On an ordinary late summer evening, the back garden, where only blue roses would usually sway gently in the breeze, was decorated as splendidly as the grand banquet hall hosting the birthday celebration. No, to be precise, it was even more dazzling than the banquet hall.
Above the garden filled with blue roses, white magical lights shimmered and danced, while gentle lanterns flickered between the flower beds.
At the center of the garden stood a cabana with an open roof, draped with translucent white fabric that rippled like waves whenever the night breeze passed through, creating a magnificent sight. Inside the cabana was an outdoor sofa prepared for two people.
‘…So this was the surprise?’
Who would have guessed that the promised birthday gift would be a secret rendezvous spot tucked behind the main building?
Speechless at the breathtaking scene before me, I stood frozen in place. It seemed Ian felt the same way.
As I barely managed to close my gaping mouth, I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.
“…Wow, this is incredible,” I muttered.
“Indeed,” he replied with a calm nod, quickly taking in the situation.
“Well, since the princess put so much effort into preparing this…”
Knowing we couldn’t stand there like statues forever, I lightly tugged his hand and led him toward the cabana. Though I had no idea what we were supposed to do here.
Just as I awkwardly moved to sit on the sofa, it happened.
Bang!
A burst of light shot into the night sky, accompanied by a loud noise that painted the heavens.
It was fireworks.
Forgetting my attempt to sit down, I stood still, holding Ian’s hand, staring blankly at the spectacle.
Bang! Boom!
More fireworks followed, exploding in a mesmerizing display that lit up the sky fantastically.
Finally, I realized the princess’s final gift was this.
Muttering to myself, I watched the brilliant colors spreading across the heavens, my mouth slightly agape.
“I didn’t see this coming… Could she have remembered how I missed the fireworks show when we went on that trip to the imperial villa?”
That outing had been completely ruined by an unexpected attack from a strange group.
Shivering slightly at the memory of that day, I felt a gaze settle on my cheek.
“You like fireworks, don’t you?” Ian’s quiet voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
When I turned my head, instead of the fireworks filling the sky, I met Ian’s gaze fixed entirely on me.
The colored light reflected on his profile shimmered like an aurora. And yet, his eyes seemed to hold only me, as though nothing else mattered.
‘Why does he look at people like that?’
Clearing my throat awkwardly, I tried to mask my embarrassment.
“Yes, well… they’re beautiful.”
Bang! Bang!
As the fireworks continued bursting above, Ian, who had been silent for a moment, replied.
“Yes, they are beautiful.”
Despite his seemingly indifferent response, his gaze remained fixed on me, not the sky.
The more I noticed it, the more self-conscious I felt, so I deliberately looked away and focused on the fireworks again.
About five minutes passed as we stood there, gazing at the sky. The fireworks, which seemed like they could illuminate the darkness forever, gradually began to fade.
At that moment, I felt something cold touch my left hand, which had been clasped in Ian’s.
Startled, I looked down to find a ring now adorning my once-empty ring finger.
A deep blue gemstone in the center sparkled, reflecting the light.
“…Ian?”
Calling his name in confusion, I looked up. His lowered lashes slowly lifted, revealing his serene violet eyes fixed on me.
“Didn’t I say I prepared a birthday gift?”
Unlike me, who was frozen stiff, Ian’s face remained as composed and calm as ever.
“You told me that a gift should be chosen with the recipient in mind.”
“……”
“I figured you’ve already received plenty of other gifts, so I prepared something only I could give you…”
He tilted his head slightly.
“I wonder if it pleases you.”
Lowering my gaze again, I looked at the ring. Slowly, my stalled thoughts began to turn again.
“Well, um…”
“It’s a pair. Since you gave me a brooch as a gift, consider this my reply.”
Before I could finish my sentence, Ian’s voice overrode mine.
I stopped trying to make sense of the situation and looked at him again.
Though the fireworks had long since faded, it seemed like light still shimmered across his face.
I wasn’t normally slow to understand, but at this moment, I couldn’t think of the right words. My mind had gone completely blank, like a white canvas.
As I stood there speechless, Ian’s red lips parted slightly.
“I thought it was time to answer the question you once asked me.”
His soft voice snapped me out of my daze like breaking glass.
“…So, if, hypothetically, I turned out to be someone different from who you thought I was…”
“……”
“Would you still like me?”
It was a question I had asked him once, one I hadn’t had the courage to hear the answer to at the time.
