031. Ocean (1)
On the day Owen sent a letter inviting Lucia to Ocean, she immediately responded with a positive answer.
Thanks to this, their vacation plans progressed rapidly, and the two went on a short trip together that weekend.
The servants of Ocean’s villa were given only a few days to prepare.
“Lucia.”
A large black carriage arrived in front of the Edelt Duke’s residence.
The carriage that arrived today was not the only one with a black wolf emblem.
Behind the large black carriage were other carriages that seemed like luggage carriages, along with carriages and horses of servants and knights responsible for escorting.
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“Owen.”
As he approached, clad in a deep blue suit, with a familiar pronunciation on his tongue, he reached out his hand.
Once again, his hand was covered with thin gloves.
Lucia placed her bare hand on top of his white glove.
Owen shook her hand familiarly and spoke.
“It suits you well.”
“It was a gift from Owen.”
Lucia smoothly laughed at his whisper.
The attire she wore today was the limited edition items from Stella Boutique that Owen had gifted her a while ago.
From the dress to the summer shawl, sandals, brooches, and jewelry.
In her blue ensemble, not a single item was missing, and Owen’s eyes softened slightly.
“I thought you would like it.”
“I really liked it. I was actually planning to go buy it myself.”
“Is that so.”
“Yes. But Owen sent it as a gift first, so I got it early.”
Lucia casually glanced at Owen as she spoke about being amazed, but Owen pretended not to notice.
“I’m glad you liked it.”
As he finished speaking, Owen led Lucia to the carriage, looking as though he was deliberately avoiding a conversation shift, but Lucia decided to go along with it.
She was curious how he knew, but it wasn’t worth prying forcibly for an answer.
As they boarded the carriage, a lot more companions than usual began to move busily.
Ocean was a place that required a 12-hour journey from the capital, so they had to rush from now on to reach there.
“This feels like my first trip.”
Lucia, who boarded the carriage with Owen, looked at him without saying much.
Since they were going quite far from the capital, it seemed like it would be okay to enjoy the scenery outside, but she didn’t want to.
Looking at something else while having Owen in front of her felt like a waste of time.
“…”
Lucia’s intention was to share stories with each other.
However, all Owen’s ears caught was Lucia’s mention of it being her first journey.
It was a belated realization.
In Lucia’s memories, there was no space for precious moments spent with loved ones during her childhood.
Be it a peaceful family trip or memories with friends.
Nothing of that sort existed in Lucia’s recollections.
Her happy memories and nostalgia were moments of being admired more than anyone else in social circles after gaining what she desired.
To be precise, since there were no serene and tender memories with family and friends, she must have replaced them with something else.
“An honor.”
After a moment of silence, those were Owen’s words.
“To be able to share your first journey.”
Owen naturally softened his rigid expression.
He pulled back the corners of his lips, forming a smile, turning his face into a genuinely happy one without any awkwardness.
“…Owen?”
In response to Owen’s words of honor and the accompanying smile, Lucia belatedly replied.
“It’s my first journey too.”
To her question, Owen faintly smiled and replied.
‘Owen’ must have lived without a break even once.
It wasn’t a lie.
Not only ‘Owen,’ but she herself was the same.
For him, who had lost his parents early and lived independently, traveling was a luxury.
He had to work every day to earn a living, study hard to get a scholarship.
His only hobby and stress reliever was indulging in ＜Empire’s Flower＞.
Reading the original work, unraveling its setting, watching the webtoon, and creating fan works.
Others might have suggested he should have slept during that time, but if he hadn’t done even that, there would have been no joy in his life.
“It’s truly an honor for me. To be able to share our first journey together, Owen.”
In response to Owen’s answer, Lucia once again smiled faintly.
Her natural expression, as if the momentary hesitation to the honor he mentioned was false, was now relaxed.
Owen, looking at Lucia with a bright face, lightly chuckled and nodded as he said, “It’s special to be each other’s first.”
As he softly spoke, he brought up another topic.
“The imperial banquet was postponed from its original date.”
“Yes. It was postponed due to the awakening of the saintess.”
Originally, the imperial banquet was scheduled to take place a month after the hunting competition.
This schedule remained the same every year.
The timing of the hunting competition was fixed for the safety of the north, always in spring and fall, while the summer imperial banquet, meant for the debutantes, was set for early July.
“The saintess also needs to have her debut, so that’s why.”
Although the schedule had never changed, the influence and impact of the saintess were significant.
The palace willingly accommodated the request of the shrine for the appearance of the saintess after 200 years.
