048. Summer Lake (2)
“You said I don’t have to apologize to you, but well, Owen, I’m not that kind of person by nature.”
When Lucia spoke those words.
The rowboat had completely reached the shore.
Carefully, Lucia stood up from her seat and got off the boat first.
Owen, with a calm gaze, watched her before following suit and rising from his seat.
Only after the two stood up did the boatman slowly row away.
The rowboats seemed to be heading back to where they had been anchored in a group.
“But I can’t continue like that anymore.”
Lucia moved towards the birch tree.
Clad in a green summer dress, she looked refreshing.
She was beautiful as always today, but Owen paid no attention to her appearance.
“Why?”
He was taken aback.
This was a scenario he had never considered even once.
He had thought Lucia would enjoy such a situation.
That she would like it, and would make good use of it.
But now, she couldn’t continue like that.
“I’m, fine.”
Had he suddenly started to worry about her?
But was there a reason for that?
Thinking such thoughts, Owen said, “Do as you wish.”
As Owen spoke, Lucia abruptly stopped in her tracks.
A deep sigh escaped her as she stood in front of the birch tree.
Not long after noticing that sound, Lucia turned around.
In front of the long, green birch branches, crimson hair flew like the sun.
“You don’t understand, Owen.”
Owen couldn’t reply.
It was as she said.
He couldn’t understand it.
Why Lucia brought up such a story, why they reached this conclusion.
“In fact, I don’t understand myself right now. I know I’m acting differently from usual. I know that…”
Even with his silence, Lucia continued.
She lightly smiled, then stepped closer to Owen.
Leaving only a step between them, they faced each other.
Under the cool shade provided by the large trees, their gazes met straight on.
“That’s right. I don’t know why, but I’m sorry to you. I feel sorry for you. If you had demanded something from me, I wouldn’t have acted like this.”
“I…”
In response to Lucia’s words, Owen opened his mouth to answer.
But subsequent words failed to come out.
It was impossible.
To ask something of Lucia.
Isn’t it sinful to demand something from her just because I love her?
It was beyond greed; it was violence.
At least, that’s how Owen saw it.
“Look at that. You really don’t understand, do you? Typically, people tend to use their circumstances or status.”
“….”
“But you, you effortlessly belittle yourself and give it all away. All I do is take. That’s why you can’t act selfishly comfortably.”
I’m not usually like this.
Lucia added even that.
That was a fact Owen was well aware of.
Lucia didn’t feel sorry easily.
She believed that being selfish and self-centered were basic human emotions.
She only apologized for my mistakes and wrongdoings.
“Well, I’m still acting on my own terms, to be honest.”
Lucia smiled again.
As always, she added with a dazzling smile.
“I’m acting so comfortably because you said you love me. Didn’t you notice?”
He did notice.
Unlike before, Lucia’s tone and manners were much lighter and more comfortable.
Formality turned into informality, and even caution disappeared.
The words he used to please her, the ones he carefully chose and presented to her, all vanished.
But Owen left Lucia as she was.
It was actually better that way.
This side of Lucia was much more like her.
Originally, Lucia was this kind of person.
She was not someone to act cautiously to please others.
“I prefer this side of you.”
“I should have known your taste earlier.”
“If you did?”
“You would have acted like this since long ago?”
At Lucia’s response, Owen suddenly recalled Lucia’s actions from ＜Empire’s Flower＞.
If Lucia had approached Owen in this way, unlike the original…
“…He would have been flustered.”
That’s for sure.
Owen would have been flustered, not knowing what to do.
“Really? That’s fine too.”
Lucia smirked mischievously.
Mischief sparkled in her crimson eyes.
“I want to see you flustered.”
“….”
Owen swallowed his embarrassment.
He thought that his taste was equally peculiar.
Wanting to see someone in trouble.
Don’t people usually want to see someone laugh?
“How can I make you flustered?”
Lucia began to seriously ponder.
Then she smiled, pulling the corners of her mouth.
In a moment of unease, Owen tried to move back.
But just before Owen could move, Lucia reached out and grabbed his wrist.
Normally, he would have dodged well, but perhaps due to being flustered, Owen, despite being a swordsman, was led by Lucia’s hand.
“Right? This.”
Before they knew it, the distance between the two had narrowed.
Now, they were even closer than before, with only about a palm’s width of space left.
“Oh my. Your ears are turning red.”
“…I know without you saying it.”
Already aware from the burning sensation in his ears, Owen blushed even more thanks to Lucia’s words.
Owen took a deep breath and held Lucia’s hand, which was holding his wrist.
“It’s hot, and you’re trembling.”
His heart was beating excessively, causing him distress.
Even before realizing his emotions, his body was reacting, but now that he was fully aware, it was much more intense.
It was an awkward situation.
“Such a shame.”
