Chapter 110. The Night of Loss
Olivia opened her eyes with a start, instinctively pulling the surrounding blankets close. Loss had arrived without warning, shaking her life. Her comfortable cradle had shattered in an instant.
Olivia gasped at the sense of loss that had sprung from her subconscious. Even after more than a decade, the shock of that day still seemed to be coiled within her.
Turning her head, she saw the empty bed.
The violently throbbing pulse refused to subside.
The fear and sense of loss, once touched, surged like a tidal wave, swallowing the girl within her heart.
That night, had she ever imagined that she would never see her parents and grandfather again?
Olivia leaped out of bed and fled to the balcony. Clutching the blanket, she sat down on the floor and looked out through the railings.
Then, she waited vaguely for Noah.
Clutching her pounding heart, she prayed that he would appear.
Ironically, after her grandmother passed away, Olivia had lived forgetting the fear of loss. Since there was nothing more to lose, she was not afraid.
But now, that fear had resurfaced.
The soul of the girl, not yet fully grown, was still lingering in the night of loss.
"Noah..."
His name was mixed into the white, shattered breath.
Noah wouldn't come today anyway.
He would return tomorrow. Nevertheless, Olivia looked out over the railing and waited for him.
"Noah."
Whispering his name as if it were a spell.
"...Noah."
The moment his name fell from her lips for the last time.
As if by a lie, the sound of hooves began to be heard, cutting through the thick darkness.
Olivia stopped breathing and listened.
The sound of hooves was gradually getting closer. Olivia rose from her seat and stared intently into the deep darkness.
The pulse that had subsided for a moment surged rapidly again.
Thump, thump, thump.
Soon, the sound of the mansion's iron gate opening and closing was heard.
Just as the moon, which had hidden itself among the clouds, peeked out, the silhouette of the garden was revealed in the blue moonlight.
When the figure that had penetrated into the black outline of the gardener revealed itself under the moonlight, Olivia's heart beat with a great resonance, far more violently than ever before.
The soul of the girl, who had been waiting for him so desperately, was finally freed from the night of loss.
Olivia turned around and ran out of the room.
Her footsteps, crossing the hallway and descending the stairs, grew faster and faster.
Beneath the desire to hide when she saw him, there was always a desire to run towards him. She ran out through the open door and called out to him.
"Noah!"
Noah, who was just climbing the stairs, widened his eyes at the sight of Olivia running towards him. Dressed in a white nightgown, she stretched out her arms towards him, her hair as black as night flying in the wind.
Noah dropped the luggage he was holding on the floor and hugged Olivia tightly as she came into his arms. Olivia burrowed into his arms more deeply than ever before.
Noah's heart beat wildly. It was amazing that his pulse was beating even faster than when he had driven madly through the rough night.
And he realized.
That he had not returned because he couldn't sleep, but because he missed Olivia.
Olivia gasped for breath and tightened her arms around Noah.
A tremor, whose origin she could not know, was felt intensely beyond their touching body temperatures.
"Liv."
As he called out in a whisper, Olivia, who had buried her face in his chest, slowly raised her head. Seeing her still pale face, Noah placed his hand on her forehead to check her temperature. Fortunately, she had no fever, but her pajamas were too thin.
Noah quickly took off his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders, then lifted her up in a flash.
He lightly kissed the corner of Olivia's eye, who gasped in surprise, and strode into the mansion.
Meanwhile...
"..."
"..."
Methone and the guards who were left behind watched the reunion of the couple with awkward faces.
Jonan wrinkled his nose and then smoothed it out, muttering.
"So... it's not like something huge happened that made him come, right?"
Then Methone smacked his lips and turned around.
"Wasn't he the one who ran all the way to Pulder because he was so impatient? This distance is nothing. Ugh, really."
They should just get married soon.
The silent sighs of the guards disappeared into the cold autumn night air.
Noah, who had returned to the room with Olivia in his arms, put her down on the bed. But the blanket that should have been on the bed was gone. Looking closely, the blanket was over the open balcony window.
"Ah, that..."
As Olivia was about to make some excuse in embarrassment, Noah nonchalantly closed the balcony window and had Betty bring a new blanket.
"Bring a wet towel, too."
"Yes, Your Highness."
As Betty retreated, Noah stoked the fireplace himself to raise the temperature in the chilly room.
