Episode 13
“Is this a d-dream……?”
“No.”
“Truly…
is it?”
Her trembling voice asked as if pleading.
“This is… truly real, isn’t it?”
Instead of answering, Killian wiped away the tears still clinging to her chin. Then he closed Rowena’s eyes.
“Turn around.”
Refusal was not an option.
Nodding over and over, Rowena rose and turned her body toward him.
Taking her hand, Killian slipped a ring onto her ring finger. Startled by the cold touch of metal, Rowena’s eyes flew open.
“Your Highness……?”
“Call me Killian.”
She could hardly believe it. Rowena stepped back, then suddenly clutched at the left side of her chest.
“Killian… this is…….”
What he had placed on her ring finger was a platinum ring set in the center with a dazzling, luminous diamond. Though it was on her right hand rather than her left, her heart swelled so much that such a small mistake did not even register.
“It is a gift. I should have given it to you long ago, but I was late.”
“Is it truly all right for you to give me this ring……?”
“Then are you saying I mistook the recipient?”
Killian laughed lightly and chided her gently.
“My goodness……!”
Unable to contain the emotions surging deep in her heart, Rowena threw herself against his chest. She wrapped her arms around Killian’s neck and buried her face in his broad chest.
“Killian… I…….”
Sobbing, Rowena opened her mouth. But the feelings that had risen to her throat stopped her words. As if he understood, a warm hand patted her back.
“Ever since the day you greeted me with a swollen cheek, there has been a question I could not drive from my mind.”
“…….”
“I was cruel to you because I wanted to deny it. But even when I denied it, my feelings remained the same.”
“Killian…….”
“I thought deeply over the past five days. About just how precious you are to me.”
Rowena lifted her head. She felt as though she had become the heroine of a fairy tale. Killian, a man of such high standing that she had never dared even look up to him, was proposing to her, when all she possessed was her sincere heart for him. The moment she had secretly cherished deep in her heart was unfolding before her.
“It feels too much like a dream. I’m truly, truly happy.”
It was a proposal she had never imagined. As Rowena burst into tears once more, Killian kissed her forehead and whispered.
“Let us go to your favorite island. We will spend the summer there together.”
“We’re going together?”
At her voice, trembling with expectation, Killian smiled faintly.
“Regrettably, I will go a little later. There are a few matters I must settle here.”
“Killian…….”
“I will come soon, so wait for me at the villa, Rowena.”
Chloe Everdeen, the daughter of the president of Everdeen Bank, entered Ethelwood two days later.
And so did the rumors that she was soon to be engaged to Killian Devonshire, Duke of Rockford.
The island where Rowena stayed was the second largest among the islands owned by the Devonshire family. Its population was around ten thousand, and it earned its income mainly through pearl farming and tourism.
It was only large in size; originally, it had been a barren land, and it was during Killian’s generation that it was cultivated and developed.
As it gradually developed, the island’s dying economy revived, and the islanders who had gone far away returned to build their nests once more.
The islanders increasingly looked up to the young duke, who had transformed their homeland in a way they could never have imagined, as if he were a king.
Ordinarily, he merely left it in the hands of a capable steward and managed it from afar, showing his face only once or twice a year, yet whenever he did, documents from islanders requesting an audience piled up like mountains. And that attitude of theirs extended even to Rowena, though she was not his official wife.
Throughout her stay at the Devonshire duke’s villa under the steward’s care, Rowena received all the curious gazes and attention directed toward her. In the case of children, that interest was expressed even more honestly.
“Madam!”
Rowena, who had been walking barefoot along the sandy shore, turned at the innocent voice. Beyond her comfortably loose golden hair, the emerald sea glittered like scales.
The one who had called out to her was nine-year-old Tommy, the steward’s son and the ringleader of the island boys.
Rowena bent her knees and sat down to meet the child’s eyes.
“You don’t have to call me madam. You may simply call me Rowena.”
“But they said you’re someone important, so I shouldn’t address you so casually…….”
Considering how boldly he had called her to a stop while she was out for a walk, his hesitant manner made Rowena let out a small laugh.
“I’ve told you again and again, but I’m not an important person, Tommy. Did the steward send you?”
