Chapter 118
Kalian opened his eyes, which felt as if they had been closed for an eternity. As he pushed up the heavy, sunken eyelids, bright light scattered through the narrow gap like a cascade.
Frowning against the glare, he glanced around. Above his head, an ornate chandelier sparkled, emitting radiant light.
Was this blinding brightness due to that illumination? Kalian pondered blankly before lowering his gaze.
And there, he discovered the reason his eyes ached so profoundly. Right in front of him stood an adorable girl, shining brighter than the chandelier’s crystals.
For some reason, she seemed deeply vexed, glaring at Kalian with wide eyes. Her tiny fists, clenched tightly, were turning stark white, suggesting it was no trivial matter.
Kalian stared at them intently for a moment, then gently took hold of the hand where nail marks were about to form.
“Angela…”
He called the girl’s name aimlessly.
At that, Angela’s fiercely distorted eyes crumbled in an instant. Like a taut string snapping, her expression turned blank as she stared at Kalian.
“I’m sorry.”
Kalian apologized blindly, without even knowing why she was angry. He was well aware that he had only inflicted wounds on Angela during the time when she could still be called a girl.
Ever since realizing that, he had longed to do this. If he could go back in time, he would dedicate every moment to begging her forgiveness and cherishing her.
So, if this was a dream granting him that chance, Kalian wanted to seize it with all his might.
“I truly did wrong.”
“…Don’t do it again.”
Forgiveness came easily. Perhaps flustered by the unexpected apology, Angela mumbled through hesitant lips before speaking primly. Then she immediately turned and began walking away swiftly.
It was a flustered demeanor, unlike the Angela who taught that nobles favored an air of leisure and valued slowness. Kalian muffled his footsteps to avoid detection and followed behind her.
Angela’s path led to the secluded rear garden of the estate. Stopping in front of a fairly large fountain, she took a deep breath in and out, then pressed her palms firmly over her eyelids, which had swollen red.
When her eyes, hidden for so long, were revealed to the world again, Angela had erased the tearful girl from her face. For emotion control in a child just over ten, it was excessively neat. It looked as familiar as if she had repeated it hundreds of times.
And she probably had. Hundreds? What of it—it could have been thousands. Unlike her appearance, Angela was accustomed to silence and endurance.
She seemed to say everything, yet never uttered the important stories; she appeared to tolerate nothing, yet she endured the truly unreasonable situations she shouldn’t have. That’s how she had grown up.
Unable to bear the surging emotions, Kalian revealed himself before Angela. At the rustling sound of grass underfoot, her head turned toward him. Her eyes widened in an instant.
“What is this? Following a lady without seeking consent. I must have taught you poorly.”
But only for a fleeting moment. As if it had never happened, she cleanly concealed her surprise and rebuked Kalian.
“Should I tie you up in front of the servants and have you whipped to ensure you never do this again?”
Of course, it was futile. To Kalian’s ears, now knowing Angela as well as he did, no words sounded as harsh as before.
In the past he had traversed, he couldn’t understand why she uttered such things, but now it was different. Angela’s words and actions all fell within the realm of the comprehensible.
“I was worried that I might have hurt your feelings, so my feet followed you on their own. Please forgive me.”
Kalian observed Angela’s pupils swaying at his single remark, staring intently without averting his gaze from those trembling orbs of disbelief. Until those eyes hid their emotions as if nothing were amiss.
“That’s what they call unnecessary worry.”
Angela spoke indifferently and took a seat on the edge of the fountain. Her fingers moved softly, tracing paths over the water’s surface.
After parting the water like that for a while, Angela flicked her hand—dangling with droplets—sharply toward Kalian. It was a playful gesture.
Kalian wiped the droplets from his cheek and looked at her. She was smiling brightly, just as she had when he first met her. Joyfully, as if she couldn’t endure without smiling.
“Kalian, come here.”
Angela kicked off her perfectly fitted shoes and dipped her feet into the fountain, beckoning him. Kalian moved as she wished. Following her lead, he tossed aside his heavy boots and submerged his feet in the cool water.
The floating dress must have been uncomfortable, yet Angela giggled as if even that were amusing, continuing to gesture for Kalian to come closer.
As Kalian waded through the tickling water toward her, Angela scooped up handfuls and splashed them at him.
With Kalian standing there, drenched to the head and blinking blankly, Angela burst into laughter and plunged her whole body into the water, falling backward with a splash.
“It’s refreshing.”
Startled, Kalian had reached out to grab her, but upon hearing her contented murmur, he relaxed and withdrew his hand.
It was some time later that Angela, floating on the water while gazing at the clear blue sky, called to Kalian.
“Kalian.”
By then, she had raised herself from the water and was sitting on the fountain’s rim, sweeping back her wet hair.
“Yes, Angela.”
Kalian replied immediately. At the same time, the green eyes nestled delicately beneath her water-soaked lashes turned toward him.
It must be because they were wet. Kalian thought Angela looked just like she was crying. He wanted to wipe the moisture from her slender face. That way, he could know for sure.
