Chapter 96
It was a peaceful morning.
“……”
Seriniel’s tightly shut eyelids slowly opened. With a face still drowsy from sleep, she blinked a few times before habitually turning to her side.
There, she met Lexion, who was quietly watching her.
“……When did you wake up?”
“Not long ago.”
“Liar. Last time, you woke up much earlier and said the same thing.”
It would be better if he woke her up, but Lexion always did this.
He would always wake up first and quietly watch Seriniel, who had fallen asleep in his arms.
“It’s my new hobby lately.”
“Pardon?”
“Watching you sleep.”
Lexion said with a light chuckle.
“It makes me feel really very good.”
“……Why?”
Seriniel widened her eyes in confusion, unable to understand what was so enjoyable about watching someone sleep.
“You look so peaceful.”
Lexion replied as he gently brushed aside Seriniel’s disheveled blonde hair.
“The fact that you can sleep so comfortably in my arms makes me feel really good.”
“……”
“So that’s why. Do you dislike it?”
“No.”
How could she dislike it?
Seriniel smiled lovingly and buried her face in Lexion’s chest.
But then Lexion, after pausing for a moment, whispered in a slightly troubled voice into Seriniel’s ear.
“……It’s difficult if you act like this in the morning, Seriniel.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I held back yesterday because you seemed tired, but if you act like this…….”
“……”
“Well, I’m obviously more than happy…….”
……There was a reason why Seriniel always fell asleep before Lexion and woke up later than him every day.
With how he kept her up all night, it was impossible to have any energy left.
Of course, as he just said, Lexion was holding back in his own way, but given their significant difference in stamina, his ‘holding back’ was vastly different from what Seriniel imagined.
“……I think I should get up now.”
Sensing the atmosphere was becoming unusual, Seriniel stammered and got up, and Lexion, watching her, burst into laughter.
“I’d love to keep you in bed longer, but I guess we have no choice.”
Lexion said with a smile.
“We have plans today.”
Today, Seriniel had planned to visit the Verdellete estate with Lexion.
……After Belles was executed, the count’s mansion safely returned to Seriniel.
Now, the mansion filled with memories was entirely hers.
She planned to go to the mansion with Lexion and show him around, sharing the memories she had there.
“Anyway, the chatty maid must have breakfast ready and waiting. She’ll insist we eat before we leave.”
Lexion said as he got up.
“Let’s go quickly. Last time we were a bit late and got an earful.”
Yes, Seriniel replied with a laugh, and Lexion looked at her face silently for a moment.
……I hope she doesn’t dislike it.
Lexion’s gaze briefly turned to the drawer of the bedside table, but Seriniel didn’t notice.
“Let’s go, Duke.”
“Yeah.”
Anyway, Lexion slowly got up and, holding Seriniel’s hand gently, started to leave the bedroom.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
After finishing breakfast, Seriniel got into the carriage with Lexion.
Unlike before, Seriniel was not crumpled like a sheet of paper. Instead, she sat beside Lexion, nestled in his arms, gazing out the window.
She suddenly realized how much had changed.
And she felt relieved that she had managed to achieve what she wanted safely.
As if understanding her feelings, Lexion gently held Seriniel’s hand.
And before they knew it, the carriage arrived in front of the Verdellete estate.
“……”
Holding Lexion’s hand, Seriniel got off the carriage and looked at the count’s mansion.
“Come to think of it…… this is the first time I’m entering here so confidently.”
At Lexion’s quietly continued words, Seriniel looked at him silently.
“I always snuck in, even though I knew I shouldn’t.”
“……”
“But I never thought a day like this would come…….”
Lexion must also have many memories in this mansion just like me.
Although he couldn’t come and go freely and never had the chance to talk with me, his memories would have shared the same days as mine. When the former Viscount and Viscountess were alive and well. Those incredibly peaceful times.
Thinking about it like this, oddly enough, it made me feel warm inside. Because there was someone by my side who remembered those old days that only Kina and Vain would now recall.
“You can come here as often as you like from now on.”
Seriniel said, looking at Lexion.
“This mansion will now be our space, yours and mine.”
Is that so? I suppose so. Lexion smiled faintly.
“There may not be anyone to welcome us, but there will be plenty of welcoming memories.”
“……What?”
“Or we can do it this way. Whenever you want to come to the mansion, I’ll get there ahead of you and welcome you.”
