「By the way, what does ‘Osokoi’ mean?」

「Ah, that’s…」

For the first time, Kalsto looked somewhat troubled.

「Well, it means ‘beauty.’ It’s crude slang used in back alleys, so you probably wouldn’t understand it.」

「Oh.」

Since Kalsto was so handsome, the nickname seemed to make sense, but he chuckled, seemingly noticing her thoughts.

「It’s not my nickname.」

Then he wasn’t Osokoi?

As she became puzzled, the door opened slightly and a middle-aged female employee who appeared high-ranking quietly spoke to Kalsto.

「He’s arrived.」

Since guests were expected to come, someone must have arrived. Kalsto looked back at Andrea and said:

「Rest for now.」

After Kalsto left, Andrea finally turned around and went into the bathroom to bathe.

“Wow…”

The bathroom was extremely luxurious. Water spouted from lion-shaped decorations on the walls, and the tiles were inlaid with real gold leaf.

The Ulrichs weren’t lacking in money either, but as mere commoners, if they indulged in excessive luxury, there were too many who would look down on them, so they refrained from extravagance that would make others frown. 

But this felt more like they couldn’t help but flaunt their wealth and greatness. It gave off a feeling that said “this is what nobility is.”

Since noble mansions were passed down through generations, it would be difficult to say it was necessarily the current owner’s taste, but it was certainly overwhelming.

***

Andrea came out of the bathroom unable to hide her awkwardness.

The clothes the servants had prepared were empire-style nightgowns made of flowing muslin that cascaded down the body. But the thin material and the characteristic design that cinched under the bust emphasized her curves, giving off a rather sensual feeling. 

Even the square neckline was cut too deeply. She wondered if this was fashionable among Kirak women these days, but as a guest, she couldn’t be picky.

So she just looked in the mirror and pinned the Fire Blue pin back in her hair. Though Gillian had sent various gifts from afar, somehow this pin she’d first received remained closest to her heart.

Still, since the dress was designed to tie with a blue ribbon under the bust, it matched beautifully with the Fire Blue pin’s color.

Creak.

Then she heard the sound of a door opening.

‘A servant?’

She thought as she turned her head. Through the round outline of the heavy velvet curtains draped around the four-poster bed, loosely tied with curtain cords, she glimpsed the silhouette of a man in black clothes.

Andrea was startled.

‘Could it be…!’

Had Kalsto harbored sinister intentions after all?

Andrea quickly grabbed a solid glass bottle from the dresser and hid in a separately installed space beside a partition wall designed for enjoying tea. Her heart pounded.

But the man didn’t come toward her.

The man, whose face was hidden by the bed curtains, stood in front of the desk, put his hands on his hips, and sighed. He looked tired somehow.

The black jacket with gold embroidery he wore, similar to what Kalsto had worn, was luxurious. Around the waist of the perfectly fitted jacket was a delicately embroidered belt that hung its tail in one direction. His back showed broad shoulders and a slim waist.

‘Not Kalsto…?’

He felt similar to Kalsto yet different.

Suddenly the man began loosening his belt, and Andrea was startled. Not knowing what to do and flustered, the man who had removed even his jacket and was now in a white shirt suddenly looked toward the bathroom Andrea had come from, seemingly sensing something. Then he hung his jacket on the chair back and disappeared into the bathroom.

Andrea stealthily poked her head out more to observe the situation outside. In doing so, she didn’t notice that there was a door opening toward her around the bathroom.

Behind her, a door opened silently, and a man holding an ornately decorated revolver with a long barrel slowly walked out, watching Andrea as she peered outside.

‘…?’

Then, seeing her round bottom that looked particularly alluring due to the flowing fabric of her clothes, he looked puzzled.

Her movements peering outside were too clumsy to think she intended to use feminine wiles. She looked troubled, even.

For a moment, the dazzling blonde hair covering her back dazzled his eyes, but soon he saw the thick glass bottle she was holding. It meant she intended to attack.

He aimed the gun barrel precisely at the spy’s back of the head and pulled the hammer.

Click.

Hearing the metallic sound from behind her head, Andrea felt the blood drain from her entire body. Though she wasn’t familiar with guns, which hadn’t been commercialized for long, she knew this sound well.

「Don’t move.」

A frighteningly deep, low voice resonated.

Andrea’s legs began trembling.

Had Kalsto not simply harbored ill intentions, but been a murderer who lured women to his house to harm them?

She missed Gillian so much that tears welled up in her eyes. But knowing she had come so close to Gillian that she could almost catch his scent, she couldn’t die here, so despite trembling like a leaf, she asked:

「Wh-what do you want?」

「Who are you asking…」

The man behind her, who had been asking back in disbelief, suddenly looked puzzled, then grabbed Andrea’s arm and spun her around.

Then the glass bottle fell from her frozen hands and shattered with a crash.

Despite the sound that filled the entire room, the two people only stared at each other.

Short black hair.

For a moment, Andrea didn’t recognize the man who had spun her around. He resembled someone she knew, but the feeling was different.

