Sophie's voice was shaking but she kept her composure. She believed it was time to talk to Nicholas and settled things once and for all. From what she could gather, Nicholas must have remembered and now he came to seek closure.
While Sophie and Leland went on their getaway, Nicholas had come every day to this manor with the intention of seeing her. He had told Lucas that he wouldn't give up until he could see the lady of the manor and speak to her.
Sophie assumed Nicholas didn't come back for the past week because he was recovering from his injuries after fighting with Lucas. She could still see some of the wounds on his arms.
Now, he came back after he had somewhat recovered. She could only guess that he still stubbornly wanted to talk to her.
"Leland, please..." Sophie looked at Leland's eyes pleadingly.
Leland was silent. He looked very bothered by her request.
"Just a few minutes," Sophie approached Leland and touched his arm gently. She spoke to him softly, but Nicholas could hear her with his sharp hearing. "He is very stubborn and I believe he will keep coming and sooner or later we will have to talk to him."
The idea of seeing Nicholas Hannenbergh coming every day to their manor, bothering his family made Leland wince in displeasure. Finally, the man nodded in agreement. He gritted his teeth and threw a threatening look at Nicholas.
He was very unwilling to let Sophie speak alone with Nicholas. However, he agreed with Sophie that they had to face this problem and should stop avoiding it.
Meanwhile, Nicholas was overjoyed that Sophie was willing to meet and talk to him. Gosh, hearing her sweet voice from this close made his heart flutter. He didn't care she spoke to Leland, he was happy to hear her voice.
After Leland left, Sophie invited Nicholas to speak outside the gate and Nicholas nodded in agreement. As he followed Sophie, Nicholas kept smiling. He didn't think that just looking at Sophie could make him as happy as he was now. However, unlike Nicholas, Sophie actually felt the opposite.
The woman didn't know how to explain her current feelings. The husband she thought was dead was still alive and now he had come to see her.
After arriving under a tree, Sophie stopped and turned around to find Nicholas' face smiling broadly at her. Instantly she remembered all the memories of their time together.
Sophie remembered when Nicholas caught her as she jumped off the academy walls...
When she and Nicholas had tea together on one fine afternoon...
When they were looking for the wolfsbane together and Nicolas took her away when it started to rain.
Sophie bit her lower lip and desperately tried to keep her tears from falling as all the memories with Nicholas kept popping up but she failed.
Her heart ached so much when she thought of all these things, especially when she thought of their marriage and the short time they spent together as husband and wife.
After the death of her parents, Sophie's life became very bleak. She was alone, lonely, loved by no one, and wanted by no one but even so, she strengthened her heart and tried to survive. Nicholas suddenly came into her awful life and changed everything.
Nicholas made Sophie feel the joy of being loved again. It was a feeling she hadn't felt since her parents died.
"Thank you," Nicholas said, starting the conversation.
"What for?" Sophie wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
Seeing Sophie's reaction made Nicholas even more convinced that the woman in front of him was Sophia Hansley, his wife.
"Because you're willing to talk to me," he said.
Leland walked back and forth in the manor courtyard. He was very uneasy at the thought of Sophie and Nicholas currently talking just the two of them.
Leland didn't doubt Sophie's loyalty to him but he was really unsettled. He was afraid that Sophie would change her mind.
NO!
Sophie would not leave him and go back to Nicholas. Sophie had already chosen him.
Leland tried to convince himself.
Luciel who saw his father pacing like that became confused. He really couldn't understand the current situation.
"Father, what is going on?" he asked Leland with his small voice what was wrong.
Leland shook his head and awkwardly said, "Nothing."
Luciel knew that his father was lying. If there's nothing, it's impossible for Leland to look upset like this. Gosh... Luciel didn't understand adults.
***
Meanwhile, outside the gates, Nicolas and Sophie stood face to face.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Sophie asked after a long silence. She didn't allow herself to get lost in the memories of the past with Nicholas.
Nicholas stared at Sophie in silence. He compared the face of the woman standing before him right now with the face of the little girl he had seen in his dreams.
His eyes began to heat up as tears escaped from the corners of his eyes when he realized that Sophia Romanov must be the same little girl who helped him and now had grown up.
Nicholas who didn't say anything made Sophie feel uncomfortable because the situation had become so awkward.
"If… you don't want to talk, I'm leaving because... my husband… is waiting for me," Sophie said, looking down. Hearing Sophie's words, Nicholas was a little surprised.
His heart suddenly filled with jealousy. He looked at his hands firmly but his eyes were on Sophie sadly.
"Then who am I to you?" he asked her. "You are my wife too. I married you first!"
Sophie was stunned by his question. She looked straight at Nicholas. was shocked. "Y-you….?"
"Are you not Sophia Hansley? The girl I married six years ago in Hauntingen?"
Sophie fell silent with her eyes fixed on Nicholas without blinking.
"Can I take your silence as an answer yes?"
Sophie looked down, biting her lower lip. She didn't expect Nicholas to speak so straightforwardly like this. Ahh... how could she forget how open and direct this man was?
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