021. Heavy rain
“Have you ever heard that?”
“What are you saying...?”
Emilia could barely answer back.
“The waltz is a man’s dance.”
With those words, Hardius began to move without warning.
Emilia moved as if she were being drawn to a magnet. He simply placed a hand on her shoulder, but Emilia followed him as if she were tightly bound by an invisible string.
Everything fit together so perfectly. When he moved to the left, her legs turned to the left, and when he turned, Emilia turned to him.
“You just have to stay still.”
A wet, soaking voice runs down her spine.
“You don’t have to do anything.”
“I’ve been learning this stuff since I was five. I’ve always done it perfectly.”
The slow steps gradually became faster.
It was a strange thing. All she could hear was the sound of waves and wind, but Emilia was immersed in the music with her whole body.
The force applied to the hand that was touching shifted the center of gravity in the opposite direction. Emilia's body tilted. She thought she was going to fall, but the next moment, Emilia found her body spinning around.
As she was about to fall, his hands wrapped around her waist again.
Unlike Hardius, who was gaining strength, Emilia's legs kept losing strength. Her whole body was shaking, and it was hard for her to stand. Still, she moved diligently. She was guided by the eyes and hands of the man who had become so unfamiliar that it was scary.
"It's hard?"
"... It's okay."
Emilia barely managed to answer. She let go of all the tension she had left and just surrendered herself to him.
Hadius grabbed her slender body as if he had been waiting for it. Her chest and thighs were crushed miserably, awakening her desire.
Emilia closed her eyes without realizing it.
Then, the endless waves rolling in, the soft sand underfoot, and the cool breeze blowing became darker and clearer.
She's happy.
Surprisingly, she felt 'happy'.
To rely on. To let go of the tension in her body that had been hunched over and strained, and to completely surrender herself to someone. The act she had been so wary of since her father passed away felt awfully sweet.
Emilia knew that it was a fleeting happiness, so she didn't resist any longer.
The five years had trained her well, and she was now confident that she would not waver.
Don't forget. It's over anyway. The engagement is broken.
Emilia thought about that and slowly returned the senses that had been left to soar high into the sky to their original place. As if waiting, something cold fell on her cheek.
“?”
Emilia opened her eyes. Another drop of water splashed onto her face.
“It’s raining...”
The steps that seemed to go on endlessly suddenly stopped. To prevent inertia from causing Emilia to fall, Hardius supported her waist firmly.
Knock... Knock... Thump... Thump, thump...
The intermittent raindrops suddenly turned into a downpour.
"Ah!"
The moment Emilia screamed sharply, the sky flashed and lightning struck. Then, the sound of thunder rumbled throughout the land, engulfing everything.
The sky turned dark and poured raindrops down on the two people's faces.
The two people who were staring at each other with surprised faces burst into laughter without saying who would be the first.
That man... laughed... me...
Before she could even think about that shocking fact, the rain began to pour down like a waterfall.
"Let's go!"
Emilia, who was trying to run as fast as she could, stopped before she could take a single step. Hardius had grabbed her wrist. He took off his frock coat and put it over Emilia’s head.
The man's pure white shirt became soaking wet in an instant.
Emilia ran after Hardius like crazy. Her heart was pounding as if it was going to burst out of her chest.
He didn't just cover her with clothes. He covered her with his faint body odor. The memory of her wrist being grabbed made her vision dizzy, and her body trembled. Het legs kept losing strength.
Just as she was leaving the sandy area and entering the forest path, Emilia stumbled violently. She had stumbled while trying to avoid a puddle of water.
Hardius caught the body that was about to fall over.
"Are you okay?"
"...yes..."
Her elbow, held by a man's hand, feels so hot.
"...Thank you."
Emilia tried to fall quickly.
But he didn't let go. The man's arms stretched out like spiderwebs and hugged her small shoulders tightly.
“Ah, yes...”
“Go ahead.”
Hardius walked diligently without even pretending to listen. It was different from when he was dancing. The unnecessary contact suffocated Emilia.
Shoulders, sides, and thighs.
Sparks flew from every part of her body that brushed against the man, sending her into a strange shock.
Walking in the heavy rain wasn't easy. Her hair and clothes were sticky, and it was hard to see what was in front of her. The cold air was coming, and she was gradually shivering.
Hardius suddenly stopped walking. He looked worriedly at the breath that was continuously flowing out of Emilia's mouth, then raised his head and stared straight ahead.
He was trying to figure out how long it would take to get home.
Suddenly, a thought crossed Emilia's mind. She quickly grabbed one side of his shirt.
“Over there, there’s a place to avoid the rain!”
At the end of the path, she pointed to a small barn.
She thought he would be happy, but strangely, Hardius hesitated.
