Episode 57
"We've arrived."
It was Rowina who roused Countess Rachel from her reverie.
"Countess?"
"Ah. Sorry. I was lost in thought."
"It's all right."
Rowina answered kindly, took the approaching servant's hand, and stepped down from the carriage first. Countess Rachel was following her down when the sound of hooves crunching on gravel cut between them.
"Your Highness."
The Countess whirled around. Seeing Killian first, she lifted the hem of her skirt in greeting. Killian, having dismounted, only then noticed her and gave a small nod.
"Thank you for traveling so far."
"Not at all. I would gladly rush here. Whose invitation is it, after all?"
The Countess smiled warmly and quietly stepped back.
"Rowina. I'm rather tired, so I'd like to wash up and change."
"Ah. I've already told them to heat your bathwater."
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it. I'll see you at dinner in the dining room after you rest."
Feeling a hand naturally encircle her waist, Rowina called one of the waiting maids and instructed her to guide the Countess.
"Rowina."
As soon as the Countess entered the villa, Killian had her mount the horse's saddle. Then he sat behind her and seized the reins. Rowina, who had mounted the horse in a daze, asked with a bewildered expression,
"Where are we going?"
"There's something I want to show you."
Killian answered briefly, placed his foot in the stirrup, and kicked the horse's flank with his heel.
* * *
The horse that had been galloping without rest gradually slowed before a white sandy beach.
Killian, who dismounted first, reached out to her. Rowina shook her head at the hand that tried to grasp her waist.
"Just hold my hand, please. I'll step on the stirrup and try to get down."
"You'll fall."
"I'll be fine."
At her firm words, Killian clicked his tongue and held out his hand. She was carefully climbing down when he abruptly pulled his hand away.
"Ahh!"
Simultaneously losing her balance, Rowina fell heavily into his arms. Her face reddening at the momentum that suggested he might lift her at any moment, Rowina pushed him away.
"Why did you let go?"
"Because you seemed so confident."
Killian raised the corner of his lips impishly and gestured with his chin to one side. Following where he pointed, Rowina's eyes went wide.
A sight she had only ever seen in a dream had been recreated exactly. A round table and two chairs set at the edge where the waves touched. On the table covered with a lace tablecloth, red wine, a refreshing fruit salad, and a fresh oyster dish garnished with onions and mushrooms were arranged appetizingly.
"Don't tell me Your Highness prepared this?"
Instead of answering, Killian led her toward the table. Rowina approached the table awkwardly after him and sat in the chair a waiter pulled out.
The sky was a clear, cloudless blue, and the sea likewise sparkled like a sapphire. The sound of the waves and the cries of distant seabirds laid shallow like the performance of a high-class restaurant orchestra. It was an unbelievable scene even as she experienced it. While she was briefly distracted by the cool waves that tickled the tops of her feet over her shoes before vanishing, Killian's calm voice pierced her ears.
"I've heard you've been skipping lunch lately. You said you have too much to do and lost your appetite."
"That may be true, but……"
Unlike her, who was at a loss in this surreal situation, Killian sprinkled lemon juice over the raw oysters with a composed expression. And he held it out to her just like that.
"Rowina."
"Killian?"
Staring at the flustered Rowina, Killian pointed to his own hand with his gaze. Embarrassed to see the waiter standing beside them, Rowina opened and closed her mouth a few times before finally leaning her upper body toward him and accepting the raw oyster.
The plump oyster slid down the smooth shell like a slide, passed over her tongue, and slipped down her throat. Watching Rowina swallow the oyster with a gulp, Killian's lips curved as he brushed the corner of her mouth once with his thumb.
The deepening smile held an intimate warmth.
She had merely accepted an oyster, yet her face burned as if she had done something indecent. Lowering her eyes in shame, Rowina cleared her throat a few times.
"What in the world is all this?"
She had vowed not to overthink his uncharacteristic behavior, but this was a situation she simply couldn't ignore.
Killian narrowed his eyes at her genuinely curious face and set down the fork he was holding.
"It's what you wanted."
"Pardon?"
Rowina furrowed her brows and tilted her head at the unexpected answer.
"What do you mean?"
"You don't remember what you said on the train eight years ago?"
Just what memory was he talking about? At his next words, Rowina's mind went blank, her mouth opening and closing.
