“If you have no plans today, let’s go out.”

Kalian approached me while I was frantically busy with wedding preparations.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll know when we get there.”

Soon after, gorgeous dresses and all sorts of dazzling accessories poured before my eyes, and I had to be dressed up by the maids’ hands without knowing what was happening.

“Beautiful.”

He smiled with satisfaction and took my hand.

“Let’s go.”

The place I arrived at, led by his hand, was a vast meadow.

“How is it? This is the scenery you’ve wanted to see all this time.”

“Wow!”

Admiring the incredibly beautiful scenery, I slowly looked around.

Fresh green leaves, densely packed weeds, and colorful flowers in full bloom showing off their various colors—I could vividly feel their rich fragrance.

The warm spring breeze blowing on the wind gently swayed my neatly styled blonde hair.

A smile naturally flowed to my lips because the scenery I’d sung about wanting to see since childhood was unfolding before my eyes.

Because he knew about me better than anyone, Kalian had brought me to this place. To show me the place with green sprouts budding, flowers of various colors blooming, and fresh breezes blowing that I’d so wanted to see.

“I love it so much. It’s exactly like what I saw in books, exactly the feeling I imagined.”

I grabbed his sleeve and pointed here and there with my hand like a curious child, smiling brightly.

Kalian watched me continuously with a pleased smile.

I touched the leaves, tapped the flowers, and smelled their fragrance. Though I’d felt these textures when I was with Mary, unlike then, I was incredibly happy now.

Like I’d returned to my innocent childhood, I laughed gleefully and savored the warm, gentle spring world.

“Thank you.”

As I held Kalian’s hand and walked gently barefoot on the grass, words suddenly flowed from Kalian’s mouth, which had been silent.

“I’m the one who should be saying thank you, though?”

When I looked at him with puzzled eyes, he took both my hands and stood facing me.

“No. I should be the one thanking you. You forgave me. Even though you could have never forgiven me for what I did to you for the rest of your life, you forgave me and came to see me.”

“A certain someone kept giving me hints, so I couldn’t stay comfortably at Ventus Castle.”

I burst into laughter. Thinking of the cute things he’d done for me made me laugh naturally.

“Though it might have been time that passed in an instant for you, it was such a long time for me. If I didn’t do that, I couldn’t breathe. So now, don’t leave me.”

I pressed my lips firmly against Kalian’s lips in answer.

A calm, gentle breeze pleasantly brushed past us, and the pouring golden sunlight warmly settled over us.

It was such a quiet, peaceful, languid afternoon that even my heart became calm.

* * *

The wedding was held grandly in the temple garden six months later, presided over by the Archbishop. The sky seemed to want to bless us too—on the wedding day, the sky was clear and transparent, and even the wind was calm and cool.

When the ceremony began, the sweet melody of the court orchestra flowed gently, making the venue atmosphere even more elegant.

I wore a neat white dress that emphasized my body’s beautiful curves and got into the carriage wearing a veil adorned with pure white flowers. The dress reflected in the sunlight pouring into the carriage sparkled and shone even more brilliantly.

When the carriage decorated with splendid gold on a white background stopped in front of the hall and opened its door, I saw Kalian standing at the hall entrance.

Wearing a white uniform with gold-embroidered epaulettes and his hair neatly swept back, he looked more dazzling and beautiful than anyone else in the world.

The moment I got out of the carriage, Kalian took my hand without taking his eyes off me.

“You’re so beautiful I want to keep staring at you in a daze. Do you know how long I’ve waited for today?”

A gentle smile turned toward me.

During the time that had passed frantically while preparing for the wedding and going back and forth to the Grand Duke Suffolk household, Kalian’s separation anxiety had grown even worse.

I’d soothed his anxiety with letters, but he seemed to have reached his limit. As a result, the imperial wedding that should have originally taken a year was held in just six months.

Though he stubbornly did whatever he wanted, no noble had complaints about Kalian.

Though he seemed like a violent tyrant, he became a gentle puppy only in front of me, so whenever he did something that went beyond common sense, the dissatisfied people came to me asking me to please stop him.

‘Please stop His Majesty.’

The one who came to me most often was Deon Roden. Somehow, I’d become the highest authority in the Tuniell Empire.

I glanced at Kalian with a satisfied smile, and when our eyes met, he also smiled at me with his eyes.

We walked lightly on the red carpet to where the Archbishop was.

With each step, a breeze carrying sweet flower fragrance greeted us, and the dress train stretching long enough to cover the carpet rippled like dancing.

At the same time, the cheers and applause of the guests filling the garden filled our space.

When we stopped in front of the Archbishop, a long speech from the Archbishop followed. It seemed to continue quite long, but I couldn’t hear anything.

Just looking at Kalian’s enchantingly handsome face as we held hands and faced each other made time seem to fly by.

His gaze was also directed only at me. The only difference from me was that intense flames flickered in his moist red eyes. Just receiving his gaze was enough to make my body heat up.

“…With this, I declare that you two have become partners.”

That’s why the long speech seemed to end in an instant. Kalian lifted the veil covering my face and gave me a light kiss on my lips, like a feather fluttering.

Soon after drinking from the prepared chalice, with the Archbishop’s declaration, we finally became husband and wife.

The exit was completed by passing through an arch-shaped flower pillar.

Walking hand in hand on the path full of flower fragrance, we smiled the happiest smiles in the world. But when we reached the end, a single tear dropped from my eye.

“Why?”

Kalian, who’d been silently staring at me, looked at me with a surprised face.

“Because I’m happy.”

I embraced him.

I wondered if it was okay to be this happy. I seemed even happier because he, Kalian, was by my side.

There was a time when I’d tried to run away with him, disobeying Father’s orders, and times when I’d been sad wondering why he was a sl*ve. Times when I’d tried hard to find him after he disappeared…

Things I’d thought could never be achieved back then were being accomplished one by one. That’s why everything happening to me now felt like a dream, like a fantasy.

Kalian wiped away my tears with a tender touch. Then he gently lowered his lips to mine, reminding me that all of this wasn’t a dream.

“Live happily by my side from now on too.”

“Well. I’d like to decide after seeing how you do?”

“I’ll do even better. So stay by my side. Don’t think about dying.”

He spoke pleadingly while giving small kisses on my face. The pecking kisses seeped in pleasantly.

“When you’re begging like this, how could I die?”

I smiled broadly.

Pain still existed in my heart and would probably never disappear for the rest of my life. But because happiness far exceeding that had taken root inside me, I could move forward toward the future.

Anxiety and unhappiness were now farewell forever.

fin.