“From next time, absolutely don’t buy things like this. Just your congratulations is enough for me.”
“Okay, I got it. Then let’s go out quickly.”
Emily smiled brightly and linked arms with Diego’s arm.
As they left the house side by side, the pleasant smile didn’t fade. Even when it wasn’t his birthday, oppa often bought her pretty clothes or shoes, but he himself bought new clothes maybe once a year and had been managing with three or four pairs of shoes for several years.
Due to the nature of his work, oppa spent most of his time outside and went around many places. But seeing oppa return home wearing shoes that were both heavy and soaking wet when it rained made her heart ache very much. So she had wanted to buy him good shoes for a while, and finally achieving her wish made her feel like she could fly.
And to tell another secret, Roman had helped a lot in buying the shoes. When she went to deliver cookies to the guild a few days ago, she happened to run into Roman, and Emily, who had been planning to buy oppa’s birthday present that day, hesitated then asked him for help. Then Roman readily agreed and took her to a clothing shop he often went to, and looked at the shoes with an even more careful eye than her and helped her choose together.
To think such a wonderful person was oppa’s lover… Her mouth rose once more and a happy smile came out naturally.
“Oppa.”
“Why?”
“I love you. A lot, a lot.”
At the words said while hugging his waist tightly, he showed a surprised expression, then Diego also soon said the same words. A moment later, the horse carrying the two people arrived at Count Frang’s residence. After letting Emily off near the back gate, Diego headed to the guild.
***
Today too, Diego ended up taking on a delivery request going to a small village in the outskirts. But one unexpected problem occurred. The repair work on the bridge pillars crossing the river happened to start today, so Diego was able to return to the guild at a much later time than scheduled.
“You worked hard.”
After hearing a brief explanation, Hubert didn’t spare his encouragement, and then told him to go to the Master’s office. Did another request come in? Thinking to himself, Diego walked inside and knocked to announce his presence in front of the office.
“Come in.”
When he opened the door and entered, Isabel welcomed him with a bright smile. Roman’s figure was not visible. Sensing the clicking sounds and turning his head, Isabel approached closer and held out a blue envelope.
“The Master asked me to give this to you.”
“Ro…”
About to say the name out of habit, he hurriedly stopped his words. After clearing his throat with an unnecessary cough, he opened his mouth again.
“Is the Master not here?”
“He came briefly in the morning and then went out again right away.”
“I see. Then I’ll be going.”
As soon as Diego came outside, he tore open the envelope. When he took out the letter inside and unfolded it, he saw a brief sentence written in a familiar handwriting.
I’ll be waiting at the Bellua Fountain in Leca.
You may have noticed, but I deliberately assigned you a request going to a nearby place today. Because I wanted to see you soon.
Come as quickly as you love me.
The color drained from Diego’s face. Having hastily put away the letter, he urgently knocked on the office door once more.
“Yes.”
As soon as he heard the answer, he opened the door wide and threw a question at Isabel.
“Do you happen to remember when the Master left?”
“I think it was around eleven o’clock.”
“Thank you.”
The moment he checked the time with his pocket watch, he became even more ashen. Diego, who went straight to the stable, hurriedly climbed onto the horse’s back and pulled the reins. The destination was naturally Leca, the neighboring village written in the letter.
***
He didn’t know how long it had been since he had galloped at full speed like this. Though it was the horse carrying him that was running, Diego drove the horse with all his might to the point where his own breath was short, and was able to arrive in about 40 minutes at a distance that usually took over an hour.
Arriving at the fountain, he looked around frantically. And he was immediately able to find the person he was looking for. The sight of Roman sitting on a bench in front of the fountain feeding the birds entered his eyes.
“……”
Though his head thought he should go right away and say sorry, apologize, somehow his feet wouldn’t readily move.
Roman stood out here too, of course. Many people around the fountain glanced toward where Roman was as if they had made a promise. The women nearby completely fixed their gazes, not sparing their admiration, saying he must be a dominant Neo or that his atmosphere was extraordinary.
