Chapter 115

“Your secret?”

Edmund showed a look of surprise, then lightly spun the gun in his hand and let out a small laugh.

“Is there really anything I don’t know? There’s nothing about you I’m unaware of.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I can tell what you’re thinking just by looking into your pretty eyes.”

The man lifted his chin slightly and declared it in a tone full of confidence. His shamelessness left Blair speechless, but she shook her head and answered anyway.

“I guarantee you won’t know this one.”

“I’ll hit it anyway.”

Edmund, who showed no sign of firing yet, continued calmly, “So if there’s a secret you want to confess, you might as well tell me now.”

It was an incredibly shameless demand. Blair parted her lips in disbelief, then smiled.

“Aren’t you actually lacking confidence?”

“Me?”

“That’s why you keep asking about my secret without even shooting, right?”

A faint smile appeared in his eyes as he stared at her. It was the look of someone willing to indulge her cute provocation.

Instead of answering, Edmund lifted the rifle. With practiced movements, he replaced the magazine, loaded it, and immediately aimed at the target. His smooth, flowing motions made Blair instinctively step back. It didn’t take long before he pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A single rubber bullet shot out. Blair looked toward the target he’d aimed at in disbelief. Even from a distance, she could see the thin paper at the center of the wooden target torn and fluttering.

“You can go check it up close if you want.”

“Ugh….”

“Or don’t waste your energy and just show me your precious secret.”

Edmund’s face, now even more relaxed, shone with curiosity as if he wanted to uncover everything about her. In the end, Blair had no choice but to keep her word.

“I… actually drew you before.”

“Me?”

When Edmund showed interest, Blair’s cheeks flushed slightly. She had done all kinds of things with him, yet confessing something like this still made her feel shy.

“Since the day I first saw you on the balcony at Kensington Hall… I couldn’t stop thinking about you, even though I didn’t know your name.”

“….”

“So from that day on, every day, secretly… I drew you.”

Blair finished speaking in a trembling voice and pressed her forehead. Maybe she had said more than necessary. Heat spread to her ears, making it hard to meet his eyes.

At that moment, Edmund reached out and gently lifted Blair’s chin. Holding her gaze firmly, he smiled softly.

“Blair.”

“….”

“Didn’t you say you only leave on the canvas the things that have stolen your heart?”

When was that? Searching her memory, Blair recalled a conversation they once had in Chails. Edmund had said he drew ordinary things from daily life, but she’d said the opposite. She’d said she drew what she wanted to remember for a long time.

“From the moment you said that, I knew you must have drawn me.”

“…You already knew?”

“Of course.”

“How?”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t know?”

Edmund added with a quiet laugh, “You fell in love with me at first sight.”

“…Sometimes I wish I had that kind of confidence.”

“Now tell me another secret.”

Blair, who had been looking down while muttering, lifted her gaze back to him.

“A secret you think I don’t know.”

A secret of her own that the man before her didn’t know. Did such a thing even exist?

Her heart pounded. There was exactly one feeling she still hadn’t confessed to him.

She covered it with her love for Edmund and tried to bury it beneath the devotion he showed her, but doubt still lingered like a shadow.

Why did Edmund accept her as his ‘real wife’?

He said he needed her, that he couldn’t imagine a life without her, that he could no longer let her go. But Blair still couldn’t be sure whether that confession came from pure love or from duty and obligation mixed together.

The secret she never spoke aloud still curled quietly in a corner of her heart.

“…Mm, I guess.”

Blair didn’t stay silent long, afraid those clear gray eyes would read her thoughts.

“There isn’t anything like that.”

“….”

“You already know everything about me.”

The man, standing very close, looked into both her eyes in turn, then smiled calmly.

“I see. Then it can’t be helped.”

“…Does that mean the bet is void?”

“No. I’ll have to take something else instead of your secret.”

Blair’s eyes widened. “Something else?”

“For example, a kiss that pleases me. Of course, I never said it had to be on the lips.”

“How indecent!”

What indecent thing is he imagining now? Even as Blair recoiled, Edmund didn’t care.

“You should’ve expected that. You know I never make a losing deal.”

“You do business with your wife? You’re so calculating.”

“Criticize me all you want. As long as I get what I want.”

Even as he said that, the lips that brushed her temple were impossibly gentle. What else could she do? The doubts that had suddenly surfaced and the nameless anxiety melted away like snow.

“…I’ll practice hard and hit it someday.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

As she turned to leave with him, Blair glanced back at the target. She had fired so many shots, yet only one had hit. And it wasn’t even hers, which made her let out a hollow laugh.

“Ed.”

“Yes?”

“How are you so accurate? What do you think about when you aim?”

Edmund didn’t answer immediately. Holding Blair’s hand, he left the shooting range and walked silently along the forest path. The sound of dry leaves crunching underfoot filled the silence. Blair wondered if she’d said something wrong.

“…In the past.”

He hesitated slightly before speaking.

“There were things I had to see through to the end.”

“….”

“Whenever I aimed a gun at something, that was the only thought in my mind.”

Blair sensed the change in his tone but couldn’t fully grasp its meaning. She couldn’t tell whether he meant a goal he had to achieve or a person.

“What about now?”

When she asked carefully, Edmund looked down at her, his eyes softening.

“Just now, I was only thinking about uncovering my wife’s secret.”

“Is that a positive change?”

“Of course.”

He adjusted his grip on her hand and added, “It means nothing else came to mind but you.”

“Then I’m glad.”

As if it were a promise, their lips brushed lightly. They smiled with their noses still close, then began walking with lighter steps. The dreamlike time, leaving all reality behind, was still in full bloom.

On the way back to the villa, Edmund showed her the plains where the horses ran free.

A faint breeze moved across the field under the red sunset, as if catching the day’s final breath, and the dry grass swayed gently on both sides.

Horses galloped across the field, kicking off the ground.

Blair leaned her arms on the fence and couldn’t take her eyes off the peaceful sight. She felt all the emotions that had shaken her earlier quietly settle.

“I want to learn horseback riding too.”

“…While you’re pregnant?”

“Is it impossible after all?”

“It’s absolutely impossible. I’ll teach you as much as you want later, so be patient and wait a little.”

Edmund answered readily, then fell into thought for a moment. He slowly lifted one corner of his mouth and rubbed his chin.

“Even if it’s not a horse… there’s still something you can ride.”

“What’s with that expression?”