Chapter 158: Chapter 158 Is your moment a gift to me? (1)
The wind blowing across the land passed over Wendy’s face gently.
Although her hair was dishevelled, she didn’t adjust it, looking at the dark green hills facing the Buttuwat River for a while. The tumultuous events that happened there faded away from her memories a long time ago.
The hills by the river had already changed their green clothes three times.
While looking far away, she turned her head away with a chilly attitude.
“Nisna!”
A black horse, grazing nearby, came close to her call at a lively pace. In no time, she mounted the horse and drove toward the boundary of Raney Forest.
“Whoa, whoa!”
She stopped Nisna at the entrance of the forest, and once again looked over the river. It was a beautiful landscape full of a summer scent, but she didn’t feel moved by that.
She got off the horse, grabbed the reins and slowly walked along the forest border. On the back of the horse were tools for collecting plants. She had to go inside the forest to collect plants, but she continued to walk around the forest boundary.
When she walked a little, she saw an apricot tree bearing yellow fruits. She stopped underneath it and put a small apricot in her mouth.
She spat it out because it tasted sour.
She felt annoyed because she was in a sour mood like that sour taste.
When she looked up at the apricot tree with a frown, Nissna pricked its black ears and neighed. Her eyes naturally turned to the riverside.
“…! ”
When she was narrowing her eyes for a while, something like a small dot grew in the distance gradually and revealed its shape. Soon, she heard the clatter of a horse hooves.
“Wendy!”
Jumping off Balos’s back, Lard walked to her with a quick step. His face was full of joy as he met her after not seeing her for a long time.
“… Why did you come to this place? ” She treated him rather chilly. Her tone was a bit stiff. He seemed embarrassed.
“Sarah told me you were here.”
Sarah, Benfork’s girlfriend, was also acquainted with him. She was supposed to take care of the shop at Wendy’s request, so she apparently told him where she was.
She knitted her brows as if she was unhappy with Sarah who let him know about her destination without her permission. Of course, before she left the shop, she told Sarah several times that she would go to Raney Forest.
“How come you came here to find me when you knew well how large this forest is?”
“Don’t you know I promised you that I would find you where you were?” He said, recalling what had happened to them in the woods in the past.
That was his pledge before her on the day when he found her hiding in the cave to avoid her chasers.
“As a man of promise, today you…”
She got annoyed the moment he said that, but stopped talking, holding her breath.
She felt she was funny when she thought that she had been earnestly waiting for him all morning, looking forward to meeting him after a long time. As he was so busy these days, it was not easy for them to see each other like they did before. He even delayed his promise to meet her, which he had made several days ago.
“I’m sorry. As the tests for Sinuel’s new category for the commoners lasted longer than expected, I couldn’t keep the time.”
Thanks to the introduction of the new hiring system called Yinungkwa three years ago, young commoners were qualified to take the test and become imperial knights. It was a welcome development, but Lard’s workload increased a lot because he was the general manager of the new hiring system.
“… It’s late, but won’t you come with me even now? ”
Wrapping her hands with both hands and putting them before his lips, he spoke like a believer at confession. Looking at him quickly, she softened her sulky expression a bit.
“Where are you going anyway?”
At her question, Lard smiled slightly and helped her mount her horse.
Balos, who didn’t leave his fowl for a while, stood next to him. Balos loved Nisna so much, she was an offspring of his and Snowyko.
“You will see when you get there.”
He took the reins of Balos with a mysterious expression.
The two soon reached their destination. It was the huge mansion of the Schroder family.
When a massive iron gate was opened, she stared awkwardly at him. He handed the reins to a servant without any explanation, and took her hand, as she stood hesitantly.
“I am Belhar Dode, the butler of Duke Schroder’s mansion. It is an honor for me to greet a precious lady. ”
An impressive butler with neatly swept grey hair politely bowed to Wendy.
With a smile he looked at her for a while. When Lard cleared his throat, the butler quickly said, pointing his hand toward the hallway, “I will escort you.”
Lard nodded at that. Wendy walked along the strange corridor of the duke’s mansion with a more dazzling expression.
The place where the butler stopped was in front of the arched door with colorful geometric intaglios. After he opened the door, he disappeared after saying goodbye.
Inside was a spacious parlor. It was a place where delicate ceramic decorations, made by famed craftsmen, were beautifully embroidered along the walls. The walls were all beige and bright, creating a comfortable atmosphere in harmony with white teak-wood furniture.
Lard held her hand and went across the parlor. She thought she was led into the sofa, but she was not.
“Sir Schroder, what’s going on … ”
He stood in front of the glass door leading to the balcony. The sunlight that came in through the glass reached his neat face. As she saw only his profile shining brightly, she didn’t know that his expression was very stiff with tension. He said, holding her hands, “I have something to show you. I’ve been waiting for this a long time. ”
She looked at him curiously when his voice trembled. He opened the balcony door, unable to face her gaze. When they came out, there was a green garden connected to the balcony. It was a garden in a round shape that surrounded the building, like the garden in the center of her house.
“Here… ” She could not speak, looking at the beautiful garden where the brilliant light was falling. He took her to the center of the garden.
“Can you recognize this tree?”
Looking at the tree he pointed to, she felt her heart was beating rapidly. How couldn’t she recognize it? It was that little ash tree that she grew on his collar while kissing him.
It already grew as tall as her chest. It was an amazing growth. What was even more surprising, however, was the white flowers that bloomed on every branch. The small fluffy flowers were hanging softly on the branches. As she was touched by its beautiful flowers, she looked at them for a long time.
“If you know how much I’ve been earnestly waiting for this day, you’ll laugh,” he said.
Her eyes turned to him.
“The flower buds began to open in late spring. I decided to tell you when they bloomed, but it made me feel nervous as I didn’t see them. A few days ago I finally noticed the signs of the buds coming out, I have been looking forward to meeting with you… But I didn’t see the buds coming out yet. Then, yesterday, they began to blossom.”
She felt he kept delaying meeting her because of this. She regretted blaming him a bit for his failure to keep the promise.
“Do you know how much I was annoyed by the knight candidates who sparred at the Sinuel contest today? I reduced the scores of those knights who spent too much time as I had to meet you on time to show you this.”
He cracked a joke lightly. She might have taken it as a joke, but it might have been true.
“Flowers on this tree also blossomed… I hope you and me will bloom like this. Like the old couple’s tree in the middle of your house, I hope we can look at this tree for a long time. ”
The wind blew and shook the branches of the ash tree. Whenever the branches shook, the petals like corn snow fell. He wrapped one of her cheeks with his hand. He was breathless like a lush meadow in spring.
“… Will you marry me? “
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