I Won't Go Back to My Family Who Abandoned Me

***

He’d faced many hardships and difficulties so far, but this was by far the biggest crisis he’d ever faced. To the point where he thought it would be better to take the Imperial knight examination again.

“How did you propose?”

After contemplating what to do, he eventually asked one of the married knights. Since they’d never exchanged private stories with each other before, the knight looked surprised for a moment, then readily replied without any sign of displeasure.

He said that he proposed marriage by offering her favorite flower.

‘Flowers…’

The most classic and simple proposal.

However, Enoch wanted to prepare a more memorable proposal. The desire was so great that the proposal was unexpectedly delayed.

Ian, who’d been quietly watching over Enoch, one day asked him something as if to urge him on.

“When are you going to propose to Leticia?”

Ian was uncomfortable and incredibly frustrated with his brother, who normally handled everything so quickly and reliably. That’s because he’d heard a lot of interesting things lately.

[That’s Miss Aster, isn’t she so nice and kind?]

It was when he went to the same party as Leticia. He looked at her from afar as she talked to the young ladies. That was when the young lords confided their admiration of her. Ian, who was listening to them talk next to him, smiled inwardly at their envious comments.

That didn’t last long though.

[It’s hard to say this, but…]

The young lord, who was secretly looking at Ian, carefully brought it up.

[I’m very interested in Miss Aster.]

Ian already knew that there were many noblemen aiming for Leticia. However, he never expected to hear it so openly, so his lip trembled while he managed his facial expression.

“I’m going to do it soon. It’s because I’m being careful.”

Enoch said he’d been thinking for a while about how to propose perfectly. Elle, who was standing next to Ian, didn’t want to hear any of his excuses.

“If you lose her to some loser while you hesitate, then you’ll die by my hands!”

Elle had also been hearing similar words to Ian, so she jumped up from her seat to yell at him some more, but all Enoch could think about was how to propose, and when to do it.

He still hadn’t found a way to propose, but he’d already decided what kind of ring to prepare.

A pink diamond.

He felt it was best to make a ring with a gem that meant ‘eternal youth and beauty’ and ‘making your wish come true’.

Elle suggested a number of ring designs to Enoch, but he responded harshly. He’d already had to reject Elle five times, and he was at the limit of his patience now.

“I’ll hold it in for now, but if you go somewhere else for the ring, you’ll never hear the end of it. Got it?”

Enoch let out a long sigh as he watched Elle leave after she warned him that she’d never forgive him if Leticia refused his proposal.

‘Tomorrow.’

Tomorrow was the day it would finally be settled.

***

‘How the heck am I going to propose?’

The first thing that came to Leticia’s mind was the classic proposal where you handed over flowers and the ring. She thought of herself handing a bouquet of flowers to Enoch, and offering him a ring, but she couldn’t picture it properly.

‘It’s too mundane.’

Leticia wanted to show her seriousness in a situation where she didn’t know if he would accept, or not. She had nothing tangible to show for her efforts so far, and was at a loss for what to do.

‘How could she even think of proposing when it was so difficult.’

Leticia was at a loss, and looked like she was going to cry. She didn’t want to give up so easily either.

‘Come to think of it, I have to think about what to say while proposing.’

She really wanted to live as a happy couple with Enoch after they married. She thought about how to deliver the words in her heart.

‘Happiness…’

She went through her memory to see what reminded her of happiness. At that moment, Leticia remembered the time when she bought the promise ring a long time ago. She’d been told that a three-leaf clover meant ‘happiness’.

‘Then should I buy a bunch of three-leaf clovers?’

It would be too simple to just hand over a three-leaf clover, so she thought it would be nice to have some other flowers.

Leticia didn’t hesitate anymore, and immediately went into action. Fortunately, there was a flower shop nearby, so she went to it at once.

“Do you have any clovers? Ones with three leaves.”

While she asked, Leticia thought about what flowers would go well with the clovers. However, an unexpected answer came back.

“I’m sorry, someone already bought all of my clovers, so I don’t have any right now.”

“Ah…”

She didn’t doubt that there would be some since most people bought flowers. When the owner of the flower shop shook his head apologetically, Leticia couldn’t hide her disappointment.

“Yes, I understand.”

She was forced to find another flower shop. However, the next flower shop, and the one after it, gave the same answer.

‘Why is it so hard to find clovers?’

When she’d remembered that the three-leaf clover meant ‘happiness’, she thought this was it. However, when she couldn’t find it at any flower shop she visited, she returned to the Achilles mansion with a disappointed look on her face.

‘It would be faster to find some in a field.’

She was really thinking about looking for some there, but she ran into Enoch, who was waiting for her at the door. Happy to see him, Leticia forgot her plans and ran to him.

“You came home early today.”

“Yes, something important came up.”

The important thing seemed to be about her. Enoch looked at Leticia, and smiled softly.

“By the way, what’s that?”

Leticia nodded her head towards his other hand, where she saw he was holding a black cloth.

As she looked at it curiously, Enoch smiled and held it out to Leticia.

“I have somewhere I want to take you. Could you put this on for a second?”

