CH 104

“Don’t you think it’s too much?”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s a month, a month. Don’t you think leaving the throne empty for a month makes sense?”

After Valery returned to the imperial palace, Delkian vomited out all the stress he had been under. Normally, he would have smiled and moved on, but he felt like his stress was piled up.

“But Brother said I should do it.”

“That’s not what I meant. But why are you coming back alone?”

“She will be back soon.”

“When? It’s been a few days. Maybe she just pushed you to let you go.”

Valery’s eyes widened.

Delkian also tried not to use such a mean method, but he had been working so hard for almost a month that he felt like he had to do something. Because the face of Valery Ahibara Kashinev, who had returned, was very bright. Still, it was a good thing.

As the former emperor and empress repented of their mistakes and resigned, Delkian suffered a lot. In addition, his younger brother looked so empty. It was heartbreaking to see his younger brother blaming himself, but now he felt he could shake it all off.

However, if it was later, his younger brother would lead the same path again because Lady Carbella, who said she would return, didn’t come. Originally, he thought the two would come back together. That’s why he prepared a welcome party for them around when they came back, but Valery returned alone.

One day passed, two days passed, three days passed, four days passed… It had been a week, but there was no news. Valery seemed to be waiting in silence for what she had promised, but he was clearly nervous as the day went by, and the time he came out of his office was late every day.

“She promised to come back,” said Valery.

Delkian raised his palms in a slightly fierce voice. “Yes, well, then. Tell me when she is coming. I want to welcome her. Then, Your Majesty, I shall go.” Delkian said so and left the emperor’s office.

Thinking that he could take a rest for a while, Delkian came out of the hallway leisurely, and his aide, Seri, approached him quickly.

“Your Highness.”

“Huh? What’s going on?”

“A letter just arrived, Your Highness.”

“A letter?”

“Yes.”

It must be about work again. Or the request from the nobles. Delkian took the letter indifferently and opened it. His eyes widened slightly as he read the contents.

“Oh…”

“What’s wrong?” asked Seri, who delivered the letter.

Delkian put the letter he had read back into the envelope. He folded it neatly as if it were sealed and put it in the inside pocket of his uniform.

“Hmm? Nothing. I’m afraid we’ll need a carriage.”

After saying that out of the blue, Delkian suddenly headed somewhere quickly. His aide, Seri, hurriedly followed him.

* * *

It was a month after his absence. Thanks to his older brother’s help, all that was left was tidying up. His older brother grumbled a lot, but he did the job perfectly. It would have been better if his older brother didn’t scratch his nerves today.

Even though Delkian clearly knew that Valery was waiting for her, he came every morning and scratched Valery’s nerves like that, which made Valery’s nervousness increase.

“You said you’d be here soon.”

Valery was thinking about Bella and couldn’t remember how he had spent two years without her. He thought about returning, but he couldn’t because of her warning not to leave his work behind. He could throw anything away if she wanted. Still, he couldn’t do something she didn’t like because she said she didn’t like irresponsible people.

Time passed again. Valery felt like his stomach was on fire. After a long-waited luncheon meeting, he moved his feet to get back into his office. Joanne, who had been away for a while at Delkian’s call, hurriedly rushed for some reason.

“Your Majesty!”

“What’s the matter with you running like that?”

“I think you should go now!”

It was unusual to see him breathing heavily and talking hastily.

“I asked what was going on.”

Sometimes Joanne would make a fuss about his work, so he asked calmly.

“H-His Highness is…. Rather, I think you should go see it yourself right now.”

What happened to Delkian? He was the one who scratched his nerves in the morning. He thought Delkian was just busy because he didn’t even attend the luncheon meeting.

Before he knew it, Valery’s feet were following Joanne. As soon as he went out, a carriage was waiting. Valery climbed right into the door Joanne opened.

“Your Majesty, go ahead. I’ll follow you in a few minutes.”

And the door closed. The carriage sped out of the imperial palace.

How long has it been? As soon as he entered the carriage, he realized he had brought nothing. He knew nothing about what Joanne had said because he was immersed in thought about Carbella. Valery was taken aback by how stupid he was.

“How can I be this crazy?”

The carriage had already left the imperial palace and had been running for a long time. That means that even if he wanted to return, it would be better for him to go to the destination because he had already come a long way.

For a moment, he thought the carriage was heading in a familiar direction.

“…”

It was not until another half hour’s drive that the carriage stopped. By that time, Valery’s expression had already hardened. It was because the place where the carriage stopped was none other than the beach where he had his first day with her.

The coachman just stood still.

Valery took a big breath, opened the carriage door, and came out. As the wind did not blow, a slight salty air hovered with the sound of light waves.

Valerie began to walk slowly to the other side as if possessed. Even if he couldn’t see anything, it was a movement close to intuition. His step became a little faster. When he realized his heart was impatient, he saw a slender person in front of him.

“…”

The sun was especially stinging today, so even though that person was half-covered with a parasol, he could clearly see it. The parasol moved little by little as that person watched the calm waves of the sea. Valery came closer. His chest swelled up like it was about to explode.

Bella, wearing a parasol, turned around as if she noticed the sound of footsteps approaching. Seeing Valery, she widened her eyes and smiled, curling her eyes like a crescent moon.

“…You didn’t wait long, did you?”

“…Bella.” He spoke in an overwhelming voice. It had only been a week, but it was more difficult than two years.

“I was going to come a day earlier, but I don’t have anyone to ask for help…!”

Valerie locked Bella in his arms. The parasol fell, and she stiffened in his arms. And then she muttered as she quickly relaxed.

“It wasn’t right. So I asked His Highness’s help.”

“H-His Highness is…. Rather, I think you should go see it yourself right now.”

“Your Majesty, go ahead. I’ll follow you in a few minutes.”

That was acting. It was no use now that Valery had now realized how foolish the act was.

“I missed you.”

“It had only been a week.”

“It was longer than any other time.”

Bella patted him on the back. “I promised you I’ll be back.”

“…Bella.”

“It was the first place you took me, so I wanted to meet you here again. This isn’t Coral Beach, and it’s not a place where I can come as I wanted.”

That’s why Bella confessed that she asked Delkian’s help. It didn’t matter anyway.

Valery gently pulled his arms away and looked at her face. He was worried that she might have thinned out even a little in the meantime. Bella raised her hand and put it on Valery’s cheek as if she understood him.

“Since I’m here, I kept my promise, so give me a present.”

“What present…?”

“Please kiss me.”

Valerie took a short breath. Then he bowed his head and cupped her soft cheek. After that, their warm and soft lips touched each other.

They really met again, in accordance with each other’s promise. Now, they couldn’t part away any longer.

Valery dug deeper into her as if promising to protect her for the rest of his life. Bella raised her arms and wrapped them around his neck as if in response. He hugged Bella deeply as if to crush her body. Soon the two lips fell off. Bella smiled softly through a short breath.

“I love you.”

Not ‘I like you’ but ‘I love you.’ It was Bella’s first confession that she brought out with difficulty.

Something stuck in Valery’s throat as if he was choked up by those words. “…I love you.”

“Let’s do anything together now. The same for the future.”

“Yes, anything.”

Their lips met again.

At last, the two found each other again. The love between them will never be separated again.

The end.