The silhouette of the man sitting in front of the golden-red light seemed even bigger and longer due to the long shadow. Olivia fiddled with the end of his jacket that was wrapped around her shoulders and asked.
"Noah, I thought you were coming tomorrow, what happened? Is something wrong?"
But Noah didn't answer, just stoked the fire.
The faint flames soon grew to engulf the fireplace, and the room, which had been robbed of warmth through the open window, also warmed up.
Around that time, Betty returned and laid a new blanket on the bed, then handed the wet towel to the Crown Prince and retreated.
"I don't have a fever anymore."
Olivia said as she watched Noah come with the towel, but Noah ignored her words. Instead, he quietly bent one knee at her feet and unceremoniously grabbed one of Olivia's feet.
"......?!"
"What were you doing, running out without even wearing shoes."
He carefully wiped her white, small feet with a wet towel. Only then did Olivia realize that she had run towards him barefoot.
Her face flushed in an instant.
The blanket scattered on the balcony and the barefoot Princess consort.
It was something that could easily lead to rumors of madness, but Noah seemed calm.
"I'll wipe them!"
"It's okay. Just stay still."
He wiped one foot thoroughly, then placed the other foot on his knee. Then, he folded the towel over and wiped the remaining foot.
His touch was warm and gentle.
Olivia quietly watched him.
When the young heart, which had been afraid that he might not return, disappeared, it was as if a balloon had taken its place where the young heart had been. The balloon gradually inflated.
Olivia looked at his face, in which golden light was melting, and carefully opened her mouth.
"I'm glad."
Noah, who had been kneeling, slowly raised his head at the whisper that had fallen like a petal over his head.
When their eyes met, Olivia smiled as if by a lie.
"I'm glad you came, Noah."
Noah stopped breathing and looked at Olivia. Noah, who had been looking at her lovely face for a long time, asked quietly.
"Were you waiting for me?"
Olivia answered honestly to his question.
"Yes."
Noah slowly reached out and placed his palm on Olivia's cheek. Her cheeks were cold compared to his hands, which had warmed up from stoking the fire.
He pictured Olivia sitting on the balcony with a blanket, waiting for him. For some reason, Noah felt choked up and frowned slightly.
"You knew I wasn't coming today, why were you waiting? "
Olivia carefully wrapped her hand around the back of his hand that was touching her cheek and whispered.
"I missed you."
The words that flowed from her pale lips flowed into Noah's ears and lingered in his heart.
From some day on, his heart, which had been insensitive and weary of everything, began to stir. Then, finally, on this night, he made an absurd choice and ran through the rough and dark road all night.
"You don't love her, do you?"
For some reason, those words felt ridiculous.
That verbose and ambiguous word, for some reason, felt very easy.
Noah could no longer hold back and got up, kissing Olivia's pale lips. He grabbed the back of her head, which was being pushed back by the lack of strength, and fell onto the bed as it was.
His rough and dry lips, the touch of her hands wrapping around his neck, poured down like sweet rain on his life, which had been like a dry desert.
The sound of the wind and the faint moonlight that had been bothering him also became meaningless in front of Olivia's existence. In that sense, she was also his bulwark.
As he hugged her soft body and took a deep breath, his heart, which had been anxiously agitated, seemed to be finding its place again.
Noah slowly stroked Olivia's hair.
With her, Noah's night became peaceful.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
"What? Noah returned to the capital last night?"
Leonard raised his voice in surprise at the breakfast table, where the King, Queen Consort, and Crown Prince were together for the first time in a while.
The aide quickly added a businesslike explanation.
"He attended both the naval parade and the celebration of the construction of the warship yesterday afternoon. The original schedule was to attend the breakfast this morning, but he asked Admiral David for his understanding and returned last night."
"Why?"
"......"
How would I know? How would I, a complete stranger, know the mind of a son that even his father doesn't know?
As the aide remained silent with a blank face, Leonard waved his hand to dismiss him and muttered.
"Well... he can skip breakfast. Does he have work at the company? I haven't heard anything about that."
Then Beatrix, who was drinking tea from across the table, shook her head slightly and replied.
"He probably came because the Princess consort is sick."
"......?"
At her words, Usher blinked and looked at his mother, and
"......?????"
Leonard widened his eyes and tilted his eyebrows. The corners of his lips pointed downwards. Then he said just one word.
"Noah?"
"......"
"He was supposed to come today anyway, Noah?"
"...It's getting cold. Please eat."
