Sky lanterns floated in the sky. However they had adjusted the weight, they didn’t disappear into the sky but floated for quite a long time at an appropriate height. Though there weren’t many, there were also sky lanterns that had gently settled on the stream.

A simple but charming sight. Izer stopped the horse and explained.

“This is the closest place to Humingham among my private lands. I lent the land to farmers and had them farm it.”

He wanted to tell Celian that she no longer needed to regret the past. It would have been impossible for them not to love each other. He wanted to let her know the fantastic fact that whether they had eloped together or stayed in place, the two of them would have found happiness in the end.

That’s why he chose this place. In this simple village that might have become their destiny, with the heart of experiencing for just one day another life they might have lived.

“It’s not as splendid as downtown Humingham, but since it’s supposedly a festival, they light up here too. I thought you might like it if I showed you……”

Izer’s voice grew smaller and smaller. It was a half-impulsive decision. Because of that, his secretary became twice as busy hastily preparing clothes and a horse. Izer, who had spent his childhood in the countryside, liked simple scenery, but the thought belatedly occurred to him that Celian, who had wandered the countryside after her downfall, might hate it.

‘I should have asked.’

Celian was silent. He regretted whether he had done something unnecessary after all.

“……tty.”

“Huh?”

There was no need to ask again. Celian’s voice grew louder.

“Pretty, Izer. I love it so much!”

“Lian, wait!”

The woman who had tumbled off the horse ran down the hill. Izer chased after her in panic. His wife’s face, caught while hopping around in a dress that stuck to her from sweat and humid air, was flushed red. Celian cheered and threw her arms around his neck.

“How did you think to bring me to a place like this? There are no people, so there’s no need to be prim and proper! Even if I lay down on the grass, no one would nag me!”

“That won’t do. What if you get bitten by bugs?”

Izer smiled and took down the luggage bundle from the horse’s back. It seemed he needed to change his wife’s clothes before she died crushed by her dress.

***

The farmers, whose hearts were abundant thanks to their generous landlord, were frantically focused on decorating their village prettily to match the nation’s celebration. Among them, the colored lanterns hanging full on strings connecting tree to tree caught the two people’s attention.

Celian looked up and asked. She wore the shabby dress Izer had brought and even had a kerchief firmly tied on her head.

“It looks like it’ll rain soon, what will happen to all those candles?”

Izer had his arm around Celian’s shoulder. He too was dressed in a wrinkled shirt and dirt-stained vest instead of his fancy dress uniform. A soft voice flowed from under his face hidden by a bowler hat that someone of Dr. Caleb’s age might wear.

“Farmers are sensitive to weather. They probably made them knowing they wouldn’t last many days…… why are you laughing?”

“It’s fascinating. Izer, being here really feels like we’ve run away.”

“As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters.”

Fortunately, she seemed comfortable. Celian, who had been walking while smiling, wrinkled her nose slightly.

“It smells like chicken droppings.”

“It’s the countryside. How was the place you lived before?”

“It was a slightly bigger village than this place. There were tons of orchards. I wonder if the lady there is doing well, she helped me a lot.”

Now they could exchange the times of their past without each other in comfortable tones. It was thanks to Izer’s fanatical obsession with conversation, sometimes the only means to understand even a little more of a partner who was difficult to comprehend.

“How many years did you live in that village?”

“Three years.”

“Weren’t there any bastards who asked you out?”

“It was a bit dirtier than that. There were many guys who wanted to sleep with me.”

“Lian, where is that village.”

“It’s a secret. Give up the idea of harming innocent people.”

“How are those bastards innocent? Fine, you don’t have to tell me, I’ll ask Owen and he’ll spill everything.”

Celian made an incredulous face.

“I should cut off contact between you two……”

A musty smell vibrated throughout the ground. Discovering Celian’s expression crumpling, Izer hastily pushed her into the restaurant. The restaurant that stayed open late into the night befitting the festival period turned out to be a tavern.

