Erina came and sat at the prepared dining table. After more than ten minutes, Henry still hadn't appeared. Normally, even on weekends, when he didn't have to go to the martial arts school, he would still wake up very early and have breakfast with her.
“Young master hasn't woken up yet?” Erina turned to Lucia and asked.
“Maybe he has a day off today so he sleeps a little more. He came down here last night to get some wine to drink…”
Seeing Erina calmly take the bread and eat it quickly, Lucia stopped talking and quietly retreated into the kitchen to clean up.
Looking at the food and the chair opposite, then looking up at the stairs, Erina sighed softly. Some things have become habits, and if they don't repeat themselves one day, they will invisibly make people feel disappointed.
After swallowing the last piece of bread, she hurriedly went upstairs. Her feet were half-heartedly wanting to step into his room, but half-heartedly refusing.
After hesitating for a few minutes, she went straight to her room, took her bag, and quickly went back down.
“I'll go to the farm for a moment. If the young master still hasn't woken up, please go up and check on him, I'm afraid he'll have a fever again...”
“Yes, mistress.”
Seeing Erina's figure disappearing behind the gate, Lucia shook her head in frustration. The older a person becomes, the colder and more insensitive they become.
Previously, when Miyeon passed away, Lucia was very worried about Henry, and only when Erina appeared did she feel somewhat relieved.
Although Erina was only two years older than Henry, she took care of him meticulously and thoughtfully, just like an adult. And then time made that warm girl change.
If it was before, when she saw that Henry wasn't awake, she probably would have run into his room to take a look, instead of calmly eating and drinking, then just giving a few instructions and disappearing like this.
The grape farm is in the harvest season, and the bunches of grapes glistening in the yellow sunlight look extremely attractive. Erina walked beside Clement, nimbly cutting each bunch of berries and putting them into the basket in his hand.
When the workers saw her, they immediately greeted her. When she passed by, they gathered together and began to talk excitedly. Except for the outsiders, everyone on the farm knew that she was their future mistress.
But in the past eight years, they saw that she was never with Henry but always with Clement like a shadow, going to school together, working in the vineyard together, and sometimes even climbing up the mountain together to wander.
“Do you have any information from the detectives?” Erina leaned over and asked softly.
“Not yet.”
“When we jumped from the deck to the small boat, I was so panicked that I couldn't remember his face clearly. Are you sure the person in the photo is him?”
“Of course. When I was with my father at the provincial branch, I met him once in the bodyguards escorting Hubert on an inspection trip. I was wondering if he was killed?”
“It's possible. If so, then we have no hope left. That's the only clue.”
Clement smiled, took her hand, and led her around the rows of grapes, then handed the basket full of grapes to a worker, and then pulled her straight to the mountain.
Usually, he went up the mountain every weekend to meditate with his master, but Erina had told him to wait for her today, so he waited to take her with him.
After more than two hours, the two of them reached the top of the mountain. Although they had climbed the mountain together many times, this was the first time she had climbed so high.
This picturesque mountain range was like a boundary separating province J and city K. Standing from above, one could see in the distance miniature high-rise buildings close together, just like Henry's toy models when he was a child. Erina had never set foot in the city known as the capital of country X.
After passing through several streams, the two of them stopped in front of a house hidden under the trees. Clement raised his hand to lift the loose bamboo branch and led Erina into the yard.
The view of the house evokes nostalgia and peace, making people's hearts calm down.
Clement had just said hello when an old man around seventy years old, with a rosy face and a long white beard that reached down to his neck, leisurely walked out. Although his figure was quite small, his voice was like a bell.
“This girl…”
“Her name is Erina, she is…”
“Hubert's daughter-in-law, Henry's future wife, right?”
After speaking, he laughed loudly, gently stroking his beard.
Clement nodded slightly, but Erina could only keep silent. She really didn't want to carry this vain title anymore. Fortunately, no one at the university knew.
“Erina, this is Mr. Orson. Please say hello to him.” Clement turned to Erina and said gently.
“Mr. Orson, hello, I have heard of you for a long time but now I have the opportunity to meet you.”
“Since I handed over the dojo to my disciples, it's been more than ten years since I've gone down the mountain, so of course you haven't seen me.” Orson smiled slightly.