When Owen let go of Lucia’s hand, she made a playful voice.
As expected, it was all just a joke.
She enjoyed teasing people quite a bit.
Well.
She always treated those in her hands like this.
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The time when she had them in her hands was when she bothered them the most.
But then it would calm down after some time.
She was someone who easily got bored.
Yet she didn’t just cast people aside.
She placed them appropriately where needed.
Of course, Owen might be a bit different from them.
“So, your conclusion is that you’re not sure either? What to do next.”
“Well… yeah.”
Though Owen bluntly changed the subject, Lucia nodded without showing any emotion.
“Can I ask what your original plan was?”
“Well….”
In response to Owen’s question, Lucia seemed to ponder for a moment before slowly speaking.
“Well, we were engaged. Having a formal relationship seemed safer on paper.”
“But now you’re not going to.”
“Yeah….”
“Anyway, you’ll have to get engaged and married at some point.”
At Owen’s response, Lucia coughed as if surprised, then cleared her throat.
“Uh…?”
“That’s right. Nobles mostly get married and start a family. Of course, you can choose not to if you don’t want to.”
Nobles generally got married and established a family.
Especially for heirs, it was almost an obligation.
Although Lucia wasn’t expected to inherit the family, it wasn’t essential for her, but it was different for Owen.
“…That’s true.”
Lucia, understanding Owen’s thoughts, responded slowly.
Owen would eventually get married.
As long as she was there to hold him back, others wouldn’t easily approach him, but what would happen if she didn’t get married?
“It was just a suggestion to take some time.”
Honestly, Lucia didn’t mind getting engaged right away.
But Owen was different.
He loved her.
Could he endure unrequited love, especially in such a selfish form?
“…Why am I even worrying about this?”
There was really no reason to worry about such things.
If she wanted to think only of herself, there was no reason to consider Owen’s situation.
But…
It might not be right to be so harsh to someone like him.
It might be guilt, or perhaps pity.
-“Think about what the princess really wants, seriously.”
As she contemplated this, Mari’s words came to mind again.
For some reason, since some time ago, the words Mari had said that day kept coming back.
She couldn’t understand English.
Her heart, which had been pounding while holding Owen’s cravat, began to beat loudly again.
-Do you really think it’s just something you want?
***
While Owen and Lucia were having a conversation under the shade.
Servants approached and brought a picnic blanket and a picnic basket.
The blanket was quite large, with enough space left even after two people sat down.
The servants placed weights on the edge of the blanket in case it flew away.
Then, wishing them a good time, they disappeared.
The picnic basket contained salmon sandwiches, fruit pudding, nut cookies, strawberry lemonade, and walnut pie.
Lucia looked slightly surprised at the variety of foods prepared, which seemed to be made with great effort.
“You’ve prepared quite diligently. Wanted to make a good impression, huh.”
Lucia smiled at Owen.
He tilted his head with a moment of confusion, then realization dawned on him, and he pursed his lips.
“Oh.”
“Did you ever think you might become the husband of the lady they worship?”
Teasingly, Owen responded honestly.
His ears turned red again.
It was quite fascinating.
While discussions of engagement and marriage were not difficult, he was always sensitive to such teasing.
Like a shy and clueless boy.
He seemed like a young boy in love for the first time.
“Ah…”
Upon reflection, that seemed accurate.
Lucia looked at Owen with a surprised and puzzled expression.
“First love, isn’t it?”
She had momentarily forgotten, but Owen, with his impressive appearance and no prior romantic experiences, was indeed a remarkable person.
“That’s… quite something.”
If gods existed, they would have surely wept.
To have toiled diligently to create a masterpiece only to work and live without achieving anything.
Unlike the royal family supporting the temple, Lucia, an atheist, thought nothing of betraying the state religion.
“It’s actually a good thing for me.”
Of course, Lucia was pleased.
It was a first for her.
There was nothing as impressive and profound as a first.
Might as well make it the last.
Ironically, Lucia herself had never dated anyone, yet she calmly entertained such thoughts.
“What is this?”
As the two of them sat together discussing, a familiar voice interrupted them.
“A picnic? A picnic at the Hwon Lake.”
Lucia made a vexed expression at the voice of the childish boy.
They had been too busy to see each other’s faces for the past few days, and now they coincidentally met like this.
Lucia, exhausted in an instant, retorted lightly.
“If you’re tired, go in and rest quietly.”
“Are you doing something pathetic… Your, your highness?”
It seemed Owen hadn’t seen it.
Louis, who noticed Owen, had a shocked expression on his face.
“T-That… I mean…”
“Didn’t you hear Lucia’s words?”
Louis was trying to make excuses.
Owen, with a cold demeanor, told Louis.
“Didn’t she tell you to go inside? Are you going to ignore your sister’s words?”