When the Main Protagonists Broke Up

“Yes, I have neatly carried out the work that His Majesty ordered.”

“Right. Good for you.”

“I have heard everything that happened in the capital from His Highness the Crown Prince. So, is it correct that I should now call you Prince Bayen, or Count Leiter?”

Kane looked at Eden and said.

Knowing Eden’s new last name, he seemed to already know what had happened while he was gone, as he said.

“This is Eden Laitus.”

Eden reintroduced himself to Kane. “Nice to meet you, Count Leiter. However….”

Kane stopped talking and stared at me.

“Princess Heitz, is that really true?”

Kane asked me with a hard expression on his face.

“What do you mean?”

I seemed to know what he was asking me.

But I deliberately pretended not to know and asked him the question again.

“The Princess and Count Leiter…ha….”

Kane let out a deep sigh as if it was hard to say.

Then, as if he had made up his mind, he spoke again.

“I heard that the princess will marry Count Leiter soon. Is that really true?”

“Yes, it is true.”

I answered Kane with the brightest smile I could have.

“How….”

After hearing it with my own mouth, it must have been quite a shock, and Kane’s expression was harder than before.

“I don’t know what else I should explain, even though you said you heard everything from the Crown Prince.”

“But Princess…!”

Kane reached out to grab me with a puzzled look on his face, and I pulled back so he couldn’t reach me.

In response to Kane’s actions, Eden also tried to stop Kane by blocking my path.

I gave Eden a silent look that said he was fine walked over to Kane and called out to him in a cold, cool voice.

“Duke Maxius.”

He was always like this.

A terribly selfish person who doesn’t even listen to what I say and thinks and acts only for his own good.

That was Kane Maxius.

“I must have warned you several times. Please don’t touch me carelessly.”

“Princess Hana…I am….”

“I’m not trying to listen to the Duke’s excuses. Please be more careful in your actions from now on.”

“But….”

“I’m getting married to Count Leiter soon. So do it right. This is your last warning.”

I don’t know why I have to repeat this with him, but I warned him again.

“…I’m sorry, princess. I have been rude.”

Then, this time, Kane looked apologetic and apologized, as if he had understood my words correctly.

It’s the first time he’s apologized in this way, so I stared at Kane for a while trying to figure out his intentions.

Fortunately, his eyes didn’t look like he was plotting anything.

May it really be over now.

I really hope he has given up on me now.

I really hoped that he wouldn’t get caught up in the past and keep pushing his feelings on me.

With that thought in mind, I turned my face and looked at Eden.

However…That was the moment.

In a very brief moment, Eden’s expression twisted into a stern expression, and he quickly blocked my way.

It was because someone suddenly appeared among the people and pointed a sword at me.

However, the sword did not reach me as he intended.

And, of course, it didn’t reach Eden either.

Like Eden, the steel sword I had seen at the conference hall not too long ago glided past Kane’s fingers as he tried to block me.

All these moments passed very quickly as if someone had artificially slowed them down.

“Aagh! No!”

Then, a familiar scream was heard and the banquet hall turned into mayhem.

“What, what?”

“Iced coffee! No! Duke!”

It was Adela who was about to attack me, and who was now screaming in agony.

Adela, realizing her mistake, dropped her sword and clutched at her head, screaming.

“Princess Bayern?”

“Are you the princess of Bayern?”

“What the hell is this?”

The nobles all stared at one place with puzzled expressions in a situation they could not understand.

I also looked at the man standing in front of me and front of Eden with a shocked expression.

Kane’s hand that touched the iron sword gradually turned to iron dust and disappeared.

“Ah….”

Looking at it, I couldn’t think of anything.

I couldn’t really think of what to do.

Just like everyone else, I was just watching the terrible situation in front of my eyes as Kane was gradually disappearing.

But suddenly, I saw that Ethan was moving quickly as if he was trying to do something.

I moved my gaze to follow his movements.

Eden hurriedly ran to the place where the knights guarding the banquet hall were.