What Enoch handed over was a blindfold made of black cloth. Leticia had no idea what it was for, she opened her eyes wide and looked up at him.

“Now…?”

“Yes, now.”

“….”

In response to his firm answer, Leticia hesitated and smoothed the cloth in her hands.

‘I’m a little scared…’

It was Enoch, so she forced herself to put the blindfold on for him. The cloth was so thin that she thought she’d be able to see through it, but surprisingly she couldn’t.

“You’re not taking me to a weird place, are you?”

Feeling anxious, Leticia waved her hands in the air. When she was starting to become more anxious because she couldn’t see anything, she felt his big hands gently grasp her hands.

“I won’t take you anywhere dangerous.”

“It’s a little scary because I can’t see ahead.”

“Okay, walk slowly.”

Thanks to his softly whispered instructions, Leticia carefully took one step at a time. She walked so slowly that she could have crawled faster, which should’ve been frustrating, but Enoch didn’t rush her even once.

At that moment, a small laugh was heard above her.

“Pfft.”

“…?”

When Leticia raised her head wondering what was wrong, Enoch said in an amused voice.

“It’s cute when you hold my hands so tightly.”

Only then did Leticia realize that she was holding Enoch’s hands harder than usual, but that was because she couldn’t see anything. It sounded like he was teasing her, so she scratched her fingernails down his wide palms.

“Can I take off this blindfold already?”

“Not yet.”

She tried to pull her hands away, but Enoch quickly grabbed them, and Leticia had no choice but to continue to slowly walk forward.

“How much longer do I have to go on like this?”

While her discomfort was invisible to the eyes, her voice began to sound frustrated.

Enoch immediately noticed, and suggested with a smile.

“Do you want a hug?”

“Yes. Oh, no!”

Leticia almost nodded, but refused almost immediately. When she imagined Enoch hugging her while she wore a blindfold, her cheeks turned slightly red. It was hard because she couldn’t see in front of her, but it was better if she waited.

As if reading his mind, she imagined Enoch’s light laughter in her ears.

“There’s not much farther to go, so please be patient for a little longer.”

“If it’s scary, then I won’t forgive you.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“I don’t even want to be surprised.”

“Oh, I can’t guarantee that.”

Even though she wore a blindfold, she could imagine Enoch making a troubled expression in front of her.

After they walked a little longer, Leticia wiggled her fingers because she wanted to take the blindfold off. Only then could she finally get the answer she wanted.

“You can take it off now.”

Before Enoch could finish talking, Leticia took off her blindfold as if she was waiting for it.

‘This is…?’

The sudden sunshine blinded her, so she couldn’t see properly. She covered her eyes slightly from the bright light, and looked around. Once she became used to the sunshine, the scene in front of her slowly unfolded in front of her eyes.

At first glance, she thought it was an ordinary clover field, but once she looked closely, she realized they were all four-leaf clovers.

“What is all of this?”

Leticia blinked her eyes in disbelief at the numerous piles of four-leaf clovers. She felt breathless, and like her heart was going to stop.

“Because you’re my luck.”

His dark black hair fluttered in the gentle breeze, slightly below were eyes the color of the sea shore, and a voice that flowed softly to her ears. Leticia felt like she was standing in the sweetest of dreams.

She couldn’t help but look at him, but when she did Enoch was too embarrassed, and couldn’t make eye contact even though he usually would.

This felt like the first time that she realized what a romantic person he was.

“Enoch…”

Tears covered her eyes, and her vision gradually blurred. However, she couldn’t miss the warmth that surrounded her hands, so she grabbed hold of it harder.

“I will do my best to be your happiness.”

She could clearly feel that he’d been thinking about how to convey his sincerity for a long time, and she could feel Enoch’s hands shaking while he talked.

“Even now…”

She was so happy right now.

“I’m very happy because of you.” f𝒓𝑒e𝙬𝒆𝚋𝘯૦𝘷𝐞𝑙.c𝑜𝐦

The tears kept building up.

Eventually, she couldn’t hold them back anymore, and her tears began to fall. Enoch wiped them off with his fingertips, then opened a velvet box. Inside the case was the item Leticia had desired for so long.

“Will you accept it?”

As soon as she saw it, Leticia slowly reached out instead of answering. As soon as the snow melted, she’d put this shiny ring on her slim white finger, and it would look like a freshly bloomed flower on her hand.

Leticia looked down at the ring as if she was mesmerized.

‘Ah…’

A ring that contained his feelings, proving that it wasn’t a one-sided love. It felt like she had Enoch’s heart.

How much she wanted to have this. She was so moved that she felt like crying again.

“I’ve been waiting for so long.”

Along with the endless joy, a sad feeling flowed out. In the midst of all of this, Leticia put the same ring in Enoch’s hands as she had in her own.

Enoch was embarrassed at her unexpected words, smiled for a moment, then hugged Leticia.

“I won’t make you wait next time. “

“Really?”

“Never.”

The rings shared between them shone brightly in the warm sunlight.

It was the happiest and most perfect spring in the world.