Chapter 61
#061. Precious Things That Have Finally Found Their Place (1)
Evening time, with the sunset rippling through the window.
“...Did I hear you correctly? Reserving a magic seal?”
Edwin, sitting across from Olivia in the dining room, chuckled as if he had heard a funny joke. Olivia, wearing an ivory dress, smiled gently and said,
“You heard correctly.”
Edwin’s face flashed with a subtle hint of embarrassment at Olivia’s immediate confirmation.
It was rare for the ever-composed Edwin to react like that. That was why Olivia often felt a mischievous urge whenever Edwin was embarrassed or shy.
But this time, it was a little different.
The White Crystal Mine was her mother’s keepsake and Lowell’s treasure that he so desperately wanted to reclaim, yet he was reacting so lukewarmly.
…I thought he would be much happier. Like when he looked so overwhelmed yesterday after learning about the mine.
Olivia suppressed her disappointed feelings and said,
“Let me reiterate. I’m reserving a magic seal so that on the day we get married, the White Crystal Mine will automatically become the joint property of Grand Duke Bikander and his wife. Just like royal engagements in the old days.”
The method Olivia had in mind was like the ‘one-year grace period’ that prevented her marriage to Edwin, a method found in ancient books.
Olivia turned her head slightly to look at Bethany, who was standing behind her.
“…Of course, ‘Bethany the Sorceress of the North’ will have to help.”
“I’m happy to do anything for you, Madam.”
Bethany smiled brightly. This was the reaction Olivia had expected.
Relieved, Olivia smiled slightly, while Bethany quickly winked at Edwin.
It meant, ‘What are you waiting for? Accept it already,’ but Edwin couldn’t bring himself to smile easily.
He had hoped she would get a good night’s sleep. He had hoped she would forget all about the idea of handing over the White Crystal Mine to him and only have good dreams.
But.
The moment he saw Olivia, with her excited face, telling him about giving him the White Crystal Mine, his hand clenched under the table.
His heart ached, and he couldn’t bear it.
Olivia was always flustered by the gifts he pushed on her, yet she spared nothing for the people of Yeniv Street.
Liv Green, the mysterious benefactor who took care of even the smallest things on the battlefield, so full of worry and affection despite her curt tone.
His Madam, who was always so sharp and capable, was now looking at him with an expectant face, waiting for his answer.
The interconnected thoughts gradually formed a single puzzle. The moment he faced the completed picture, Edwin was breathless.
Because Olivia had always given everything for her family and for the Crown Prince, who wasn’t even human.
Edwin’s heart sank. Was she perhaps feeling pressured by how he treated her and trying to be nicer to him?
Edwin was about to raise his head to examine Olivia when.
“Excuse me.”
A gentle voice was too close. Edwin’s eyes widened at Olivia’s face, which was right in front of him.
Olivia’s gaze was slightly higher than Edwin’s, who was sitting in his chair. Olivia smiled slightly, feeling unfamiliar with looking down at Edwin, whom she always looked up to.
“What are you thinking about that you didn’t even notice me coming closer?”
Especially since Bethany, Lord Interfield, and even the servants, who were standing behind her, had been dismissed.
Her expression was darkening, as if she had heard a sad story, not received a gift.
Olivia swallowed the rest of her words. Indescribable emotions were swirling in the red eyes that were looking up at Olivia.
Unlike his usual gaze, which was affectionate and sometimes covetous, his eyes were heavy and stifled. Olivia quietly waited for Edwin to speak.
Edwin slowly opened his lips.
“…Olivia, why do you always try to give?”
“…Me?”
Olivia was momentarily flustered and pointed to herself as she asked back.
She was the one who had only received dresses, jewels, and a place to return to. Olivia couldn’t understand what Edwin meant.
“The White Crystal Mine is Olivia’s. You don’t have to hand it over to me so easily, or say that we should make it joint property right now.”
But the moment she heard Edwin’s quiet voice, Olivia felt like she had glimpsed a little of Edwin’s inner thoughts.
