Damion ruminated on the girl’s words for countless hours. If everyone has a reason to live, what is my reason for living?

And in the moment he almost died at Orphe’s hands, he decided.

That he would have the Orphe duchy, his home and hell.

That was his reason for living, and fatefully, the girl who made him find it appeared before him again, after going round and round.

As if telling him he must not die until he achieves the life he has decided on.

“We’ve come quite far. Shall we head back now?”

“Let’s do that.”

The boat began to move again, and the calm water surface started to ripple. People had started to appear quite a bit by now. Under their gazes, Damion escorted Ansi up to the riverbank.

The woman instinctively shrank from people’s stares. Damion gently squeezed her hand to make her focus only on him, then spoke kindly.

“There is a place I would like to go together.”

Last time at the party there was a driver, but today Damion drove himself.

It was Ansi’s second time riding in an automobile, with the first being that day. It was an unfamiliar machine that some still called a monstrosity, but Ansi found it interesting. Rather, more so because it was unfamiliar.

While pretending to be indifferent, she rolled her eyes this way and that to look around inside. As she observed the completely different structure and movement from a carriage, they came to a stop somewhere.

The place they arrived at was a small two-story house with a blue roof. Leading Ansi, who wore a puzzled expression, Damion knocked on the door of the house.

Ansi’s eyes widened at the person who opened the door.

“Mari?”

“Miss!”

The middle-aged woman was a servant who had worked as Sofia’s dedicated maid at the Rubellsa estate. She was also someone whose ties had been severed a year ago when their property was confiscated.

However, she was not the only unexpected face.

“Ansi, you’re here! Oh my, Lord Damion is here too.”

Sofia, who had been on the second floor, came down with a delighted expression. Ansi’s expression became tinged with confusion.

“What is this place…”

“It’s our home, Ansi.”

Sofia smiled brightly. Ansi frowned. Was Sofia’s mind in the past again? Then why was Mari here?

“What are you saying, Mother? This isn’t our home.”

“Lord Damion said he received the building deed from your father.”

Ansi turned sharply to look at Damion.

That couldn’t be. There was no reason for her father to have bought such a house, and even if there was, it didn’t match her father’s taste in buildings.

To begin with, setting aside all of that, even if Father trusted this man enough to consider him as her match, wasn’t entrusting a building deed too out of the blue?

“I can tell that statement is a lie.”

Ansi whispered to Damion in a lowered voice. At her stiff and wary tone, Damion calmly admitted.

“Since I called Ansi to the capital, shouldn’t I provide a proper place to stay?”

“But…”

“It’s not for your sake, but to ease my own mind.”

“Still, this is…”

“Did you enjoy the boat ride, Ansi? And you, Lord Damion?”

Ansi tried to say something more, but at Sofia’s call, Damion stepped inside. He exchanged some words with Sofia, and Sofia smiled happily.

Seeing that sight, Ansi found it difficult to speak.

“It’s before dinner, right? Let’s eat together.”

“It smells delicious. Is it stew?”

“Oh my, how did you know? Mari and I made chicken stew together.”

“Ansi, come on in.”

Damion smiled gently and extended his hand. Ansi’s eyes wavered. However, unable to push that hand away, she placed her own on top of it.

The atmosphere during the meal was cheerful. The people gathered around the small dining table conversed with smiling, happy faces. As if they had become a family.

“It’s a simple meal, I’m not sure if it will suit your taste, my lord.”

“It’s more excellent than the meal I had at a hotel restaurant a few days ago.”

“Oh my, Mari. We should open a restaurant too.”

“I’ll start looking for a location tomorrow, madam.”

Seeing familiar people laugh so casually in an excessively clean and cozy place made her feel strange. It was comfortable as if they had returned to the past, yet uncomfortable due to the lack of reality.

“…Ansi?”

Just why was this man going to such lengths for her?

“Ansi?”

Suddenly, Ansi realized he had been calling her. In Damion’s eyes, as he leaned towards her, there was concern.

“Are you alright?”

“…I was just lost in thought. What did you say?”

“I suggested we take a walk together after the meal.”

“Yes! Go ahead, Ansi. You might be able to see fireworks today.”

On nights when there were boat rides on the Benue River, there was always an event where fireworks were launched over the river. The spectacular display of fireworks was a sight many looked forward to.

