“Well, shall we head to the Trevi Fountain next?”

Se Hee headed towards the next destination, the Trevi Fountain, with Kyle.

Everything in Rome that caught her eye during the journey was an artifact.

The buildings they passed by were architectural structures with a thousand years of history, and ruins were scattered everywhere.

It was a place where one could feel the true European atmosphere, completely different from Seoul where Se Hee used to live.

They soon arrived at their destination, the Trevi Fountain.

The Trevi Fountain, considered one of the most beautiful fountains in Rome, was proudly showcasing its exquisite Baroque style.

Many tourists could be seen throwing coins into the fountain.

“They say if you throw a coin into this fountain, your wish will come true. So I brought a lot of coins. Would you like to throw some together, Kyle?”

Remembering that he said he didn’t believe in superstitions, Se Hee asked for his opinion without pressuring him.

Kyle seemed to ponder for a moment, looking at the coin Se Hee held out.

“If you don’t feel like it, I’ll just throw one by myself. I have a wish that I really need to come true.”

Se Hee smiled brightly.

Then she took out two 500 won coins, the largest among Korean coins, a whopping 1000 won in total, and held them in her hand.

There was a feeling that throwing the most expensive coins might make the wish come true more easily.

Se Hee turned her back to the Trevi Fountain.

With her eyes closed, Se Hee earnestly made her wish and threw the coins.

The coins flew high into the sky, tracing an arc before falling into the fountain with a small splash.

“I wonder what your wish was.”

Kyle said, watching Se Hee throw the coins as seriously as if performing an important ritual.

“Don’t you know wishes are supposed to be secret?”

Se Hee said playfully, as if she would never tell him.

At this, Kyle raised an eyebrow and walked to the Trevi Fountain to throw a coin himself.

“What’s this? I thought you didn’t believe in such things. Did you make a wish? Did you have a coin? What did you wish for?”

Se Hee, very curious about Kyle’s sudden coin toss, ran over and asked.

“I thought it was supposed to be a secret.”

Kyle answered cynically.

She’d been had.

Se Hee tried to coax Kyle into exchanging their secrets, but he didn’t budge.

She tried to pry Kyle’s wish out of him with all sorts of sweet talk, but it was in vain even until they arrived at their next destination, the Colosseum.

As soon as they arrived, they could immediately understand why people always said to visit the Colosseum first when traveling to Rome.

The line stretched endlessly.

“Isn’t there some kind of VVIP perk?”

Se Hee, already tired just from looking at the waiting line, asked Kyle hopefully.

“There’s nothing like that, but I made a reservation in advance.”

“Really? Wow. That’s great!”

Thanks to Kyle’s thorough preparation, Se Hee was able to enter the Colosseum without any waiting.

Standing in the amphitheater, the Colosseum, Se Hee was reminded of the gladiators of ancient times.

She had seen them often in movies, but wouldn’t their actual lives have been even harsher?

She could almost see the pitiful sight of those who were captured as slaves and had to fight for their lives against their will.

Se Hee’s expression grew heavy, as if mourning their deaths.

“What’s wrong?”

Kyle asked, noticing Se Hee’s darkening face.

“I was just thinking about how scared the gladiators must have been. They had to fight in matches where they had to kill or be killed every time, they must have felt so much anxiety.”

Se Hee’s expression became very sad.

“It started with prisoners and slaves, but in the later Roman period, it became so popular that even ordinary people and nobles took it up as a profession.”

Kyle added an explanation.

It was to lighten Se Hee’s mood a little.

“Ah… is that so? I’m surprised it was a popular profession.”

As Kyle had planned, Se Hee’s somber expression soon lightened.

“Kyle, you really know a lot. So…”

Kyle expected the rest of her words to be full of praise and admiration for him, given Se Hee’s bright expression.

“You must get hungry quickly too, right? Shall we go eat some pasta?”

Kyle chuckled at those words.

Once again, Se Hee had completely missed his expectations.

