Chapter 106: Chapter 106 No matter what you call a flower, its color never changes (11)
At her request, Lard stood up and approached her. She glanced at his face quickly then looked at the scenery outside the door.
“I live in this house because of its location. It’s been two years and several months since I moved here. ”
There was a small garden in the open space inside the sliding door. There were some unknown flowers swaying with fluttering petals. Sunlight came through the ceiling and fell on his feet as he stood inside the sliding door.
“Well, thanks to the birch over there, this space has been created. The tree was planted by an old couple, the previous owners, as a sign of their love. They vowed that they would love each other like the white bark of the tree. Originally, it was planted in front of the house. But they created a garden space here and moved it here because they couldn’t cut it down when they built a new house here several years later.”
“Oh, this is a special space,” Lard said. He couldn’t figure out why she was trying to show it to him. But he thought she might have some special reason to do so because he had never seen it even though he had visited her house several times.
“I needed this space because I had to cultivate plants secretly, but it might have been a place for them to check each other’s love,” she said, gently looking at the birch standing in the middle of the garden. Her voice seemed calm though it trembled a little.
“When I was buying this house, I shuddered to hear the old couple’s story from the real estate agent. Love story? I felt horrible about it,” she smiled sadly for some reason. “But at some point I changed my heart. Just look at me talking about the tree again in front of you. ”
She lowered her head and then looked at his gray eyes, seeing her reflection in his eyes.
“Sir Schroder… I’ve been agonizing really a lot before I said it. I have never thought I would say this to anyone, and I never expected this kind of feeling before. But I had to say it to you.”
“… ”
“Do you remember the name that Sir Dylan Lennox called me the other day?”
At her question, he didn’t answer. He felt heartbroken again.
“…Olivia. He called me by that name. ”
A familiar name came out of her lips. She shook her head as if to mock herself.
“…Olivia Hazlet. It’s the name of the woman Dylan loved. She was the illegitimate child of Earl Hazelet. It’s the name of my past that I abandoned. It’s my past life that you don’t know. ”
Breathing out, she finally got her words out. Then, she looked up at him with a scared expression. She saw his face was hardened. Her heart pounded hard.
She could not stop confessing the truth.
“Dylan Lennox, I loved him, but I couldn’t keep that love and I left. To get away from my past, I needed a new status. So, I created the name Wendy Waltz, and I have lived with that name until now. ” She reluctantly smiled, hiding her bitter feelings. The wind blowing through the ceiling blew through the garden and scattered her hair. Petals shook all at once.
“I’m now confessing my crime to you. I bought my commoner status and disguised my noble status. I could be sentenced to a severe punishment under the imperial law. ”
“You didn’t say that just because the person in front of you is an imperial knight, right?”
Lard cut her off. His eyes looked sad.
“Yes. I… ”
She bit her lip as she couldn’t get her words out properly. She wanted to confess everything, choked by her emotions, but she was afraid of how to express it to him. He was waiting for what she had to confess next, with his eyes fixed on her. Neither of them avoided each other’s eyes.
“Lard Schroder…”
“… ”
“You…”
“… ”
“Because I fell in love with you, I had to say this. ”
Her anguish and sorrow were finally expressed into her words. She confessed her love to him without regard for the life she earned after throwing everything away. It was more difficult than her confession of crime.
“No matter how hard I think about my future… I can’t imagine the future of you and me, but I had to say it. ”
Even if she blamed herself for being foolish, she couldn’t change her mind. Her affection for him had become stronger than any executive officer’s judgment and moved her regardless of her will. Even if it had pushed her back into despair, she could not have stood it without confessing her love to him.
“If you can’t think about the future of you and me even after your intense angst, it should be me who has to confess my crime to you right now. In other words, if I have made you unable to think about your future, it’s me who deserves a severe punishment,” he said.
There was trembling in his speech that he could not control.
He continued, “Do you remember that I told you it didn’t matter to me who you were in the past? I’ve clearly told you that what’s important to me is you right now.”
“… ”
“My stance has never changed. Whether you’re Olivia Hazlet or Wendy Waltz, you’re more important than that name.”
He let out a long sigh. As if to calm down, he took a deep breath several times.
“I have no desire to deny your past, because all that time until now has made you what you are now.”
“Sir Schroder…”
“I will protect you by all means,” he said, coming one step closer to her.
His deeply moving words stroke an emotional chord in her heart.
She approached him and looked up at his face, trying to calm her trembling lips.
“So, can you say that again?”
“What do you mean?” She asked, controlling her overcharged emotions. He looked down at her wistfully.
“You confession,” he said impatiently.
Shortly afterwards, he pulled her arm until he held her in his arms. He firmly wrapped his arms around her as if he would not allow any space between them. She was moved to tears in his arms.
Strangely enough, her anxiety was relieved in a moment, as if she met a guide on a distant road. She opened her eyes slowly, but soon closed again when she felt his warmth.
The wind blowing through the ceiling stopped long ago, but she felt as if it was still coming from somewhere. It was a warm wind drifting over her whole body.
“I don’t know which confession you are talking about… I have no idea.”
She tried to speak with a relaxed voice, but she couldn’t hide her tearful voice.
He tightened his grip on her. He could feel her heart pounding hard. Its beating was fiercely like his desperate heart.
‘You do have loving feelings toward me like I do, right?’ He thought, placing his forehead on her hair. He barely held back his desires, satisfied with hearing her thundering heartbeat.
“Can you give me the chance to repay your courage?”
When he put aside his desires, he became more affectionate toward her. He couldn’t stop loving her more dearly like the deep blue leaves of trees after the rain. Even if the sun rose again and the leaves were dry, his love would never go away.
“I have struggled to accomplish many things through numerous fights until now… But my affection for you is growing more and more without any effort. I really don’t know if I have to be happy or worried because of my growing sense of accomplishment everyday.”
Lard spoke from his heart. He didn’t know how to express his true feelings. His feelings were wholly reflected in his voice, which made her heart tremble. Wendy, raised her head, full of uncontrollable excitement.
“Sir Schroder… Is this your confession? ” She asked with trembling eyes.
“I’ll say it again and again. If you can accept my heart gladly. What I confessed to you in the prince’s palace was not something I did because I was on the cusp of death. ”
He narrowed his eyes as if he recalled his confession that day. When she bashfully lowered her head, recalling it at the same time, he raised her hand over his cheek.
“Please look at me,” he said earnestly. Led by his hand, she raised her head.
When he made eye contact with her clear blue eyes, he felt something hot rising from deep inside. He naturally looked at her lips. He touched her lips with his finger. His hand rested on her lips briefly.
“Let me tell you what you have to say. I really don’t know how to express my affectionate feelings… Please forgive my lack of patience. ”
He then kissed her forehead, revealing how helpless he was before her.
“I love you… I do love you. ”
After hearing his confession of love, she leaned her cheek on his palm. He felt the warm and soft touch of her cheek. Now, he could not help but kiss her. Before he knew it, his lips touched her blushed cheeks.
In the end, he kissed her lips. Her sweet breathing through her lips intoxicated more than any drug.
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