Epilogue (1)

Woooong—

The sound of the ship cutting through the deep sea echoed quietly.

The massive cruise ship, carrying hundreds of people, swam powerfully through the orange-tinged sea like a huge whale.

Lumiere rubbed her sleepy eyes and stared dejectedly at the twilight reflecting on the seawater through the small window.

‘Another day has passed like this?’

It was already the fifth day since boarding the ship.

Except for the first day, she hadn’t left this room.

Why, you ask?

Lumiere silently glared at the thick arm wrapped around her waist for a long time, then lightly pinched the skin with her fingertips.

The arm twitched, then slowly wrapped around her body like a snake, pulling her closer and pressing her against his chest.

“I can’t breathe, Karl.”

When Lumiere struggled to push him away, Karl buried his face in her nape like a child throwing a tantrum and exhaled evenly.

Unbelievable.

“I know you’re awake.”

“……No. I’m not awake. Really.”

“Then how are you answering?”

“Sleep talking.”

He keeps responding while claiming it’s sleep talk.

Lumiere struggled to push him away from his binding embrace but suddenly stopped at something making its presence known.

“……No more. Today I’m definitely going to eat dinner in the dining room.”

Karl could be felt laughing behind her back at her words spoken in shock.

Smooch.

A small kiss followed behind her earlobe.

The sensation of lips softly melting on her skin was too sweet.

“I didn’t do anything, Lumiere.”

He said with apparent injustice while tightly embracing her as she tried to escape.

Lumiere turned to look at him in disbelief.

“Right now, right now you’re about to do something!”

“Really? Me?”

“Yes, you!”

When she flared up, Karl asked with an amused smile.

“No, I’m not.”

“What do you mean you’re not, right now……!”

“Right now?”

“……”

Lumiere couldn’t continue her words.

And whether she spoke or not, Karl seemed prepared to enjoy himself.

Lumiere, with her lips tightly closed, silently glared at him, then grabbed his cheeks with both hands and stretched them.

“Are you going to keep playing these naughty tricks?”

After frowning for a while, he grinned and nodded.

“I’ll have to punish you.”

Lumiere, glaring at him with narrowed eyes, suddenly bit his lower lip.

“Ugh.”

Karl winced with one eye from being bitten quite hard.

Lumiere giggled and struggled to quickly escape from him, but she was soon caught by Karl, whose arms and legs were longer and whose physical abilities were superior.

“Since you bit me, hurry and blow on it.”

“No way. That’s punishment for teasing me.”

“Then bite me once more. Gently this time.”

“That’s not punishment!”

Lumiere giggled while pulling his cheeks again.

His handsome appearance remained impressive even with his cheeks stretched out to the sides.

“Did it hurt a lot?”

“No, actually it didn’t hurt.”

“Right?”

Lumiere patted his reddened cheeks, then gently touched the lip she had bitten.

Karl opened his lips as if he had been waiting for this.

His moist tongue touched her fingertips through his sensually parted lips.

Lumiere flinched in surprise at the sensual touch and backed away, and Karl laughed languidly.

“Scared, are you?”

“You made me scared.”

“Oh dear, that sounds like I’m inadequate and you couldn’t enjoy yourself enough. Last night, Lumiere, you clearly……”

“Eek, kyah!”

Lumiere, who could sufficiently guess what he was about to say, quickly covered his mouth with both hands.

She could feel him laughing under her palms.

When Lumiere scolded him with a reddened face while covering his mouth, he quickly changed positions while embracing her.

Kisses showered on her cheeks, jaw, nape, and earlobe.

Unable to bear the ticklishness, Lumiere finally burst into laughter.

Under the orange sunlight pouring through the small window, this time spent playing silly pranks with him while their bare skin touched was unbelievably happy.

That golden gaze focused entirely on her was simply enchanting.

“You should be thankful that I’m weak for handsome faces, Karl.”

“For you, I will always do my best to maintain my appearance, my lady.”

“Hmm, that’s a good attitude.”

Karl, who had been laughing deeply, kissed the bridge of her nose and then jumped up from the bed and picked her up.

“My lady wants to enjoy dining on the ship, so I must accommodate her.”

“……Really?”

“Yes. Let’s quickly wash up and go out.”

A faint smile hung on Karl’s lips as he looked at the brightly smiling Lumiere.

* * *

But in the end, they missed the meal at the restaurant Lumiere wanted again that day.

The problem started when they entered the bathroom together.

‘I must have been crazy.’

She felt like she would end up confined to the room for the entire trip without enjoying anything on this cruise ship she had boarded for the first time in her life.

‘This can’t continue.’

Lumiere, who woke up at dawn, had to make a decision.

She carefully slipped out of Karl’s embrace and quickly went to the bathroom.

After washing quickly, she diligently packed her things with quiet hands.

Then she wrote a short letter, placed it next to Karl, and for the first time, grabbed the doorknob of the cabin.

Time to escape.

* * *

[I’m going out for some fresh air.

Please look for me after lunch. I don’t know where I’ll be.

I’ve never been out before^^]

……How cute.

My Lumiere.

Karl chuckled looking at the note Lumiere had left, then slowly got up and searched the pocket of his hanging jacket.

His hair, still damp from just having washed, was annoying.

He roughly dried it with a towel and casually brushed it back with his hand, then took out a fragrant cigar from a silver case.

After cutting the end with a cutter and lighting it, a scent reminiscent of whiskey’s finish rose sharply.

How many of these would he need to smoke before it was time to go find Lumiere?

He gauged the time while leisurely exhaling smoke.

With his eyes closed, slowly inhaling the smoke, the last report he had received just before boarding the ship briefly flashed through his mind.