“Wait, Kyle! What kind of drink is that? The color is really pretty!”

Se Hee, walking hand in hand with Kyle after leaving the Colosseum, said while looking at people sitting at tables drinking beverages.

“Aperol Spritz? It’s not a drink, it’s alcohol.”

Kyle said with a subtly warning tone towards Se Hee, whose eyes were sparkling.

“Is that so? But it’s just a cocktail level, right? The color is too pretty to just pass by. Let’s have a glass of that first.”

Kyle couldn’t refuse Se Hee’s suggestion as she spoke with an excited expression like a child.

Eventually, the two of them sat down and ordered Aperol Spritz.

“Everything in Italy is really intense. The sky is a vivid blue, the apples are passionately red. Even the orange scent from this cocktail is very strong. It’s an impressive place.”

As she took a sip of the Aperol Spritz, feeling both sweetness and a slight kick at the same time, Se Hee’s gaze turned to Kyle.

Among all the connections in Italy, the most intense one was undoubtedly Kyle.

Did he know that?

With a meaningful smile whose meaning was unclear, Se Hee emptied her glass.

Se Hee’s eyes, slightly tipsy, became dreamy and unfocused.

Her smiling face was full of happiness.

Kyle seemed intoxicated not by the alcohol, but by Se Hee’s appearance, looking at her with a pleased smile.

“Shall we head to the Pantheon then?”

Se Hee said in a nasal voice as she finished her glass completely and stood up.

The two started walking hand in hand.

“I really wanted to see the temple in Athens. But I was so disappointed because I missed the port excursion due to sleeping all day.”

Se Hee complained, playfully swinging Kyle’s hand that she was holding.

“Why did that happen that day?”

Kyle slightly furrowed his brow as if remembering something.

Suddenly, Se Hee’s face turned red.

“Y-yeah, I wonder why. It’s such an old memory, I can’t quite recall.”

Se Hee said, pretending not to know.

Kyle snorted a laugh.

The Pantheon they arrived at was a place first built by Agrippa to offer sacrifices to the Olympian gods, with the main circular hall enshrining Rome’s major deities.

“Don’t you think Kyle resembles Hades, the god of the underworld, among the twelve gods? You have that aura of a dark god.”

Se Hee, who was taking pictures, threw a mischievous joke.

“Hades? Maybe I’m a bit similar in not hesitating to do whatever it takes to get what I want? You probably know that Hades kidnapped Persephone, the daughter of the goddess of the earth, to make her his bride?”

Kyle twitched his eyebrow.

“And do you also know this? That another name for Hades is Pluto.”

Kyle smiled meaningfully.

“Pluto?”

“Hades, as the god of the underworld, was also called Pluto, the god of wealth, as the owner of the treasures buried in the earth. I guess I’m a bit similar in that aspect too.”

He smiled as if showing off.

“Ah… I see.”

I should’ve kept my mouth shut.

Se Hee shook her head as if admitting defeat.

“In that case, Lord Pluto, would you buy me more gelato?”

In the end, both of them burst into laughter at Se Hee’s unexpected proposal.

As they strolled through the streets of Rome, Se Hee held Kyle’s hand tightly.

She really liked his large hand.

When they first met, he was so cold.

She thought he was cold-blooded, so she even wondered if the temperature from this hand would be chilly.

She vaguely remembered being surprised by how warm it actually was.

As Se Hee chuckled, Kyle, who was walking with her, looked down at her with a deep gaze.

Looking up at Kyle with a bright smile, Se Hee said,

“Isn’t it a really nice day for a date?”

She wanted to say this so badly.

And she wanted to add that she loved him.

But it wasn’t a word to be uttered carelessly, so Se Hee decided to hold back for now.

She lightly bit her lip, feeling like the word might jump out at any moment.

Was it because she enjoyed the time with Kyle so much?

She didn’t even realize it was getting close to evening.

But thanks to the organized Kyle, Se Hee arrived at the restaurant he had reserved without being late.