It was just when they had settled into their seats. Suddenly, the sound of a flute intruded into the interior that had been noisy with people’s voices. Izer and Celian’s heads simultaneously turned toward where the sound came from.

In one corner of the tavern, a flute that a drunk farmer had grabbed and started playing stirred people’s excitement. Soon, cheerful percussion sounds were added to the flute. Whether this was a common occurrence, all the people except Celian and Izer ate and chattered pleasantly without any bewilderment.

Celian watched the growing number of performers with curiosity filling her eyes. The music, which couldn’t be called good even as empty flattery, was truly a mess. The percussion was at least keeping its wits about it and leading the beat. A regular triple time. Celian smiled and whispered in Izer’s ear.

“It seems to be a waltz.”

Izer also agreed that it was a waltz. A violin with one broken string, appearing from who knows where, joined the flute that carried the melody. Watching these people play purely by feeling without sheet music or conducting, Celian’s shoulders began to sway along.

She wasn’t the only one. A young lady from a few tables away took the hand of the young man she came with and walked out to the center. This couple, famous in the village, danced an awkward but joyful waltz to the messy tune.

Two more couples joined the stage. One of them was a fat man presumed to be the tavern owner and his wife, who was similar in build. The slender couples yielded space to the bulky couple’s entrance. Even while bumping into each other and stepping on their partners’ feet, no one frowned.

It was then that the eyes of the panting, large couple dancing met Celian’s. The bearded man cheerfully shouted.

“Hey there, you young lady who came to have fun. You should come out with your boyfriend too!”

Celian whispered.

“Izer, how do they know we came to have fun?”

“In this small place, all unfamiliar faces must be people who came to have fun. Get up, Lian.”

“Huh?”

When she came to her senses, she was standing on the wooden floor. The steps she had learned as a child naturally flowed from her body.

“……”

She had only danced with her father at home. The family had fallen before she could have a proper debutante ball. There were balls in the countryside where she wandered with Bess, but Celian had made various excuses not to attend those places where the goal was to grope young ladies under the pretense of dancing.

She had no occasion to dance even after her restoration. The revived Marquis Berienne didn’t want to manage her expressions at balls where social skills were needed. She attended a few times for Izer’s sake, but her goal was to return home before dancing.

So her first dance with Izer took place in a smelly countryside tavern. Celian found it amusing and looked up at her husband.

He danced quite well. It was the result of Jade’s special training, saying that he needed to do at least this much to avoid being ignored by nobles. Though she had never spoken with him directly, being close to the prince, he must have danced with numerous ladies at various balls. As if reading her thoughts, Izer moved his lips.

“I never danced with Ophelia.”

At his wife’s face brightening instantly, a smile bloomed on Izer’s face as well.

Then they heard the man who had been glancing at them since they entered whispering to his companions.

“Isn’t that His Grace the Duke? I wasn’t sure because of the clothes, but it seems right?”

“Shh. Let’s pretend we don’t know.”

Izer pretended not to hear the farmers’ conversation and spun his wife around. People watching whistled at the graceful wing-like movement. Pure joy bloomed on Celian’s clear face, showing she was thrilled to death.

Izer’s lips moved slightly. He wondered if his heart had reached Celian. That our love has only the present, and the painful past has disappeared. That we only need to look at each other and smile, and you don’t need to struggle with the past you went through alone.

And the moment their eyes met, Izer knew his heart had gotten through.

Izer pulled Celian’s arm with force.

If we had held hands and run away at some moment in the past, by now we would be wearing shabby clothes like this and dancing in the middle of strangers.

While receiving people’s applause, spinning around in aprons splattered with food, sparks might have flown and burned holes in our clothes.

Still, we would have been happy. Because I would hold your hand, and you would be in my arms.

So we are happy now. Because you look into my eyes, and I kiss you like this.

People all cheered in unison at the passionate couple’s display of affection. It seemed like someone’s shout of “Your Grace, the best!” was mixed in, but the protagonists on stage didn’t care and kissed passionately.

That night, it rained in Humingham.

And the ducal residence was quiet until morning.