The saintess, Bella, was given time to learn the ways of society and adapt.
Thus, the imperial banquet that was supposed to take place in July was postponed to early August.
“…It was said that the request came from the shrine.”
As Owen mentioned the saintess, Lucia slowly responded.
Owen, puzzled by her slow voice, looked at Lucia, but she had already composed herself.
“Owen.”
Instead, her crimson irises darkened.
The color of emotions in her voice calling his name became vivid.
“…Yes.”
Facing the deep red emotions, Owen slowly started to speak.
‘Why…?’
As he silently searched for a reason while responding, he pondered why possessiveness suddenly surged in Lucia’s eyes, voice, and atmosphere.
‘No, it doesn’t seem like mere possessiveness.’
As Owen tried to retrace the conversation to find the reason, he struggled to define the color of the emotions he encountered.
‘Well, this is…’
However, before he could come to a conclusion, Lucia’s voice continued.
“When we return to the capital, let’s go to the boutique together. It will take time to prepare and create our banquet attire, so it would be best to leave early to allow some spare time.”
“Agreed.”
Contrary to the colors of burning emotions, the words spoken were ordinary.
Owen, who found it hard to gauge, narrowed his eyes slightly.
Lucia, with a bright smile, put down the fan covering her lips and slightly bowed her waist.
Thanks to her tilted waist, Lucia naturally reached out her hand towards Owen.
Her fresh white hand touched his cheek.
“I look forward to this evening’s gathering.”
“….”
In an instant, a ripple spread through Owen’s black eyes.
Lucia, looking satisfied, adorned her lips with a lazy and dazzling smile.
Like a persistent rose, Owen swallowed his breath, keeping his lips sealed.
‘…As expected.’
The fact that Lucia touched him without hesitation and became bolder than before was undoubtedly due to the hunting competition.
More precisely, since he spoke to her, she had continued to act in this manner.
Even at the dining table he arranged, and during the tea time in the rose garden she invited him to.
Lucia laughed, whispered stories, and approached him as if she knew how he would react.
‘Until I’m convinced she’s completely won.’
Owen exhaled slowly, closing and opening his eyes.
Lucia still gazed at him with a smile on her lips.
Her tilted waist and the warmth on his cheek remained unchanged.
‘…Everything is fine.’
Owen silently swallowed a sigh.
It was good that the hunting competition gave him confidence in her.
It was also good that she made it clear that it didn’t matter what she did, and that she acted confidently thanks to that.
‘Everything is fine, except I’m in a dilemma.’
Yes, everything was going smoothly.
Except for Bella’s appearance before the original plot began and the uncertainty about what would unfold next, everything was perfect.
Except for my profound dilemma.
‘Why didn’t I think about this part.’
Thump, thump.
The sound of his heart pounding loudly disturbed his mind.
Before the hunting competition, she hadn’t been so proactive, so there hadn’t been moments where his heart raced as if in a panic or his ears rang.
It was just her appearance, actions, and voice.
Things about her that excited him gently.
‘Will it get better once I get used to it….’
Being easily swayed by her actions to touch, whisper, and elicit reactions from him, Owen found it hard to maintain composure.
He wondered if things would improve once he got used to it, but then he questioned if it was possible to get used to this turmoil.
As Owen was lost in these thoughts.
“Ah.”
Clunk.
The carriage shook heavily as it passed over stones.
As Lucia leaned forward with the movement, Owen reached out and pulled her towards him.
Thanks to him, Lucia ended up completely in his embrace.
“Are you okay?”
As Owen whispered, Lucia, standing stiffly, managed to nod her head slightly.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Contrary to the fact that she had reached out to him earlier, Lucia was now flustered.
The carriage shaking was surprising, but Owen’s nonchalant embrace was even more unsettling.
‘…It’s all useless now.’
Silently swallowing his words, Lucia adjusted her posture.
It was to get out of Owen’s embrace.
But….
“Tsk.”
The carriage clunked heavily once again.
It seemed like the road they were on was not well maintained.
If it was a carriage used by the Duke of Verdin, it would surely be a high-quality, expensive one.
Seeing even the carriage with the family crest clunking like this, it seemed like the road was quite poorly kept.
“The road doesn’t seem good.”
As if comforting her, Owen patted Lucia’s back twice before helping her down to the seat next to him.
The carriage was spacious, leaving room for both of them to sit side by side.
Seeing Owen calmly offer her the seat next to him, Lucia made her decision in silence.
As expected, I had to approach her more fervently.
Owen, unaware of the determination burning inside her, only asked the coachman about the condition of the road with a dry tongue.