Epilogue (2)

……Let’s run away!

Just as she was about to grab her skirt and run, something dropped in front of her.

Lumiere gasped and looked at Karl, who was standing up lightly in front of her.

Oh my goodness…… did he jump down from there?

Karl dusted off his wrinkled pants as if it were nothing and extended his hand to Lumiere.

His neat standing posture was somehow both marvelous and eerie.

“If you want to do more, let’s do more. Shall I chase you again?”

“……Were you deliberately not catching me?”

“You seemed bored. And you looked cute hiding……”

“Hmm, that sounds like something a villain with a bad personality would say.”

“Really? Want me to act more like a villain?”

He lifted his chin and twisted the corner of his mouth into a smile.

It was clearly a joke, but strangely, his eyes looked savage, not joking.

Like he might really become a villain if left alone.

Lumiere thought for a moment, then stretched out her hands to wrap around his neck and said resignedly.

“Never mind. I’m too afraid of the consequences to play anymore.”

“Good thinking. It was quite disgusting watching males desperate to approach you when you were alone.”

“There were no such males.”

“Then what about that husk who was sticking close to you just now?”

“……He’s not a husk, he’s a person named Alex Maiden. You shouldn’t call people like that.”

“No man is tolerant of another man approaching his woman.”

Karl, who spoke indifferently, picked her up in his arms.

“I can walk on my own.”

“You might get hurt. The stairs are very steep.”

“……I ran down there just now.”

“You can’t imagine how anxious that made me.”

“You just jumped down from there yourself.”

Karl smiled at Lumiere’s rebuttal and kissed her lips with a peck.

Unbelievable!

He kissed her eye again when she glared at him.

“You must be hungry. Let’s eat quickly. Let’s eat in the dining room today.”

Then, as if she had been waiting for this, she suddenly felt hungry.

Deciding to postpone her complaints, Lumiere’s toes trembled with anticipation.

Karl laughed again at her cute dangling feet as she clung tightly to his neck, as if she had no choice.

* * *

The first meal they ate outside their room was excellent.

The food itself was the same as what they ordered in the room, but just eating outside made such a difference in mood.

Karl also matched her mood, doing things together that Lumiere had wanted to do all along.

They went to the card game room on the cruise ship and toured the banquet hall where parties were held.

Among these, the most interesting place was the swimming pool where people were almost half-n*ked.

‘I hoped she wouldn’t know about this place……’

Karl sighed deeply at the sight of Lumiere’s sparkling eyes.

To show her people playing in the water together, nearly n*ked—

This recreational facility was far too lewd and promiscuous to show Lumiere.

He grabbed Lumiere’s shoulder, who showed considerable interest, and earnestly pleaded.

‘……Well, looking is one thing. It’s fascinating. But please, just don’t say you want to wear that swimsuit thing that looks like a half-torn cloth.’

‘Wow…… where do you buy those? Look, everyone at the pool is wearing them!’

But it already seemed too late.

Lumiere appeared determined to buy that clothing-like item that exposed her thighs completely.

After some deliberation, Karl said,

“There’s a private beach behind the mansion on Cissus Island. If you promise to wear it only there.”

“……But that’s not a swimming pool!”

“I’ll make it exactly like this one. Wouldn’t that work?”

“But there won’t be any people.”

Karl pleaded to Lumiere, who wouldn’t back down.

“I’m making it on a private beach precisely because there shouldn’t be people. Lumiere, please. Are you trying to see me go crazy? Hmm? Please……”

Lumiere only gave up her regrets about the swimming pool after finally hearing Karl say “please.”

Inwardly, she was determined to try it someday, but it seemed too early for now.

And she understood his feelings too.

‘It is quite revealing.’

Lumiere glanced regretfully at the women lying on sun beds before turning away.

Besides this place, the ship offered countless things for her to see and enjoy.

Coincidentally, a small fireworks display and shipboard party would be held this evening.

The massive cruise ship provided daily entertainment for its poor passengers trapped on board.

It truly lived up to its enormous ticket price.

Lumiere excitedly chose the prettiest dress from the luggage she had prepared.

She put on the perfume Cindy had prepared and the pin Karl had given her as a gift, and when she came out, a handsome man with pomaded hair was waiting for her.

Karl kept his eyes on Lumiere and approached her, murmuring.

“Beautiful.”

“You look handsome too.”

“It’s an honor to be your partner, my lady.”

“I’m grateful that you willingly became my partner.”

They smiled at each other and naturally pressed their lips together.

Warm energy passed between them, and a slightly deeper kiss followed between their parted lips.

The predatory wolf’s hand crept up beneath her chest, which rose and fell heavily from breathlessness.

Tap.

She pushed his hand away and issued a warning.

