There stands Olivia, looking more serious than usual.
“…I have something to tell you today.”
Her gaze turns toward me.
Olivia’s face is so red it rivals a tomato.
She bites her lip.
“I…”
Just as she finally pulls her lips apart.
Bang, boom!
A loud firework explodes, bursting with colorful flashes.
Green, red, and yellow sparks light up the night sky.
The fancy fireworks that only existed in animations illuminate the dark blue evening.
Olivia squints her eyes shut, bows her bright red face slightly, stretches her arms down, and yells.
“…I do it!”
Her words get completely drowned out by the loud fireworks.
I recall the original story.
In the source material, Olivia confessed her feelings to Yuji during the festival, but just like now, the fireworks drowned her words, and Yuji was left asking, “What?”
Hearing it live, it’s really inaudible.
But I’m not like that protagonist.
I already know what she wanted to say.
“Sure.”
Olivia’s eyes waver at my response.
What she wanted to say is obvious.
She was probably going to confess about the engagement.
“Don’t worry. I’ll save you. From that damn fiancé of yours, no matter if it’s Japan, France, or England. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is. I won’t let you go. So…”
Then there’s only one answer I can give her.
“Trust me completely, whatever happens until then, Olivia.”
Main heroine, no.
You’re not getting handed over.
Olivia.
The fireworks have ended.
On the festival day, watching fireworks while confessing makes love come true.
“I don’t believe in such superstitions!”
That’s what I used to think.
But now, as the date for my return to the homeland draws nearer, Olivia’s heart has become desperate.
Olivia knows.
The pride of the lofty French imperial family, passed down since Napoleon I, will never accept a commoner like Kim Deok-Sung from an eastern peninsula nation.
So, clarification is pointless.
No matter which path I take, in the end, only the engagement with William awaits.
“I can’t… accept such a future.”
An engagement with that kind of guy.
I don’t even want to imagine it.
But the opponent is a man of noble blood from the British royal family, the strongest at St. George Academy, and the authority of the transcendent weapon, Ascalon.
A man of noble lineage, boasting the strongest reputation at St. George Academy and wielding the transcendent weapon Ascalon, along with the authority that comes with it.
On top of that, he’s a wicked mastermind who deceives the world with his polite facade while hiding his dark intentions.
She can’t break off the engagement on her own.
In a dire situation where despair weighs heavily on her shoulders, Olivia had only superstition to lean on.
What if, during the fireworks, she confesses and love actually comes to fruition?
If she could become his lover…
Then…
No, even if it’s just superstition, that would suffice.
“Today is the last chance!”
Even Olivia, who has diligently denied her feelings until now, knows the truth.
There’s not much time left until she’s summoned back to her home country.
She realizes this is practically her last chance to confess her feelings.
That it’s now or never to seize a moment alone with him, away from the other women surrounding him.
Even if it doesn’t come true—
She doesn’t care.
If this is truly the end, she at least wants to be honest in this last moment.
She wants to confess her feelings.
Her heart races.
Olivia, aware of her own affection, feels her heart pounding like crazy.
The firework show is about to start.
She has to confess now!
“Ughhh…”
Olivia swallows her anxious sound.
“You.”
She calls to him.
His dark eyes turn toward her.
She lifts her head and meets his gaze directly.
Her heart feels like it might explode.
“…I have something to say to you today.”
She blurts it out.
Her hands tremble with tension.
Cold sweat runs down her back.
Olivia bites her lip.
No matter the outcome, she has already resolved to confess.
But expressing the words is harder than she thought.
Yet.
She must do it.
With great effort, Olivia manages to pry her lips apart.
“I…”
Bang, boom!
The loud sound of fireworks erupts.
But as Olivia is laser-focused, the noise fades into the background.
She closes her eyes tightly.
Memories flash back.
Looking back, she realizes she’s always treated him rather coldly.
In truth, she had liked him for a long time, but denied her blooming feelings.
All because of her petty pride.
The humiliation of admitting that the noble princess has fallen for a commoner.
That pride made her treat him harshly.
What if he dislikes her?
What if he has feelings for other girls?
That’s why she’s terrified of being rejected.
She fears her love won’t turn out like a fairy tale.
She can’t muster the courage to see his face when he hears her confession.
“I, Olivia Napoleon Bonaparte, truly love you, Kim Deok-Sung!”
She’s completely oblivious to the fact that most of her confession is drowned out by the fireworks.
Finally, she has let it all out.
All the feelings she had tried to ignore and deny came pouring out.
Tears stream down her face.
She feels like she’s going to be rejected.
That fear washed over her.
Although she resolved to accept whatever the outcome might be, now that the moment has come, everything feels dark and overwhelming.
Olivia bites her lips.
She must endure.
Whatever the outcome…
Just as she thought that,
In an instant.
“Okay.”
His voice floats to Olivia’s ears.
Okay.
The word of consent.
Upon hearing that answer, Olivia’s eyes waver.
The first thought that came to mind was disbelief.
Really, my confession?
It feels unreal.
Thump.
Her heart, once shriveled with fear, begins to race.
A tear trickles down her cheek.
He accepted her.
Love has come to fruition. The legend Bella spoke of was true.
Olivia’s lips tremble. Unbelievably, he really…
Just as Olivia’s emotions reached their peak.