He suddenly took the sword from the knight’s waist and ran back to where we were.

“Either?”

When I called his name with a confused expression, Eden made a face telling me not to worry.

And after a while, before I had time to judge what had happened, a sharp sword swung in front of my eyes.

Kane’s arm, which was gradually disappearing, fell off and blood soaked the floor of the banquet hall.

“Ugh!”

“Aagh!”

Kane’s voice filled with pain and Adela’s screams echoed through the banquet hall.

“Either…? now…what….”

I couldn’t immediately understand what he did in such a sudden situation.

But seeing the blood brought me to my daze, and only then did I realize what Eden had done.

The power of the iron sword climbing up Kane’s arm was cut off by cutting off the arm.

It was a very wise move at the moment when everyone was just watching Kane disappear.

“Doctor, doctor!”

I quickly looked around and shouted at the drivers to bring a doctor.

“Ah yes! All right!”

The knights who were distracted by my words hurriedly ran out of the banquet hall.

After confirming that appearance, I immediately approached Kane.

“Why….”

Why are you protecting me…The word rose to the top of my throat.

But I didn’t say anything more to him and took out a handkerchief and tried to stop the bleeding as much as possible.

“Ugh.”

When I pressed the severed arm, Kane groaned and tried to move.

“Stay still. If the bleeding is not stopped by the time the doctor arrives, there will be a big problem.” Kane stopped moving at my firm words.

Then he bit his lip and nodded.

I didn’t do this because I had any feelings for him.

After all, it was because of this man that Adela tried to attack me with an iron sword in the first place.

That’s why I didn’t want to feel guilty or sorry.

But even so, I wanted to do something like this.

I, Eden, and Kane knew that the sword Adela wielded was an iron sword.

Even so, I thought that I could do this much for the person who threw my body to save me, so my body moved first.

“Catch Princess Bayern!”

Clayton, who was far away, approached and gave orders to the knights.

“Yes!”

At his command, several knights grabbed Adela, who was sitting on the ground in a state of dismay. “Oh, no! Let go! I mean let go! Duke!”

Adela struggled to reach Kane.

“Duke! I am! I’m not like that to the Duke. I’m Princess Heitz…!”

“Princess Bayern.”

Kane called out to Adela in a voice dripping with chills.

“Yes, Duke. Duke, do you know my heart? How could I harm the duke? I never meant to!”

Adela continued to make excuses for herself.

“Good luck, good luck…! I was afraid that the duke would disappear like this. But Aiden…Aiden, good job. After all, it wasn’t something that was wasted in our family.”

I’m glad, how could you say something like that?

Seeing Kane with his arm cut off, thinking that he was only lucky….

And calling Eden Aiden, Adela seemed to feel no guilt whatsoever.

I was so dumbfounded and stunned to see her like that.

“I don’t have Aiden anymore. Now this is Eden Leitus, not Aiden Byron.”

So I reminded Adela that it was Eden, not Aiden.

“Eden Laiters…?”

“Yes, this is Count Eden Leiters. And she plans to marry me soon and take the surname Heitz.”

“What, what?”

At my words, Adela hardened her expression and bit her lip.

“Do you think you can ruin our family, kill your father, and live a good life? uh? how do you how!”

Adela screamed loudly at Eden.

“The Duke of Bayern has been punished for his evil deeds last time.”

“Shut up! My father…My father…He’s not like that. My father!”

“Sister.”

In the conversation between Adela and I, Eden interrupted by calling Adela.

“Sister? Who is your sister I’ve never been your sister Like you said, you’re not Aiden. Not my brother I never thought of you as my little brother!”

Even at Adela’s threats, Ethan didn’t waver at all and continued to say what he wanted to say.

“I hope that you too will pay for the evil you have done to Princess Heitz.”

“What did I do wrong? I just wanted the Duke to see me again. I only wished for that…Hehehe I am…I am….”

Adela repeated the same words as she looked for Kane.

“Princess Bayern.”

