Subliminal Wayfarer

Grace held back the words that were about to escape through her lips again. Instead, she answered with something else.

“He seems… to be romantic.”

—Romantic? …Would you like me to pick roses for you?

“Huh? Oh, no. I am satisfied with the flowers that I’ve received before.”

—I’ll ask them to redesign the garden. How about the greenhouse? Ah, I should buy out a flower farm. Come to think of it, Cain was also looking for a flower farm…

With how determined he sounded just now, you’d think that he was set on buying each and every flower farm in the world.

‘Flower farm, he says…’

As she was momentarily dazed, Grace hurriedly shook her head and refused, saying that it’s alright.

“I’ve felt this before, but it’s really too much.”

—Too much? That’s strange. Father was even worse than both of us…

“Even worse?”

—Father picked the prettiest rose in the garden and brought it to Mother everyday, and the petals would be used for the rose water that Mother washed her face with every morning.

“Ah…”

…Maybe everyone in this family was just too much.

‘Is the blood running through the veins of the men in this family composed of sugar or what…’

“Your family sounds very, um, very harmonious.”

—The family motto of House Blacke is ‘Precious family, gruesome revenge’. It’s been kept well for generations.

His voice was full of pride.

Grace suddenly seemed to understand what House Blacke’s matriarch must have felt as she had collapsed due to her husband’s death.

If the person who provided love that was so big and strong and as vast as the bottomless ocean had suddenly disappeared in an instant, how disastrous would it have felt? It would be as if the entire world had collapsed.

Nevertheless, Grace admired the madam for standing back up after just a year.

—I don’t like it when people are sad. Or, to be precise, I don’t like it when the people I love are despairing. Somehow, I might even say that I’m terrified of the thought that they’re sad.

Grace quietly took in the sincerity in Lucas’s tone as he said that he hated to see his loved ones being sad.

And here, there was no denying it.

This man… He’s the sweetest man she had ever met.

—Grace.

“…Yes?”

Peeling her gaze away from Lucas’s childhood photo, she answered as he called her name.

And, as though whispering into her ear, Lucas said.

—If you marry me, I can’t say that you’ll always be happy, no matter what.

Married to Lucas Blacke.

It wasn’t even that long ago that she thought it would never happen.

But because she had become privy to the kind, gentle side of Lucas Blacke that’s been hidden behind the fear she had once felt towards him…

—But until you feel happy,

“……”

—I’ll do my best.

Grace closed her eyes tightly to hide her shaking pupils.

Yet her fingertips, just like the fluttering organ within her chest, were swaying at will.

 

* * *

 

Just like that, a few more days passed by.

“Milady, Milady! Over there! Luki’s on the way!”

At Julie’s words, Grace set down the teacup that was in her hand and jumped out of her seat.

“W-Where should I hide?”

Looking around in a hurry, Grace quickly ran and hid herself amidst the bushes.

Meanwhile, as Julie ran over here in haste, she pretended to be tidying up the table where Grace was sitting not long ago.

With careful footsteps, Luki came near the tea table.

Huuffff…

Letting a breath that sounded like a regretful sigh, Luki circled around Julie.

Julie’s presence was no different than saying that Grace was nearby, and the horse seemed quite confused about why Grace wasn’t here.

Really, what an intelligent animal.

Pretending not to notice that the black horse was staying, Julie spoke as she slyly arranged the table.

“Milady must be feeling tired. She didn’t even finish the chocolate cake that she likes so much. Hyuu! I’ll clean this all up and go back to Milady’s side!”

…Bhhrrrr. Huff, huff.

Ignoring those intelligent blue eyes, which continued to look at her with such suspicion, Julie cleared the table and bravely started walking away.

As the black horse followed Julie, he looked back behind him suspiciously.

It was only after Julie and Luki disappeared completely that Grace let out an exhale, which she had been holding back until now.

“Gosh, Luki. How did you know I was here?”

What a smart horse.

While leaning against a tree, Grace breathed in and out properly.

She had been consciously refraining from thinking about Lucas since yesterday.

Lucas’s wonderful voice and gentle words kept making her waver.

She was never given any time to think alone.

‘All this time, I thought you were a taciturn man, but as it turned out, you’re quite the opposite.’

Chuckling to herself, she bit her smiling lips to hold back the sound.

And she realized that she was thinking of him without realizing it.

‘If I do this, I’ll hear his voice again…’

Whenever that happened, her voice would also be heard by Lucas.

Then, he would notice that she’s deliberately not responding to him.

She quickly tried to think about something else.

The blue sky, the fluffy clouds, the cool breeze passing by.

‘When I went on a run with Luki on his back, it felt really nice.’

The sound of the wind howling through her ears was still vivid in her mind.

 

—It’s alright, Grace. You can decide. Follow your heart and do whatever you wish.
—You’re doing great. Really great.
—My. Then let’s go on a trip somewhere far away next time, you and me. I know a lot of good places.