‘I apologize. We still haven’t confirmed whether Maria Tartien is alive or dead. She’s hiding so well that we can’t find her.’

That woman couldn’t possibly have any remarkable friends.

And there would be no one with enough affection for her to want to hide her.

The world was still tumultuous.

The name ‘Tartien’ had especially become the main enemy not only to citizens but also to the nobles who were almost trapped in the chapel that day.

The fact that that stupid woman was hiding well meant she had completely abandoned him.

Of course, he could track her down more thoroughly if he really tried, but he didn’t even feel like doing that—she seemed that insignificant.

‘And…… Shantes Debeld, the owner of Isaac, is dead. He seems to have been discovered while mixing with citizens. He was immediately publicly executed. But there were so many people who held grudges against him that the next day, even his corpse wasn’t intact. His flesh was torn apart like he had been devoured by all sorts of beasts……’

That was certainly a death befitting Shantes Debeld.

He had been someone who committed all sorts of evil deeds in back alleys while backed by the Tartiens, so how many people would have grudges against him?

His methods were cruel and he committed many unnecessary murders, so there were probably many who wanted to tear out the dead man’s entrails.

‘Ah! And Marquis Evoque’s body was also found in the Tartien mansion. He had fallen down the stairs and broken his neck, but he died with a smile while holding tobacco in his hand.’

That too was a pathetic and insignificant end befitting an addict.

Karl waved off the reports about their final moments as if they weren’t worth listening to.

He didn’t bother telling Lumiere about these stories.

They weren’t beautiful stories, and they would only dirty her dreams if they reached her ears.

The only one who should appear in Lumiere’s dreams should be him.

He stubbed out the nearly finished cigar in the ashtray.

Then, after closing his eyes for a moment to savor the lingering scent, he lit a second cigar.

The time he spent waiting to find her was both tedious and strangely exhilarating.

He felt so impatient that he wanted to rush out immediately, yet at the same time, he wanted to suppress that impatience somehow.

“Running away, are you.”

……Well, someone like me just wants to chase you more, Lumiere.

Karl, chuckling to himself, waited impatiently for the cigar to burn to the end.

He inwardly resolved to get up as soon as it was finished.

* * *

Wow…….

The sunlight is amazing.

Lumiere stood at the stern of the ship, facing the fierce sea wind head-on.

Her tightly tied-up hair swayed back and forth, and her neatly arranged skirt fluttered chaotically.

Nevertheless, she didn’t want to avoid this strong wind at all.

She wasn’t flying, but she felt like she was, and she felt dreamy, as if the concepts of time and space had disappeared.

“If you lean forward like that, you might fall into the sea, lady.”

Just then, someone spoke to her in a voice tinged with laughter.

Lumiere turned around in surprise to find a man in a sailor’s uniform addressing her.

“No matter how nice the wind feels, you should be careful. Even though our lifeboats are light and sturdy, falling into the endless sea would still leave you with a nightmare of a memory.”

Startled, Lumiere opened her eyes wide and glanced down at the sea.

The massive ship cut through the water and moved forward powerfully, and below was, as the man said, an endless blackness.

How deep could it be down there?

Imagining that unfathomable abyss, Lumiere suddenly shuddered with a chill and carefully asked,

“Do such accidents happen often?”

“Well, once in a while when you least expect it.”

“……Hmm, I should be careful then. Thank you.”

Lumiere, trembling as if frightened, smiled and greeted him.

The man leaned against the railing alongside Lumiere and introduced himself, lifting and lowering the hat he was wearing.

“I’m Alex Maiden. I work as a second-class navigator. I’m also responsible for your safety.”

“You have a wonderful job. I’m Lumiere Lashantia.”

“A name as beautiful as the lady. Is this your first time on a ship?”

Lumiere opened her eyes wide, wondering how he knew.

The man burst into laughter at her reaction.

“I can tell by your reaction. You look quite excited.”

“Is that so? How embarrassing.”

Lumiere smiled awkwardly and brushed back a strand of hair that had escaped behind her ear.

The man gazed at Lumiere as if enchanted, then blushed and spoke to her again.

“It’s strange. I check this stern every day, but I don’t think I’ve seen you before. It’s been more than five days since we set sail.”

“You might not have seen me because there are so many people. And I haven’t come out often because I’m weak physically.”

“Is that so? It’s strange because I couldn’t possibly miss a beauty like you, Miss Lashantia, even if we just passed by briefly.”

Conversing with someone else after a long time was enjoyable.

However, the glimpses of attraction in the conversation seemed excessive.

Just as she was thinking she should end the conversation and move elsewhere, she spotted familiar black hair in the distance.

Karl was leaning against the ship’s hull with his arms crossed, looking at her askance.

His expression was no different from usual, but strangely, his gaze didn’t look good.

‘I asked him to find me after lunch, but he’s already out.’

Surprised, she said goodbye to the man who was trying to say more.

“I should probably go now. My companion has come looking for me with a terrifying face. It was nice talking with you, Mr. Maiden!”

“Wa-wait a moment……!”

Lumiere quickly left the spot without looking back.

Fortunately, she had explored various parts of the ship during the morning, so she had a mental map of where to go.

A place without people.

A place out of sight.

Lumiere quickly descended the stairs leading to the dining room and hid in an empty space.

Thump-thump-thump.

Her heart pounded wildly, like playing hide-and-seek.

This feeling was something she hadn’t experienced in a long time, sending thrilling shivers throughout her body.

Fortunately, she didn’t hear any footsteps following her down the stairs.

‘Did he go somewhere else?’

A suppressed laugh escaped her, feeling victorious.

Then, as if mocking her, a voice came from above her head.

“Looks like you had fun.”

Eek!

A long shadow fell over her as she flinched in surprise.