Then Kane approached Adela.

His voice was a little softer than before.

“Duke! you know my heart All I need is the duke. I don’t need anyone else. So we’re back-”

“Princess Bayon, now I understand why she did this. But that doesn’t mean I’ll ever go back to the princess again.”

Kane looked at Adela and said with a strong-willed expression.

“Duke…?”

Adela’s eyes shook violently at Kane’s strong refusal.

“Duke! I am…I am!”

Then tears poured from her eyes like a waterfall.

Kane looked at such Adela with a face that no longer contained any emotion, and soon turned his back.

He stared at me for a moment and then bowed.

“I’m sorry, princess. Thank you, Count Leiter.”

He also knew why Eden had cut off his arm.

Like that, Kane said words of sorry and gratitude to Eden and me, respectively, and then turned around and headed for the door of the banquet hall.

“Duke! Do not go! What if you leave me behind? What should I do? Duke!”

Adela screamed and called out to Kane, but Kane didn’t look back and continued walking away.

“Duke! No! please come back please! Aagh!”

Adela’s final scream filled the banquet hall.

And at the same time, Kane left the banquet hall, and Adela passed out. The banquet ended with that.

After Adela collapsed, she was immediately transferred to a special prison.

It was a place where even the power of the four dukes could not escape unless it was opened from the outside.

It was a prison built under the judgment that Adela needed a place to be confined if he was caught.

There was also a doctor in the prison.

Adela was just asleep, so we waited for her to wake up.

But for some reason, she didn’t wake up easily.

It seemed that he had been sleeping for a very long time.

In the meantime, I heard from my father, who had been to the meeting, that Kane was leaving for the Maxius family’s estate on the outskirts.

It wasn’t someone pushing him on his back, he said, but it was Kane’s own will.

Somehow, his appearance at the banquet hall was definitely different from before.

It was clear that he had realized something after seeing what happened in the banquet hall.

And time passed, and it was the day before Kane left.

“My lady, over there….”

I was resting in my room when Mary hesitantly spoke to me.

“What’s the matter?”

“Excuse me…Duke Maxius came to see the lady.”

“Duke Maxius?”

“Yes, please wait in the drawing room now.”

When I heard that Kane had come to visit me, I pondered for a moment whether to see him or not.

Just in time, my parents went out for a while, so there was no father to kick Kane out now.

‘What do we do?’

No matter how much I felt that he had a change of heart, it was not easy to see him because of his past.

“Miss? What should I do…?”

“Mary, go right now to Sir William and tell him to bring Count Leiter here.”

“Count Leitus?”

“Yeah, and ask Duke Maxius to wait for a while.”

“Would you like to meet Duke Maxius?”

I nodded softly.

“I’ll tell Sir William to hurry up and get Count Leiter.”

And Mary, who understood my meaning, ran out of the room.

I decided to meet Kane.

However, I called Eden because I thought I should prepare for the unexpected.

In the name of getting ready, I stopped the time for Eden to come and I went down to the drawing room.

In the drawing-room, Kane was sitting quietly with his back turned, and his left sleeve was missing.

“Duke Maxius.”

Going inside, I called out to him, trying my best not to look at his left arm.

When I called him, Kane stood up from his chair and looked back.

Our eyes met.

“Princess Heitz.”

“Sit.”

I invite him to sit down again and I take a seat across from him too.

“What did you come to see me for?”

And right away he asked why he came to see me.

“Did you hear that I am leaving the capital tomorrow?”

“Yes, I heard.”

“You heard….”

After Kane’s words, there was a moment of silence between us.

I just wanted to know why he came to see me, but I didn’t have anything to say to him.

I stared at him without a word and inadvertently glanced at his left arm without realizing it.

And Kane smiled bitterly as if he felt that gaze. “…Before leaving, I came to say hello to the princess.”

As he said that, he looked at me with sad eyes.

It seemed that he hadn’t let go of his attachment to me yet.

‘Ha….’