The man seemed the same way. He looked at Andrea as if he found her familiar but couldn’t recognize her at first glance, then saw the Fire Blue pin in her hair.

“How are you in my room…”

Gillian muttered in bewilderment. Even then, his face showed he couldn’t believe what his eyes were seeing.

Andrea felt like crying. Though he seemed somewhat changed, it really was Gillian. Maybe because he was tired, his voice was hoarse so she hadn’t recognized it at first, but his voice was just as she remembered.

“K-Kalsto brought me here.”

“Kalsto did?”

Then Gillian suddenly looked at the glass bottle fragments scattered on the floor and lifted Andrea up.

“Come here.”

Andrea was startled and reflexively wrapped her arms around his neck to maintain balance.

Carrying her, Gillian rushed out of the room like lightning. On the way, he snatched the jacket he’d hung on the chair back and covered her shoulders with it.

Still unable to believe she’d met Gillian, Andrea was completely bewildered by what was happening.

‘But Gillian, are you carrying me with one arm right now?’

“Gillian…”

She barely managed to speak when people were coming up the central staircase.

「What was that sound just now…」

「Are you hurt?」

It was Kalsto, a man in uniform, and servants who seemed to have come because of the sound of breaking glass.

The uniformed person next to Kalsto was surprisingly Jerome. He too looked completely different, like another person.

「Uh…」

While Jerome, who had discovered the familiar figure Gillian was holding, reacted a beat late, Gillian looked at Kalsto and asked angrily:

「Kalsto! What is this?」

Then Kalsto tilted his head and asked back:

「Sister-in-law?」

Like it was an obvious question.

Andrea was shocked.

Sister-in-law? Her? Then was Kalsto Gillian’s younger brother? Gillian had said he was an only child? But did he know who she was? How?

While all sorts of questions whirled in her head, Gillian said:

「That’s not what I mean—how did you bring Andrea here?」

「She said she was kidnapped by pirates. She was just about to be sold at a Guld.」

「What?」

Gillian quickly looked at Andrea.

「Why were you kidnapped by pirates when you were in Misolr?」

「Well…」

Cold sweat was about to break out.

While Andrea stammered, Kalsto said casually:

「She said she came to meet you, brother.」

「Alone?」

Unable to lie, Andrea carefully nodded.

「An…!」

Gillian, who was about to exclaim in disbelief, just held his forehead instead. Andrea felt anxious, feeling like she’d become a criminal for no reason, then asked Kalsto to resolve her confusion:

「But when did you know who I was…」

「Let’s talk about it tomorrow. You all go back.」

Gillian, who had thrown out these words, immediately slammed the door shut and went back in. Behind him, Jerome looked at Kalsto with undisguised exasperation.

「So that’s why you told me not to leave right away but to wait—this was the interesting show?」

Kalsto just shrugged.

***

As soon as they returned to the room and the door closed, Andrea found herself embraced so tightly by Gillian at the door that she couldn’t move.

“Andrea.”

After cupping Andrea’s cheeks and rubbing them against his own, Gillian spoke her name again like he couldn’t believe this reality.

“Andrea.”

Andrea felt like crying. She realized how pointless her worry that Gillian might have forgotten her had been.

“I missed you.”

It sounded like he was releasing something that had been suppressed.

“I didn’t know three years was such a long time.”

“Then why didn’t you come? I waited. Really, every single night.”

She couldn’t help but voice her resentment as much as she had missed him.

“Your father…”

Gillian pressed his forehead against hers and exhaled like a sigh.

“He said he couldn’t send you to a place with nothing. I thought the same way.”

“I regretted it. I should have gone with Gillian. Rather than wasting away missing you like this, I should have spent even one more day with Gillian.”

“No.”

Gillian was firm, like Andrea had actually done such a thing.

“If I lost you, what would be the point of all this?”

Not wanting to talk anymore, she immediately hugged Gillian’s neck and kissed him. As he pushed, she gradually backed away until the jacket on her shoulders fell off.

“But how could you think of coming here alone?”

Even while doing this, Gillian spoke. The more he thought about it, the more incredulous he seemed.

“I’m really angry, but it’s so like you that I want to laugh too.”

Suddenly Gillian raised his head.

“No, I am angry. How could you do something so reckless, even if you’re you?”

“Let’s talk about that tomorrow.”

Exhaling, she kissed him again and pulled at his collar, sitting down on the bed. Gillian, who had followed her without breaking the kiss, knelt on the bed and unbuttoned his shirt.

He seemed like a completely different person. Maybe it was her imagination, but he seemed taller, his shoulders much broader, and unlike his somewhat slender past, his body was now like a carved statue. It felt so much like she was doing this with a different man that she felt guilty.

Before, he’d been a delicate beautiful youth who could wear women’s clothes without seeming out of place, but now he was simply a ‘man.’ Now, even if he wore women’s clothes, no one could be fooled from the neck down.

But suddenly, something important seemed to cross Gillian’s face.

“Wait.”

Then he got up and went somewhere, returning with some object in his hand.

Andrea, whose clothes were already disheveled from their struggle, held her partially exposed chest and sat up.

