Special Story 1.5

“I am Evan Genes, the eldest son and young master of the Genes family.”

“Yes… what? Evan?”

Just as the corners of my mouth were starting to cramp from the long audience, Ben gave me some good news. I sprang to my feet and headed for the audience chamber door.

When I eagerly opened the door myself, a man who looked a little more mature than I remembered was standing there, smiling.

“I greet Her Majesty the Empress of Quinze-Nouais.”

I was so happy to see him that I grabbed his hand and led him inside.

“My goodness! Evan, how long has it been? I’ve been wondering how you’ve been.”

“The person who says they’ve been wondering about me didn’t send a single word of news?”

Just as I remembered, Evan gave a comfortable smile and gently chided me.

“I couldn’t bring myself to, because I felt so sorry. Please forgive me, Sir Genes.”

“How could I, a mere mortal, harbor such a disrespectful thought towards Her Majesty the Empress? Forgiveness is out of the question.”

“You’ve been well, haven’t you? And Lady Genes too?”

“Simone gave birth to her second child recently. And I also had my third son four days ago.”

“Oh, congratulations. I had firm faith that you, Evan, would lead a good family.”

I truly thought it was a good thing. If I had married Evan, he might have been unhappy because of me. Evan, like the ordinary man I had carefully chosen, was clearly going to build a wonderful, strong, and beautiful family.

“His Majesty the Emperor has arrived.”

As I was talking with Evan, Jenny, who had taken Leila’s place, approached me and announced Adrian’s arrival. No sooner had Jenny finished speaking than the audience chamber door burst open, and the emperor walked in with a determined stride. He still didn’t seem to care what was around him.

But I scrunched my brows slightly. Although he was the same man I always saw, his aura felt different. And just as I thought his steps were much more hurried and wider than usual, my body was lifted, and I was enveloped in his familiar scent.

“Adrian, hugging me so hard isn’t going to make me merge with you.”

I had resigned myself to being held by him and whispered just loud enough for him to hear. I wanted to get past this situation as naturally as possible, but I had already given up on that as well. I saw Evan smile awkwardly at me.

“That’s enough, I can’t breathe.”

At my words, Adrian loosened his grip on me a little. I turned him around so he could see Evan.

“Your Majesty, you remember Sir Evan Genes, right? No, I should call him the young master of the Genes family now.”

At my words, the emperor seemed to regain his senses, straightened his posture, and turned to face Evan.

“I seem to have interrupted the Empress’s audience. You’ve been well, Sir Genes.”

“I greet His Majesty the Emperor of Quinze-Nouais. And I was just about to leave.”

“I see.”

Evan bowed and prepared to leave the audience chamber in a hurry. But he seemed to have something to say and met my eyes for a moment.

“Your Majesty, I will take my leave now. If you ever come to the North again, please grant me the honor of sharing a cup of tea with you then.”

“Of course.”

I saw my possessive Adrian’s expression stiffen slightly at my words, but like a seasoned emperor, he didn’t show it outwardly.

“And, Your Majesty.”

“Speak.”

“You are as you were.”

Adrian cleared his throat. It seemed that even an emperor knew shame for the things he had done in the past, consumed by jealousy.

After Evan, the audience time fortunately came to an end. The emperor pulled me into his arms again before the door had even closed behind Evan.

“Did something happen?”

But he just held me tight and didn’t say anything.

***

Leila stood rooted to the spot for about an hour after Owen left.

It was too much. What was she supposed to do if he just blurted out what he wanted to say and then left? What was she supposed to do now? Was “liking” such a light word? What was she supposed to do after he told her he liked her and then disappeared from in front of her?

Leila was so flabbergasted that she couldn’t take it anymore. She hurried her steps to the detached palace where Owen was staying.

She went to the front of the palace with great determination, but just as she was at a loss as to whom to ask to summon the knight commander, Owen appeared as if by magic.

He must have washed in the meantime, as his appearance was sparkling, which made Leila, who had come all the way here to confront him, stop in her tracks.

Just as her courage disappeared and she was about to turn away, Owen smiled brightly and waved.

“Lady-in-waiting!”

Leila bit her lower lip and turned to face him.

“What brings you to the detached palace?”

His completely unbothered attitude towards her made Leila’s irritation rise.

“Did I come to a place where I shouldn’t have?”

“Did you perhaps come to see me?”

“What? Why would I… No, yes! That’s right. I came to see you.”

Owen’s smile widened at her words. Because of that, Leila paused for a moment again, but she clenched her fists and continued with what she had to say.

“Sir, what am I supposed to do when you just blurt out everything you want to say to me and then leave? So what? What do you plan to do after telling me you like me?”

Owen stared at Leila as if he had heard something strange.

“Leila.”

Her heart plummeted when he called her name for the first time.

“It seems my explanation was insufficient. Lady Leila Fraser, I am a simple man. Of course, as soon as I return to the capital, I will send a marriage proposal to your family. Now that I’ve realized my feelings for you, it’s only natural.”