A weight seemed to press down on my chest like a heavy stone.
It was an instinctive fear.
“Wait, Ian, this isn’t…”
I unconsciously took half a step back and lowered my head, attempting to retreat.
Ian firmly grasped my hand, holding it in place as if refusing to let me escape.
“Don’t run away.”
As if that wasn’t enough, he entwined his fingers tightly with mine, leaving no space for me to pull away.
“……”
Unable to flee any longer, I firmly pressed my lips together.
At that moment, a breeze stirred, causing the hem of my white dress to flutter lightly.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ian’s silver hair ripple gently, like strands of silk unraveling in the wind.
Simultaneously, a low and soft voice drifted into my ears.
“…My mother once told me,”
“……”
“That the world allowed to me consisted of just two things.”
I couldn’t help but lift my head at his calm and steady words. His unwavering violet eyes looked directly into mine.
“What was given to me was duty, and everything else was greed. So I followed my duty. My life as a prince was shaped by that, and so was my marriage to you.”
“……”
“And because of that, I wasn’t curious about you. You weren’t my duty.”
Two years of a dry, emotionless marriage.
There was no better word to describe it than duty.
Though I was already aware of this, hearing it from Ian’s lips made it feel entirely different.
“I had no need for questions, emotions, or affection. That’s how I lived… until you taught me otherwise.”
I drew a sharp breath.
His voice, steady and composed, sounded like the culmination of thoughts he had mulled over for a long time.
“But now that I know them, I find myself curious about you.”
“……”
The garden, now devoid of fireworks and even the whisper of the wind, was eerily silent.
Yet, when I noticed the temperature of his hand—colder than usual—I realized that Ian’s hand, which was holding mine, was trembling slightly.
“Ian?”
“…I was someone who was not allowed to desire, someone who should never covet. You shouldn’t have taught me otherwise.”
He paused, his next words flowing out like a confession.
“…Because now, I desire you.”
For the first time, his unshakable gaze faltered, lowering as though in retreat.
It was both a confession and a penitence.
A declaration that he had dared to defy the world his mother had defined and let himself covet.
“…Ah.”
The sound that escaped my lips wasn’t a sigh or an exclamation but a mere breath.
“……”
Unable to move my legs, which felt like they were rooted in place, I became acutely aware of my heart pounding wildly.
The erratic rhythm of my pulse was so intense it felt like it was transmitting directly to him.
‘This is….’
I was at a loss for words.
Some emotions remain buried until the dam breaks, and only then do you realize their weight.
And that terrified me.
Despite my best efforts to deny it, the presence of this man loomed larger and heavier with each passing moment.
If I were to acknowledge this truth—if I were to accept this world as reality and not as a mere story—then…
‘I don’t have the courage.’
I didn’t know what to do.
But as Ian continued to hold my hand, I realized I could no longer deceive myself.
It was time to place myself on the scales.
“Ian, I…”
I couldn’t meet his gaze.
“I… That is to say…”
My voice came out haltingly, as though someone were gripping my throat.
The rapid thrum of my pulse was impossible to ignore.
There was no way he hadn’t noticed it.
The fluttering feelings I had hidden under the guise of anxiety had grown so large they could no longer be concealed.
It was time to admit it to myself.
“……”
I may not be the real Eloise, merely a stranger in her place.
And one day, I would leave.
But despite all of that, if only for a brief moment, I wanted to be honest.
“I love you.”
I wanted to desire something for once.
“I think I love you.”
When I finally lifted my gaze from the ground, Ian was looking at me with an expression I couldn’t place.
And surely, I must have looked the same to him.
“……”
A breeze swept past, rustling the air between us.
Standing just a step away, Ian’s expression was one I couldn’t begin to describe.
It seemed as though he was on the verge of frowning, yet he almost smiled, before exhaling a long, drawn-out breath that sounded like a sigh.
“In that case,” he said.
“……”
“May I kiss you this time?”
His voice, tinged with a hint of nervous laughter, made me pause before lowering my head in embarrassment.
“Don’t ask something like that. Just do it.”
As my disheveled hair brushed against my flushed cheeks, he reached out and gently cradled my face, his hands firm yet tender.
I couldn’t tell if the pounding heartbeat in my ears was mine or his.
As his breath neared, I instinctively closed my eyes.
Slowly and cautiously, his lips met mine.
The warmth of his kiss was unmistakable, and it was unlike anything I had ever felt before.
• • •
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