Chapter 45

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Chapter 45

The time when the sun, which had dyed the sky red, completely passed and the opaque blue darkness fell in the sky all of a sudden.

Min-ha, who had dinner with everyone, helped clean up and put Noah to sleep, saw Seth with a slightly tired face standing outside the barracks.

She opened her mouth, carefully glancing at him, who could not take his eyes off her.

“Did you wait long?”

“No, it’s okay.”

“…Then, where shall we go?”

“Shall we go to the lake? Since no one would be there right now.”

“I’d like that.”

At his suggestion, she nodded her head. Seth held out his hand to her, and Min-ha grabbed his hand. At that, he opened his mouth and tightened the grip that was holding her hand, and pulled her slightly towards him.

“Shall we go?”

“…Okay.”

And so, she followed Seth, who walked alongside her and held her cold hand tightly. Seth was silent as he made his way through the vacant area where lights were extinguished from the tents, heading to the lake.

It might be awkward to see him like that, though Min-ha had no time to feel uncomfortable with the silence as she was focused on the sweat and the warm body temperature slowly seeping out of his hands as he held onto her tightly.

“Your Excellency!”

“Are you going for a walk, Your Excellency, Madam?”

“You must have a lot of trouble late at night.”

“Hello.”

Min-ha, who was following Seth on the way back to the lake, where the carriage had been parked a few hours ago, ran into knights standing at the entrance of the lake.

They greeted Seth and her, before taking a step closer and asked.

“Are you going to the lake, Your Grace?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll accompany you in case there may be things that may harm you two.”

The knights, who were asking for directions, volunteered to escort them.

Min-ha was a little embarrassed but also grateful by the words of the knights. It was because she had vowed to tell Seth everything without hiding anything, but frankly, she was not certain how he would react, so she was contemplating whether to tell him or not.

When she made a strange expression as she was still confused, Seth glanced at her expression and spoke to the knights.

“No. I want to be alone with this person today, so don’t follow me.”

“Will it be okay? If any assassins or beasts living in the forest and they attack…”

“I can handle that much by myself, so don’t worry.”

“All right. Please proceed with caution. .”

“Yes.”

“…Yes, thank you.”

He then refused to escort the knights, as if to calm Min-ha’s hesitating heart.

Walking while holding her hand tightly, Seth smiled affectionately at her. At his appearance that was similar to Noah expecting her praise as if asking, ‘Did I do well,’ Min-ha grinned back as well.

The two of them walked side by side, holding hands for a few minutes, before arriving at the lake where they had parked their carriage a few hours ago.

Until they walked out of the carriage to the campsite, the lake, which was stained by sunset, was now full of a soft full moon.

Min-ha muttered, admiring the scenery of the lake that was different from what she had seen as she got off the carriage earlier.

“Wow… This is so lovely.”

As she glanced back unintentionally, her eyes met with Seth, who was already gazing at her with friendly eyes.

Since when did he look at her with such eyes…?

The moment their eyes met, Seth’s gaze was so sweet that her face heated up. Min-ha smiled awkwardly because she was feeling shy and nervous for no reason.

“Hold on. Shall we take a walk?”

“Let’s walk only over there where the moonlight shines since it’s dangerous because it’s dark elsewhere.”

“…Okay.”

At her suggestion, Seth nodded his head and walked forward first, still holding her hand.

Min-ha followed him, feeling her heart tickling at the sight of him walking ahead of her and clearing the rocks or branches in the way with his feet.

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Eventually, Seth took her to the tree he had pointed to a little while ago.

He stopped for a moment in front of the tree, before carefully letting go of the hand he was holding onto. Then, with his hands, he brushed off the roots of the trees that had protruded out of the soil and folded the cloak he was wearing over it to make it like a cushion.

When he finished, he took her hand again and pointed towards it.

“You sit here.”

“…I don’t mind sitting down anywhere.”

“You sometimes, no, quite often forget that I’m a knight. This kind of consideration is fundamental for a knight.”

“…Really?”

“Of course, I have never done anything like this to anyone but you.”

“….”

Min-ha pouted her lips as she saw Seth speaking as though he had read her own mind.

In fact, he was so used to dealing with women that she sometimes wondered, ‘Is it a trace of his former love affair?’ Even though she liked Seth, who reassured her like that every time it happened, it was also embarrassing and a bit disrespectful.

Seth, who sat next to Min-ha, took off his jacket and put it over her shoulder, smiled slightly when he saw her sulky expression.

