Chapter 312
From a young age, Gallahan was silent and quiet.
However, that did not mean that he had a gloomy personality.
He was very emotional and easily cried and laughed at even the smallest things.
Then, when did he start making such a face in front of me?
Lulac thought while looking at the face of his expressionless youngest son.
However, the answer to the question he asked himself could not be found.
It must have been a few years ago, but now, an uncountable amount of time has pa.s.sed.
He thought he made a mistake.
He missed out on so much as a father.
Somewhere, it seemed, he could hear the voice of his deceased wife angry now.
"You"re going to do the impossible, Gallahan."
He was angry at Gallahan"s words for a moment, but Lulac quickly calmed his mind.
"How can you live a life without shame by accepting wandering people into your family and leaving a stain on the name of Lombardi?"
"Are you saying that Shan"s existence will be a stain?"
"Then you"re saying it"s not true?"
Gallahan felt as if he were facing a wall.
There was no sign of contempt or ridicule, as Viege did.
However, the face of his father who said Shan is a stain was like that of a man who looked at the clear sky and said it was blue.
"You must have learned enough as a member of Lombardi. There is a difference between the object of pouring out your heart and the object of compa.s.sion."
"Sigh."
Gallahan sighed out.
It seemed that he had expectations for his father without even realizing it.
The vain hope that maybe he will understand yourself once in a while.
The luggage bag felt heavier.
The magnificence of this mansion, where he had lived his whole life, was unbearably uncomfortable, as if he was wearing clothes that did not fit his body.
The things he had enjoyed as a Lombardi seemed to push him away.
As he gripped his sweat-soaked handle once, Gallahan nodded.
"...Please stay healthy."
That was all he could say as a child.
"You will regret it."
said Lulac.
"No. I may miss you, but I will not regret it."
After saying that, Gallahan"s back looked really refreshed.
Flinch.
Lulac"s hand moved as if it was going to catch Gallahan right away.
But that was all.
Lulac didn"t catch Gallahan in the end.
***
When Gallahan asked for a ride outside the mansion, the coachman nodded his head while making a puzzled face.
"Can I take you to that place again today, Mr. Gallahan?"
The coachman asked Gallahan, who was unloading the simple luggage bag.
"No. You don"t have to do that in the future."
After answering that, he closed the carriage door without any hesitation.
The pa.s.sers-by, who had once or twice looked at the man coming out of the Lombardi mansion with interest, soon lost interest when Gallahan mixed among them and began to walk.
"It"s a relief."
Gallahan muttered refreshingly.
Thanks to his father showing him that appearance, his heart was not heavy to leave.
On the contrary, he only made up his mind that his decision to leave his family was the right one.
Shan and Lombardi.
There was no regret over the decision.
"...Shan."
When he called out her name by himself, Gallahan"s cold face was inevitably warmed.
Let"s hurry up and meet.
He thought so and it was time to hasten his steps.
"...Shan?"
This time, he wasn"t talking to himself.
He could see Shan standing alone in front of him, looking down at the tip of her feet kicking the ground.
Gallahan hurried towards her without realizing it.
"Shan, what are you doing here?"
"...Gallahan."
Shan with her head bowed looked up at him.
When he met those green eyes, he couldn"t hide his excitement, so Gallahan laughed helplessly.
"It"s far from Blue Wave. What are you doing here? Who were you waiting for?"
"Gallahan."
"Yes?"
"I was waiting for Gallahan."
Were you waiting for me?
Gallahan tilted his head.
"Did you know I was going down this road?"
She nodded her head at his question.
She then hesitated for a moment before she answered.
"In my dreams."
"Yes, in Shan"s dream."
"I saw Gallahan. Walking on this road alone with a bag. But he looked so lonely."
There was a moment of silence.
It was unusual between the two who always talked when they met.
And the more Gallahan blinked silently, the more nervous Shan"s face became.
"I know."
Behind his silence, which seemed like an eternity to her, he opened his mouth.
"You had a dream about me, right?"
Gallahan laughed like a child.