“Don’t worry. I’ll save you. From that damned fiancé of yours, definitely. Whether it’s in Japan, France, or England—whoever it is doesn’t matter. I won’t let you go. So…”
At Kim Deok-Sung’s following words, Olivia’s eyes shake.
There was no room for disappointment that he didn’t reciprocate her confession.
What Kim Deok-Sung said was shocking enough.
‘How does he know?’
At Shuo Academy, or rather in Japan, the only person who knew her situation was Bella.
It shouldn’t be something he knew, but Olivia decided not to think about that.
The question that remained was completely overshadowed by the answer he left in her mind.
‘He’s going to save me…’
He will save her.
For sure.
He absolutely won’t let her go.
Listening to those words, Olivia’s face flushes red.
She may not have heard a proper answer to her confession, but that didn’t matter at all.
She wasn’t curious about how he knew her circumstances or the reason behind it.
He, Kim Deok-Sung, had declared here that he would save her, even if it meant turning two heroic nations—France and England—into enemies.
He, who understands the responsibility of a hero better than anyone else, said that.
He, who bears more burdens on his shoulders than anyone else, said so.
So that answer was enough.
Her heart races fiercely.
Olivia’s face turns redder.
In this moment, Olivia falls for him once again.
Truly, I can’t help but love this man.
She became aware of that fact.
“Until then, no matter what happens, trust me completely, Olivia.”
The moment she heard Kim Deok-Sung’s following response.
Once again head over heels for him, Olivia had only one answer she could give.
“Yes, I will absolutely trust you. That you will definitely come to save me. No matter the situation.”
A small smile forms on Olivia’s lips.
Bang, pop!
As fireworks explode above their heads, bursting with brightly colored flames, the dark night sky becomes beautifully decorated.
She was no longer afraid.
*
The fireworks have ended.
“Hmph, hmm-hmm.”
Even though she let out some cheesy lines from getting caught up in the mood, seeing Olivia happily humming, it didn’t seem like such a bad thing.
Clunk.
Olivia’s steps halt in front of a street vendor.
“You.”
She calls out to me.
“Do you prefer corn, or squid?”
An unexpected question.
“I like both.”
I throw out an answer without much thought.
Corn and squid.
Isn’t it a bit too distinct to compare seafood with grains?
Aren’t we categorizing this a bit too differently?
“Is it really that outrageous to choose just one?! Ugh, you annoying guy!”
Olivia puffs up her cheeks, crosses her arms, and turns her head away at my response.
Tsundere mode activated.
If I leave her alone like this, I feel like she’ll keep pouting, so I decided to answer her question.
“If I had to choose, I’d prefer squid.”
“Alright!”
Only then does Olivia uncross her arms and buy two skewers from the food stall.
One is grilled corn, and the other is grilled squid.
“Here, take this. It’s squid. Just to clarify, I didn’t buy it just because you said you liked squid earlier!! Don’t get the wrong idea, alright?!”
Olivia blushes as she hands me the squid skewer.
Now her tsundere act is starting to look a bit cute.
‘Am I going crazy?’
[Sigh. Partner. No, nothing.]
Tsk tsk.
Raul clicks his tongue.
Feeling a bit off, though.
“What are you doing not taking it? Your arm’s gonna fall off!”
Olivia shakes the squid skewer.
I take the skewer from her hand and take a bite out of the body.
Delicious.
Well, it’s hard for grilled squid to taste bad.
Nom nom.
Next to me, Olivia is carefully nibbling on the corn.
She has two days left before she gets summoned to France.
Maybe this time spent alone with Olivia before she heads to France is the last one.
“Did you enjoy the festival today?”
“······.”
Olivia falls silent.
She quietly picks at the corn.
“Not really, huh?”
“N-no! I didn’t think it was bad or anything! Um, it was just…”
Olivia’s cheeks turn pink.
She lowers her beautiful blue eyes to the ground.
“…it wasn’t bad. Hmph. I’m not saying it was good, so don’t get the wrong idea!!”
According to the tsundere translator, she thought it was nice.
“Really? That’s a relief. So it wasn’t bad.”
I go along with her rhythm.
Olivia pouts her lips.
“Hmph. You really are an idiot, a fool, a sea cucumber, a sea squirt, a sea anemone, Kim Deok-Sung······.”
Her tsundere insults are still going strong.
I feel slightly reassured.
The lanterns go out, and the food stall starts to close down.
The crowd that gathered like clouds during the festival is now slowly dispersing.
It’s time to head home.
Just when I was thinking I could go home together with Olivia like this, I spot a familiar face up ahead.
Among the foreigners, and mostly yukata-clad people, a brown bob-cut beauty in an exceptionally out-of-place maid outfit stands out.
“Master’s master. And the princess.”
Bella is over here.
“I’ve come to accompany you.”
Next to Bella stands a black-suited beauty with ash-colored bobbed hair and striking gray eyes, Han Seo-Jin.
Wait.
Bella and Han Seo-Jin?
It’s a strange combination that seems like it should fit yet doesn’t—what on earth are they doing together?
The only connection between them seems to be their collaboration on handling the aftermath of the baptism’s sacred site.
“Master’s master. From now on, I shall accompany you as the lady’s shadow.”