But as Kalian extended his hand toward her cheek, Angela first wiped her droplet-laden eyes with the back of her hand. Her cleared eyes gazed at him once more.
“Why did you call me?”
Kalian asked, feeling inexplicably anxious for some reason.
“I just called you.”
Angela gave a nonchalant reply. Then she prepared to step out of the fountain. Her small hands gathered the heavy, water-soaked dress.
“…That’s a lie.”
Kalian muttered without realizing it. It was an impulsive remark. Still, he had no intention of taking it back. He approached Angela, who had stopped what she was doing and was looking at him.
“You have something you want to say. Please say it.”
Angela stared at Kalian with eyes that seemed to have forgotten to blink. Kalian met those eyes directly and said,
“I won’t leave this place until I hear it.”
It was practically a threat. Even so, it was a threat that wouldn’t work unless the other person was precious to her. But for Angela, how could Kalian not be?
“Even if it’s fine now, the water will get cold once the sun sets.”
Angela pointed out curtly, feigning indifference. Yet when Kalian stubbornly persisted, she acted like she was scolding a child.
“Come out now. If you catch a cold, you’ll be bedridden for a week. How much do you plan to trouble me?”
Kalian drew a little closer to Angela, who was phrasing her offer to nurse him personally in such a roundabout way. Careful not to splash water, he knelt before her.
Looking straight up at her, Angela bit her lip firmly and released it, wearing a displeased expression. She disliked that Kalian’s body was now completely submerged in water.
“Stubborn fool. I must have spoiled you wrongly.”
Angela, who had been glaring, picked at the hangnail around a nail that hadn’t even risen, before finally opening her mouth as if she had no choice.
“Even if you hate seeing me… don’t run away to the battlefield. It’s dangerous.”
Ah…
Only upon hearing those words did Kalian recall what he had said to Angela. The past painted a vivid picture in his mind.
‘You volunteered for this campaign? Why? The training commander said you needed more education, so why…’
He had coldly dismissed Angela, who asked with a pallid face.
‘I thought it would be better than staying and seeing you wield the whip at all hours, Lady Angela.’
‘What…?’
‘I figured wandering the battlefield would be more peaceful than being by your side.’
‘……’
‘Being around you is tormenting. Please let me go.’
Kalian covered his own lips. Even after hearing such words, Angela had been thinking this. That it was… dangerous.
Learning the inner thoughts he hadn’t heard in the past, Kalian pressed his lips to Angela’s knee. The chill emanating from the wet dress transferred fully to his lips, filling him with sorrow. Who was worrying about whose cold?
Kalian tightly closed his eyes, now damp with undeserved tears. A tender touch from Angela landed on the crown of his head. How much time passed like that?
“Kalian?”
The voice calling him had suddenly matured. Kalian jerked his head up. Angela, veiled and clad in a pure white dress, was looking down at him.
“How long are you going to stay like that?”
At her whispering voice, he looked around. Everywhere he turned, the ceremony was in full swing. It seemed he had just knelt and slipped the ring onto Angela’s hand moments ago.
Kalian stared at the sparkling ring atop the white glove, then slowly rose to his feet. Following the order of the ceremony, he gently and slowly lifted the veil Angela wore, folding it back.
A breathtakingly beautiful face, one that would elicit admiration no matter how many lifetimes he saw it, revealed itself before him. A face whiter than the white dress, shining even more beneath it. Kalian examined that face meticulously, leaving no gap unexplored.
A voice urged him to perform the vow’s kiss, but he needed to confirm something more important. It’s not there… It’s gone.
“Kalian, why do you keep zoning out? Aren’t you going to give the vow’s kiss?”
Angela prompted softly. That shadow always cast over Angela wasn’t visible in her voice either.
“Or do you not want to marry me?”
Though Angela asked that, she showed no sign of genuine worry. She trusted Kalian’s feelings without a shred of doubt.
Kalian’s heart pounded. He caressed her unblemished, clear cheeks with both hands. Overwhelmed with emotion, as he gazed endlessly at Angela, she—unable to wait any longer—rose on her tiptoes and captured his lips.
Only then did Kalian belatedly embrace her waist and deepen the kiss. The soft sensation was vivid.
He had thought it was all a dream, but something this clear couldn’t be. This place must be reality. That other side was surely the cruel dream instead. God must have shown it to him on purpose. To protect Angela preciously.
Having finished the vow’s kiss, Kalian tenderly stroked Angela’s face. He examined it once more in detail, just in case there were hidden wounds, but she was still beaming with a radiant smile.
“Kalian, I love you.”
Angela whispered the words Kalian had wanted to say first. Enchanted by her murmuring lips’ shape, as he kissed her again, laughter echoed around them—the Earl of Florence chuckling pleasantly, saying the Bilton young lady was so fond she didn’t know what to do with herself.
It was Kalian’s turn to confess his love. The moment he opened his mouth to return the affection Angela had given him.
“Your Excellency! What are you doing! Snap out of it!”
A familiar voice scolded harshly, piercing his eardrums like a stab. Kalian shifted his gaze from the entranced view of Angela, searching here and there for the voice’s owner.
