“The moon is so beautiful.”
It’s a phrase that expresses love.
It can also be used in that sense.
If two people were sitting face to face on chairs late at night, they must have been very close.
They enjoyed the cold wind blowing.
Looking back, I never thought I could have such a fateful encounter with a commoner.
It must sound unrealistic.
As tomorrow approached, I didn’t realize that farewell might be getting closer.
Yuria truly believed that.
As long as Yujin was by her side.
She believed she could endure any hardship as long as he was there.
We were that precarious.
So Yuria wanted to secure his certainty.
Did he sense that feeling too?
Sitting side by side, looking at the moon through the clouds without saying a word.
He cautiously spoke up.
“…Ria. Open your eyes.”
“Why?”
Yuria tilted her head, not understanding his question, but soon her eyes widened like lanterns as she realized something.
She saw the bouquet of flowers he had extended to her.
Her face flushed, and her ears turned red as she glanced at him.
Her breath was heavy.
“…What is this?”
Yujin, with the moon behind him, gently reached out his hand.
“I think I love you a lot.”
ā…”
The meaning behind that one sentence was clear.
He didn’t beat around the bush.
There was no room for misunderstanding.
He wanted to give her certainty.
If she accepted this, he would genuinely try to protect her no matter what.
From asking her to stay by his side all day to willingly offering his lips if she asked.
But she couldn’t shake the unease rising in a corner of her heart.
She hated the thought of this relationship breaking more than anything.
Should she reject his confession then?
Like pushing away the flowers.
If she asked him to wait and pretended not to know, dragging out the time.
Yujin might stay by her side.
…But he would only stay by her side.
Imagining Yujin slowly withering away was worse than death.
If he were to grow to hate her, she felt she wouldn’t be able to endure it.
The day she sensed resentment in his pure, shining eyes might be the day she decided to die.
He said nothing, didn’t rush her, and waited quietly as Yuria pondered.
But through his attention, she felt his love.
From another perspective, the attention he gave her might not have been that significant.
What she received from him was just a small amount of attention and kindness.
Yet, she felt overwhelmingly happy.
She felt happy just knowing he would continue to stay by her side, and it also felt like a connecting thread, making her feel more at ease.
She wanted to be the one and only special person to him.
“…You might regret it.”
“If you don’t change, I won’t change either.”
ā…ā
Yujin met Yuria’s gaze.
He moved closer.
Slowly, close enough for their lips to touch.
His breath tickled her skin, but this time she didn’t refuse.
Instead, she stood on her tiptoes to close the distance and receive his passionate love.
Caught off guard by her unexpected proactive response, she soon lost strength and lowered her tiptoes.
Yuria had to struggle to hide her burning emotions.
To his eyes, she was just avoiding his gaze with her ears red.
“…I love you too.”
In the end, their love continued.
But those happy days passed, and her happiness didn’t last long.
As her position in the family rose, the increasing number of people around her didn’t please Yuria.
It felt like the time she spent with him was being taken away.
Then came the day.
At an event showcasing the skills of the next family head, Yuria demonstrated talents worthy of being called a genius, capturing everyone’s attention.
They began pushing her as the next family head, saying she carried the family’s bloodline.
Naturally, the time she could spend with him decreased, and even her alone time diminished.
It became the same in front of him.
She had much to say but only moved her lips as if unable to speak.
In truth, she couldn’t meet him for long anymore.
Whenever she had time, Yuria would go to the church to find him.
He was always waiting for her.
Though she was annoyed that servants followed, it was better than not being able to see him at all.
At first, just making eye contact and talking was enough, but gradually, she felt a growing thirst.
How long had it been since she last held his hand?
She couldn’t even remember the last time.
She wanted to meet him more.
She wanted to hold his hand.
She wanted to sit together and watch the moon.
For the first time, she felt loneliness.
That was the beginning of the end.
What was once natural became unnatural.
Even meeting every day was no longer a given.
As time passed.
A wall formed between them.
A wall they could never cross.
Though neither spoke, each other’s pain was vividly felt.
But the number of times Yuria met him decreased over time.
From twice a day.
To once a day due to her busy schedule.
Even that gradually decreased until some days they didn’t meet at all, and sometimes she couldn’t even come out to meet him.
Seeing him exhausted, waiting all night and falling asleep, her heart ached.
On her way back after tightly embracing him.
“You have been chosen as the next family head.”
Those words came from the family head, who had always ignored her.
Being chosen as the next family head meant bearing heavy responsibilities.
The following words made Yuria’s heart sink heavily.
She didn’t ask for much.
She knew better.
Yuria immediately confessed the most important fact.
“You want to be with a common man?”
“…Yes.”
“Are you saying you’re in a relationship? That’s ridiculous. Even after hearing that?”
“…Yes.”
“You know what your position means, right?”
“We… have promised to marry.”
The family head responded with an amused smirk.
Marriage between nobles and commoners is generally frowned upon in social circles, enough to damage one’s image.
In the current situation where the next family head is being changed, marrying a commoner? It’s just perfect fodder for ridicule.
Not only Yuria but also her future husband would face countless painful ordeals.
Even knowing it’s a bad marriage for both, the family head shook his head at her behavior.
“Marriage, huh.”
“I forbid it.”
Yuria’s expression froze.
Her breath quickened, and her hands trembled.
