Chapter 88.1
Chapter 88.1
Just… even if it’s a relationship that’s neither here nor there. Even if it’s just being acquaintances with a bit of history.
Even knowing that this was his true intention, he was grateful for even this. It was fortunate that she was such a kind person.
“I’ve never met anyone who smiles and apologizes as easily as you do, Duke.”
Jasmine said this, perhaps intending to change the atmosphere. Richard, as expected, smiled subtly.
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
When she scolded him for laughing, she recalled his earlier response that he always felt that way when he was with her.
Perhaps it was true. He would laugh like a boy, making her wonder if he was really that cold and old-fashioned person. At trivial jokes, at minor pranks. He would quickly apologize if he thought he had made a mistake, as if he saw no reason to be prideful.
Maybe, Jasmine liked him more because of that.
More than the past seven years.
“……”
Jasmine blinked, resting her forehead on his shoulder. It felt as comfortable as when she used to be carried on her father and brothers’ backs as a child. Somehow, it brought a sense of nostalgia.
Perhaps it was because the beautiful twilight spread across the world like memories of early summer days. Even though it was a quiet cityscape without the lush forest, the sounds of insects, birds chirping, and the fresh forest scent, the pastoral sentiment Jasmine felt was not much different.
In the city streets where the streetlights were turning on one by one, there were people returning home, carriages with coachmen urging their horses, boys selling the last of their newspapers at a discount, couples whispering love on benches, and elderly gentlemen resting on their canes.
It felt like a romantic cityscape painting filled with an artist’s sentiment.
The fact that she and he were part of that everyday scene suddenly felt like a strange miracle.
What kind of fate do we share?
How did we end up so persistently intertwined?
Of course, the starting point was herself. She had spent a long time running blindly towards this person. If asked whether she regretted it, she still wouldn’t know. There were times she did, but in retrospect, even that process was a joy and a foundation for her growth and development.
She discovered so many new possibilities within herself because of it. The young Jasmine could never have imagined she would become the person she is now.
Coming from a good family with a pretty face, family love, and mediocre talents that were enough to get by without much effort, Jasmine was just a typical noble lady who had grown up cherished.
At that time, she lived a carefree life without clear values or desires. Her friends each had dreams they pursued—becoming an artist, inheriting the family estate, starting a business—but Jasmine didn’t quite understand what those feelings were.
A dream that made her feel like she would go crazy if she didn’t chase it, that made her heart race and breathless just thinking about it.
Until she met Richard.
Standing idly, exchanging a customary smile when their eyes met, that beautiful boy, the moment she looked into his blue eyes, she understood what it meant to dream. To feel vividly alive emotions, to experience a powerful attraction that makes you love someone without reason.
Ah, I see.
You were my dream.
Jasmine smiled wistfully and painfully. He wasn’t just a simple first love.
He was the first thing she had ever desperately wanted in her life.
Overwhelmed by a mix of emotions, she buried her face in his back.
“Richard.”
His shoulder, which was touching hers, tensed, and his heartbeat, which had been steady, seemed to pound wildly. Yet Richard responded as if nothing was amiss.
“Yes.”
“Thanks to you, I’ve experienced and learned so many things for the first time.”
Jasmine sighed softly.
“Thank you.”
“……”
Even though it was a whisper like a dream, Richard felt conflicting emotions. He felt excitement and elation from her sweet murmur, but from the straightforward honesty of her confession, he felt a profound anxiety.
It felt as if she no longer had even the slightest lingering feelings to resent or hate him. Sometimes, hatred is a way to express emotions.
Richard wanted to hold her and ask why she was suddenly saying such things, or even plead with her. He was grateful that Jasmine couldn’t see his face at that moment when he felt that intense urge.
“If anything I did helped you, then it brings me joy.”
It was both true and a lie. Richard was too greedy and ambitious to end it with such a simple and elegant statement. He wanted a deeper relationship with her, to know her completely, to possess her.
Moreover, he wanted to rightfully prove that she was his.
He wanted to love her and be loved by her.
Even now, there was a hidden desire within Richard not to let her go home just like this.
It was a fire that had never once gone out, not even for a moment.