But Ansi didn’t particularly enjoy fireworks. Rather than disliking them, she simply didn’t understand why people were so enthusiastic about them.

Ansi looked out the window.

The sun was already setting outside. The light would disappear quickly, and it would soon be dark.

“It’s going to get dark…”

“That’s why you should hurry and go.”

Sofia pushed Ansi’s back as if telling her to leave right away.

In the end, Ansi found herself stepping outside with Damion.

“I know a place nearby where the fireworks can be seen well. It’s a hill, would that be alright?”

“That’s fine.”

“In that case.”

The man took a light step with a gentle smile. Yes, for now, it would be best to go along with Damion de Orphe.

Ansi ended up following him without a word.

“…It’s farther than I thought.”

She wouldn’t have said anything at all if they hadn’t been climbing a considerable uphill for quite some time.

“We’re almost there.”

“You said that earlier too.”

“This time it’s true.”

“That’s a lie…”

“Here we are.”

The man extended his hand. Ansi, absentmindedly taking his hand, took a big step forward.

“…!”

Indeed, this time they had truly arrived.

From atop the hill, the Benue River and the city lights surrounding it were visible at a glance.

“Sit down.”

Damion, placing a lamp to one side, spread out a handkerchief. As Ansi carefully sat on the handkerchief, Damion sat beside her.

“It will start soon.”

Damion smiled gently after checking his watch. Ansi, quietly observing the man’s silhouette in the lamp’s dim light, raised her gaze to the sky.

Bang. As he said, colorful fireworks soon burst forth.

Ansi stared at them intently.

Somehow, it felt like her heart was beating faster.

“Damion… do you like fireworks?”

With her gaze fixed on the sky, she asked quietly. Though it was a simple and foolish question, the man answered sincerely.

“I believe I do. It’s also a sight one can’t see often. They’re truly beautiful, like blooming flowers. But rather than viewing them amidst the crowded people by the riverside, I prefer watching alone from a place like this, even if it’s a bit farther away.”

“I see.”

“Does Ansi like fireworks?”

“I… honestly didn’t understand why people were so enthusiastic about fireworks.”

“Hmm…”

Damion trailed off, as if at a loss. Ansi continued speaking softly.

“They say mixing gunpowder with other components produces those colors. Sodium for yellow, lithium for red. Do you think people know that?”

“It’s not information they’d particularly want to know, I suppose.”

“That’s right. Once I learned that, they just looked like gunpowder to me. Climbing a hill like this to see that gunpowder, it’s not something I would normally do.”

“Is climbing the hill so difficult that you’re giving me this challenge?”

At his playful words, Ansi chuckled and shook her head. She wasn’t particularly trying to challenge him, nor was she trying to explain how she usually thought about fireworks.

“No, today the fireworks look beautiful. I think I understand why it’s fireworks. I wanted to say that.”

Damion didn’t respond. Ansi turned her head to look at him.

The man was gazing at her with calm eyes.

And in an equally calm tone, he asked a question.

“Will you marry me?”

“…”

Ansi swallowed. Perhaps due to the continuously bursting fireworks, her entire body seemed to resonate. A strange feeling gnawed at her heart. Maybe it was the exhilaration of taking one step further.

“Damion, are you really alright with marrying me?”

She didn’t know why she threw out such an impulsive question that needn’t have been asked. But she was certain this man would give an unwavering answer.

“Ansi, I’m not interested in the conditions or circumstances surrounding us. I confessed looking only at you, and we will surely be happy.”

Indeed, the marriage this young master envisioned was like a flower garden. He believed without doubt in an ideal marriage full of only happiness, without worries.

To her, it was just a quagmire.

That contrast once again brought disillusionment.

“Alright.”

In any case, the answer was already decided. As Ansi nodded, Damion raised his red lips in a bright smile.

He enveloped Ansi’s hand. Her hand, which had grown cold, regained warmth trapped within his large, warm hand.

“I’m glad.”

His eyes, which had held laughter, began to reveal different emotions as they gazed at Ansi’s straight forehead, neat eyebrows, and clear eyes. And as they passed over her small, high nose to reach her lips.

“May I kiss you?”

As if following a predetermined course, or as if intoxicated by the atmosphere before the fireworks brilliantly decorating the sky. He asked the question.