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“B-by the way, Lionel, you must travel around a lot doing merchant work, right? Have you been to areas around here before?”
I quickly asked to change the subject.
Lionel looked at me again and answered.
“Ah, yes! Since our merchant group is quite large, we have branches throughout the empire. Especially in the west, there’s a large sea and trading ports, so we visit there quite frequently.”
Riette showed curiosity and responded.
“What’s the atmosphere like? Is it very different from the eastern regions?”
“From what I’ve felt, it was quite different. I think it’s because you see many exotic people, and the air is different due to the seaside. Oh! Which region is the villa of that noble gentleman who is the young lady’s lover located in?”
When the topic related to Gareth came up, Riette suddenly smiled shyly. She seemed happy just from being referred to as his “lover.”
When you truly like someone, do cute reactions like that unconsciously come out?
“Resh’s villa is in Bersha, I heard.”
“Bersha! The villa must be near the sea then. There would be a lot of sea scent. I think it’s a suitable place to fully experience the western region’s atmosphere.”
“Really? Lionel has been to Bersha too.”
“Yes! It was a very beautiful and nice place.”
Then Cedric, who had been looking out the opposite window with an indifferent face, looked at Riette.
“You two are already calling each other by pet names?”
“Ah, yeah.”
“When are you getting married?”
Oh. That’s exactly the kind of line Riette’s parents would say. Of course, I was also very curious about that part internally, so I quietly waited for her answer.
“Haha, this guy really.”
Riette, who had turned red, waved her hands gently.
“I think it’ll be soon. Our parents already know about our relationship, and they gladly gave permission saying we’re good matches for each other.”
Soon…
So that’s how it’s going to be.
Well. I think I heard in passing that Gareth is also a dominant alpha. Since it’s a union between a dominant alpha and dominant omega, the parents would have had no reason to oppose it at all.
From any perspective, they were an extremely well-matched couple and it was clearly a marriage that would proceed smoothly.
Cedric made a “hmm” sound, stretching it out, showing a response that made it hard to tell what he was thinking. I glanced at him briefly, then turned my gaze back out the window.
Hearing about the marriage made my heart feel complicated.
“……”
Although free love has increased in noble society recently, most of it is still ‘romance with marriage in mind’…
If I were to date Cedric, I wouldn’t be able to avoid considering marriage either.
There would be several problems that would arise at that time…
It still feels like something far in the future to think about. So I pushed the faint anxiety that was rising to a corner of my chest.
Not long after, the carriage stopped at the entrance of the Leonhardt family’s mansion. We joined up with the merchant group uncles who had been following in the back carriage.
Gareth, who had already come out to meet Riette, ran over in one stride as soon as he saw her getting out of the carriage.
“Oh, my Lili! I missed you!”
He performed all sorts of affectionate acts with Riette, making us their supporting cast, then said he would guide us to the villa and asked us to get back in the carriage. So we moved a bit more under Gareth’s guidance.
The villa we arrived at was in a place where you could see the western sea at a glance, and it looked very good for enjoying a vacation.
“Wow…”
When I went up to the room with Lionel and opened the wide window, the sea scent mixed with saltiness and a faint fishy smell wafted in. A humid wind was blowing from the sea, but it wasn’t unpleasant and felt good, more than I expected.
“It’s a nice place, right?”
“It is.”
“Oh, right. Come to think of it, young master.”
“Yeah?”
“There’s something I need to tell you…”
Just when Lionel seemed to have remembered something and was about to speak, I heard Cedric’s voice calling my name from the corridor.
“Eddie.”
When I turned around, he was peeking into the room.
“Yeah? What is it?”
“How about going to see the sea?”
“Ah, sounds good. Let’s go.”
I patted Lionel’s shoulder and went out to the corridor. He seemed to have something to say, but that could wait until later.
Lionel seemed to think the same way and followed behind without complaint. When the three of us went down to the lobby together, we could see Gareth and Riette being lovey-dovey.
I was certain they were the most lovey-dovey couple among all the free-love couples I’d seen so far.
‘…Could they really be that happy?’
Like they’d go crazy if they didn’t see each other for even a moment?
The two seemed to continuously confirm their love by hugging each other, touching hands, and making eye contact. The actions that could be done because of love were naturally coming out between them.
…Then could I do something like that with Cedric?