Perhaps it was because Emilia was ignorant of the intimate relationships between men and women. She did not understand the man's hesitation at all.
“It’s used as a barn, but it’s perfect for avoiding the rain!”
Emilia shouted very loudly and clearly, and Hardius just looked down at her for a long time.
The troubled pupils wandered aimlessly across the innocent face, stopping at the lips that were turning pale. Only then did Hardius turn in the direction she was pointing.
It was a small, old, cramped barn. Emilia jumped under the eaves, quickly pulled herself away from him, and handed him his coat.
“Thank you, my lord.”
As soon as he entered, he groped around in the darkness and lit the lamp. In the dimly lit interior, Hardius looked around in silence.
Nothing is missing, from haystacks to small tables and even chests of drawers.
“This is my brother Mitch’s ‘secret base.’ Before he went to school, he used to play here every day. If the weather was nice, he’d sleep in there too...”
Emilia smiled and pointed to the hay bale she had used as a bed.
Hardius's eyes glanced at Emilia and then turned back to it. In the strange silence, the eyes of the young man and woman met each other.
In an instant, without anyone saying anything, they dispersed in opposite directions.
“So, there’s probably something you can use as a towel, I guess.”
Emilia searched through the drawers and found a few bundles of linen cloths. Taking the towels, she wiped her hair and face with them and then squeezed the water out of her clothes.
Her eyes, which had been wandering without a place to go, slowly turned to the man again.
He was soaking wet. His shirt clung to his body, clearly revealing his toned, muscular body.
Hardius ran his hand through his wet hair, oblivious to the prying eyes, and Emilia felt a strange, churning sensation in her stomach.
“...Is it cold?”
This time, Emilia found a blanket and handed it to him. Hardius silently accepted it, spread it out on both sides, and then suddenly strode over to her. Emilia froze again like a rabbit.
After a while, the only blanket was covered not by him but by Emilia's body.
“Oh, it’s okay...”
He ignored the slightest resistance and pulled the body wrapped in a blanket into the chair.
Hardius, who was returning to his original position, suddenly stopped as if he had discovered something interesting. What caught his eye was a small hairpin stuck in one of Emilia’s hairs.
“...You did this during Passover, too.”
He tilted his head, wondering what was going on out of the blue. Then he understood the meaning and was surprised.
Was it 4 years ago?
The first time she was invited to the Meyer mansion, it was Passover.
According to Hardius, Emilia was wearing this hairpin that day, too.
“Did I... do that?”
“Everyone was looking at you.”
Her heart sank. Emilia placed her hand on her chest.
A calm voice continued, as if he knew her or not.
“Everyone couldn’t take their eyes off you. You were the only woman who wore something so plain and without any decoration.”
The shock multiplied the tremors.
Emilia froze like a statue, unable to breathe until Hardius returned to his original position.
He leaned against the wall of the doorway and crossed his arms.
There was a long silence after that.
It was hard to deal with Hardius, who had become so unfamiliar. Emilia's mouth moved because of the sense of duty to say something.
“...Aren’t you cold?”
"Don't worry."
“You might catch a cold if you keep acting like that. You’ve never been in rain like this before, have you?”
The corners of Hardius's mouth curled up crookedly.
“Have you forgotten? Where have I been for the past four years? When you’re on a march, you can’t even imagine having an umbrella.”
"Ah..."
Why is she so stupid?
She had completely forgotten that the man was graduating from Elport Military Academy soon.
The reason he was able to remain calm and composed the whole time, from taking off his clothes when it suddenly started pouring rain to catching her when she almost fell, until they got here, must be because of his training in the military.
“Getting rained on is nothing. Even if you have cramps in your legs and feel like you’re going to collapse under the scorching sun, you have to walk no matter what. If you fall behind in line, you’ll be called a loser for four years. I even have the label of Meyer, so I can’t do that.”
A deep, low voice echoed faintly in the cramped barn.
“At some point, I feel like I’m going to die like this. I’m reaching my limit.”
Hardius smiled briefly. It was a very bitter smile.
“Guys with a partner would walk around holding onto something like a hairpin. Like it was some kind of guardian deity.”
Emilia held her breath and listened to her heart pounding.
“Anyway, don’t worry. If I had to cover myself with a blanket like this, I wouldn’t have been able to graduate.”
There was a third silence. Emilia's sullen mouth moved again.
“But I'm quite good at dancing, aren’t I? Thanks to that, I won’t have to embarrass you. Actually, I was a little worried. At Lord Cavendish’s mansion, I only had one or two dancing lessons a year. My teacher wasn’t as good at dancing as you, and I didn’t have a partner like you either...”
“Can you stop saying that?”
In contrast to his suddenly cold voice, his eyes were strangely burning.
"...Yes?"
"Master."