For Se Hee, who had been singing about eating Italian pasta, Kyle guided her to a restaurant famous for pasta in Rome.

“You can handle this much, right? I only ordered the most basic things. Lord Pluto! Cream pasta, seafood pasta, risotto, and well, whatever else.”

Se Hee said shamelessly, even though the table was already full of food with no empty space.

“Are you talking about the cost? Or the amount of food?”

Kyle asked back.

“Both, of course.”

Se Hee narrowed her eyes.

“The former is a given, and if I have to handle the latter as well, I’ll gladly accept it.”

Kyle answered with an expression that suggested it was no big deal.

“Alright. Then shall we eat aggressively?”

Se Hee attacked the food, shouting “Fighting!”

“I’ve said this before, but there’s no need to approach a date so aggressively.”

Kyle looked at Se Hee with a relaxed smile.

Se Hee, whose mouth was already full of food, just nodded and raised the corners of her mouth high.

As if the joy of eating was everything in the world.

After finishing dinner in Rome, the two returned to the Decona Ho just in time.

Although her body was very tired, Se Hee’s mood felt like it could fly to the sky.

And she didn’t want to part like this.

It’s time to execute the plan she had resolved in the morning, and failed last night.

With a trembling heart, Se Hee carefully looked at Kyle.

“Are you very tired?”

Should I say, “Since you’re tired, shall we rest together?”

No.

This is too obvious.

Se Hee pondered how to keep Kyle with her.

“I’m fine. Are you tired? I was thinking we could have a cocktail together. I guess we’ll have to postpone it to next time.”

But seeing Kyle taking her words literally, Se Hee was at a loss for how to accurately convey her intentions.

“Ah, no. That’s not it.”

She tried to look at Kyle with a mysterious expression as if to seduce him, but he didn’t seem to catch her intended meaning despite her gaze.

“Well. I can drink. Of course. Let’s go. For cocktails.”

Oh, whatever.

Se Hee blurted out, determined not to let him go.

The two sat at an empty table on the deck overlooking the sea and ordered cocktails.

“I really enjoyed today. Thanks to Kyle.”

Se Hee’s expression relaxed, quickly getting tipsy from the low-alcohol cocktail due to fatigue from walking and touring various places.

“It was so happy… like we were really married and on our honeymoon…”

Se Hee’s voice became watery, overwhelmed with emotion due to the alcohol.

Ah… this isn’t the right atmosphere.

Se Hee quickly tried to compose herself and drank her cocktail.

“Then was it not real?”

Kyle emptied his glass in one gulp.

“I’ve been sincere about everything so far.”

His solemn voice lowered.

Kyle’s calm, settled eyes were fully focused on Se Hee.

Se Hee’s heart responded sensitively to his sincere attitude.

Everything was sincere?

It wasn’t just a wedding event, but a real wedding?

“It would be troublesome if you say it’s too much to handle now. We’ve already started.”

I have no intention of letting you go.

Lee Se Hee.

Kyle’s intense gaze fixed on Se Hee.

Fully capturing the image of Se Hee, who was wavering at his words of sincerity.

Se Hee’s gaze, staring at Kyle with a dazed expression, was extremely stimulating.

For a moment, Kyle’s gaze changed subtly, languidly scanning her.

Even with just that gaze, Se Hee felt like she would melt.

Flustered, Se Hee lowered her head.

“But since you said you’re very tired today, I’ll respect your opinion.”

Unfortunately, Kyle immediately composed his emotions, misunderstanding this.

No, that’s not it?

Se Hee quickly raised her head, but Kyle’s subtle gaze had already calmly changed to a rational one.

Oh no.

There’s no need to be so unnecessarily gentle?

After putting me in this mood, I don’t really want to be respected today?

No! Don’t respect me.

Don’t do it.

However, she couldn’t bring herself to say those words out loud.

Se Hee’s heart was just burning black as she smiled silently at Kyle.