I felt bad for some reason, so I tried to bring back to him what I said at the banquet hall, but he opened his mouth faster than I did.

“I haven’t completely folded my feelings for the princess yet.”

“Duke.”

As soon as I heard that he still had feelings for me, I frowned and called out to him in a cold voice.

“Please listen to me to the end.”

I nodded my head while gently loosening my brows at the tone of his earnest appeal.

“Maybe I can’t let go of this heart for the rest of my life. That’s why you’re leaving. I am going to keep my mind under control, so as not to cause further damage to the princess.”

As I kept my mouth shut, Kane continued to speak.

“I will not be returning for a while. No, maybe this will be the last time we see each other like this. That’s how much my heart toward the princess was sincere.”

Then Kane suddenly rose from his seat.

I also watched his actions and got up from my seat after him.

“I’ll come back when I’ve made up my mind. By that time, the princess will probably be the owner of the Heitz family. And when that day comes, I hope that the day will come when we treat each other as the head of a family, not as private feelings, as the princess once told me.”

He held out his right hand to me.

I meant to shake hands.

I looked at his hand in front of me for a moment, then slowly held it out.

And he took Kane’s hand.

“Great. I hope you come back here someday.” Shaking hands, I smiled at him for the first time.

I was finally able to see him and smile.

“Don’t come out. I will see you off here. Bye then.”

After saying that, Kane turned around and left the drawing room.

And I watched him for quite some time until Kane’s back disappeared.

A moment after Kane left the mansion, Eden entered the drawing room.

“Came?”

“Where is Duke Maxius?”

Eden was looking for Cain as if he had heard of the situation from Mary and William.

“He is gone.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m okay. Were you surprised that I suddenly asked you to come?”

“No.”

With a small smile, I approached Eden and burrowed into his arms.

“Bell…. Are you really okay? Duke Maxius can’t be….”

Eden asked me in a worried voice as I was suddenly embraced by him.

“No. It’s not like that.”

I felt a great sense of security when Eden hugged me tightly when I replied that it was okay.

We’ve been hugging each other for a while.

He didn’t ask me anything more and I kept my mouth shut because I liked the quiet and peaceful atmosphere.

“Eden said that.”

And after a long silence, I spoke first.

“It ended after the Duke of Bayern did that in the convention hall that day.”

“…Yes, it was.”

“That’s how I feel right now.”

“….”

“Now I feel like everything is over.”

Eden, as if he understood what I said, put more strength into his arms holding me.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, I think I can really start anew now. With Eden.”

“Bell….”

“Will you always be with me?”

“I will always be with you.”

“Until the death?”

“Even in death.”

Tears welled up in my eyes from Eden’s words that I would be with them even after death.

“I love you.”

They were tears of joy.

However, I didn’t want to show Eden shedding tears because I was worried.

So I dug deeper into his arms so he couldn’t see my face.

“I love you too.”

After that, Eden told me that he loved me whenever he had a chance.

And he kept telling me how much he loved me.

I had the happiest days in the world because of his words of love and the rapturous words he whispered to me.

* * *

About a month after Kane left the capital, Adela opened her eyes.

The last thing I remembered was crying out to Kane at the banquet hall before I passed out, but when I woke up, I was lying on the cold stone floor.

‘Here….’

As he slowly lifted his head and closed and opened his eyes repeatedly, he gradually began to see where he was.

A place surrounded by solid walls on three sides and full of bars on one side.

It was a prison.

‘Why am I in this place, and the Duke…!’

I had to meet Kane.

I had to meet Kane and explain to him why I could only do this.

Frustrated, Adela hurriedly focused her mind to get out of prison.

It was to raise the power of iron in the body.

But in vain.

No matter how hard I tried, only a very small amount of power came up.

This was not enough to escape the prison.

‘Is it a space that suppresses power?’

It was probably made by the Heitz family with their own strength.

I had vaguely heard of it from my father before.

That the power of the four dukes is relative to each other’s power.