The chattering lips stopped moving.
“Have you ever heard that?”
“What are you saying...?”
Emilia could barely answer back.
“The waltz is a man’s dance.”
With those words, Hardius began to move without warning.
Emilia moved as if she were being drawn to a magnet. He simply placed a hand on her shoulder, but Emilia followed him as if she were tightly bound by an invisible string.
Everything fit together so perfectly. When he moved to the left, her legs turned to the left, and when he turned, Emilia turned to him.
“You just have to stay still.”
A wet, soaking voice runs down her spine.
“You don’t have to do anything.”
Why the breath tickling the crown of her head is so sweet.
The slow steps gradually became faster.
It was a strange thing. All she could hear was the sound of waves and wind, but Emilia was immersed in the music with her whole body.
The force applied to the hand that was touching shifted the center of gravity in the opposite direction. Emilia's body tilted. She thought she was going to fall, but the next moment, Emilia found her body spinning around.
As she was about to fall, his hands wrapped around her waist again.
Unlike Hardius, who was gaining strength, Emilia's legs kept losing strength. Her whole body was shaking, and it was hard for her to stand. Still, she moved diligently. She was guided by the eyes and hands of the man who had become so unfamiliar that it was scary.
"It's hard?"
"... It's okay."
Emilia barely managed to answer. She let go of all the tension she had left and just surrendered herself to him.
Hadius grabbed her slender body as if he had been waiting for it. Her chest and thighs were crushed miserably, awakening her desire.
Emilia closed her eyes without realizing it.
Then, the endless waves rolling in, the soft sand underfoot, and the cool breeze blowing became darker and clearer.
She's happy.
Surprisingly, she felt 'happy'.
To rely on. To let go of the tension in her body that had been hunched over and strained, and to completely surrender herself to someone. The act she had been so wary of since her father passed away felt awfully sweet.
Emilia knew that it was a fleeting happiness, so she didn't resist any longer.
The five years had trained her well, and she was now confident that she would not waver.
Don't forget. It's over anyway. The engagement is broken.
Emilia thought about that and slowly returned the senses that had been left to soar high into the sky to their original place. As if waiting, something cold fell on her cheek.
“?”
Emilia opened her eyes. Another drop of water splashed onto her face.
“It’s raining...”
The steps that seemed to go on endlessly suddenly stopped. To prevent inertia from causing Emilia to fall, Hardius supported her waist firmly.
Knock... Knock... Thump... Thump, thump...
The intermittent raindrops suddenly turned into a downpour.
"Ah!"
The moment Emilia screamed sharply, the sky flashed and lightning struck. Then, the sound of thunder rumbled throughout the land, engulfing everything.
The sky turned dark and poured raindrops down on the two people's faces.
The two people who were staring at each other with surprised faces burst into laughter without saying who would be the first.
That man... laughed... me...
Before she could even think about that shocking fact, the rain began to pour down like a waterfall.
"Let's go!"
Emilia, who was trying to run as fast as she could, stopped before she could take a single step. Hardius had grabbed her wrist. He took off his frock coat and put it over Emilia’s head.
The man's pure white shirt became soaking wet in an instant.
Emilia ran after Hardius like crazy. Her heart was pounding as if it was going to burst out of her chest.
He didn't just cover her with clothes. He covered her with his faint body odor. The memory of her wrist being grabbed made her vision dizzy, and her body trembled. Het legs kept losing strength.
Just as she was leaving the sandy area and entering the forest path, Emilia stumbled violently. She had stumbled while trying to avoid a puddle of water.
Hardius caught the body that was about to fall over.
"Are you okay?"
"...yes..."
Her elbow, held by a man's hand, feels so hot.
"...Thank you."
Emilia tried to fall quickly.
But he didn't let go. The man's arms stretched out like spiderwebs and hugged her small shoulders tightly.
“Ah, yes...”
“Go ahead.”
Hardius walked diligently without even pretending to listen. It was different from when he was dancing. The unnecessary contact suffocated Emilia.
Shoulders, sides, and thighs.
Sparks flew from every part of her body that brushed against the man, sending her into a strange shock.
Walking in the heavy rain wasn't easy. Her hair and clothes were sticky, and it was hard to see what was in front of her. The cold air was coming, and she was gradually shivering.
Hardius suddenly stopped walking. He looked worriedly at the breath that was continuously flowing out of Emilia's mouth, then raised his head and stared straight ahead.
He was trying to figure out how long it would take to get home.
Suddenly, a thought crossed Emilia's mind. She quickly grabbed one side of his shirt.
“Over there, there’s a place to avoid the rain!”
At the end of the path, she pointed to a small barn.
She thought he would be happy, but strangely, Hardius hesitated.
