Chapter 132

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

When the curtain finally fell and the cast stepped forward to receive their curtain call, the audience rose to their feet in thunderous applause. Evelyn, glancing sidelong at her fiancé, stifled a shallow sigh.

‘Should I not have spoken of it at all?’

If only his face would reveal something, but Axion was ever a man who concealed his emotions too well. At the thought, her lips curved briefly into a crestfallen line before she followed him out of the opera house. By then the sun had dipped low, casting the sky in hues of amber and rose.

Checking the pocket watch he drew from his coat, the man spoke in his usual impassive voice.

“Shall we return to the estate now?”

“You want to go back already…?”

Normally, she would’ve welcomed the suggestion with open arms, but an unshakable heaviness lingered in her chest. Evelyn only rolled her eyes in mild frustration.

It feels a bit off to just part ways like this…

She was well aware that her fiancé, who was already incredibly busy, had made time for this outing. Even though it hadn’t been part of the original plan, it didn’t feel right to just end things here so abruptly. Frantically glancing around, she soon caught sight of a large poster.

This is it…!

Her green eyes brightened as she pointed toward it.

“Let’s stop by here before we go!”

“Now?”

At her fiancé’s question, his eyebrow raised skeptically, she answered with a bright, mischievous smile.

“It says they’re holding a boat ride on the lake.”

The thought of watching starlight shimmer across the water made her feel inexplicably excited, and she couldn’t hide her buoyant mood.

Axion nodded slowly, then mused in a rather serious voice.

“Perhaps I should have an artificial lake dug.”

“What? A lake, what are you talking about?”

When Evelyn blinked in confusion, not quite understanding him, the man only responded with a faint smile.

“Nothing.”

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

By the time they reached the lakeside where the boat event was being held, couples had already gathered, waiting their turn to board the small rowboats.

‘Wait, do we look like that to others as well?’

Evelyn cast a quick glance at the man beside her. The thought of boarding a rowboat with him in the dead of night stirred a faint awkwardness in her chest.

Just as she forced a wavering smile, Axion extended his hand.

“Are you getting in or not?”

“Hmph. Who said I wasn’t?”

Putting on an affronted expression as if to ask, ‘When did I ever say that?’ Evelyn placed her hand into his firm grasp and stepped onto the boat

At once, lanterns lit with enchanted ore bathed the vessel in a gentle glow.

Axion’s strokes were smooth and steady, the oars cutting cleanly through the placid water. Time drifted by, and the little boat glided slowly with the breeze. Petals from flowering trees fluttered down to rest upon the quiet surface, the entire lakeside unfolding like a painted masterpiece.

Yet, for some reason, an uncomfortable silence settled inside the small boat. Feeling the atmosphere growing awkward for no reason, Evelyn averted her gaze.

‘Honestly, what is this…’

While she had spent countless moments alone with Axion before, being together in such a confined space made her feel a little nervous.

Unable to let it continue, she swallowed hard and forced herself to speak.

“It’s been a while since just the two of us went boating, right?”

In response, the man’s lips curved into a cool smile, as though something in her words displeased him.

“Is that so? This is my first time coming here with you.”

“….”

At her fiancé’s words, which completely cut off the flow of the conversation, Evelyn pressed her lips together tightly. Axion’s dark eyebrows twitched slightly, and he stared at her intently.

“Seems there must have been someone else you could mistake me for.”

At those absurd words, Evelyn furrowed her brow in disbelief.

“Well, of course it must have been Brother Viaton!”

Muttering under her breath about who else she would have gone with if not him, she noticed the man’s expression brightened noticeably.

“I suppose that’s only natural.”

What in the world does he mean by ‘natural’?