Seriniel couldn’t help but laugh at Lexion’s words. She was so grateful for how much he cared for her.
“Let’s go in, then.”
Lexion nodded quietly, and the two of them, holding hands tightly, began to walk towards the mansion.
The Verdellete mansion was as it used to be.
Of course, not exactly the same as before, but it was different from the time when Belles had occupied it.
On the day the mansion became Seriniel’s, Lexion sent people to the mansion. He instructed them to remove all the items and furniture that Belles had used.
Thanks to that, Belles’ traces had vanished as if they had been washed away.
Moreover, Lexion, without Seriniel knowing, had consulted with Kina and Vain to fill the mansion with furniture as similar as possible to when the former Viscount and Viscountess lived there.
Of course, there were also some completely new pieces of furniture.
Two yellow armchairs identical to the ones in the Rosenvester mansion.
“If you want to come here, I want to come with you.”
Looking at the armchairs, Lexion began to speak.
“Of course, I was secretly worried you might tell me you wanted to live here alone, leaving me behind.”
At Lexion’s playful words, Seriniel, her eyes welling up with tears, replied.
“……Thank you, Duke.”
“…….”
“Thank you so much.”
Lexion smiled tenderly, and Seriniel slowly looked around the reception room.
Her emerald eyes were filled with numerous emotions.
In the reception room that looked just like before… it seemed as though her parents could appear from somewhere at any moment and speak to her.
But it didn’t feel as sad as it used to.
Lexion was right. Although no one lived here anymore, there were memories that welcomed her. Memories permeated every corner of the wide mansion.
“This way….”
Seriniel said, suddenly turning her gaze to the end of the first floor.
“This way is… my room.”
“…….”
“The sunlight streams in beautifully, so at this time, the room would be very bright….”
Yes, it was. And you, smiling in that bright room, looked radiant too, almost blinding. Lexion thought to himself.
“Go ahead.”
Lexion patted Seriniel’s shoulder.
“I’ll follow you.”
Seriniel gave a short nod and began to walk slowly. She strolled down the bright hallway bathed in sunlight.
“…….”
Standing in front of her room, Seriniel’s face became enigmatic.
……It had been a long time since she had been in her room.
Even on the day she discovered the Magic stone with Vain in the basement, she hadn’t entered this room.
Belles had used the mansion according to his whim, but Seriniel’s room remained untouched. He had no use for it.
The furniture was the same, and the neatly folded blankets and bedding on the bed were still there. The desk, with its slightly worn edges, still had the scented candle Seriniel often used, and the carpet still bore the old tea stain.
Because of that, it felt like she had gone back to the old days.
“…….”
Seriniel quietly looked around the room, then focused on the dusty book on the bedside table.
[Kina, in the book I read today, there was a female emperor. She was so cool……]
That book from back then.
The one her father had bought her when she was little.
Her favorite, which she always kept by her bed even after she grew up.
Recalling those memories, Seriniel smiled with teary eyes.
“Duke, look at this…….”
She turned to call Lexion, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Puzzled, Seriniel looked around… and then heard a tapping sound on the window.
When she turned towards the window, she finally saw Lexion, looking at her from just below the window.
“……Duke? What are you doing there?”
Seriniel opened the window wide, looking at Lexion.
“I thought it might look a bit different, but it’s still the same.”
Lexion laughed to himself.
“I used to spy on you from here, listening and watching… thinking you were someone I could never reach. So lovely, noble, and beautiful….”
“…….”
“And even now, you still seem that way. And it will always be like that.”
There were days when he thought he could never reach Seriniel, no matter how many times he died and was reborn.
Although many things had changed since then, the way he looked at Seriniel remained the same.
The most lovely, noble, and beautiful person in the world.
Lexion gazed at Seriniel with tender eyes and continued speaking slowly.
“So, until the day I die… no, perhaps even after death, I will cherish you like my life and worship you like a god.”
“Duke Lexion……?”
“I thought this place was the only right one to say this.”
Seriniel looked at Lexion intently, not fully understanding his words…
Then Lexion slowly knelt on one knee.
Taking out a ring from his pocket, he gently lifted it and spoke to Seriniel.
“Not because of any contract, but just to love and be loved…”
“…….”
“Will you marry me? Seriniel Verdellete.”