Her reactions were unusually visible, her expression management failing.
The family head, observing her reactions closely, added.
“I’ll make you another offer.”
“An offer, you say…”
“I might retract my forbiddance of the marriage. It doesn’t sound too bad.”
Yuria’s only weakness.
By bringing him into the family, they could control Yuria at will.
The family head, with his experienced insight, already knew this and smiled.
He had a rough idea of what Yuria’s answer would be.
“First, limit your meetings to once a month.”
“…That’s!”
Yuria protested, but the family head ignored her and raised a second finger.
“Second, I don’t want to accept a commoner as family, so cohabitation is also forbidden. I’ll provide another residence for you to live in.”
“…That’s clearly drawing a line.”
“Third, I’ll receive reports on his every move. No need for you to report.”
“…”
“Fourth, no matter what happens to him, Yuria, you must not intervene.”
ā…ā
There was no right to refuse.
Born into this family, it was predetermined.
The family head’s words were less of an offer and more of an inevitable conclusion.
“However, I’ll reduce external pressures accordingly.
If outsiders target your husband, I’ll personally ensure appropriate punishment.”
There would be countless attempts by noble families or other forces to pressure using her commoner husband.
Yuria, not yet the family head but merely the next in line, couldn’t protect him much.
To them, he would just be a laughingstock.
If unlucky, he might even become an assassination target.
Thus.
She could only hope he endured within the family.
Once she ascended to the family head’s position, she could accept him as her partner again… and treat him better.
There might be misunderstandings in the process of distancing him.
But she could do nothing.
She just wanted to make him a little happier for now.
As time passed, when she met him, she couldn’t smile.
It was around then that she felt a faint sense of guilt.
Perhaps she had made things too difficult and troublesome for him.
She began to think she should apologize first whenever they met.
Many moments passed.
During that time, as the next family head, she spent more time outside than within the family.
A month after returning from an expedition.
Tap tap.
Yuria’s barely open eyes saw him.
On a rainy day.
His back, waiting in the middle of the road, drenched in the rain.
Yuria’s lips twitched.
Instinctively, she sensed it.
That man was exhausted.
It was time to make a choice.
She knew it.
ā…ā
With that intuition, Yuria’s heart turned cold.
Her nose stung.
Tears froze.
Her heart sank heavily.
The world seemed to stop, surroundings slowed, and words wouldn’t come as dizziness overwhelmed her.
The conversation from that night lingered, and the emotions pressing on her chest felt strangely suffocating.
ā…ā
She tried to voice her regrets.
A heart-wrenching pain surged.
Her expression, once unchanging, was now painted with pain.
Yuria bowed her head, breathing heavily.
She couldn’t even look him in the eye.
Suddenly overwhelmed by an indescribable, first-time emotion, Yuria placed a trembling hand on her chest.
“…What are you doing there?”
“Ria.”
ā…ā
“I missed you.”
“…Yeah.”
…His voice, filled with sorrow, echoed for the first time.
A miserable tone, as if clinging with all pride abandoned.
“I got hurt a lot. They used me as a target.”
“…Is that so…?”
“They shot me with magic… it hurts a lot.”
ā…ā
Yuria couldn’t hide her slight surprise.
Hurt…?
What on earth was he talking about?
Surely, their relationship wasn’t that bad.
Her heart sank further.
She heard he was living well at the estate.
Being used as a target… what on earth…
“What… what do you mean? A target…?”
“Amon, that man’s deeds. You know.”
ā…ā
What should she say now?
Her mind went blank.
She expected he would struggle, but facing it was harder than imagined.
Yuria couldn’t bring herself to ask, “Are you okay?”
She refused his plea.
She turned away from his pain.
Her hands still trembled.
“…Hold me.”
That one word.
His simple wish.
A humble yet earnest desire.
…Even something so simple had to be said directly by him.
As if someone had to beg.
What was once natural.
Was becoming unnatural.
Soon, Yuria found it hard to breathe.
Not long after.
He no longer spoke to her.
He didn’t come to find her, didn’t wait for her.
As if there was no need anymore.
ā…ā
Yuria’s wildly beating heart refused to calm down.
He left her side.
…He just stayed attached.
That’s how it ended.
Another month passed. When he didn’t come to find her,
She finally realized.
Something had gone wrong.
Had she crossed a river she couldn’t return from?
Yuria thought about it, but once he turned away, he never came back.
One day.
One week.
Continuing.
Continuously.
At first, she denied it.
No, it can’t be, she hypnotized herself, repeating it.
She denied making an irreversible mistake.
She couldn’t believe he was being so cold to her.
The kindness she once took for granted.
Was now gone.
Unknowingly, Yuria had started taking the unnatural things she received from him for granted.
Even making him suffer.
Selfishly, she never thought he would hurt this much.
For the first time, she was ignored by him.
Like a broken thing, she couldn’t speak.
Yuria did what she could.
She raised her status, earning the name of an outstanding next family head.
She could draw even more beautiful hexagrams.
She sent external enemies targeting him to the family head.
Sometimes, she went out herself to eliminate them.
…That was all she could do.
Secretly hoping he would wait.
Hoping he would return to her.
But that day.
The day his patience ran out, and he mentioned divorce.
ā…ā
Yuria’s eyes shook.
Only then did she realize.
The pain hadn’t disappeared; she had just been ignoring it.