“A marriage… proposal?”

“Yes. Whether you accept it or not is up to you and your family. I will follow your decision. But this much is certain: a feeling like this happens only once in a lifetime.”

“B-But I, I am the woman who had feelings for Sir Cedric Duncan. And I was rejected. Does that still not matter?”

“Of course not. It doesn’t matter at all. I would be overjoyed if you could love me back. And I will work hard to make that happen.”

“B-But still!”

“Even if you don’t, my feelings will not change. So, I will do the next thing a man who has confirmed his feelings should do. If you are going to reject me, do it after you receive my marriage proposal, not now.”

Owen waited for Leila’s next words, and when she didn’t say anything, he bowed perfectly again.

“If you have nothing more to say, then I will take my leave.”

After confirming that the knight commander had walked away from her, Leila buried her face in her hands and stomped her feet. She had no idea how to handle this situation.

And she was completely unaware that Sir Cedric Duncan was watching her from afar with a satisfied look on his face.

***

“Something’s wrong. Isn’t it?”

Adrian didn’t open his mouth, just holding me tight. Just as I was about to push him away, I heard a name that I never thought I would hear from him.

“Cha Seyoung, Seyoung.”

“A…drian?”

What did I just hear? I froze like ice.

“It’s not fair.”

“What?”

I was so afraid to ask if he had really said my name, how much he knew about me, and what he was going to say. But Adrian said something completely unexpected.

“I have no memory of ever having feelings for any woman other than you.”

I couldn’t think of a proper answer, and my mind was a chaotic mess. Asking what he meant or how he knew was all inappropriate. All I could do was wait in his arms for him to speak.

“But you’re not the same. You remember loving someone else. You loved that man just as you love me, didn’t you?”

I couldn’t say no. I couldn’t lie, because it was an undeniable fact that I had loved Han Hyuntaek. But Adrian didn’t seem to expect an answer and continued.

“You can just think of it as the petty jealousy of a narrow-minded man. Yes, I know everything now. How you came back to this place, what happened in the world you lived in, and even what I did to you in that other world…”

“Adrian.”

My chest tightened at his words, and I couldn’t help but call his name.

“And I saw you with that man. You can’t imagine how tormented I was because I hated him so much.”

“But that…”

“No, you don’t have to say anything. It’s okay. And I’m sorry. For doing that to you. You did nothing wrong, but I tormented you. And thank you. Thank you for choosing me… and not him.”

I hugged him even tighter. I was afraid that if I let go of Adrian now, he would disappear somewhere far away.

“I truly cannot accept that I ever loved another woman besides you. But you can think of it as an excuse if you want. I really had no idea.”

I knew he had no idea, but I still felt a pang of sadness at the moments when I had resented him, and my nose tingled.

“I had an engagement with that woman without even knowing that. How much must you have hated me?”

At Adrian’s words, countless moments I had experienced since falling into this harsh world flashed before my eyes like a film. I let out the breath I had been holding back and managed to answer him.

“Yes, you’re right. The only bad thing I ever did to you was a single whipping. And I was half out of my mind then.”

I mumbled to him like a child. Adrian let out a long sigh of relief.

“Yes, you must have felt so wronged.”

“I did! And you kept trying to find me to kill me.”

“Claire! That’s really not true. I haven’t hated you since you came to this world. You have no idea how tormented I was because I wanted to hate you, but I couldn’t.”

I broke down and cried like a child in his arms. Adrian tried to pull away to look at my face, but I clung to him even more desperately.

Every time I patted his chest, he would say “I’m sorry.” When I stopped hitting him, he stroked my back and whispered.

“I love you, Claire. Thank you for opening up a new world for me. Thank you for pulling my world out of darkness, for saving me from that terrible place…”

Outside the window, the setting sun cast a long light on us. When he called me by my real name, I was so incredibly happy that it felt unreal that I was the only one who was loved.

And the fact that I no longer had anything to hide felt so incredibly liberating. I confessed my feelings to him as naturally as a breath.

“Adrian, I love you.”

The sun cast our two shadows even longer, and he held me and kissed me until the light hit the ripples on the door. Every time we had to pull apart for air, our lips still connected, we would repeat “I love you.”

Perhaps in a world beyond this one, we live in a different, unimaginable form. But now, for the first time, I felt that this world I belonged to was truly my own. With not a single speck of doubt left in our hearts, we would love and be loved for the rest of our lives. I was sure of it.

I finally realized that no matter what happened, he and I would meet again, and no matter how far apart we were, we would forgive and heal each other, for that was the only way for our world to be complete.

It was truly a perfect moment.

<The End>

Woah, was that an emotional rollarcoaster or what? I hope you all enjoyed Adrian and Claire’s story. It was definitely an angsty one for me albeit different than the others but I still enjoyed it. I hope you guys did too. See you in the next one!