The power of iron opposes the power of wind, the power of fire opposes the power of iron, the power of water opposes the power of fire, and the power of wind opposes the power of water.

‘What do we do?’

How can I escape this prison?

But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with a way.

So Adela shouted loudly so that the knight guarding the prison could hear.

“Aagh!”

As she screamed, two knights approached the prison she was being held in.

“Uh?”

The knights were making surprised faces when they saw Adela waking up from a long sleep.

“Get me out of here! It’s so stuffy and cold here! Let me out immediately!”

“It’s not possible.”

To Adela’s cries to be freed from prison, the knights responded with determined expressions.

“The Princess must stay here until His Majesty the Emperor’s next order.”

“It’s so frustrating! I don’t want to stay here even for a day! Please get me out!”

“It’s not possible.”

The knight kept saying no to Adela over and over again.

“Then I want to see Duke Maxius. So let me see Duke Maxius.”

“Duke Maxius….”

The knight hesitated for a moment, wondering whether he should speak or not.

“I must see Duke Maxius! So please let me meet him soon!”

As Adela continued to urge her to see Kane, the knight opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind.

“You won’t be able to see Duke Maxius.”

“What does that mean?”

Adela’s pupils shook greatly at the word that she couldn’t meet Kane.

What the hell does the article mean?

Does that mean Kane doesn’t want to see me?

Or maybe….

Remembering how she nearly made Kane disappear by wounding him with an iron sword at the banquet hall, she continued to brush up on the knight without hiding her nervousness.

“What do you mean! Did something happen to Duke Maxius?”

“That is….”

“Answer me quickly!”

“That’s why Duke Maxius is not in the capital right now.”

“Aren’t you in the capital?”

At the completely unexpected answer, Adela asked the knight with a puzzled expression.

“Duke Maxius has left for a territory on the border of the empire.”

“You left?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“So, it’s been about a month.”

“It’s been a month…Does that mean I haven’t woken up for a month?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Did you go to work?”

“That, I heard, said that he arranged the mansion in the capital.”

“You cleaned up the mansion in the capital?”

“Yes. He said he probably wouldn’t come back for quite some time, or maybe his whole life.” “Forever…not coming back….”

Kane left….

Then what should I do?

Adela’s rapidly spinning mind stopped for a moment.

I couldn’t really think of anything.

If he leaves, then I….

Are you going to never see him?

Thinking so made my heart ache like it would break.

“Iced coffee….”

A moan of pain broke out.

“Ugh….”

Moans were followed by cries of despair.

“Huh. Duke. How….”

He has abandoned me and gone away.

I don’t see him anymore

If I don’t get out of this prison, I won’t see him forever.

As the thought occupied my head, all hope was washed away.

Adela radiated sadness through her body and went to a corner to lie down.

The knights said something to her, but she didn’t hear.

The only thing that filled her was the sense of loss that she would never see Kane again.

That’s how Adela didn’t eat or sleep for days and days and cried the whole time.

Sometimes he passed out, but when he woke up, his eyes were still wet.

It was amazing how the tears didn’t stop and continued to flow, so she continued to cry even with her eyes closed and open.

And that was when a week had passed.

She fainted again for a moment, and when she opened her eyes, the ring on her finger was blurry.

‘Ring….’

I lay there for a while looking at the ring, thinking nothing of it, but suddenly something popped into my head.

She slowly raised her limp body.

And drew out all the power of iron in the ring.

It was an action that no one else had done because the ring would break if all the power of the ring was drawn out.

However, in order to do what she thought in this prison that suppressed her power, she had to draw out the power of iron.

So Adela managed to pull the iron sword out of her palm with all the strength she could.

At the same time, the ring on his left hand shattered and fell to the floor.

As the iron sword was gripped in her palm, Adela did not hesitate for a second and drove the sword into her body.

“Ugh!”

The pain was only momentary.

After this pain, I will be free.

With that thought, the strength in his grip grew stronger and he was able to stab the sword deeper.