"You said you wanted to eat your favorite food at the beach someday."
Rowina stared quietly at Killian, who spoke as clearly as if it had happened just yesterday.
She couldn't remember saying such words to him, but there had certainly been a time when that was her wish.
She, who had fallen in love at first sight on a train at age twenty, had chatted excitedly for hours in a compartment with just the two of them. She hadn't known it might be rude; it was simply exciting and joyous to talk at length with someone who made her heart flutter for the first time in her life.
"So I told you…… that story."
Something like that, she had probably mentioned. After thinking it over, Rowina answered meekly and asked back,
"You remembered that? It was so long ago."
She couldn't even remember saying she liked oysters. Though she had said as much recently to Melissa or Joan.
"I've even experienced events like this."
Over the past five years, Herriott had occasionally taken her to restaurants that served oyster dishes, but even that was only once in a while on payday.
"When I was pregnant, I wanted to eat it so badly……"
Muttering without realizing, Rowina belatedly gasped and clamped her mouth shut. The warm air that had filled the space moments ago vanished, and an awkward atmosphere settled over the table.
"What you just said……"
Her mouth went dry. However tolerant he had become lately, it was the first time she had brought up her pregnancy from her own mouth. While the flustered Rowina read the man's expression and racked her brains over how to handle this, the waiter, having caught Killian's signal, quietly withdrew.
Killian, having sent the waiter away, poured wine into her glass. Rowina, who had braced herself for a growl, hesitantly accepted the glass.
The moment she brought the glass to her lips. She nearly spat out the wine she tasted.
"What else did you want to eat?"
"……Pardon?"
Rowina doubted her own ears. She had expected a sharp rebuke, if not a prickly warning.
"What else did you want to eat?"
Showing rare patience, Killian asked again to the dazed Rowina. He set down his utensils and even clasped his hands, listening intently for her answer.
"Do you want to hear that?"
"Yes."
"Why? Demian isn't Your Highness's child."
Rowina cautiously tested him on the off chance. Wondering what he was thinking, Killian narrowed his eyes, unfolded his hands, and gulped down his wine. Not savoring it elegantly as usual, he downed two glasses in a row as if he were overindulging before the answer finally came.
"Because me denying it won't make the child go back into your womb."
At the spiteful answer, her tension drained away with relief. As soon as her stiffly rigid back relaxed slightly, the effects of the wine she had just drunk—it must have been quite alcoholic—rose slightly. Rowina rested her chin on her arm.
"A poached egg dish with cheese."
"Poached egg?"
"Yes. Poached eggs that are good in the morning. My nanny used to make them with cheese sometimes long ago……"
"So you had a nanny."
With curious eyes, Killian refilled her empty glass.
"Yes……"
Rowina nodded and tilted her glass. It was the first time she had spoken of her childhood. Aside from telling him that her parents had died in an accident and she had lived with a close relative, she had never confided her past to Killian.
"It was truly delicious. I think she added something extra to the poached eggs back then……. Even when I tried to make it the same way afterward, it never tasted the same. There didn't seem to be anything special about it."
Since the conversation topic had shifted from Demian, it was okay to say this much. Rowina, who had been chatting away while eating, slowly lowered her heavy eyelids.
When she closed her eyes for a moment and opened them, she was on a swaying saddle. In her hazy gaze downward, Rowina saw the horse's mane. She also saw long, neat hands holding the reins.
Killian, who had been holding the reins while letting her slump asleep against him, abruptly asked from behind,
"Are you awake?"
"Yeees."
"Sleep more."
Whispering in her ear, Killian wrapped his arm around her waist and leaned her more stably against him. At his affectionate touch, Rowina mumbled in a half-asleep daze.
"The sea was so beautiful. The food was delicious too."
"I'm glad."
She wondered if her ears were playing tricks; his voice seemed to hold a hint of laughter. It was a careful and gentle voice, as if he were cooing at a small animal.
She figured her ears must have gone strange from drinking. Now was the opportunity. Having easily concluded this, Rowina placed her hand over the large one holding the reins, reminded of Jeremy's face that had suddenly surfaced in her mind.
A short intake of breath, as if he were holding something back, was heard. Rowina, who had pursed her lips for a moment, gathered her courage.
"Since you've granted a wish…… I have one more."