Reasons for Contract Marriage - Chapter 121

When Brianna set the gun down after finishing the shooting, cheers and loud applause erupted around her.

“Wow, amazing! I’ve never seen anyone win that many plushies before!”

In contrast, the shop owner’s face had gone pale, nearly collapsing in despair. Brianna handed out some of the plushies to nearby children. She kept only the pig plushie for herself and said to the stunned owner, “I don’t need the rest, so take them back.”

Only then did the shop owner’s face brighten again. He bowed deeply and repeatedly to Brianna and Lucius as they left the stall.

As they walked, Brianna looked at the pig plushie in her hand with sparkling eyes. She smiled more brightly than usual, clearly enjoying herself.

“Do you like the plushie?”

At Lucius’s question, Brianna nodded several times before suddenly offering the plushie to him. When he looked at her in puzzlement, she burst into laughter.

“It’s the first plushie I’ve ever won. It’s special, so I’m giving it to you as a present.”

Lucius, still a bit dazed, accepted the pink pig plushie. As he examined the unevenly stitched plushie from various angles, a smile formed on his lips.

“It’s definitely a special gift. It’s the first thing I’ve received from you.”

At his words, Brianna involuntarily drew in a breath. Now that she thought about it, she had never given him anything before. Even though she had received so many gifts from him.

And yet the first gift she gave him was such a clumsy, ugly plushie! Not even a cool animal like a wolf or lion, but a pig!

“W-wait! Give that back!”

Brianna tried to snatch the plushie back, but Lucius simply lifted the hand holding it high.

“You can’t just take it back after giving it!”

As he teased her, Brianna stood on tiptoe and flailed her arms. But her hands never touched the pig plushie, only slicing through empty air.

“I wasn’t thinking. I’ll give you a proper gift later!”

“No thanks. I like this one.”

“Luce! I said give it to me!”

Brianna did her best to retrieve the plushie from him, but Lucius just laughed in amusement and never gave it up. It was the same even after they changed locations to watch the fireworks.

They had headed to Marco Plaza to see the fireworks, but upon arrival, they quickly realized it wasn’t a good idea. The plaza was packed with people to the point where even walking was difficult. Faced with the overwhelming crowd, they decided to leave and instead watch the fireworks from the hill they had visited before.

“It’s quite chilly. Here, put this on.”

When they arrived at the hilltop, Lucius, who had somehow prepared it in advance, draped a shawl over Brianna’s shoulders. The thick fabric that touched her shoulders felt warm. Brianna smiled brightly at him and thanked him.

Standing side by side and looking down from the hill, they saw that the sun was already sinking. The sky, once full of blue, was quickly fading as the edges of the clouds began to glow red.

After quietly admiring the sunset, Brianna said, “It’s already been a year since we watched the fireworks together. I think the sunset looked just like this back then, too.”

It had already been a year since they watched the fireworks here. Thinking back on all that had happened over the past year made it feel distant and surreal.

Madam Leona’s sudden death, the events she experienced after being driven to Bastogne,

And even Florian’s death.

“Back then, I never imagined I’d be watching the fireworks here with you again.”

The people who had asked her to watch the fireworks with them had passed away before they could fulfill that promise. But Lucius, both then and now, had stayed by her side. That brought her comfort. It felt like this man, at least, wouldn’t suddenly disappear and would always stay with her.

“Why did you ask me to go watch the fireworks with you back then?”

Come to think of it, it was a little strange. Back then, she hadn’t known Lucius well, so she just assumed he was that kind of person. But Lucius was actually someone who was far more calculated than impulsive. He was always polite to strangers, but he wasn’t the type to offer unnecessary kindness.

Even so, that day, on only their second meeting, he had suggested they go watch the fireworks together. And it had been a situation where time was incredibly tight.

Why on earth had he done that?

“To be honest, I thought about it again after going home that day…”

After a moment, Lucius began to speak.

“I thought about it carefully, but in the end, I couldn’t figure it out. Why I suddenly asked you to go see the fireworks.”

He turned his head to look at Brianna and gave a faint smile.

“But thinking about it again now, I guess I just… wanted to see you smile. Maybe I subconsciously thought you would smile a little more brightly if you saw the fireworks.”

Just before the sun dipped below the mountain, its light flared with intensity. In his black eyes, which held that light, beautiful crimson flames seemed to flicker.

“In the end, I suppose my belated conclusion is that I asked you to watch the fireworks simply to make you smile.”

Gradually, darkness began to fall and a breeze picked up. Along with it, the scent of grass blooming across the hill softly spread in all directions. The red-tinged sunset, the swaying blades of grass in the wind, and the beautiful black eyes of the man gazing at her. Facing him directly, Brianna felt a light tremble.

I love this man.

She didn’t know when it had started. Maybe it was much earlier than she thought. Just as Madam Leona had said, her heart must have grown feet and crossed over to him on its own. And only now was she realizing it, far too late.

That realization made her body tremble, but only for a moment. The sunset quickly vanished, and the sky turned dark in an instant. Lucius’s face, too, was gradually soaked in the soft, deep color of dark blue velvet.

Then came a boom, the sound of something bursting.

“Ah, looks like the fireworks have started.”

He turned his head to look toward the distant sky. A small spark shot up high into the air. Another loud explosion followed as a firework burst.

“Come to think of it, I didn’t get to explain last time, but apparently the fireworks aren’t just launched randomly—they each have their own theme. The first one symbolizes Saint Riccio’s resurrection…”

He didn’t finish his sentence. Brianna had tugged on his clothes. Thinking she wanted to say something, he leaned in close. Amid the booming fireworks, he needed to be near to hear her.

“Bri…”

But again, he couldn’t finish. Something soft and tender had suddenly touched his lips.

Brianna had brushed her lips against his lower lip in a fleeting kiss and then pulled away. She looked up, cautiously watching his reaction.

Lucius remained frozen in the position he had taken to hear her better. His expression hadn’t changed either. So she had no way of knowing how he had received her sudden action.

Was he displeased? What if the reason he had never kissed her until now wasn’t because she had refused at first, but simply because he didn’t want to?

She’d once heard something—courtesans, when with men they didn’t love, might share their bodies, but they never kissed. Because kissing was said to be an act that involved mutual affection.

What if that was why he had intentionally avoided kissing her until now?

Brianna held her uneasily trembling heart and waited for his next words, his next action. That short moment felt like an eternity, as if an entire hour had passed.

“Luce…”

Unable to endure the silence any longer, she finally tried to pull away—

But his hands wrapped tightly around her waist. And then his lips descended.

Not to her forehead or cheek, like before—but to her lips.