And her body slowly turned to iron dust from the point where the sword was stuck and disappeared.

Kane, wait.

If you don’t come, I’ll go, so wait a little bit.

Even though she was abandoned by him, she couldn’t let him go.

So, anyone who wants to see it should go.

She knew that death was the only way out of this prison.

So Adela was not sad.

No, rather, a smile of joy flowed gently across her disappearing face.

And Adela disappeared without a trace, leaving only a fragmented ring on the stone floor.

* * *

About a month after Kane’s departure, news about Adela arrived.

After a long sleep, she finally regained consciousness.

As soon as Adela woke up, she screamed and said she found Kane.

However, Kane was no longer in the capital, so she couldn’t meet her even though she wanted to.

It was also said that Adela cried for days upon days when Kane had left the capital.

And….

Today, about a week later, I heard another news about her from my father who had visited the imperial palace.

Adela is…

Adela had suddenly disappeared.

They say he’s gone, but it’s accurate to say he’s dead.

A broken ring was found on the stone floor, suggesting that the prison had summoned iron power.

When her life ended in death, she felt bad.

What Adela did to me, what she did to Ethan, I hoped she would live and pay for her crimes.

He realized what he had done wrong and hoped to be forgiven.

But now I couldn’t even do that.

Because she’s no longer here.

Smart.

I was sitting on the couch thinking about Adela when I heard a knock on the door.

“Bell.”

And I heard the voice of the one I love.

The complex thoughts in his head were washed away with just his voice.

I quickly went to the door and opened it wide.

Eden was standing outside the door.

“Eden!”

I smiled broadly at him, and he also smiled at me.

“Come in. Hurry!”

I grabbed his hand and dragged him into the room.

He relaxed his body and was dragged as I dragged him.

I sat him down on the sofa and sat next to him.

“Did you finish work early today?”

“Yes.”

“I see. Is that why you came to see me?”

“Report…Because I want to.”

Eden looked me straight in the eyes and said.

“I missed you too. So I was going to go later, but Ethan came first?”

“Is that so? Then I’ll assume Bell came.”

“Okay, then.”

We looked at each other like that and exchanged many conversations.

That alone was a happy time for us and was more than enough.

“However….”

Then, I pondered whether or not to bring out the story I heard today, and soon I got lucky. “Adela….”

“I heard that too.”

“Ha…how and why….”

It was hard to say what to say about her, so I just let out a long sigh.

“It seems that Duke Maxius’ feelings for him were much bigger than I thought. They must have decided that that was the only way to get out of prison.”

Eden spoke to me, carefully guessing her mind.

“Is it so? You can hardly use your power in that prison, but you must have been desperate enough to extract your power even by breaking the ring, right?”

Eden nodded slowly.

“With Adela’s death, the Bayern family really disappeared. The blood of the Bayern family no longer exists.”

“That’s right.”

I looked up at Eden for a moment.

And as I looked at him without saying anything, several thoughts passed through my mind.

Adela and Kane were the main characters of the story I knew.

But the story I knew was nowhere to be found.

Did I really read that novel?

No, is it true that I entered that novel?

Now that I think about it, it was a topic that I couldn’t come to a conclusion anyway.

I shook my head to keep from thinking.

“What do you think?”

Eden also stared at me and asked me.

“Um, nothing. Anyway, our wedding is not far off.”

I deliberately avoided answering and gently raised my body and hugged his neck.

Anyway, what I was thinking right now was a secret I would never tell him.

And apart from a lot of things happening, our wedding was already scheduled.

“Then you don’t have to come and go to meet like this, you can see them every day.”

Fortunately, he seemed to notice that I didn’t want to talk, and he hugged me without saying anything.

Then he lightly buried his face in the nape of my neck and let out a warm breath.

“Are you nervous?”

“Yes, I am nervous.”

“Don’t be nervous.”

I patted him on the back, telling him to relax.

“To think I was marrying Belle…. I can’t believe it.”

“I can’t believe it either. That we become a couple.”

