Soon, the carriage stopped sowhere.
The coachman said, "My Lord, we are here."
The guard present opened the door of the carriage for them. Lucian stepped out of the carriage first and then offered his hand to Erin. She accepted it and stepped out.
The mont she settled on her two feet and looked around, she was taken aback by the beauty of it.
In front of her, at so distance, was a residence. It was not grand compared to other residences, but it had a certain feeling to it—warm and cozy, even from the outside. It was unlike any architecture she had seen before. Instead of spreading widely on the ground, it was more inclined to build taller, and the form of the entire residence was circular. A huge garden surrounded it. At a distance, across the vast green land covered in a thin layer of snow, there were tall, snowy mountains.
"It’s different and so beautiful," she mumbled.
"This architecture is from the far east side of the continent. They say once my father visited that part and was impressed by it to the extent that he brought the workers from there and built this one... for..." He stopped.
Erin looked at him. "For?"
"For his child," Lucian said and continued walking ahead with her. "At the news of my mother being pregnant, both of them were happy. As a gift for , they had planned it. Though it is not grand, it still took more than a year to build. Later, it was given to on my first birthday."
"So thoughtfully made. I can feel their love for their child in it," she comnted.
"Maybe that’s why it feels like I belong here and not in that grand residence," he replied.
Erin looked at him, trying to understand his emotions. He must miss his parents, though he didn’t have their mories. These things are the ones that made him feel the presence of those who had gone.
"My Lord," a middle-aged woman, the one who looked after this residence, approached them, followed by a lady servant. She turned to Erin. "My Lady, welco."
Lucian looked at Erin. "Let’s head inside, or you will be cold."
As they climbed the few stairs to enter the residence, Erin stopped and turned to look at the structures—more like shades—built outside around the residence in a circular manner.
"Those shades don’t look like part of the residence’s building. What are they built for?" she asked.
"My Lady, those are built to cover the surroundings of the residence so the snow won’t cover the nearby part of the building. Also, the garden area remains snow-free," the lady servant explained.
Erin humd. Indeed, the greenery around, amidst snow everywhere, was pleasing to the eyes. All white and bright was sohow monotonous and tiring to look at.
Lucian led her inside the residence, which directly brought them into a beautiful and cozy drawing room. There was no grand foyer or central staircase, just a warm place that gave a holy feeling, big enough for a family to enjoy happy tis.
As she looked around, she asked, "How does one go upstairs? I saw there is one floors above."
Lucian pointed toward a large double-sided door. "Behind that door, there is a staircase. It leads you upstairs."
She nodded and noticed a few more doors in the drawing room. She realized those must be rooms ant for various purposes.
The lady servant brought tea and snacks for them as they settled on the comfy sofa by the fireplace. The temperature inside felt just perfect, and Erin no longer felt cold.
As the servant left, silence settled between the two. Finally, Erin decided to break it.
"Did you stay here after returning?" Erin asked.
"Most nights," he replied, "unless there is a need for to stay in the main residence."
"But I always see you in the main residence," she said, only to hear him reply, "Since you are staying there, how could I be here?"
Erin, stunned, looked at him. So straightforward and honest, like always. But how co his expressions never change when he’s kind of flirting?
She snapped back to her senses. "But I didn’t ask you to stay in the main residence. You could just return here."
"I couldn’t," he replied.
Erin looked at him with an expectant gaze. "Why?"
He stared at her for a mont before saying, "Just."
She had expected him to say sothing that might show his feelings more openly, but he chose to shut it down. Never mind.
Once they had rested for a while, Lucian took her out to look around the place. They sat in the carriage.
"If you feel cold, you can tell ," he said.
She nodded, though her mind wandered. Are we going to spend ti sightseeing only? No romantic ti? She sighed. This unromantic man won’t leave a face to show to my brother, who just mocked for my choice in a man. Maybe I’ll just tell a small lie that we held hands and kissed. We held hands when he helped get out of the carriage. About kissing? Umm... it’s fine to lie once in a while. A lie that won’t harm anyone isn’t really a lie. I’m just protecting myself from being mocked by Brother Rowan.
"Where are we going?" she asked softly.
"To see the most beautiful reason why my parents built this residence here, of all the places in the vast estate," he answered.
"Is there sothing more beautiful than this residence itself?" she asked.
"There is."
Erin wondered what could be more beautiful. Just as she was thinking, the carriage stopped.
"We are here," he said.
"Already?" she asked. "We sat in the carriage just a few minutes ago."
"We could have walked, but I didn’t want you to walk much in the cold," he replied, and soon they stepped down from the carriage.
One thing no one can beat him in is the way he cares for everyone. She smiled.
Just as she stepped out of the carriage, she heard the soft sound of water running. She looked around, and her eyes widened at the scene ahead.
Water was running over the borders of rocks and pooling at the ground. Steam rose from the water’s surface. Snow was everywhere, but this water spring seed untouched by the cold. The sight of the steam over the water almost made her want to step in and soak herself to escape the chill.
"I am seeing hot water spring for the first ti," she said, "before I had just heard and read about it."
"In dense snowy areas there are more, but it’s difficult to reach them," he added.
"Brother Rowan once told , there are so many in garis and the reason why it is also called as the kingdom of hot water spring," Erin said excitedly. "He even told , that there is a tale that deity of water herself blessed the land with healing magical water so people in the colder region won’t fall sick."
Lucian humd as he had heard this tale as well.
"Mother told this hot water spring is the reason why my parents chose this place," he inford her.
"It’s indeed a beautiful reason."
"This water spring has dicinal qualities, so my parents wanted their child to always be healthy and able to use it whenever needed," he added.
"Any parent would want the sa for their kids," Erin remarked softly.
Lucian humd and, as he looked at her, said, "When we have our children, we will offer this ho to them, so they can lead a healthy life as well."
Erin blinked a few tis, seemingly wondering if she had heard him right. Did he just talk about having kids?
"What do you think?" he asked again as if having the most normal talk in the world.
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