The teapot on the wooden table gradually ran out. Clement and Orson slowly talked about martial arts and their origins. Erina sat next to them, quietly observing the surroundings. She's not a martial arts practitioner so she doesn't understand what they're saying.
Orson was a famous martial arts instructor, and his relationship with Hubert was very close. As far as Erina knew, Hubert and Max were both martial arts students taught by Orson.
However, since the opening of the martial arts school, Orson had retreated to the mountains to live in seclusion. As for Hubert, he was constantly busy expanding farms and factories, so after entrusting Clement to Orson, Hubert rarely visited his master.
Erina's mind was confused with thoughts. If Hubert had intentionally killed Max, why did he let Max's son live, give him a good education, and then entrust him to Orson to learn martial arts? Wasn't Hubert afraid that one day Clement would find out and come back to take revenge on him?
“Is Henry still healthy?”
Orson took a sip of tea, turning his eyes as bright as the stars to Erina. Catching that gaze, her hands and feet trembled, wishing Clement would quickly take her away from this place.
“Yes, the young master is still well.” She bowed her head and spoke softly.
Noticing that the person beside him was quite confused, Clement picked up the teapot and poured more tea into Orson's cup, smiling lightly.
“Henry has almost completed his studies at the martial arts school. He will probably come here soon to greet you.”
“Yes. I also look forward to seeing him again.”
After eating a few dumplings, they said goodbye to Orson and went down together. He carefully led her to the majestic waterfall not far from the mountaintop.
It was summer now, so both sides of the waterfall were covered with a carpet of bright red Rhododendron flowers. The silver water poured down from the high ravine, creating white foam like a large curtain swaying in the afternoon wind.
“Clement, I see that Hubert has always treated us very well. Could it be that we misunderstood him? Could it be that it was just an accident?”
“I can't be sure of anything until I have solid evidence. But if I don't find the truth, I will live in torment and doubt for the rest of my life.”
He picked a flower and carefully placed it in her hair. The color of the flower is so beautiful and vibrant, just like the girl he loves.
Erina looked into his eyes, the corner of her lips smiling slightly.
“Clement, do you know the meaning of this flower?”
“This flower symbolizes love between couples, the steadfast and faithful love between husband and wife.”
Erina gently leaned on Clement's shoulder, closed her eyes, immersed in the melodious melody of the mountains and forests, of the waterfall, and listened to him tell the touching and bitter story about the flowers that are known as the flowers that bring happiness and prosperity to people.
The legend tells of a king of the Shu kingdom named Du Yu, who was killed by a treacherous minister and turned into a Rhododendron bird, crying every day in the queen's flower garden.
Then, when the queen found out that it was her husband, she was so sad that she fell ill and died, her soul turned into a fiery red flower, blooming all over the hills. That is the Rhododendron flower. The Rhododendron flower and the Rhododendron bird stay together forever, becoming an immortal legend in the human world.
“What a sad story.” Erina took down the flower from her hair and spoke sadly.
“But in the end, they can still be together.” Clement held her hand and squeezed it tightly.
“Clement, I will always be by your side, no matter what happens, I believe that in the end, we will definitely be together.”
Looking at Erina's steadfast, sparkling eyes, Clement's happiness surged like a tidal wave. Hearing these words from her, he wanted nothing else. He felt very lucky that life had favored him, allowing him to meet her, get to know her, and love her.
“Erina, I will use my whole life to protect you, unless I can no longer breathe.”
“What are you talking about? You have to protect yourself. If you were like King Du Yu, I would be like that queen.”
Clement laughed, gently pinching Erina's rosy cheeks. He liked her fake sulky appearance, it looked extremely adorable. His strong hand gently ran through her hair and touched her white neck.
The distance between the two of them was getting closer. Erina felt his warm breath spreading all over her face. The first kiss was still awkward, just like a dragonfly gliding on the water's surface but brought her a lot of emotions.
“Erina, I love you.”
Hearing the words of love whispered in her ear, she shyly buried her head in Clement's chest. Love is something so wonderful, it makes people float between the levels of happiness, both happy to have it, and afraid of losing it.
At this moment, she only hoped that those doubts were not true, if they were true, she was afraid that the future ahead of both of them would be filled with storms.