Perhaps it was because Emilia was ignorant of the intimate relationships between men and women. She did not understand the man's hesitation at all.
“It’s used as a barn, but it’s perfect for avoiding the rain!”
Emilia shouted very loudly and clearly, and Hardius just looked down at her for a long time.
The troubled pupils wandered aimlessly across the innocent face, stopping at the lips that were turning pale. Only then did Hardius turn in the direction she was pointing.
***
It was a small, old, cramped barn. Emilia jumped under the eaves, quickly pulled herself away from him, and handed him his coat.
“Thank you, my lord.”
As soon as he entered, he groped around in the darkness and lit the lamp. In the dimly lit interior, Hardius looked around in silence.
Nothing is missing, from haystacks to small tables and even chests of drawers.
“This is my brother Mitch’s ‘secret base.’ Before he went to school, he used to play here every day. If the weather was nice, he’d sleep in there too...”
Emilia smiled and pointed to the hay bale she had used as a bed.
Hardius's eyes glanced at Emilia and then turned back to it. In the strange silence, the eyes of the young man and woman met each other.
In an instant, without anyone saying anything, they dispersed in opposite directions.
“So, there’s probably something you can use as a towel, I guess.”
Emilia searched through the drawers and found a few bundles of linen cloths. Taking the towels, she wiped her hair and face with them and then squeezed the water out of her clothes.
Her eyes, which had been wandering without a place to go, slowly turned to the man again.
He was soaking wet. His shirt clung to his body, clearly revealing his toned, muscular body.
Hardius ran his hand through his wet hair, oblivious to the prying eyes, and Emilia felt a strange, churning sensation in her stomach.
“...Is it cold?”
This time, Emilia found a blanket and handed it to him. Hardius silently accepted it, spread it out on both sides, and then suddenly strode over to her. Emilia froze again like a rabbit.
After a while, the only blanket was covered not by him but by Emilia's body.
“Oh, it’s okay...”
He ignored the slightest resistance and pulled the body wrapped in a blanket into the chair.
Hardius, who was returning to his original position, suddenly stopped as if he had discovered something interesting. What caught his eye was a small hairpin stuck in one of Emilia’s hairs.
“...You did this during Passover, too.”
He tilted his head, wondering what was going on out of the blue. Then he understood the meaning and was surprised.
Was it 4 years ago?
The first time she was invited to the Meyer mansion, it was Passover.
According to Hardius, Emilia was wearing this hairpin that day, too.
“Did I... do that?”
“Everyone was looking at you.”
Her heart sank. Emilia placed her hand on her chest.
A calm voice continued, as if he knew her or not.
“Everyone couldn’t take their eyes off you. You were the only woman who wore something so plain and without any decoration.”
The shock multiplied the tremors.
Emilia froze like a statue, unable to breathe until Hardius returned to his original position.
He leaned against the wall of the doorway and crossed his arms.
There was a long silence after that.
It was hard to deal with Hardius, who had become so unfamiliar. Emilia's mouth moved because of the sense of duty to say something.
“...Aren’t you cold?”
"Don't worry."
“You might catch a cold if you keep acting like that. You’ve never been in rain like this before, have you?”
The corners of Hardius's mouth curled up crookedly.
“Have you forgotten? Where have I been for the past four years? When you’re on a march, you can’t even imagine having an umbrella.”
"Ah..."
Why is she so stupid?
She had completely forgotten that the man was graduating from Elport Military Academy soon.
The reason he was able to remain calm and composed the whole time, from taking off his clothes when it suddenly started pouring rain to catching her when she almost fell, until they got here, must be because of his training in the military.
“Getting rained on is nothing. Even if you have cramps in your legs and feel like you’re going to collapse under the scorching sun, you have to walk no matter what. If you fall behind in line, you’ll be called a loser for four years. I even have the label of Meyer, so I can’t do that.”
A deep, low voice echoed faintly in the cramped barn.
“At some point, I feel like I’m going to die like this. I’m reaching my limit.”
Hardius smiled briefly. It was a very bitter smile.
“Guys with a partner would walk around holding onto something like a hairpin. Like it was some kind of guardian deity.”
Emilia held her breath and listened to her heart pounding.
“Anyway, don’t worry. If I had to cover myself with a blanket like this, I wouldn’t have been able to graduate.”
There was a third silence. Emilia's sullen mouth moved again.
“But I'm quite good at dancing, aren’t I? Thanks to that, I won’t have to embarrass you. Actually, I was a little worried. At Lord Cavendish’s mansion, I only had one or two dancing lessons a year. My teacher wasn’t as good at dancing as you, and I didn’t have a partner like you either...”
“Can you stop saying that?”
In contrast to his suddenly cold voice, his eyes were strangely burning.
"...Yes?"
"Master."
The chattering lips stopped moving.
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