Gillian, who had returned, knelt on one knee beside the bed. Then he took Andrea’s hand, who looked puzzled, pressed his lips to the back of her hand, and said:

“Andrea Ulrich. Though I am lacking, I, Gillianios Dratva, who owns the hills of Landriga in Kirak, ask you to become my wife.”

Though Landriga was now a vast territory, she knew that in Kirak, when proposing, they humbly referred to it as hills according to old customs from when it was a small country. 

Not only was it a proposal, but as a Kirak enthusiast, she felt infinite emotion at witnessing this historical tradition firsthand.

But Andrea was shocked when she saw the ring Gillian slipped onto her finger.

“Gillian, this is too much…”

Compared to the modest proposal speech, it was so extravagant she was alarmed. The ring was designed like a white bird holding a large sapphire with its wings, and the white bird part was entirely made of diamonds. Even though he had reclaimed Dratva, she wondered if it was okay to be this extravagant.

Reading her thoughts, Gillian said:

“It’s a ring passed down to the ladies of Dratva through generations. When we were driven out, we couldn’t take it, and Mother missed it, but fortunately when we returned, it was still in the family vault. If Mother were alive, she would have been proud to put it on your finger.”

Only then did Andrea look at the ring with fresh eyes. The blue gemstone, Dratva’s symbolic color, sparkled brilliantly even in the soft light.

“I’m sorry. This wasn’t how I planned to propose. But I wanted to say these words right away.”

Gillian was in a half-unbuttoned shirt and barefoot, having kicked off his boots earlier. Kneeling disheveled beside the messy bed to propose probably wasn’t the situation he’d dreamed of, but for Andrea, who had rather wished he would remain an ordinary college student, it was actually more welcome.

Andrea shook her head.

“This is exactly what I wanted to hear.”

Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him up onto the bed.

“Then now…”

Blushing shyly but looking at him clearly.

「I’ll invite you to my wheat field.」

At her deliberate use of Kirak, a smile appeared on Gillian’s lips.

「It’s heaven.」

Their lips met again.

***

Andrea opened her drowsy eyes. In the dim, comfortable place with curtains drawn, an even more comfortable embrace held her.

It seemed like a lot had happened yesterday, so Gillian was sleeping deeply. Come to think of it, since they had always met secretly and hurriedly, they had never slept together before. 

So she quietly wrapped her arm around his waist. Dawn light rippled at their feet, and bird songs could be heard from somewhere.

After lying there for a while, unable to fall back asleep, she carefully got up, put on a robe, and went out to the terrace.

Pale dawn was breaking in a sky that felt closer than in Selon, and the hills wrapped in light mist below looked like green waves.

While she was admiring the scenery, a presence approached from behind and embraced her.

“You’re up already?”

Gillian, resting his chin on her shoulder, still had a face full of sleepiness. Andrea stroked his face and asked:

“What about you, Gillian? Why aren’t you sleeping more?”

“How could I sleep when I’m so excited? I watched you for a long time last night before finally falling asleep. I was actually planning to leave for Selon today.”

She turned to look at him in surprise.

“What?”

A mischievous smile appeared on Gillian’s lips.

“I was going to Selon to bring back my bride. If only someone hadn’t barged in.”

Andrea was bewildered.

“Then the guests expected at the mansion…”

“Right. It was preparation to welcome you.”

That’s why the mansion had been in commotion.

“But Father said he was arranging a meeting for me…”

As she muttered in confusion, Gillian chuckled softly.

“You ran away without even going to the meeting?”

“I had to wait for Gillian…?”

While speaking, she suddenly realized and looked at the ring sparkling on her hand.

“Don’t tell me…?”

Had he deliberately planned with her father to surprise her? Anna had either been used for this plan or was in on it too.

Gillian took Andrea’s hand.

“I was trying to propose in a special way, but ended up making you run away.”

“I’m sorry.”

She felt embarrassed belatedly, thinking she should have been more serious. How bewildered must her father be right now?

“It’s my fault for planning without considering your personality. But from now on, don’t do dangerous things. You were lucky this time, but if you had disappeared without a trace, what would have happened to my life?”

“I’m really sorry. I’m reflecting on it.”

Gillian pressed his lips firmly to Andrea’s hand.

After looking at him with warm eyes for a moment, Andrea suddenly remembered and asked:

“Oh, but who is Kalsto? Didn’t you say you were an only child?”

“He’s my cousin.”

He meant his aunt’s son. So he had no relation to the Dratva family’s succession.

Finally the mystery was solved. Come to think of it, it had been strange for Kalsto to give such a good room to a foreign stranger he’d rescued from a slave market. 

She had been wary, thinking he might have ulterior motives, but since he appeared to be the master of this house, she hadn’t thought he might be related to Gillian, who had become the master of Dratva.

Then Gillian pointed outside.

“Look. Those are Landriga’s hills.”

She could feel the wind blowing from there.

Andrea gently leaned her head against the embrace of the man who would become her husband.

“I’m looking forward to it. The days I’ll spend with you.”

fin.