"Miss!"
"Are you crazy? What if you throw away a precious flower like this!"
"What do you think? Anyway, it must be the Karnak flowers that are scattered all over the land."
As if possessed by something, she turned the bow again and smiled calmly at the captain, who was quickly approaching. Even though she saw the flowers already flowing far away, she didn't even have any regrets.
"Whatever I do with my flowers, isn't it my heart?"
"Oh, no matter what! If you can't sell it as you want, behave towards this sacred flower!"
"It is not what the one who tried to take the sacred flower for free would say."
"If I had to give you advice, you wouldn't have time to do this. Other trading ships must have already arrived at the port of Mare, and you will have to rush back home by now to pick up the Karnak flowers that have not been squeezed through the gap and return home before they wither."
"..."
"I think it's already too late."
Thirsty, her fingers rolled over it as she moved to the next box. In the tension that rightened as if counting a number, the captain reflexively stretched out his hands.
"Hey, stop! You're going to throw it again!"
"The choice is not mine, but you make it. Buy the remaining flowers when they are safe, or go to Mare and waste them."
"This is good! Yes! It's not that I don't believe what the young lady says, but we can't help it because we're busy right now, so let's just live here today!"
The captain nervously shouted at the lid of the box fluttering from the railing. In the meantime, he showed his pride, but he couldn't just watch the flowers sink as they were. If he went all the way to the Mare and made a fuss, he would take all the responsibility.
"You said twenty gold? Roughly speaking, it looks like about thirty boxes, but then why don't you add them all up to six hundred gold?"
"Seven hundred gold."
"No, you must have said twenty gold in your mouth! How can you raise a hundred gold in such an instant!"
"That was the price of faith in me."
Still, nor lowering her hand on the box, she drew her head without changing her expression. Even though Charles quickly took the money and put on an impression, Evangeline remained calm like a person who couldn't see anything.
"You didn't believe me and turned the boat, and a box of flowers was already gone. When we prepared these flowers and went out to sea, we had already spent a lot of time and money, and we should get fair compensation for them. If you had believed me from the beginning, this wouldn't have happened."
"No, I'll believe the young lady once and for all when we saw you!"
"You will see it often in the future."
"..."
"All the Karnak flowers in the Mare will only grow in my garden from now on. Not only Karnak, but as the sea level gradually rises, the crops and herbs needed will increase, so don't you want to find a stable supply?"
With the cold sea breeze that parted between them, Evangeline's hat flew far away. But now that she had proven her worth, there was no need to grab it and force it up. She waved her hair, which was more dazzling than the sun, and stretched out her last hand.
"I hope you keep this in mind. Time is still passing."
***
"Your Excellency. It's too late."
The string of his pocket watch swayed from Michael's hand at the dock in the harbor. It was terrifyingly quiet as the space where the Duke stood in a city busy with noisy trade. The merchants who were approaching him without knowing who he was were naturally turned away in anger.
"Most of the ships have already returned. Merchants are also closing their businesses."
"..."
"Now you have to go back to Loark."
Michael pointed to the carriage that had been waiting for hours. He didn't dare to urge the Duke, but considering the work piled up in Loark, it wasn't so relaxed. Before coming to Marae, he had already visited three more maritime cities, and in the end, it was only up to His Excellency the Duke to bear the burden.
"You haven't eaten a single meal today, have you?"
Thanks to the Duke guarding the port all day, all the attendants starved together. He wasn't the one who would notice him because he was secretly packing a meal, but he couldn't because of that freezing momentum. From early in the morning, to be precise, at dawn, when he heard that a small merchant ship had gone to sea, the Duke did not leave this place.
"Maybe it's because of her."
He didn't say anything, but he could guess why. If it weren't for her, the Duke of Theses would not have come down to such an unheard of city in the first place, nor wouId he have stopped all his schedules and come out to the port like this. Despite the deviation that would be difficult to imagine normally, only the Duke's face was surprisingly quiet.
'I'd rather give you tea.'
The statue of the port, which was built in the name of protecting the sea, was not as quiet as the Duke. Far from showing any signs of nervousness, there was not even a single frown, which burned the viewer's heart. Even though these words are true, I felt a sense of empty laughter as if 'let's see how far we go.'
"Your Excellency, let's start with Loark. If it rains like this, it may be difficult to start today."
"...It's raining?"
The Duke's heavy voice responded to him for the first time. Michael, who is from the seaside in his own way, nodded without reaching out to the wind.
"Yes, it won't be heavy rain, but with this level of humidity, there is a high possibility that it will rain sooner or later."
"Call your ship right away."
"...Yes? Why is the ship suddenly over?"
"Launch the biggest ship you can get."
Along the hurried turn of the head, the Duke's black bangs flew around. The posture of standing silently was immediately disturbed. Just by looking at his expression, Michael quickly shook his head at the seriousness of the storm.
"Your Excellency. It would be about a drizzle. Originally, rain is very rare in the Mare region, except for one or two storms a year."
"Otherwise?"
"..."
"Can you guarantee that there won't be a storm today?"
A gloomy glare flashed in his downcast eyes. His obsession surged in an instant, and Michael instinctively lowered his body. Even if he made a promise, he would never do that, and the answer was decided.
"I beg you, my lord. Let's take a look at the ship as soon as possible."
"Whoa."
The Duke took another step toward the dock. The seawater was right in front of him, with nowhere to go further. Raindrops began to fall on it one by one, drawing small concentric circles, and the back of his fisted hand was also entangled with blue veins.
"Your Excellency, you must be wearing an umbrella."
"Put It away."
He didn't even tolerate an umbrella hanging from behind. He wasn't the type to be troubled by such small raindrops, but that's not the reason now. Rather than the raindrops falling on his head, he was focused on the raindrops that might fall on any sea. Nothing else mattered.
"What are you doing now? It takes so long to fill up."
"I have sent someone. Please wait a little longer. I think the shipowners are trying to bargain."
"I'm wasting my time with something like that right now..."
Haaah, the Duke, who was emitting a gloom all over his body, suddenly shifted his gaze. Michael, who was almost suffocating, looked around and was displeased.
"Oh, I think there's a boat coming in!"
"..."
The lights of the ship gradually approached as they entered the harbor. It was a small ship that was embarrassing to call a trading ship, but at this moment, it was more welcome than any large transport ship. Of course, the people on it were even more so.
"Sir, look over there!"
"..."
"There. Duchess, no... Miss O'Hara..."
Why is the former Duchess, who has been waiting so long, smiling while holding another man's hand?
Michael, who didn't even dare to guess why, froze. He didn't even dare to look the Duke in the face anymore.
In the meantime, Evangeline's face, which knew nothing, was overflowing with excitement and laughter that could not be hidden. He assures you that even before the fall of Count O'Hara, it was very rare to laugh so much.
"Thank you so much. It's all thanks to Charles!"
"Seeing my young lady come out like this, it really looks like the work is over."
"Of course! Do you know... Only today! It's over for today!"
Evangeline's excited voice in the night breeze was like the singing of a lark. Even her hair, which was disheveled by the sea breeze without a hat, was strangely full of life. Without even thinking of wiping her drizzling hair, she faced Charles and clasped her hands together in prayer.
"Actually, I don't know how much I was worried."
"Is such a person just going out like that? When you threw away the flower box, I thought you were finally crazy?"
"Charles too!"
Even though she had never heard the last words in her life, Evangeline burst into laughter at what was so funny. When the hair stuck to her cheek, Charles hesitated as if to reach out his hand and took off his jacket.
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