Then he said, "Humm," and tried to fix his expression belatedly, but he couldn"t hide his wandering mouth.
"My desire to see Shan was so great that I even went to her dream."
Despite the playful remarks that followed, Shan could not laugh together.
She looked at the luggage bag in his hand and asked carefully.
"Are you okay, Gallahan?"
"There were times when my heart hurt a little, but now it"s okay. Thanks to Shan, everything got better."
"That"s a relief..."
Shan"s big eyes, still full of worries for him, touched a corner of his heart.
And maybe he was drunk with that tickling feeling, and courage like never before springed up.
Gallahan carefully wrapped Shan"s hand and grabbed it.
"If you"re not busy right now, can you give me some time, Shan?"
"...Yes."
"Then shall we go this way?"
The two began walking in the direction Gallahan was pointing.
Fortunately, there was no need to remove the hand holding Shan.
Gallahan breathed with joy as he sighed with relief.
It was such a strange thing.
He lost everything a while ago, and it felt like he had the whole world.
"Actually, my name is Gallahan Lombardi."
The story that started with a calm self-introduction was quite long.
As he walked, holding her hand as far as his feet could reach, Gallahan carefully showed his feelings that he had never told anyone.
"......"
Shan listened to Gallahan"s story.
There was no urging, and there was no big refutation.
All she did was nod her head once in a while, but that small gesture seemed to rea.s.sert him that it was ok.
"...So I packed up and left the house today."
When he spit it out, it was like saying that an immature child had run away from home.
Gallahan smiled embarra.s.sedly, then suddenly realized.
"Come to think of it, Shan... you never asked anything about me."
It was always up to Gallahan to ask Shan any questions.
"Because I knew you would say something like this one day."
Shan replied with a shrug.
Maybe she"s not interested in me.
Gallahan, who had been terrified, burst out laughing out loud.
"Sometimes Shan is like someone who really knows the future. That"s why I"m more nervous...."
Gallahan stopped walking first.
It was in front of a small two-story house with a red roof.
Clink.
With a small sound, he handed something he had pulled out of his arms.
"Key..."
It was a key tied with a small red ribbon.
Shan looked down at what was suddenly held out in front of her and asked.
"What"s this, Gallahan?"
"This is the key to this house."
As if embarra.s.sed, Shan, who had only looked at the key, turned to the red roof house along Gallahan"s fingertips.
"Oh...!"
It was that house.
The house where she and Gallahan lived happily ever after.
Realizing the meaning of this moment when he gave the key, Shan gulped down her dry saliva.
"Shan."
Gallahan was also very nervous.
"Even though I am no longer a Lombardi, and I am not particularly good at anything. I love Shan deeply. And I want to live with Shan in this house."
The hem of the ribbon fluttered together with trembling fingertips, holding the key tight like a lifeline.
"I was in a hurry to find a house here because Shan said she liked Lombardi, but we can go to another estate if you want. There are also several small buildings in the Sushou estate, close to Shan"s hometown. I don"t care where it is. Shan... If you are by my side."
With her, he would be happy to build a hut and live in the mountains.
"So, what I mean is..."
Gallahan closed his eyes tightly and said.
"Marry me, Shan."
Yes or no.
Gallahan couldn"t breathe and waited for an answer.
But the answer was rarely heard.
Eventually, Gallahan began to slowly open his closed eyes.
"...Shan".
"Ugh..."
Shan was crying.
She had never lost her laughter when talking about her hometown and mother who she had left, or when she confessed the reality that she suddenly had nowhere to go.
She was weeping sadly without thinking to wipe her tears from falling.
"...It is."
"What did you say, Shan?"
Gallahan listened closely and asked again.
"I thought you wouldn"t ask me forever."
She fear the future will change.
She"s afraid he"ll make another choice.
Her heart, which she was afraid of alone, became tears and flowed out.
"Shan."
Gallahan held her in his arms.
It was a relationship that he barely reached after giving up what he had when he was born.
Thump, thump.
Listening to Gallahan"s intense heartbeat, Shan replied to him.
"Good. I"ll marry you, Gallahan."