Chapter 138

Minuelle only spoke again after they had completely left the sea tribe’s territory and were breathing the open air.

“Did he really just knock you out? Or did something else happen?”

“I…”

Esadien stopped just as he was about to answer. Now that the excitement had subsided, it felt foolish to speak of something that might have been nothing more than a fantasy.

Minuelle’s expression turned serious, and her voice dropped to a low tone.

“You can’t just stop in the middle of a sentence, Esadien. Do you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because I’m curious!”

“…”

“I’ll be so curious I won’t be able to sleep! Do you want me to be all groggy with dark circles under my eyes? Huh?”

Esadien couldn’t help but laugh. The fingers wiggling at his side, which wasn’t ticklish at all, as she tried to interrogate him were cute. His body wasn’t ticklish, but her smiling eyes tickled his heart.

So he confessed everything, from the moment he woke up to the absurd situation to the moment he closed his eyes in the sea.

“…”

Minuelle didn’t say a word throughout Esadien’s story. She just listened blankly, and then a few seconds after he finished, she suddenly burst into laughter.

“Ahahaha! What, seriously. Wow!”

Amidst her laughter, he heard exclamations and some unintelligible words like ‘original story-breaking couple.’

“…Minuelle?”

Seeing her laugh, he figured nothing was wrong, but he felt strangely uneasy. When he called her name cautiously, Minuelle reached out and hugged him tightly.

“You did well. We must be a match made in heaven!”

Because of their height difference, it looked more like she was being hugged than hugging him, but neither of them cared. Esadien pressed his suddenly moist eyes against her small shoulder and whispered.

“I missed you, truly.”

Minuelle gently stroked the back of his head.

“Thank you for coming back.”

Honestly, Minuelle was surprised that Esadien had pushed away the original Minuelle and returned. If it had been her, she wouldn’t have been able to leave the side of the original Esadien out of pity. Knowing that he, too, was a person who could smile, she would have found it even harder to leave.

His father must have faced a similar test, and that’s why he couldn’t return to reality on his own.

“And I’m sorry. For making you go through something like this.”

“…Just tell me you love me.”

He didn’t want Minuelle, who had been used, to feel sorry when his biological father was the one at fault. So he made the request as if he were whining, but Minuelle always exceeded his expectations.

Holding his face in both her hands so he couldn’t look away, she shouted with force.

“I love you more than anyone in the world, Esadien Roquate!”

Oh.

‘How can this person be such a gift?’

Esadien squeezed his eyes shut. Minuelle’s voice flowed into his body, turning into warmth. It melted every corner that had been frozen with tension. He held her for a long time without moving, as if afraid that the warmth might leak away.

***

After returning to Roquate, Esadien acted as if nothing had happened, going about his daily life as usual. But while he could deceive Theodore, he couldn’t deceive Minuelle.

‘He’s troubled, isn’t he?’

She knew what Esadien was thinking. The worry that his own child might be in danger, on top of his mother being ruined by her entanglement with the sea tribe, seemed to be rising in him from time to time.

‘You can’t know until it happens, but if it were that easy to shake off a worry, no one would live in worry.’

It would be even harder for a person who thinks a lot, like Esadien.

So, Minuelle’s prescription was this.

“Esadien. You’ll take care of our wedding preparations.”

Giving him a task. When you’re busy, idle thoughts tend to disappear.

“Me…?”

As expected, Esadien was surprised and hesitated. In Preseria, the bride’s side often took charge of wedding preparations. It was unprecedented for the groom himself to handle all the arrangements.

But Minuelle wasn’t pushing for it without a valid reason.

“As you know, I’m busy. My sisters are too, and I don’t have any close relatives here.”

“That’s true, but.”

“And I want to be adorned with things you’ve chosen for me.”

Minuelle smiled brightly.

When he saw her smile, Esadien’s lips went dry. It was a request he couldn’t refuse, with a look he couldn’t say no to.

“…Since you trust me to handle it, I’ll do it, but I have a condition.”

“A condition?”

“Yes. I will bear all the costs.”

Minuelle’s eyes went wide.

“You’re going to do the work and pay for it?”

Besides, the cost of a wedding for a great noble was no joke.

‘I’ve never thought that Esadien, who is never extravagant, would have that much money.’

But conversely, because Esadien was not extravagant, the private funds he had accumulated for over a decade were enormous. To put it simply, his wealth alone was enough to hold twenty lavish weddings and still have money left over.

Moreover, he had the Emperor and the Crown Princess behind him.

Esadien smiled leisurely.

“I will proceed so that you have nothing to worry about.”

Of course, that leisureliness quickly disappeared under the avalanche of work. Esadien rubbed his stiff brow and muttered as if in lament.

“How did Minuelle handle all of this?”

From the text for the invitations, the color of the paper and ink, to the seating arrangements, interior decorations, and guest reception—even with the Imperial Protocol Officers narrowing down the options, it took ages to choose, and there were so many things to worry about.

But just as Minuelle had predicted, as he moved busily, his worries about his biological father were long forgotten.

And, above all, on the day of the wedding.

When he saw the perfectly adorned Minuelle, all the accumulated fatigue flew to the other side of the universe.