 

And of course, Lucas Blacke’s voice remained vivid as well, whispering like the wind.

“P-Pull yourself together, Grace O’Ellin!”

Opening her eyes abruptly once more, Grace quickly slapped both sides of her face.

Slap!

Her cheeks started to tingle because of how hard she had hit them, but thanks to that, she was now wide awake.

Adding to the fact was the distinct memory of Norman O’Ellin hitting Grace across the cheek as well.

“It’s difficult, really.”

She rubbed her stomach, on which the bruises had already yellowed.

Though minor, those acts of violence were countless.

Her father, a full blood relative, neglected her, while her half-brother tormented her behind their father’s back.

The butler, the oldest man in the mansion, turned a blind eye to everything.

The men who were closest to Grace, all three of them, were like that.

Men were difficult. They were both scary and annoying.

Not a single one of them brought her comfort.

Except for one.

Lucas Blacke.

Grace gasped sharply.

“Stop it. Don’t think.”

Grace kept consciously trying to banish the thought of him.

This marriage could not happen.

How could she marry a man who she was scared of?

Also, there was a high possibility that marrying her would only serve as a nuisance to him.

That’s why, that’s why…

“It can’t happen. It absolutely cannot happen…”

 

“Don’t worry, Grace. The person I hold dear to me has no reason to fear the possibility that I might hurt them.”

 

“But why does he so strongly think that it’s going to work?”

Grace held her cheeks and bowed her head deeply.

The memory of him touching her lips remained hot upon her skin, like a lingering burn.

And even further, his words were branded upon her mind, hotter than the lingering touch.

The person he holds dear.

‘…Do I really think that I’ve become that man’s beloved person?’

Lucas Blacke’s? Why? How? In what way?

“…Because there’s a possibility that we could get married? Because I’m his prospective fiancée?”

Then, if the two of them would break up their betrothal just as she had first promised, would she be nothing to him again, as if nothing at all had happened between them?

Was it so easy to cut someone off?

“…Oh, I’m suddenly feeling angry.”

At that moment, it’s as if Grace’s heart had been set ablaze.

“You stirred my feelings at your disposal. You pushed and pulled a person who was minding her own business. You keep trying to catch me as I’m running away…!”

She knew.

All this was nonsense.

And yet, strangely, her heart was boiling.

She glared into the air as her little fists were all rolled up.

Somehow, towards the man who was stirring her tranquil mind so freely.

Lucas, Lucas, Lucas Blacke!

Grace thought of him with all of her might.

And, with a voice so loud that could very possibly reach him, she shouted.

“YOU BULLY!”

 

* * *

 

‘Hm?’

As Lucas was climbing the stairs, he looked behind him.

‘Was that Grace’s voice just now…?’

He hardly got to talk to Grace since yesterday.

He had been looking for her everywhere, but somehow, he couldn’t find her at all. It’s as if they were playing a game of hide-and-seek.

Earlier, he was working with Jaime when he caught a glimpse of Grace’s back from the window. So he galloped out excitedly, but when he arrived, he couldn’t find her again.

It had been almost a week since Grace started staying at his mansion, but this was the first time.

Surely, she was avoiding him.

Heading back to the office while feeling bothered, Lucas turned around and looked ahead.

—Grace?

He called her name, but as expected, he couldn’t hear anything back.

‘What was that?’

He stopped and looked around.

Whenever he was in his animal form, his senses would become much more sensitive.

His visual, auditory, and olfactory senses were much sharper.

In particular, a horse’s scope of view was wide, so he could see many things more clearly.

He scanned through the wide-open garden through the window.

However, he couldn’t find even a single strand of Grace’s hair.

And of course, he couldn’t hear her voice either.

Bhrr—!

Staring out the window for a long time, the horse then shook its head suddenly and violently.

Clip, clop. Clip, clop.

He paced back and forth with a particularly sharp stride.

‘A woman’s heart is so fickle…!’

He stomped his hooves agitatedly.

They were definitely staying under just one roof, but how could she hide so well?

It occurred to him that she might have truly made up her mind to turn away from him.

And, as he came to this conclusion, his heart began to pound erratically.

—Grace? Can you not hear me?

Lucas couldn’t endure any longer. It was the first time he had felt so restless.

Until yesterday, he felt that it was fun to see this side of Grace while he was a horse, but now, he just felt agitated.

He wanted to run on his two feet right this instant—to run straight to her and pull her into his arms.

But, he couldn’t.

‘I need to return to my human form. Grace must be feeling bored because she hasn’t seen my face in so long.’

He kept hearing from various people that he was handsome, to the point that people would feel happy just looking at his face.

In particular, there were also times that Jaime would stare at Lucas’s face in the mirror and say that he lost track of time.

‘That’s right. I remember how Grace couldn’t take her eyes off my face either. She must like my face.’