Lumiere had been busy preparing for her palace visit since morning.

She must have been nervous, as her hands kept trembling while preparing her painting supplies.

‘Whew, stay calm.’

Though she had been meeting Karl for over three years, this was her first time going to the palace.

It had been about a year and a half since she learned his secret.

Even after learning he was the King, she had never once thought of visiting the palace.

On a day when thick snowflakes fluttered, erasing the traces of heaven and earth,

The two of them shared their secrets one by one in the cozy stillness of the snow.

It started with something truly trivial.

They began by saying they should honestly tell each other what they liked and disliked.

Lumiere mentioned broccoli, and Karl said cooked tomatoes.

Since cooked tomatoes were food she liked and appeared at every meal, Lumiere was surprised and asked again:

“No, really? You really hated cooked tomatoes?”

“It’s fine now. I can eat them.”

“So you forced yourself to eat them because of me.”

“That’s not it. You just ate them so deliciously that I wondered if there was some flavor I was missing, so I tried hard. Now I’ve gotten used to them and can eat them well.”

“No, you should have said something. I would have left tomatoes off your plate……”

“What does it matter? Thanks to you, my 20-year picky eating habit has been fixed.”

Finding her flustered expression amusing, Karl bit both her cheeks and laughed.

“You also forced yourself to eat broccoli because of me, right? So we’re even. Let’s call it a tie.”

“But you can eat cooked tomatoes now, while I still hate eating broccoli?”

“I heard broccoli is good for you. Don’t you want to try developing a taste for it?”

“Not at all. Tomatoes, fresher and more vibrant than broccoli, will protect my body.”

At her firm rejection, Karl sighed, looking  disappointed.

“Now my dream is to someday see you enjoying broccoli.”

“Your dream is modest. My dream is to see you cry because of me.”

“Oh, you want to make me cry? Is that possible?”

“Just wait and see. I’ll make you cry ‘Lumiere! Waaah!’ while calling my name.”

“I hope those tears will be tears of joy, my lady.”

“Well, that depends on what you do.”

The two of them giggled while looking into each other’s eyes.

Kisses were exchanged constantly, and their caressing hands grew increasingly intimate.

“Is that really all you want to know? You can make me more embarrassed, Lumiere.”

Falling for his provocation, Lumiere asked in a small voice, almost whispering,

“……Then, when I’m not around, have you ever become excited thinking about me?”

Though she had asked with some courage, Karl hugged her tightly and showered her with kisses as if it were the most obvious question.

“Do I need to answer such an obvious question? That’s not even a secret, Lumiere. I think about you every day. Every day. Without missing a single day.”

Kisses poured all over her body as if to show her how he thought about her.

Lumiere shivered at the ticklish and sensual sensation and burst into laughter.

“No, then what is your secret?”

“I swear, even if I tell you my secret, you won’t believe it.”

“I will believe it. How could I not believe the words of the person I love? And you’re not the type to deceive me with jokes. I know that much.”

Lumiere hugged Karl’s waist tightly and made her eyes sparkle brightly.

“So tell me quickly. What is Karl Winger’s secret? Hmm?”

Karl looked at her as if she were the most precious thing in the world and kissed her smooth, straight forehead.

“That’s right. I’ll believe whatever you say too. Because they’re the words of the person I love. Because they’re your words.”

“……”

“I’ll always believe in you, Lumiere.”

At that moment……

Karl’s words about believing her sounded like a confession of love, making her heart flutter.

His golden eyes, rippling like stars under the dim lamplight, were so beautiful that Lumiere unconsciously closed her eyes and kissed him.

Karl responded as if he had been waiting.

He entered  without a hint of hesitation.

His warmth flowed in deeply, his tongue stirring her softly yet firmly, leading her to intense pleasure.

The kisses grew rougher.

At the same time, the bodies of the two, not wearing a single thread, drew closer.

His large, warm hand traveled down her round shoulder.

His large hand firmly grasped her soft bare skin.

Gently caressing with his fingertips while vigorously rubbing as if to distort her original shape, Lumiere unconsciously let out a sigh like an exclamation.

“Every time I touch you with this much force, I’m sometimes afraid you might break.”

Soft kisses continued on her neck and shoulders.

Lumiere, who had been panting, stretched out both hands to hug his neck and said,

“I won’t break that easily, Karl.”

He looked up at her murmuring, worshiping her.

Lumiere hugged him tightly, seeing his somewhat fearful look, and instead showered him with kisses.

“So don’t be afraid to love me, Karl. Don’t hesitate, don’t fear, and pour your love onto me.”

It was a hot and warm moment, so much so that the snowstorm raging beyond the window couldn’t be felt at all.

Lumiere couldn’t control her surging emotions and whispered in his ear:

“I will handle whatever you give me.”

What did those words touch in him?

Karl hugged her fiercely with a face that looked as if something had collapsed.

Responding to Lumiere’s words, he poured himself into her.

He rushed in like a massive wave.

Lumiere shuddered and collapsed several times , almost fainting, but soon revived like a spring sprout and embraced him.

Like meeting a lost part of their souls, the two cherished and loved each other.

By then, Lumiere had already noticed that he was keeping quite a few secrets from her.

But such secrecy didn’t hinder her love for him at all.

Because Karl always did his best for her.

So that was enough.

Just because he had secrets didn’t mean he was a man who pretended or deceived her.

She didn’t need to dig through and discover everything he didn’t want to show to love him.

If there were parts Karl didn’t want to show, she decided to understand and accept that.

Whatever he was hiding, whatever darkness he wanted to conceal……

“My real name is Laedro Stings Carlei Winger.”

So, the secret she had asked Karl to tell wasn’t this kind of bombshell.

Heavier than broccoli, more serious than solitary intimate time, I thought it would be such a trivial secret……

“People in this country call me the ill-fated king.”

Karl kissed Lumiere’s forehead as she stared at him with confused, trembling eyes and whispered.

“That’s my secret, Lumiere.”

Karl’s eyes curved mischievously, as if challenging her to handle it.

* * *

‘That was about a year and six months ago.’

Lumiere hugged her art supply bag while looking up at the palace visible across the bridge.

After hearing that story, she had thought she might run into him here someday.

“……but you hated this place too much.”

So she never even considered entering this place.

Lumiere muttered to herself while admiring the scenery inside the palace.

Since an entire island was being used as the royal palace, it took quite a while by carriage to reach Luperia, the king’s villa.

Before reaching Luperia, where the king primarily resided, Lumiere admired the palace scenery passing by the window.

It was beautiful without a single flaw, yet it felt strangely desolate.

‘Come to think of it, I don’t see any caretakers at all.’

She had thought it didn’t feel like a place where people lived, perhaps because there were hardly any people visible.

‘There was a time when the palace was noisy with people. People came and went every day, and there were many children my age. Now, it’s hard to see children in the palace.’

Karl had said he used to run around every corner of this place when he was young.

But after ‘that incident,’ he said he had never properly wandered around the palace.

He claimed it was because he spent half of his childhood in Berhe, but perhaps memories of his parents embedded in every corner of this place, memories of happier times, had bound his footsteps?

Lumiere recalled the Buchanan mansion.

Though it had burned down now, if she were to go there again,

‘I’d be lucky not to cry the moment I opened the door.’

Lumiere smiled wryly, imagining something that would never happen.

When did I become such a crybaby?

She couldn’t believe herself, feeling a sting in her nose just from imagination.

Meanwhile, her carriage arrived at Luperia, where Karl would be.