“Minuelle…”

Esadien was truly, truly happy. He had seen Minuelle try on this dress during her fitting, but she was beautiful in a way that was on a different level now.

‘I feel like I’m going blind.’

He felt it would be worth it to go blind right now and live the rest of his life remembering only this image.

Of course, a husband and wife are one heart.

Minuelle felt the same way as Esadien. The only difference was that she was a master of effusive expressions, enough to voice her thoughts out loud.

“Eek!”

Minuelle, who had been staring at Esadien, suddenly shrieked and covered her eyes.

“Minuelle? Did something get in your eye?”

He asked in surprise, and her answer was a sight to behold.

“Esadien is so radiant that I can’t see anything!”

“…”

“You’re so brilliant! If this light had a name, it would be Esadien.”

Minuelle twirled around Esadien, savoring his beauty.

“How can one person be so handsome and cool and pretty all at once?”

The maids who were attending to them, and even Elga and the Crown Princess who had come to check on Minuelle, all looked glum.

“Mi-Minuelle.”

Esadien, with flushed ears, at least tried to send them away. But when Minuelle held his hands, he was as bound as if he were tied up and couldn’t move a muscle.

“Mmm. Thank you for coming to me, not to Lady Plendena.”

Minuelle stood close to Esadien and looked up at him, smiling broadly. It was the very smile that had melted away his will to push her away and his dark past.

Esadien couldn’t endure it any longer and kissed his lovely bride.

“Your Highness! The lip rouge is smudging!”

The attendants immediately scolded him.

“Just wait until tonight, you rascal. Huh?”

The Crown Princess pulled Esadien’s arm, leading him away. Minuelle giggled and waved her hand at him, who kept looking back.

‘I feel so amazing.’

Minuelle was just as happy. The hard work her fiancé had put into the preparations was worth it. Everything from what she was wearing to her surroundings was satisfying.

‘Well, it would have been fine even if we just wore regular clothes and signed the marriage papers.’

To become legally married to Esadien!

The thought made her feel as if her feet were floating. Of course, Minuelle was the person who knew best that Esadien loved her and wouldn’t leave her side. But the feeling of becoming a couple recognized by the legal system and the divine was special.

She was so excited that the High Duke, Hoshiel, who was arm in arm with Minuelle just before the wedding entrance, said this.

“My little girl, are you that happy to be leaving us? Your father is a little sad.”

“Oh, Dad, really? What do you mean, leaving? Esadien is the one who’s coming to live with us.”

That and this are emotionally two completely different issues. But since his youngest daughter was so happy, there was nothing he could do even if he felt a little hurt.

“…Just live this happily from now on.”

“I will, Dad.”

Seeing her beaming face, Hoshiel’s eyes became moist, a rare sight for him. This was the daughter he had always worried about since she was a child because she was so frail. When did such a child’s body and mind become so strong?

But today was a happy day, so he couldn’t show his tears. While Hoshiel secretly wiped his eyes, the music announcing the bride’s entrance began to play.

Minuelle walked the long aisle confidently with her father and ascended the platform.

“Minuelle.”

When she took the hand of Esadien, who was waiting with a smile, a thrill spread from her fingertips.

‘We hold hands every day…’

But this was different. And she could tell by his eyes that he felt the same.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a couple smiling so brightly.”

The apostle of Plendena, who had specially come to the Imperial Palace to officiate the wedding, even made such a joke, showing how happy the two of them were.

“That’s a good thing, right?”

“Of course. So, Lady, what do you think? Looking back on your difficult times.”

He remembered what she said during her coming-of-age ceremony. Minuelle met Esadien’s eyes and then nodded emphatically.

“There were more good things.”

“Yes. That’s why life is beautiful.”

Because there are many difficult and sad things, but there are more good things than that. Even if it’s just the small joys of everyday life. A person’s happiness and unhappiness depend on whether they can find those small joys.

The two of them held the truth the apostle had given them deep in their hearts. So that when a difficult day comes again, they can take it out and use it as a guidepost. So that they won’t let go of the hand they are holding now.

***

“Minuelle, aren’t you tired?”

“No, I’m okay.”

The wedding was over, and it was time to go around the banquet hall to receive congratulations from the guests. But there were just so many guests.

She had already passed the point where her physical strength should have given out, but she kept repeating that she was fine. Esadien felt a little down, as if that meant she couldn’t rely on him.

“Please be honest, Minuelle.”

“Honestly?”

“Yes.”

“I’m okay because I’m with you. You’re a fool, Esadien.”

With Minuelle’s sudden remark, Esadien’s neck and ears turned red.

Meanwhile, the congratulations continued. Count and Countess Tregosnan looked at the two of them with satisfaction, offered their blessings, and left.

The next person was their son, Theodore.

“My sincere congratulations.”

Minuelle tilted her head. There was a strange weariness in Theodore’s smiling face.

“Is something wrong?”

With the question, something red flickered in Minuelle’s vision. She raised her head and saw someone behind a pillar, staring at them—specifically, at the back of Theodore’s head—with a burning gaze.

“…Lapheche?”