Chapter 120

“It would be best to go inside first. The night air is cold.”

“…Alright.”

Edward wrapped his arm around my shoulders and led me toward Winderton.

I hesitated for a moment before stepping inside with him.

“Oh! My lady—”

The servants who saw me stopped what they were doing and stared, their astonishment plain on their faces.

Feeling the weight of their startled gazes, I felt a twinge of embarrassment.

“I’d like to go to my room first. All these eyes on me are a bit much…”

“Ah, understood.”

Edward quickly nodded and opened the door to my chamber.

Though it still felt strange to be here with him, we naturally made our way inside.

“It seems there’s much we need to talk about.”

“Indeed…”

Closing the door so we wouldn’t be disturbed, Edward fixed his gaze on me, calm but searching.

We each fidgeted a little, avoiding each other’s eyes, before sitting across from one another at the table.

“I truly didn’t expect you to return, Lirie…”

“Nor did I expect myself to choose to come back.”

“May I ask why? You found living in Winderton so difficult.”

Edward studied my expression as he asked.

“How could I possibly leave after you gave me something like that as a ‘final gift’?”

“That was just…”

“I know. I know it well. Until the very moment I left, you said it over and over—you wanted me to be happy. That’s why you did it, isn’t it?”

“…Yes.”

When Edward nodded, I let out a small sigh.

“You said so many times you didn’t want me to go, and yet you wrote down which kingdoms were the best to live in…”

“I couldn’t bring myself to tell you not to leave. I thought it would be better for you to be happy, even if it meant you weren’t by my side, than for you to keep suffering here.”

“This isn’t like you… You know that, don’t you? This kind of thing doesn’t suit you.”

“I don’t regret that choice. Even if you hadn’t come back and had truly left for good, I would have been fine.”

Lies—nothing but lies.

Edward’s eyes were already rimmed red.

In truth, from the moment I stepped down from the carriage and saw him, they had been.

‘Saying you’d have been fine while greeting me looking like that… what a ridiculous lie.’

I exhaled softly.

“I thought I could keep from coming back. Like I said before, I didn’t think I could tell you I loved you.”

“Lirie…”

“And even after I decided to return, I was anxious, to be honest. But your letter let me come back without regret. Thinking of someone like you, who’d probably never write a letter in his life, actually writing something like that—it made me laugh a little…”

Saying aloud exactly how I’d felt reading Edward’s letter was embarrassing.

Of course, Edward felt the same.

Though he quietly listened, the tips of his ears had turned crimson.

“In that letter, you said you’d be waiting no matter when I came back.”

“That’s right.”

“Does that still hold true?”

I could guess the answer that would come out of Edward’s mouth, but a faint unease still made me fidget with my fingers until he spoke.

“Tell me, Edward…”

“That has never changed, and it never will. I promised you I would keep every word I said to you, didn’t I?”

Edward spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

His calm tone washed away my lingering unease, letting me breathe easier.

“I thought you might resent me.”

“How could I?”

“I ignored your sincerity all along. I tried not to listen to anything you said. I was afraid—what if you did resent me? I even worried about that on the way back.”

At my words, Edward said nothing.

Instead, he rose from his seat and walked toward me.

“Lirie, you never have to worry about that. I will always want you.”

“…I’m sorry for everything.”

The warmth of his hands as they gently closed over mine seeped into me.

I realized how much I had missed this feeling—how much I had missed this side of Edward, always telling me the same reassuring words no matter what state I was in.

Embarrassment and guilt kept me from meeting his eyes.

“Lirie, look at me.”

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to look at you. I feel so ashamed of myself.”

“So you’re just going to keep sitting there with your head down? I’m just so happy to see you.”

When his words ended, a light, teasing laugh followed, instantly easing the air between us.

I lifted my gaze just slightly.

“I love you, Lirie.”

“…”

“I truly love you. When you left Winderton, I regretted not telling you. I thought—if only I had said it sooner, before you left.”

Edward looked up at me and slowly raised one hand to caress my cheek.

Every movement felt deliberate, as if he were being careful not to break something fragile.

“That’s why I don’t want to do anything I’ll regret again. Whatever the outcome, you’ve come back to me, and I will never do anything I’ll regret from here on.”

He spoke with the resolve of someone who had made a great decision.

I hadn’t thought I would cry, but seeing the unchanging sincerity in him made my eyes sting.

“I said I wouldn’t ask again, but I’ll ask you once more, Lirie.”

“…”

“Do you love me?”

It felt as though his voice overlapped with the time he had asked me this before.

Back then, I told him I couldn’t say I loved him.

But not now.

“I love you. I love you, Edward.”

“…”

“Could you say it just once more?”

“I truly love you. It’s taken a long road to say it again, but now I can tell you with certainty—I love you.”

Even after hearing it once, Edward wanted to hear it again.

I wiped the tears brimming in my eyes and repeated it for him.

“Ah… that’s enough. I want nothing else. From the moment you chose me, I’ve wanted nothing more.”

Letting out the breath he had been holding, Edward wrapped his arms tightly around me as I sat there.

The tremor in his heartbeat told me exactly how tense he had been.

“Oh, right! You haven’t already processed the divorce papers, have you?”

“That’s…”

Even though I had come back so soon after leaving, it would be a problem if he had already filed them.

The thought made me look at him with anxious eyes.

“You didn’t already process them, did you? No—you couldn’t have.”

“Of course I haven’t processed them yet. You don’t need to worry.”

Noticing my reaction, Edward gave me a teasing smile.

If he had dragged out his answer any longer, my heart might have shriveled from the suspense.

“Don’t joke about things like that. I was really worried you might have already done it.”

“Even if you hadn’t come back, I wouldn’t have processed the papers right away. I’d have kept thinking I should, but I would have hesitated every day… wondering if perhaps you might return.”

Hearing that, I felt even more certain I’d made the right decision in coming back.

“I still don’t believe love lasts forever. People’s feelings can always change.”

“…”

“But Edward… I think I could believe in you. I’ll trust in your certainty that your feelings for me will never change.”

“You won’t have any regrets. I’ll keep every promise I’ve made to you.”

I looked at him, feeling a quiet warmth in my chest.

The way he gazed at me—softly, as though I were the most precious thing in the world—made me happy.

After a moment’s hesitation, I reached out, caught his arm, and pulled him toward me until our eyes met.

What I was thinking wasn’t like me at all, but I didn’t care.

“I love you, Edward.”

Before he could answer, I kissed him.

The wave of embarrassment that hit me made me pull back almost immediately.

But Edward, startled for only a moment, soon recovered and kissed me back—more deeply than I had.

“I’ll love you more, Lirie.”

[ – End]