Irene, Claire said, "Okay, you see you have lost a lot of weight now. You haven't eaten well for a long time."
"I'll go down below and make something for you to eat, otherwise you'll be starving."
"Yeah." Irene nodded his head gently.
Good morning everyone, it's time for me to have a good night! sleepzzz