“No. That’s not it… I just saw you…….”
Tommy’s cheeks reddened, and shyly, he twisted his legs together. Rowena smiled, rose, and held out her hand.
“Then would you like to take a walk with me? The weather is nice, so I was walking.”
“Yes!”
Tommy answered at once and took Rowena’s hand. Rowena held the child’s hand with one hand and adjusted her straw hat with the other.
His innocent face looked up at the sight as if spellbound.
She was the most beautiful person he had ever seen in his nine years of life.
Hair like melted gold, and green eyes as lively as fresh grass.
When he had secretly watched her disembark from the ship for the first time, he and his friends had all excitedly agreed that an angel had arrived. Moreover, it was not only her appearance that was beautiful.
Though she stood in a high position, Rowena was kind to everyone, and even when her counterpart was a child, she never treated them carelessly.
Only a fortnight had passed since Rowena came here, but already all the islanders liked her.
“My father said Rowena is someone the duke cherishes very much. So he said you’ll soon become someone we won’t dare even look up at.”
While Tommy chattered on, Rowena gazed at the sea as it slapped against the shore and raised white foam.
During the holiday season, the island was thronged with nobles who came to enjoy its beautiful scenery, but at other times, it was a remote place where simple, kind people lived together in harmony. It was somewhat distant from the outside world, and newspapers arrived only once a month, so news was slow to come.
There had been no telegram from Killian all this time. Contrary to his words that he would follow soon, only time had passed, and her heart had grown anxious. Just then, Tommy’s words drew Rowena’s attention back from her thoughts.
“What my father is preparing little by little is Rowena and the duke’s wedding, isn’t it? I know everything!”
“Wedding……?”
Rowena stopped and blinked. But what followed was even more surprising.
“Yes! And today, the duke is coming—gasp!”
“…….”
Tommy, who had tilted his head at her unexpected reaction, clapped both hands over his mouth.
“Was it supposed to be a surprise? I said it without thinking…….”
At the sight of her face, which had begun to cloud over, blooming wide like a flower in full blossom, Tommy forgot what he was saying. Just looking at her made his heart pound and his mind go blank.
“Thank you so much, Tommy.”
With a smile brighter than ever, Rowena lowered herself to Tommy’s eye level and hugged his small body tightly.
Wedding preparations!
All the unknowable anxiety she had felt until now had been nothing but needless worry. The ominous feeling and impatience that had been creeping up in her heart were only born of her own weakness, not reality.
Killian was a man who bore duties equal to what he possessed. So it was only natural that he would be busy beyond measure. Rowena focused on the fact that even in the midst of such busyness, he had come all this way to see her.
“Rowena!”
Before Tommy could catch her, Rowena turned and ran toward the villa. When she reached the front yard, she saw Melissa, who had just been watering the flowers.
“Melissa!”
Melissa turned her head and looked startled at the sight of Rowena, whose skirt and feet were covered in sand.
“Miss? Is something the matter? You came running like this.”
“The duke… huff, huff… the duke is coming?”
Because she had run in such a hurry, she was out of breath. Melissa patted Rowena’s back and bit her lower lip.
“Th-that is true, but…….”
“When is he coming? At noon? Or at sunset? Why didn’t you tell me?”
With eyes brimming with expectation, Rowena pressed her for an answer.
“Tell me quickly. You know how long I’ve been waiting.”
Of course, life on the island had been satisfying.
As she had in the capital, Rowena enjoyed the very best of food, clothing, and shelter. But more than anything, what had captured her eyes was the island itself. The natural scenery blessed by heaven, and the endless sea spreading out before her. The kind and friendly islanders.
Yet after spending her days with such a happy expression, emptiness would rush over her in the vacant bedroom. As time went by, she missed Killian, who had slipped the ring onto her hand and tenderly kissed her forehead.
While Rowena’s face was filled with anticipation, excitement, and happiness, Melissa, standing before her, looked as though she were afraid of something, or as though she were sorrowful.
As Rowena tilted her head at that unexpected reaction, a voice came from below.
“The duke has arrived!”
Rowena whipped her head around and ran down barefoot. Melissa hurriedly chased after her.
“Miss!”