She bent her knees like the first time she met him. Deccarno reached out, but Evangeline took a step further away.
Like a fluttering butterfly, it escaped his hand and his side. He blinked his eyes blankly, and he chased after her, but his vision was already blurry, and nothing was clear.
"..."
He had a terrible headache. Deccarno stopped somewhere in the dimly lit corridor and unknowingly grabbed his chest.
The next morning, their names appeared side by side in the social news section of the front page of the newspaper. Along with a short title announcing the breakup of the two. Evangeline expressed her gratitude and apology.
Her cliche greeting, which emphasized that there was no coercion or pressure from the Duke of Theses during the breakup process, and that there was no regret on him, will shake up the social world for a while and then slowly be forgotten.
Like her wishes.
***
#5
For a few days, Evangeline just slept. She doesn't even know how long she slept. The moment she arrived at the hotel closest to the auction house and lay down on the bed, the sleep she had put off for a couple of months poured out.
She is no longer a prospective Duchess who shared her time over and over again.
Whether she slept for two days or three days, no one waited for her or urged her. Is it really okay to sleep like this? The fact that she couldn't get used to it at first became a reality when she woke up after sleeping soundly, like she was dead.
"Hmm."
Evangeline woke up in the afternoon and stretched out her arms. The more she sleeps, the more she feels like she's still lacking something. She wants to bury herself on the white pillow again, but it's time to get up. There was no schedule waiting for her, and even though there was no maid, there were still friends.
'You must have been surprised when you broke up like that last time.'
She hasn't met Kirion in years, and she hasn't even had a proper conversation, let alone a greeting. He had come to her father's grave to find her in such weather. It was a little late, but she had to meet Kirion once.
'What should I talk about?'
Evangeline wanted to laugh happily without thinking about it, as if she had only fallen asleep for a few days. If you laugh about something that is not a big deal, like when you were a child, time may fly by again. That was the best she could have hoped for right now.
"Yes, I'm leaving!"
When the knock rang out, she quickly put on her clothes. He was supposed to meet Kirion in the lobby, but there was still time. He wouldn't come up to her room, but if he wasn't, no one else would come to visit her.
After all, everyone she knew in Loark was someone related to the Theses...
"It's been a long time since I've seen you, Evangeline."
"Oh... My brother."
She opened the door and stared at the man in front of her for a long time. Her eyes widened when she recognized the unexpected person.
"Oh, please come in first. I'm going to meet Kirion in a little while, but we'll be together."
"Nope. I don't think that's necessary."
Despite her urging, the other person shook his head. Instead, his two eyes staring coldly revealed another business.
"I want the two of us to talk a little before then."
***
"Eva!"
"...Kirion."
An hour later, as she was ready and down in the lounge in the lobby, Kirion jumped to his feet. There were a lot of eyes staring at them here and there, but she expected that they would follow her for a while.
Evangeline has to bear this much.
She was satisfied that the distance between the two of them was not enough to leak out. Evangeline with the menu, and Kirion, who was sitting across from her, was just full of smiles.
"This is how you finally see it, Eva!"
"Yes. Didn't you contact me late?"
With a silent smile, she offered Kirion tea. Whenever she played house at tea time in Addis, Kirion was never left out.
"It's been a long time since I've seen anything like this. When I was on the ship, I didn't even have time for a cup of tea. Of course, I don't have a good tea."
"Really?"
"In Addis, I used to go to your father's tea plantation often. Do you remember when we were plucking tea together, and we were bitten by insects and fell? The Count has since cleared out all the tea fields. Then he built a huge flower garden there! I've never seen such a variety of big flowers..."
Excited, Kirion brought up the old story first. It was the old story she had wanted to tell so much just a few hours ago, but Evangeline just laughed softly. Her eyes, which had been a little shaken by her father's story, regained calm.
"Anyway, after I went to the navy, I missed this tea so much. Hmm, so do you."
"...I see. Then what did you do on the ship?"
Despite her slippery feelings, Evangeline ignored him. Kirion, who had just happened to be with her, seemed to be happy to be with her so far.
"It's just training. How many people roll every day?"
"Was it that hard?"
"I could do everything else, but shooting was the hardest. I'm still shaken by seasickness, but I can't rest or finish until I hit all the targets."
Ugh. Kirion shook his head, as if he were tired of thinking about it again.
"If you look at how ugly it was, those scary seniors will teach you the tricks."
"Which?
"Overlap the person you want to kill on the bull's-eye."
"..."
"Haha, maybe that's why I couldn't shoot."
His laughter was somehow sad, as if he had made a funny joke. He had such a friendly personality, so he had no choice but to do so, but he quickly fell into Evangeline's hands with the teacup.
"Hey, Kirion."
"You know. So I think I'm going to quit altogether."
"...Huh?"
"The navy. I don't think it suits me very much."
Kirion's hand gesture as he added sugar cubes to the tea and rattled it was unnatural. She stared blankly and pulled her lips away.
"What are you going to do when you quit?"
"I just have to think slowly. The legacy my mother left me is enough..."
"You've wanted to be in the Navy since you were a child. Even when we played together, you always tried to play the role of the navy."
"That's when I was young. I can't do that forever."
"...Kirion."
When Evangeline called his name, Kirion shrugged his shoulders in approval. Even when he was young, when he was upset or sullen, he relaxed like this. And the real story that he had been talking about had not even begun yet.
"Don't worry. I've talked to my father and brother, and it's my life anyway. I'm just going to slow down with you."
"Do you want to get married?"
"...Eva."
Kirion's voice rose as carefully as he could. Even if he lowered his voice again, he couldn't help the reddened nape of his neck. Hmm, he clenched his fist on the table.
"Yes. I honestly don't know what you'll think, but I've been waiting for this moment. If I had known you would leave Addis like that, I wouldn't have joined the army in the first place. I met you again like this, and I don't want to break up like this."
"..."
"I couldn't help it when you said you were going to be Duchess of Theses, but not anymore. I know what you're worried about. But I don't care about that."
"Then I?"
Evangeline blinked her big eyes at him. Rather than the joy of meeting him for the first time, she felt an unavoidable sense of emptiness.
"My will doesn't matter at all, does it? Because you've already broken up?"
"That's not the case!"
Kirion's gesture rattled the table. Soon, he grabbed the table again, but the ripples in the rattling teacup continued to spread.
"I just want to go back to the way I was with you, Eva. I can't bear that you have to listen to all kinds of sounds here. Why on earth are you?"
"..."
"If I can protect you until you get married, I will do it as long as I can. I'm the second son, so I won't get a title, but with my mother's inheritance, I can start over wherever I want."
"You're the one who is too absorbed in the past, Kirion."
"...Eva."
"As you said, it's already in the past. I can't go back to that time anymore."
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