episode_0021

What is happiness?

What is joy?

Luna always had these questions in her mind.

To find the answers, Luna read countless books.

From common romance novels to thick dictionaries, she didn’t discriminate.

Now she knows.

Happiness, joy, love, delight, and so on.

Though they may be slightly different, they are all positive emotions felt by humans.

However, she didn’t understand.

Because she had never experienced those emotions even once.

She couldn’t accept them in her heart.

Knowing and understanding.

The small gap between the two seemed too large.

“I don’t know.”

That’s why.

Albert David.

She didn’t know why he smiled so brightly when he saw only himself.

She didn’t know the emotion underlying that smile.

She merely processed the information of him smiling in her brain.

“Have you been well?”

After exchanging greetings with Iris Duke and Rachel, Albert approached Luna and greeted her.

He hid the upward curve of his lips and pretended to be as nonchalant as possible.

Deep down, it was true that he cared, but showing it outwardly was another matter.

Nodding, Luna politely accepted his greeting.

Because he was her fiancé.

Because he was the heir to the Duke of David.

Above all.

Because it was the right thing to do.

It wasn’t a sincere action stemming from the heart.

In the first place, no emotion could arise from her broken heart, so she simply acted according to what was right and wrong.

“….”

“….”

They stood facing each other blankly.

Their gazes intersected, one filled with love, the other with doubt.

“Fascinating.”

Luna’s feelings toward Albert were mere curiosity.

Like a child curious and amazed when encountering something new.

She wondered why he laughed brightly from afar but concealed his smile up close.

She wanted to know why he tensed up in front of her.

She wanted to know what emotions lay behind each of his actions.

A reference book to understand emotions.

Just about that much.

As they exchanged glances at the entrance, the two soon entered the mansion.

When Luna visited the mansion earlier, she led Albert instead of following him.

In fact, this sight was even more familiar to Albert.

In a past life, she had led the way for him and skillfully handled the duties of a hostess in his place.

And such memories remained vivid in Albert’s mind.

“Still… as expected….”

He thought that her delicate appearance in the greenhouse was nice, but this skillful and spirited appearance suited her even better.

Eventually, they arrived at Luna’s room, as expected.

Although Albert had been here before, it was inevitable that he felt tense.

It was, after all, the room of the woman he loved.

But this time, he didn’t refuse.

Despite the tension, it was a welcoming event.

As they entered, catching a faint scent of flowers, they saw the moonflowers placed by the window.

Perhaps because Luna had taken good care of them, they looked much fresher than when he last saw them.

It seemed like the flowers had bloomed a little more in the meantime.

“Luna, you’ve been taking good care of the moonflowers.”

He was pleased to see her treasuring the gift he had given her.

Contrary to his plan to hide his feelings as much as possible, those emotions ended up being conveyed in his voice.

He wondered if she noticed, but Luna seemed unfazed.

“I guess I should consider this fortunate.”

Instead, it felt somewhat disheartening.

Nodding lightly at Albert’s words, Luna approached the window and gazed at the flowers.

“When I’m in the room, I always look at them like this.”

It felt so comforting.

There was no need to read emotions from her expression.

There was no discomfort in not being able to speak.

That was also why he had come to like the garden.

It was the only place where he could feel comfortable.

Swoosh-.

Luna gently caressed the closed flower bud and then sat down on the chair.

When Albert had visited before, there was no suitable chair, so she hadn’t sat on the bed.

That had bothered her, leading to the acquisition of the tea table and chairs.

“Oh, right, I have something for you.”

Naturally taking a seat opposite Luna, Albert took a small wooden box out of his pocket and placed it on the table.

It was a luxurious box tied with a yellow ribbon like a evening primrose.

“You’ll probably be surprised. I was so surprised when I saw this. Would you like to open it?”

Nodding-.

Luna nodded and carefully untied the ribbon.

Then she opened the lid of the box.

Inside the box was an exquisite pen.

It seemed modest and unpretentious, just right for her.

“I shouldn’t be extravagant.”

She couldn’t allow herself to be extravagant, having brought disaster upon a family.

It wouldn’t be dignified for the deceased wife or the surviving family.

“Would you like to try squeezing it?”

Luna cautiously grasped the pen.

It didn’t look much different from others, but strangely, instead of a pen tip, there was a jade stone embedded in it.

Perhaps it was given as a decorative item.

That’s what Luna thought at that moment.

“Like this, with the pen facing this way….”

Albert took Luna’s hand and moved the pen back and forth.

He had to touch the jade stone with his finger, but he didn’t quite touch it.

To be honest, it was quite embarrassing.

She worried about not liking physical contact.

But she wanted to do it herself.

She wanted to hold hands again.

“He said he has no ill intentions, but it’s embarrassing.”

She felt pathetic for filling her own vanity through a gift, but such thoughts quickly disappeared with the feeling of their touching hands.

Blinking, looking at their joined hands, Luna raised her head to look at Albert.

Gentle and warm.

If his expression were put into words, those would be the words.

“Like a plant….”

Strange.

When she used to see someone’s expression, she used to read the underlying emotions, but now it was a strangely comfortable feeling.

As if facing a plant.

She wondered why she felt this way.

So she gazed at his face intently.

The feeling of fidgeting hands was already beyond her concern.

Then suddenly, when he smiled and raised his head, Luna turned her head without realizing it.

“Why…?”

She didn’t know.

Why she had acted this way.

There was something that couldn’t be judged as right or wrong.

“The mind moves the body….

If this behavior is because of the mind, what kind of mind is it?

Thinking so, Luna slowly shifted her gaze.

And she tilted her head.

“Um, I, I… I’m sorry.”

Albert, who had been holding her hand, let go and bowed in apology.

Because Luna turned her head as if she was dissatisfied.

If she, who valued manners, showed such a reaction, it must have been an expression of disapproval without a doubt.

‘This is the worst.’

It hadn’t been long since they got engaged.

They had only met three times.

In such a situation, grabbing her hand abruptly could only be disliked.

Why couldn’t he control that desire?

He had promised to make her happy, but what he had done was nothing more than self-serving behavior.

His own actions felt so pathetic.

‘Let’s accept it humbly.’

He thought so, but his head felt as heavy as lead.

To be honest, he was scared.

Scared that she might come to dislike him.

But, it couldn’t be like this.

Hadn’t he promised to reflect and move forward?

If he couldn’t move forward due to the past, there would be no turning back.

With determination, Albert slowly raised his head.

First, he saw the table, then her slender arms, and her charming collarbone came into view in order.

When he finally raised his head completely, Albert could breathe a sigh of relief.

However, his heart was definitely not calm.

Instead, it was beating even faster.

Beautiful lines sparkling in blue.

They gathered to draw a Milky Way in the air.

“Are you not feeling well?”

He had definitely seen this once before.

But why did it feel so different now?

The fact that Luna was in the same scene made everything so different, and Albert was once again amazed.

“I’m fine. I was just moved.”

The neat and pretty handwriting in the letter.

It felt like her worrying about him, and it stirred up emotions.

Even if it was just formal concern, it didn’t matter.

And beyond that, she was so beautiful that he couldn’t help but keep his eyes on her.”

The characters written in the air gradually blurred and disappeared, causing Albert to let out a faint sigh.

But he was okay.

It would remain in his heart forever.

[Thank goodness.]

Albert thought.

He would definitely make Luna happy.