My gaze went to Cedric. When our eyes met, he slightly curved his eyes and stroked my head with his fingertips as if scratching it.
“What?”
I stared intently at that face, then somehow my cheeks felt warm so I withdrew my gaze.
“It’s nothing.”
Soon Riette and Gareth also seemed to notice our presence and welcomed us. Suddenly, Lionel, who had quietly followed us down, butted in at an appropriate timing and said.
“Oh! Come to think of it, I had something to discuss with other companions! Um, I’m sorry, but would the four of you mind going and having fun? Cedric, young master, may I entrust our young master to you?”
His voice had a strangely theatrical tone which was odd, but I just went with it. Anyway, we probably wouldn’t encounter any unpleasant incidents having come this far. It seemed like Lionel, who had worked hard escorting and following us, deserved to rest.
Cedric also nodded.
I waved my hand at Lionel.
“Then we’ll be back. Rest up.”
“Yes, have fun.”
Leaving behind Lionel who was seeing us off, we went straight down to the village of Bersha.
The village was bustling from the entrance. Although Bersha didn’t have a trading port, perhaps because it was nearby, there were very many people with exotic appearances lined up, just as Lionel had said.
Gareth, who was walking ahead, opened a parasol and put it over Riette’s head. Cedric, who had been quietly watching this, said.
“Should we split into two? We don’t need to go around together.”
I thought there was no need to split into two teams since we were all going to see the sea anyway, but now I knew his intention was to be alone with me, so I played dumb.
“Should we? Then we’ll have some fun just the two of us.”
Riette, who must have caught on to Cedric’s true feelings, quickly accepted the proposal. Soon the two of them headed off in a different direction, perhaps wanting to look around the area more before going to see the sea.
Cedric muttered indifferently.
“Now that we’re away from those two, I feel so refreshed.”
It seems it was hard for him to watch them.
“Haha…”
“Let’s go too.”
“Yeah.”
So I walked down the hill with just Cedric. When we came out of the village alley, we began to see the sea little by little.
“Wow. Look at the color of the sea.”
“What about the color?”
“Ah, near our villa it’s closer to green, but here it’s a deep blue.”
Come to think of it… when we went to the villa together last time, we had decided to see the sea together, but in the end we didn’t get to see what we wanted to see. As if having the same thought, Cedric also brought up that incident.
“We’re seeing here what we decided to see together last time.”
I smiled awkwardly.
“…Should we go again next time?”
“Will you stay with me until the end that time?”
“Yeah.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
When Cedric held out his hand, I took it and shook hands. It was a gesture meaning we were making a promise. Then he looked at me and smiled. I didn’t know where to look for no reason, so I shifted my gaze forward.
I felt somehow excited and let out a chuckle.
Not long after, a wide beach spread out before us as we completely exited the village.
I took a big breath while smelling the sea scent blowing over. I moved my steps following Cedric, who had started walking first.
On the beach, there were quite a few people standing with someone and looking at the sea or walking and strolling.
“The sea breeze is nice.”
“Right?”
“Yeah. The sea is pretty too. I think it looks even prettier because it’s the first sea I’m seeing with you.”
“……”
Cedric was gazing at the sea with his gaze cast far away. I stared intently at his profile, then glanced around casually.
Although there were people scattered here and there on the beach, they were all far from us, so it seemed like there would be no watching eyes no matter what we did here.
‘What I couldn’t do this morning…’
Having decided to be brave, I hesitantly reached out my hand and hooked my finger on his finger. Soon Cedric, who had paused, looked at me.
From that moment, my heart started pounding like lightning striking.
“…Um, you know.”
“…Yeah?”
“Do you want to… kiss?”
Ah. Should there have been more flowery words? I was nervous so it just popped out.
Or should I have just approached him while setting the mood first? Feeling like my clumsiness had been exposed, my face heated up like it might explode. Just when I suddenly wanted to cancel all my statements and was turning my face forward—
A shadow fell over my eyes.
Right after, something soft touched my lips.
In that moment, I couldn’t feel the sea breeze that had been constantly blowing, the sound of lapping waves, the remnants of sunlight… nothing at all, and I could only focus on the breath resting on my lips.
NOTES:Â
“Lili” – Pet name for Riette used by Gareth
“Resh” – Pet name for Gareth used by Riette
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