“…It’s entirely Olivia’s.”
Entirely hers.
The things Edwin had always wanted to give her.
Olivia bit her lip as Edwin trailed off. She was overwhelmed to the point that she couldn’t control it, no matter how hard she tried.
She had wanted to tell him on the day Yeniv Street was completed.
She didn’t know she was this impatient.
She couldn’t bear not to say this emotion that was welling up inside her.
Olivia grabbed Edwin’s hand. Edwin looked at Olivia with slightly surprised eyes at the sudden warmth.
“Really? I thought I was… starting to resemble Edwin.”
Whether it was because of the tension or the anticipation, her lips felt parched.
She was glad she had dismissed the others beforehand.
Olivia slowly opened Edwin’s hand, which she had pulled, to show his palm.
The moment Olivia’s heart pounded as she looked at his large, firm hand that obediently followed her will.
Olivia looked straight into Edwin’s eyes and kissed his palm.
The palm that touched her lips trembled slightly. This hand, which she desperately wanted to touch and cherished more than anything, was finally in her grasp today.
Hoping that her confession would be fully conveyed, Olivia parted her lips.
“…I’m also earnestly requesting.”
“Did you, did you know? What it means to kiss someone’s palm?”
The meaning of a kiss on the palm.
I earnestly request you.
Olivia said casually to Edwin’s deeply subdued voice.
“Did you really think I still wouldn’t know? You’re quite innocent, Grand Duke.”
Edwin really didn’t seem to know. The initial purpose of why she had always visited the library so often. That even before Yeniv Street, Edwin was more important to her.
Looking at his beautiful face, mixed with confusion and joy, Olivia pulled Edwin’s hand again. And she rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt.
And when Edwin’s wrist was revealed, Olivia spoke each syllable with sincerity.
“…And, I’m coveting and desiring you like this. The most precious you.”
“I’m always one to covet. Naturally, I’ll be full of precious things that can only be obtained with the most effort, won’t I?”
The meaning of a kiss on the wrist.
I desire you.
The pulse that touched her lips was incredibly hot. Olivia imprinted herself on that pulse as she kissed it for a long time. And as she parted her lips, she naturally intertwined her fingers with Edwin’s.
Edwin’s red eyes, which were looking at her, gradually deepened.
Only the slow breathing of each other intertwined in the dining room.
“…I feel the same way as Edwin.”
Olivia’s small, delicate hand, which was wrapped in Edwin’s hand, wriggled. This was not a dream or an illusion.
“I want to look better to you. I want you to think of me more. That’s why I want to give you more.”
When Edwin realized that this lovely woman, who wanted to look good to him, was real. Edwin’s heart beat so loudly that it was hard to bear.
Her lovely face, flushed with a rosy hue, looked at him and said.
“…What the most precious you desires.”
“…What the most precious you desires.”
The moment the words he had said echoed clearly over Olivia’s words, Edwin unknowingly swallowed his breath.
Olivia, who was full of shyness but didn’t let go of his hand or his gaze.
His Madam, who was in front of him, was confidently declaring to him.
That she felt the same way he had fallen helplessly for Olivia.
“…So, are you going to reject this gift of mine?”
“…Say it again.”
Edwin said to Olivia as if squeezing the words out. He could even call it a plea for this unbelievable moment to last forever.
Olivia also liked him very much…….
“I like you, Edwin.”
A shy yet confident voice.
The trembling sincerity contained in that voice reached him. A new breath began to circulate throughout Edwin’s body, which had been holding its breath.
Olivia met Edwin’s reddening eyes. Every gaze of Edwin that touched her body was ticklish and wonderful.
Edwin didn’t know, but he was the reason she could say these words.
The expectations and hopes that Edwin had planted and sprouted had fully grown.
That’s why she could say it.
“…With all my heart.”
That she sincerely liked him, who was shining so brilliantly.
It was at that moment. The hand she was holding was pulled sharply, and soon a warm body embraced Olivia. Edwin’s gesture of fitting himself perfectly against her was telling her.