His heart, which had barely calmed down, began to beat rapidly again. Others might laugh saying he was completely smitten, but Roman, who had already stood out in many ways, had been expressing the charm of a dominant Neo even more generously recently. The fact that such a person was his lover still sometimes felt like a dream.
That’s when it happened. Some man who was clearly a Benic in a navy uniform spoke to Roman. Just looking at his face, he was full of ulterior motives, and only then did Diego hurry toward them.
“If you don’t mind, would you like to join me…”
“What’s the matter?”
Both people’s gazes turned to Diego simultaneously. The man who turned his head unconsciously was startled by the opponent’s large build, and after checking the expression as well, answered unconsciously in a flustered voice.
“Well, this person seemed to be alone for a while…”
“He’s my companion. If you have no business, you should go.”
“I, I was very rude.”
Like a bird with its tail on fire, the man left. Diego looked at the man’s back with a pathetic eye, then turned his head. And the moment his eyes met Roman’s, he showed an ‘oops’ expression.
“I’m sorry for being late.”
“I thought I was being stood up.”
Even with ten mouths, he had nothing to say. To Diego repeatedly apologizing, Roman asked the reason while saying it was okay in a voice tinged with laughter.
“Did something happen?”
“The bridge pillar repair work was happening today of all days… I came back by going around, so I was very late.”
Roman recalled the terrain around the river in his head and clicked his tongue. If you cross the bridge you can return quickly, but if not, you have to go up to the upstream of the river and go around, so it was a place that required considerable time.
“You had a hard time because of me for no reason.”
“Not at all. I’m truly sorry for making you wait so long.”
“Then let’s say we both did wrong. Show me your hand.”
“……”
“Quickly.”
“…Will the right hand do?”
At the voice heard a moment later, Roman ended up bursting into laughter. Normally one would ask why, but asking if the right hand would do—this was also so like Diego, Roman thought as he answered.
“Any hand is fine.”
Soon a large hand was held out forward, and Roman placed a single gold coin on top of it.
‘Gold?’
Sensing the puzzlement that appeared on Diego’s expression, he added an explanation.
“Long ago, it’s said that little angels would often appear and hover around at midnight. So maybe because of that, they say if you make a wish here, it comes true.”
“Then this gold is…”
“You shouldn’t wish for something for free.”
Saying that, Roman pointed somewhere with his chin. Following and turning his head, he could see people throwing something into the fountain and then clasping their hands together in prayer.
“Shall we try it too?”
Roman, who walked ahead first, threw a single gold coin into the fountain like the other people. After watching him clasp his hands and close his eyes for a moment, Diego also followed the same process.
Since it was just a formality anyway, Diego opened his eyes right away. Unlike him, Roman kept his eyes closed. As he looked entranced at things like his long eyelashes and prominent nose bridge, Roman soon turned his head and their gazes met.
“What wish did you make?”
“Just… I prayed for my family’s health and well-being. What about you, Roman?”
“It’s a secret.”
Following Roman who laughed playfully, Diego also slightly raised the corners of his mouth as he answered.
“It seems unfair if only I tell.”
“The world is originally unfair. Shall we gradually move to the next place?”
The next place Roman guided him to was a restaurant. The interior was very spacious at a glance, and curtain-like screens and partitions were installed at each table, so it was a structure where one could comfortably enjoy a meal without worrying about others’ gazes. After ordering various diverse menu items, Roman met Diego’s gaze.
“The timing is a bit early, but if we wait until dinner time, it seems like it would be too late.”
“It’s fine.”
“Happy birthday.”
“……!”
At the words that followed, Diego showed a surprised expression.
Yesterday afternoon when he happened to run into Roman in the guild corridor, Diego looked around once, then quickly asked in a low voice if they could have dinner together tomorrow evening. He deliberately didn’t say it was his birthday because he felt strangely shy about it, but it seemed Roman already knew.
“…Thank you.”
“Emily wasn’t disappointed? She must have wanted to celebrate with you.”
“It’s fine. When I said I had an appointment, she understood. …Actually, somehow it ended up that I told her Roman and I are in a relationship.”
“……!”
The smile slowly disappeared from Roman’s face.
“You told Emily?”