“Don’t try to ruin my first shipboard party.”

“……How frightening.”

He smiled and willingly offered his arm.

Lumiere primly placed her hand on his arm and went outside.

* * *

Lumiere.

She laughed like a quietly flowing stream.

More serene than undulating waves, yet more vibrant than could be found in a stagnant puddle, she laughed and danced.

The tips of her red hair fluttering under the dim gas lamps dyed Karl’s pupils red.

Karl gazed at his one and only lover in life, glowing with love.

Her intelligent, shining eyes looked directly at him, and her clear laughter rang like bells under the gentle jazz melody.

“This is so fun, Karl—!”

Suddenly, an immeasurable, enormous emotion ran through his entire body like a shiver.

Lumiere made him happy.

Her love filled him completely and warmly wrapped around the time that had been so cold he could have frozen solid while only looking toward revenge.

Lumiere would never know how much stability she gave him.

Karl pulled her close and embraced her as she returned to him after twirling once to the music.

He loved how she nestled perfectly into his large embrace.

“Let’s dance one more song, okay?”

His heated gaze fell near her breastbone, which moved busily up and down beneath her thin dress.

His throat burned with yearning, and desire urged him on, but for the sake of his love, he willingly suppressed it.

“As many as you want.”

Lumiere kissed his cheek and smiled, seeming pleased.

This was enough.

His excessive desires could be fully satisfied when they returned to their room.

He willingly kept his gentleman’s mask on and moved to the melody for her sake again and again.

Champagne was passed around, the jazz faded, and finally the fireworks Lumiere had been so looking forward to were launched into the sky.

Lumiere stopped smiling and stared for a long time at the brilliant lights shot up over the pitch-black, vast ocean.

Karl happily watched without taking his eyes off the lovely flush spreading across Lumiere’s luscious white cheeks.

It was a red far more beautiful than those violent lights shooting up into the sky.

At one point, Lumiere turned to him and met his gaze for a while.

Karl somehow thought he would never forget this moment.

The sound of fireworks shooting into the sky, the exclamations of the murmuring people, the subtly shaking ship, and the melody melting into the dim light.

Wouldn’t he reminisce about this time with her every year until they were full of wrinkles, like an imprinted photograph?

When we first took a ship together—

The fireworks we watched together then—

The day you sparkled your eyes at the swimsuit—

Talking about such things, they would reminisce about how passionate and ardent they were back then.

The moment he thought this, Karl felt fine goosebumps rise all over his body.

This love would be eternal.

He was certain that this eternity would make him complete.

It was embedded in his mind more firmly and certainly than any other conviction.

And in that moment of trembling at this realization, Lumiere took a deep, shaky breath and pulled out a ring box from her small pocket.

Click—

The box shyly opened its mouth and spat out the treasure it had been hiding.

Lumiere took out a ring with a green jewel that resembled her eyes, and slowly put it on Karl’s stiffened finger while saying.

“Will you be with me forever, Karl Winger? As my life companion, as your eternal lover, I’ll love only you for my entire life.”

Her lips touched the back of his hand.

Lumiere, holding his hand tightly with both of hers, gently looked up at him with a face tinged with shyness.

And with a shy smile on her face…….

“……Forever. Perhaps until that forever ends.”

She vowed eternity.

Karl looked down at her and the ring she had put on him with blank eyes.

Ah—

His chest swelled roughly due to the breath he inhaled urgently, like someone who had been suffocating.

“……”

He wanted to say something, but his lips trembled and he couldn’t speak.

Lumiere’s eyes, which had been quietly looking at him, grew larger.

“……Are you crying?”

He smiled without even thinking of wiping away the tears that flowed endlessly.

Ah, Lumiere.

The light of my life.

The entirety of my will.

My flame.

Karl lifted her hand as she had done and kissed the back of her hand with his wet lips.

Like a sacred ritual, he kissed the back of her hand, her fingers, and deep into her palm, then answered while shedding tears.

“Forever. And even after that forever ends. I’ll love you, my Lumiere.”

Lumiere, who had been flustered by his tears, embraced him tightly, smiling like she’s looking at a helpless child.

“……That’s a wonderful answer. I love you too, my prince.”

Let’s live happily.

Grateful for each small moment.

Never forgetting what a great miracle it is that we live, breathe, and enjoy happiness.

Like that…….

The small fireworks display on the ship ended in an instant.

But Karl and Lumiere returned to their room, holding each other’s hands tightly, with heat trapped in each other’s eyes.

It took several more days before Lumiere appeared on the ship again.

The ship heading to Cissus Island continued its peaceful voyage.

Karl and Lumiere’s life would probably also move forward steadily like a ship cutting through gentle waves.

Epilogue 〈The End〉