“…Me too, Olivia.”
A soft and wonderful voice that reached her ear was directed at her. And the moment she heard those words, Olivia felt that she could dare to bet her whole life that her expectations would never be trampled on again.
“I like you very much.”
Even though she knew it, she somehow felt like she was going to cry. Olivia hugged Edwin tightly.
The sound of hearts, indistinguishable as to whose it was, filled each other’s right chest.
.
.
.
“Before imprinting the magic seal, you two must first sign.”
The drawing room in the evening, when the darkness had deepened.
Bethany looked at the two people in front of her with suspicious eyes.
Madam, who kept glancing sideways and blushing when her eyes met his, and Grand Duke, who was looking at such Madam as if he would devour her.
“Please, everyone, leave us for a moment.”
Taking advantage of the fact that His Highness was lost in thought, she had only briefly left the dining room as Madam had said, who had dismissed everyone.
But the dining room she returned to was somehow filled with a strangely heated atmosphere. Naturally, Bethany looked at the two with a lewd expression.
The two were sitting so close to each other that it was hard to believe they had been sitting across from each other. It was exactly as Bethany had expected before leaving the dining room.
“…I’ll bring out the dessert.”
Bethany carefully examined the two as if nothing had happened. Madam’s hair was disheveled as she kept looking at the distant scenery as if she was embarrassed, and the front of His Highness’s shirt, which was always neatly ironed, was wrinkled.
Bethany’s pleased expression momentarily distorted.
Strangely, their faces were too fine. Even the light lipstick that Madam had applied to her lips wasn’t smudged at all.
Something must have happened……. Was it really nothing as it seemed? The two of them at such a vigorous age, really? Nothing at all?
Oblivious to Bethany’s thoughts, Olivia looked at the documents with nervous eyes.
“Here, Olivia.”
Edwin’s eyes, smiling refreshingly, were more affectionate than usual today. As soon as Olivia received the documents, she wrote her name next to Edwin’s name.
Olivia.
Looking at her name, which now had no surname, Olivia glanced at Edwin’s name.
Edwin R. Bikander.
The thought that that surname would soon be attached to her name sent a pleasant shiver down Olivia’s body.
Olivia, who was looking at Edwin’s handwriting, paused for a moment. She felt a sense of déjà vu, but Olivia dismissed it as being due to nervousness.
Bethany called Olivia at the right time.
“Have you written everything?”
“Yes.”
Bethany, who had been looking at Olivia’s name for a moment, shrugged her shoulders. And she imprinted the magic seal and said as if declaring it.
“With this, on the day you two get married, this White Crystal Mine will also be automatically transferred to the joint ownership of the couple.”
Bethany’s words, which felt solemn, felt like the last words announcing the wedding vows. She was still getting embarrassed by everything, even trivial things, probably because she had confessed to Edwin a little while ago.
“Everything’s done, shall we go to bed?”
She tried her best not to be awkward, but the words that came out of Olivia’s mouth were stiff to anyone who heard them.
Edwin smiled slowly at her, who had lost her courageous self and was now at a loss.
“We have to take this with us.”
And he took out a ring case from his pocket and opened it. Olivia unknowingly exclaimed, ‘Ah,’ as the strangely familiar case opened.
That was Edwin’s ring that she had seen at Madam Deton’s boutique. It was a proposal ring.
Edwin naturally took Olivia’s hand and slipped the red gemstone ring, which flickered like it was on fire, onto her fourth finger.
Olivia blinked her eyelashes slowly.
An ivory dress, documents with her and Edwin’s signatures written on them at the same time,
And even a proposal ring.
It was really ridiculous. The moment she thought it felt like an engagement ceremony, Edwin whispered sweetly.
“Finally, this ring has found its place.”
The red ring, burning like fire, sparkled for a moment. At the same time, Olivia’s Magic Stone necklace, which was outside the sight of the two, also sparkled.
As if they were resonating with each other.