“Yes.”
Unlike Diego answering calmly, Roman felt his expression management failing for the first time in a while. After rubbing his face with his palm as if dry washing, he met his gaze repeatedly.
“Weren’t we keeping the fact that you and I are in that kind of relationship a secret for the time being?”
“I thought it was only at the guild. And though it sounds like an excuse, the topic really came up unexpectedly… Did I make a mistake?”
“…No. What did Emily say?”
“She was very happy. She’s someone who likes you as much as I do anyway.”
Roman knew that too. Every time they met, she would be delighted, grateful, and look up at him with sparkling eyes. But simply thinking of someone as a good person and accepting oneself as her brother’s lover were issues on entirely different dimensions.
Though traits were an important factor, bonding and marriage were overwhelmingly more common between men and women. The capital and big cities were relatively better, but in conservative rural villages, there were quite a few people who would point fingers at same-sex couples who couldn’t have children.
Roman let out a brief sigh, then met Diego’s gaze repeatedly.
“…There wasn’t even a hint of dislike, even for a moment?”
“Not at all. I told you. She likes you as much as I do.”
Looking at those straightforward eyes, it didn’t seem like he was lying. Roman kept silent for a moment, then belatedly continued speaking with a somewhat softened expression calmly.
“It’s not that I’m reluctant to reveal that I’m dating you.”
“I know.”
Though he trusted the guild members more than anyone, if they knew about the two’s relationship, there might be people who would feel subtle resentment or think there was discriminatory treatment. He didn’t want cracks to form that way, and Diego felt the same.
Until now, Roman had thought he was someone who thoroughly distinguished between public and private matters. But he had been gradually realizing recently that wasn’t necessarily true. For requests of the same value, he wanted to give Diego work that would be more comfortable, and today too, wanting to be together, he deliberately assigned work going to a nearby location.
Come to think of it, it seemed like it had been that way with Diego from the beginning. From the time when he broke his own established iron rule for the first time and proposed a partnership to this guild member.
“Take responsibility.”
“Pardon?”
When they occasionally ran into each other in the corridor, or even just made eye contact in a gathering of many people.
“I said take responsibility.”
Do you know that I feel not just my heart pounding but even a strange exhilaration?
“For life.”
With a face that had regained composure before he knew it, Roman threw out mysterious words one by one. A moment later, the answer that reached his ears softly was satisfying enough to bring out a smile naturally.
“…If it’s you, Roman, I’ll take responsibility for life.”
Even after the meal ended, the date continued. After passing through streets complicated with all sorts of shops and crowded people and reaching the end of an alley, a wide-open beach appeared like magic.
Admiration rose on Diego’s face. It wasn’t his first time seeing the sea. While going back and forth to other regions, there were times when he occasionally saw rivers and the sea, but it was the first time seeing a scene like this with a sky resembling purple spread out over the blue sea. On the distant horizon, the sun that was gradually hiding its appearance was dyeing everything around it with its own color, truly creating a spectacular sight.
He was in a place beautiful enough to remain in his memory for life, and Roman was together by his side. Perhaps because of that, an emotion that didn’t even suit him welled up warmly. Diego dared to be confident that no paradise on earth could be more beautiful and perfect than this.
“It’s a place I discovered by chance long ago.”
“It’s wonderful.”
Roman, who had been looking at the sea, turned his head to the side. The profile of the man who still uniquely made his heart flutter caught his gaze.
“Earlier you asked me what wish I made, right?”
“Yes.”
“Actually, my wish already came true. When I first saw this place, it was so beautiful that, unlike me, the thought naturally came to me: ‘Someday I want to come here at least once with someone precious.'”
“……”
Diego’s mouth opened soundlessly. Roman, who had been laughing watching that appearance, soon wiggled his finger and spoke like an arrogant king.
“Lower your head a bit.”
A smile also rose on Diego’s face. Soon a large hand cupped the back of Roman’s head and the two lips naturally interlocked with each other.
Through the gap, a fragment of the setting sun’s light gently embraced the two people. It was an afternoon of a certain day, ordinary but therefore more special.
<The End>