“Why do you look like that? Isn’t that what you wanted me to answer?”

“…To be honest. Yes, that’s right.”

“Then, why?”

“…I’m embarrassed because it feels like you’ve read my mind. How do you know so well? Am I that obvious…?”

“The person you are now is easy to read because your emotions are shown on your face.”

“…I’m shy.”

“Why are you shy? I like you to be honest. In the past, it was like looking at a wax figure whose only emotions were contempt and arrogance.”

“…Right.”

Min-ha smiled awkwardly at Seth’s remarks, comparing herself to who she was now—referring to Minase Persen. She had forgotten for a moment, although Seth’s words seemed to remind her of the troubles up until now, put a heavy weight on her heart again.

Seth, who did not take his eyes off her face, saw her slightly darkened expression and frowned slightly. He then carefully grabbed her hand, which had been hanging down.

“…Did I say something else that upsets you? …I don’t know what I did, but I’m sorry. As you know, I’m not as good at speaking like other noblemen, and I’m not good at listening as well.”

“Yes…? No, It’s not something like that…”

“Can I believe that?”

“Of course.”

“That’s a relief. In fact, I was so excited that I thought I must have said something that hurt your heart again without consideration.”

“Are you… excited…?”

“I was happy. It’s the first time you asked me out on a date.”

Seth’s face, answering her question, was so sweet.

Seeing that, Min-ha was pounding with joy and tension at the warm gaze. At the same time, she was afraid as she thought about how he would react to what she was about to tell him.

‘I like this person who is happy even when it was just the two of us talking, though how would he react if I confessed everything in this atmosphere…?’

Min-ha swallowed dry saliva.

Eventually, she opened her mouth slowly, clasping Seth’s hand, who was staring at her with a friendly gaze.

“Can I say something honestly?”

“What?”

“…Actually, the reason I asked you out on a date was because I had something to say, so we can be alone.”

“What do you want to say?”

“…That—”

…Would it be okay to be really honest?

When he heard the truth, would he think that she was crazy? What if he would not look at her with such a sweet gaze again in the future…?

With that thought, she glanced up at Seth, who was waiting for her next words, with trembling eyes. She wanted to confirm first what his heart was like.

“That’s…”

“Do you still see me that way? I’m about to get a little upset.”

“…Seth, do you like me?”

“Huh…?”

“…I’m the one who hurt you so much that you cannot easily forgive me. That’s what it was like until a few months ago… You wanted to break up, right?”

“….”

“But, the way you treat me right now isn’t the same as how you treat someone who you hated enough to want a divorce… I can’t see it.”

“….”

“…Tell me. Do you like me?”

After finishing her words, Min-ha gazed at Seth with shaking eyes.

Seth looked lost in thoughts as he lowered his gaze down, which had been staring at her until a moment ago.

She could feel her heart beating irregularly at the sight of him. Recently, she thought to herself if he would answer without hesitation because his gaze and behavior toward her had always been friendly, though she became anxious when he looked as if he was thinking deeply.

‘…Maybe, I was mistaken to think that he might like me.’

In the first place, she decided to tell him everything because she thought he might have the same feelings as her.

‘What if that is not the case…?’

What he had said and done so far until now indicated as if that was the case. Though why was the reply so late…?

Min-ha’s anxiety flooded her and she could not look at Seth’s face any longer, so she gazed down and looked at his hand, which was holding her tightly.

It was then.

Seth’s hand, which had been holding her hand a while ago, slipped and intertwined her fingers between his and grabbed them as if they were interlocking each other. Then, he gently lifted Min-ha’s chin, who had her head bowed, and spoke to her as she stared back at him with a trembling gaze.

“Yes. I’m in love with you more than ever.”

“Ah…”

“I thought I had expressed my heart to you all this time, but it must have been lacking a lot. As expected, was it a little clumsy?”

“No… It’s not.”

“That’s a relief.”

“….”

“Then, I’ll ask this time… What do you think of me?”

“How… do I think?”

“It’s literally the same. I wonder how you feel as well.”

“….”

“Am I still an inexperienced knight from a humble background in your eyes? Or, still in your heart… Rupert, is he the only one?”

Seeing Seth confessing his feelings with an earnest face, Min-ha felt the uneasiness she had felt a while ago disappear in an instant.

And, at the same time, she could feel her heart beating fast again at his question and the persistent gaze that followed.

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T/N: FINALLLYYY ♡ʚ( *´꒳`* )ɞ♡

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