“Is Bell like that? But Bell doesn’t seem to mind at all.”

“No. I am also nervous and nervous.”

“Is that so?”

Eden moved his face away to see if my words were true and met my eyes.

“Yes.”

I nodded my head vigorously as if to convince him. “I am incredibly happy that you will be my husband.”

And he answered with a big smile, with all his heart.

“Bell…you really….”

Eden’s eyes reddened as if he was deeply moved by my words.

Then he hugged me tightly as if to hide his face.

So we hugged each other for a while.

It was enough time to know how much he loved me without even saying it.

* * *

Time passed, and the day of Ethan and my wedding came.

The wedding was held in a large palace in the capital city, and as it was a duke’s marriage, it was led by the high priest.

In the waiting room, before the wedding started, Mary arranged the dress one last time.

“My lady, are you nervous?”

“Huh. I am a little nervous.”

“I am too nervous.”

Mary said to me with a very reminded expression.

“If you shiver like this at my wedding, what are you going to do at yours?”

As if joking around, he spoke to Mary, and for an instant, Mary’s gestures stopped.

Then, as if in great surprise, he opened his eyes wide and looked at me.

“Miss…it’s my marriage I still….”

“Did you forget? Promise me that you will do it when I get married.”

“…I haven’t forgotten.”

“Yes, you must keep your promise. So right after my wedding, I’ll dress you up too.”

“Miss….”

Mary was moved to tears.

Just then, the large bell in the temple rang.

“It’s a start.”

It was a clear and refreshing sound of a bell announcing the beginning of the wedding ceremony.

“Oh, look at my mind. I’ll go quickly and bring the Count, so please wait a little longer.”

“Merry.”

“Yes?”

“Do you think I don’t have to go?”

“Yes? what….”

Eden was already at the waiting room door.

“Ah, you’re here!”

“Came?”

I reached out to him.

Then, Eden strode up in front of me and held my hand.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, let’s go.”

The bell rang again.

We held hands together and took a step towards a new beginning.

After the wedding, we went on a trip right away.

The travel destination was a very meaningful place for us.

It was Peorat, the place where we first met.

Arriving in Peorat, strangely, a festival was being held just in time.

“It’s a festival!”

“It’s a festival.”

It’s been a long time since I’ve come, but this village is still the same.

We roamed the same glitzy shopping streets as we did back then.

However, as I was walking around the streets, familiar words kept popping into my ears.

It was the first word I learned here, and the word I shared with Eden the moment I first saw him.

We looked at each other and opened our mouths at the same time.

“Porta Devia!”

“Porta Devia!”

It was fun to say the same thing to each other, so laughter erupted spontaneously.

“It is the happiest day of my life. Yes?”

“Yes, it is.”

We laughed so much and had a good time.

I felt so good that I even thought that it would be nice if this time would continue.

And as the day gradually faded and night fell, the highlight of the festival, the fireworks display, began.

Brilliant fireworks of five colors are embroidered on the night sky.

We watched the fireworks from the best seats.

“Wow, so pretty!”

Fireworks are so cool and beautiful every time I see them.

As I was applauding and appreciating the fireworks, I felt the hot gaze from the side that I had felt before.

Eden was staring at me as before.

“Why?”

“….”

He didn’t even answer my question.

“Either?”

After that, I couldn’t utter any more words.

Because his soft lips touched mine.

I immediately hugged his neck and eagerly responded to his kiss.

After a while, their lips parted from each other.

But his lips were still barely touching.

As I was breathing heavily, he spoke in a very low voice that only I could hear.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

I also replied with the happiest smile to him at his heart-warming words of love.

We returned to the place where the beginning began, and here we were about to start another beginning.

And just as life has a fixed beginning, it will also have an end.

But now I had no idea how it would end.

“Bell.”

“Either.”

After the fireworks, we held each other’s warm hands to get moving again.

But if you don’t let go of this hand…

If our feelings for each other don’t change…

We will not part

Forever.

END