“Haa…”

With a deep sigh, he stared at me and then resumed walking. The gravel crunching pleasantly under his foot.

As we walked side by side, I glanced at him. The orangery on the path, though small, offered a perfect spot for sea viewing. We sat there together, quietly gazing at the sea.

After a moment of silence, Lucian spoke up.

“Just this once. Use Enzo’s magic to blow it away completely this time.”

I quickly nodded to his permission.

“And…”

He seemed to ponder for a while longer as if he had more to say. He licked his lips a few times, then rolled his eyes towards me.

“Why?”

Sensing he had more to elaborate but didn’t immediately do so, I asked him back. He then leaned in close and whispered.

“So, what wish will you grant me this time?”

“Wish?”

“You broke the promise, after all. So, you have to grant me a wish this time.”

I regretted making promises so carelessly.

Why did my past self have to say I’d grant any wish?

“Still, isn’t this different? If I build the bridge to the island, it solves your problem, too, and it’s good for everyone.”

“Promises are meant to be kept.”

“That may be, but… this is for the good of all. Shouldn’t you be rewarding me, then?”

In a short span, I got my head around it.

Honestly, his request to always be in his sight was unreasonable. So, this time, if he were to offer something in return, I planned to ask for my personal time. Plan A was to get rid of Enzo’s magic completely, while Plan B was to secure my personal time from Lucian’s unreasonable request.

Shining my eyes at him, Lucian quietly observed me as if understanding my thoughts.

“Reward?”

“Yes. For Rachel de Erland’s cooperation with the Leon family!”

At my words, his eyes sparkled.

“Then, Ray, should I also not leave your sight?”

However, his following words made me grimace. If I was in his sight, naturally, he was in mine, so what was he talking about?

“Lucian.”

“…Why?”

The tone he used, which was usually so rich and pleasing, now irritated me slightly, perhaps because of his strange comment just now.

I replied hesitantly. His previously subdued gaze now sparkled as he looked at me.

“How about we spend the entire day kissing? Not every day, but maybe on days off.”

“…Would that even be feasible?”

“Or how about we never let go of each other’s hands?”

“…”

“Ray, anything is fine. I just want to be connected to you all day.”

I found myself increasingly at a loss for words.

Of course, I liked Lucian and enjoyed our time together, though I had never considered his suggestion in such a literal sense as what he was saying just now.

Well, a few hours might be nice.

I knew he was my man, and it felt good to be sure of that when we were alone together, right? Like he wants to monopolize me, I, too, feel possessive of him. Seeing his earnestly smiling face, I couldn’t help but feel as if I was seeing a boyish charm in him that I hadn’t noticed when he was a boy.

“Let’s not do that. How about we go on a trip once things settle down a bit?”

It was a spontaneous suggestion.

I had thought about it before. I wanted to go on a trip with him.

“Then, we’ll spend the whole day together. We can kiss whenever we feel like it, hold hands while walking, visit nearby restaurants to enjoy delicious food and walk out arm in arm. We can shop around the city center linking arms. If someone asks, we’ll say we’re a couple, pick out jewelry, buy ice cream and feed it to each other. How does that sound?”

I suggested a less extreme promise.

Just me and him, in simple, ordinary daily life—to melt into each other in such an ordinary but precious everyday life. That was what I wanted to do with him.

Lucian looked at me with wide eyes as if surprised by my words.

His slowly blinking eyes curved into a smile. The tear mole below his eye stood out as he slowly lifted the corners of his mouth. Previously, even when he smiled, there was a hint of sadness, making it seem wistful, but now, he simply beamed with happiness.

I couldn’t take my eyes off his face, which radiated pure joy.

“Shall we?”

He spoke with a voice tinged with laughter, his lips still tracing a gentle curve.

“Let’s go on a trip to wherever you want, Ray. There won’t be any Ducal duties then, so we can stick together all day and enjoy our time.”

Growing up, he had never gone anywhere due to his successor lessons. Since he was born and raised, he was always learning something and moving according to a schedule.

What would it feel like to travel without any schedule, just waking up and doing whatever we want for the day? Thinking about it, aside from staying at the southern villa, I realized I hadn’t really gone on trips either, even back in Korea.

The word ‘trip’ was thrilling, even though I was the one who suggested it first. So, I didn’t realize I was smiling just as brightly as he was.

“All right, let’s spend the whole day out together.”

“Yes, I’m looking forward to it.”

* * *

I was on a carriage to the nearest beach to the island, along with Lucian, Damien, Oscar, and even Amber.

It was a secluded beach I discovered as a kid when I wanted to swim without being noticed and potentially starting rumors. From not too far off, the sight of islands lined up had always fascinated me. Back then, I couldn’t cross over because I didn’t know Damien could just sprout wings in his human form, but now that we plan to build a bridge…

It seemed like a good spot for a date with Lucian later.

Lucian, who had been smiling more lately, looked emotionlessly at the island. It seemed he was displeased with me using Enzo’s magic.

He was the one who gave permission, why the sour face now?

I grumbled inside as I walked to where the sea met the shore.

I began levitating large stones I had prepared in my subspace bag using wind magic and started to pile them up. I also used wind magic to shape and hammer the stones precisely. The stone bridge I created, though rough, looked sturdy.

With Damien’s help, I flew from island to island, connecting them with bridges. It seemed like using magic of this scale was the way to diminish Enzo’s magic in me.

Feeling his magic gradually fade was bittersweet.

It was strange still having his magic despite the person being gone, but the feeling of him disappearing again made my heart uneasy.

After a day of hard work, as the sun set, a solid stone bridge was complete.

Though it wasn’t solely my power, looking at the finished bridge filled me with pride. From atop one of the four islands connected by the bridge, I spotted Lucian gesturing from afar.

“Damien, let’s go down.”

“Yes, Master.”

As I landed with Damien’s help, Lucian approached and embraced me.

“Good job, Ray.”

“Hehe.”

“Did you use up all your magic?”

Ah, that was what he was curious about.

“It feels almost all gone…”

“So, it’s not completely depleted yet.”

“It seems Enzo’s magic was really powerful.”

After all, I had absorbed Enzo’s magic for a considerable amount of time.

“How much did you absorb? Even that b*stard’s breath…”

His voice dropped suddenly, sending shivers down my spine. Although I hadn’t reacted much to the idea of absorbing magic through breath, it seemed he had been holding onto that thought.

“…I think using it just a bit more will deplete it completely.”

“Then, let’s explore the bridges with wind magic.”

“Shall we?”

Agreeing with his suggestion, I immediately lifted us with wind magic. Handling two magics simultaneously was challenging, which is why I needed Damien’s help to fly and build the bridges. But now, since we were just sightseeing, I carefully controlled the wind.

“How is it?”

I thought it looked pretty good and asked for his opinion, which made Lucian’s lips soften. After checking all the islands and returning to the mainland, we suddenly started to fall.

It was the end of Enzo’s magic.

“Kyaa, Luci!”

We both fell from a moderate height.

“Master!”

Damien spotted us from afar and quickly flew towards us, but Lucian was faster.

He rolled with me in his arms. Spinning in the air, we landed gracefully and rolled once more. Despite holding me, he managed to land perfectly and stood up, dusting off his feet before smiling.

“Seems sturdy.”

We had fallen onto the first bridge connected from the mainland. There, we looked down at the clear seawater flowing beneath and walked hand in hand across the bridge.

“Master’s brother is no joke.”

Oscar waved his hands and shouted childishly. Next to him, Amber turned her head and sighed softly, seemingly resigned to Oscar’s perpetual playful demeanor.

It seemed Oscar’s way of speaking would never change.

__