“Even if you had betrayed me, I would have trusted your words. Even if I couldn’t bring myself to believe you, I couldn’t fathom the idea of being separated from you for a hundred days. I would have searched tirelessly until I found you. -Sending you to an unfamiliar place? It would have been impossible for me. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep a wink… if only I had known,” Scarlett lamented, taking a sip of tea to warm herself.

“Do you think these words sound petty and selfish?” she questioned, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

“Why are you assuming that?” Viktor responded, his tone gentle yet firm.

“Because if you were the person I thought you were, you would see it that way. You saw our marriage as a means to connect our families, right?” Scarlett voiced her thoughts.

“Even though you know that it seems like you’re still blaming me.”

A faint chuckle escaped her lips. “We were such an odd match, and yet we managed to live together for two years,” Scarlett remarked.

Viktor took one last sip of his tea and fell silent. When Scarlett glanced at him, she found his gaze fixed upon her.

Gathering her courage, Scarlett ventured further. “Anyway, you’re close to achieving your ambitions, aren’t you? The Dumfelt family now has you. No one in the world can dare speak ill of the family anymore.”

Silence hung in the air, and Viktor remained wordless. Frustrated by the lack of response, Scarlett spoke up again. “Well, forget it. I always end up doing all the talking. I’ll take my leave then.”

“I’m not as happy as I thought I would be, though,” Viktor suddenly confessed.

“Pardon?” Scarlett paused, surprised by his words.

Scarlett turned around to leave, but before she could take a step, she noticed that Viktor was gazing off into the vineyards.

“Imagining all of that doesn’t stir any kind of emotion in me,” he said quietly, his voice filled with a hint of emptiness.

Scarlett held the door handle and took a deep breath before she went inside. Her heart wavered, and she found herself indecisive as she walked towards Viktor.

“That’s been your goal your entire life. If you don’t feel happy, then what should you think about instead?” She asked.

“Well,” before opening his mouth, Viktor thought for a moment, “I become happy when I’m drunk.”

“It’s not just the pleasure, it’s the relief that I feel.” Viktor continued.

“What makes you happy?” He asked Scarlett.

“Why do you ask?”

“Recently,” Scarlett said with a satisfied look, covering herself with her coat. “When Isaac said he could see the moon.”

“I see.”

“Or when I wake up at five in the morning, with the smell of bread emitting from next door. I’m glad I bought a house right next to the bakery. Moreover… I feel delighted when I chat and laugh with my friend over there. I also feel a sense of excitement whenever I see someone on the street wearing a watch I worked on.”

“What else?”

“What else? Well… I was having a good day. That is, until I ran into you.”

Viktor gave a low laugh as a response to her coy, reproachful eyes.

“You’re the opposite of me.” He said, nodding.

“Huh?”

“My day wasn’t going well until I saw you.”

“…”

…What did he say?

Although Scarlett was curious, she turned away without any further inquiries, since she didn’t want to listen any longer. 

“Then, I’ll be going in.” Scarlett said.

“Let’s walk together.” Viktor suggested.

Scarlett stopped to a halt at Viktor’s words.

“Just one lap.” Viktor continued.

“…I don’t want to.”

Right as Scarlett uttered those words, she rushed inside the house, and exposed the crystalline door by uncovering the tied curtain.

She leaned against the door, and tightly hugged her knees.

She was aware that thoughts of him clouded her brain. When she realised the truth, she wanted to take him into her arms and hold him. Only a few days had passed since she started begging him to let her go. Scarlett believed that all of these thoughts were unnecessary.

With trembling hands and a hint of hesitation, Scarlett opened the door and went outside.

“Then, one lap…”

Viktor wrapped his hands around her cheeks and kissed her, cutting her off in the middle of her sentence.

Scarlett pushed him away, then lifted her hands to grab his collar. Although Viktor leaned, Scarlett still had to stand on her toes.

After grabbing him and kissing him, Scarlett hiccuped, and Viktor let out a laugh.

“…I was surprised.”

After Viktor released her, his smile broadened and he kissed her forehead. When Scarlett walked away, he groaned before his instincts took over and hugged her waist.