Chapter 12

“Don’t you want to see the sea? Wasn’t it your dream to travel by ship to the endless open ocean?”

Lucien’s sweet voice, like rich chocolate and the whisper of a devil, tickled Serenia’s heart. The heat from what she thought would be her first and last night with him didn’t fade even in the morning, and the brief taste of temptation melted the walls Serenia had kept around her heart for years. She could no longer hold out as firmly as before.

And so, Serenia arrived at headquarters with Lucien, riding together in a carriage.

The navy headquarters, built with pure white walls that matched the blue sea and golden sand, looked like a giant castle perched atop a cliff. The beautiful building, which seemed to blend modern structures from the capital with the old walls of a fortress, harmonized perfectly with the sea spreading out behind the cliff—just looking at it was breathtaking.

“Wow!”

“Careful, you’ll fall.”

“You sometimes treat me like a child, but anyone would say I’m more mature than you.”

As Serenia ran close to the cliff, Lucien’s gentle warning made her glance back at him with a playful spin. Grumbling as she stepped back, Lucien quickly approached and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“You never listen. I said to be careful.”

Lucien, holding her shoulders from behind, stopped near the cliff’s railing. The wide-open view filled with the sea rushed in, and the burdens that had weighed on Serenia’s heart for so long magically felt lighter.

Looking at Serenia’s awestruck face as she gazed at the sea, Lucien felt a similar emotion—relief and pride. The vague longing he’d felt when making promises with her was finally fulfilled in this moment.

Serenia’s eyes sparkled, filled with the sea and this moment. Lucien wanted to be the only person reflected in her moved gaze.

He was her only friend and confidant—wasn’t it okay to be a little selfish?

Feeling an emotion he couldn’t name, Lucien unconsciously tightened his arm around her, pulling her into his embrace.

Serenia’s back gently bumped against Lucien’s chest. She lifted her chin, meeting Lucien’s eyes, who stood taller above her.

“Aren’t you glad you followed me?”

“…Yes.”

“See? One-sided love is just a fleeting emotion. If you’d let go of those pointless regrets and come with me sooner, you wouldn’t have suffered so much. Isn’t this better?”

“Yeah. I guess I did end up coming.”

She’d tried so hard to avoid it… Serenia swallowed the words she couldn’t say to Lucien and turned her gaze back to the distant horizon. Her heart beat faster against Lucien’s chest behind her. She hoped he wouldn’t notice. Waves of emotion, whether joy or sadness, crashed inside her.

* * *

“Is this really all there is?”

“I told you. People hear ‘soldier’ and think we’re always on the battlefield. Tsk.”

The lace curtains fluttered softly at the edge of the large balcony window behind the library desk. The blue sea rolling beyond the pure white balcony created a romantic scene, like looking at a huge framed painting. No matter how many times Serenia looked around, it didn’t feel like the office of the navy headquarters’ commander.

“Honestly, I spend all day looking at paperwork here. I barely get any exercise.”

And if there was one thing in this space that seemed most unbelievable, it was Lucien. Sitting sideways in his uniform at the desk, arms crossed and grumbling, Lucien shone as if lit by a different light.

“Why that face?”

“…Nothing. I just realized you haven’t changed.”

It felt the same as when she first met him. Back then, he’d been younger, less mature, but the sense that he didn’t belong to the same world, and the inexplicable attraction that made her unable to look away, was the same.

All the members of the Delaroz family who had come to bring Serenia—the last one left in the world—were unfailingly kind and gentle to her. Yet, ironically, it was Lucien, the most prickly and curt, who made her feel like she could finally breathe.

“Ah… You’re like the sea.”

“What?”

“Nothing. So, is this where we start?”

Lucien looked puzzled at Serenia’s sudden laughter, but she said nothing more. Thinking that Lucien and the sea shared a similar meaning made her feel a little more at ease, after all the anxiety and tension she’d felt along the way.

“If you mess up, can I nag you? Isn’t that what a direct subordinate is for?”

“You sound like you’ve been waiting for this.”

“It’s my chance to nag you legally! Of course I will!”

“You really can’t be helped. Go ahead, do as you please.”

Lucien pointed at Serenia with both hands in mock formality, bursting into laughter. The moment they could face each other and laugh so easily felt both miraculous and precious.

That’s why, no matter how many times she was swept away by the waves and pushed far away, she always ended up back here, unable to leave.

Her long one-sided love wasn’t something she could call wonderful, but Lucien was always the one who helped her breathe and made her feel at ease. Even if it wasn’t romantic love—if Serenia was someone special to Lucien, then maybe her feelings were reciprocated in some way.

Just as she’d always dreamed of seeing the sea, even though she thought she’d never see it, Serenia still didn’t know how to give up on her one-sided love, even knowing it would come to nothing.

If she couldn’t let go, then smiling in this sweet dream was the best courage and greatest desire she could muster.

* * *

Tap, tap, tap. Lucien’s impatient rhythm as he tapped his toes against the desk leg filled the office. The regular noise might have been annoying, but no one in the office said anything to Lucien.

That was because there was no one else in the office but Lucien!

“Where did it go wrong?”

Lucien leaned back in his plush chair, arms crossed and openly disgruntled. He looked like a ticking time bomb, ready to go off if someone brushed past him. Lucien’s gaze was fixed on Serenia’s desk and her empty chair.

“She’s really a workaholic, isn’t she?”

Lucien’s plan had been this: with his usual subordinate suddenly on extended leave, he’d put Serenia in the vacant spot and keep her under close watch. It wasn’t a lie that there was a lot of work—he figured if she stayed busy, her silly crush would eventually be worn away by reality.

The problem was that Serenia was even more capable and diligent than Lucien expected. She was almost too conscientious. In just a few weeks, she’d quickly grasped the situation and adapted perfectly, as if this was her lifelong job. Because of Serenia, Lucien’s frustration grew day by day.