Chapter 01
The carriage raced endlessly along the winding outskirts road.
Inside the rattling cabin, Sephine and Felix sat side by side—but their attitudes were entirely different.
Unlike Sephine, who pressed close to the window as if on a picnic, admiring the scenery outside, Felix kept yawning, clearly bored out of his mind.
Sephine hummed lightly to herself.
“I’m really glad I came.”
Her heart was stolen by the slow, peaceful countryside—so different from the capital where her family resided.
And for good reason. The capital, Frika, where she lived, was currently in a period of turmoil. A rising capitalist class had begun to dominate the city, armed with unfamiliar new machines and enormous wealth.
By the time signboards reading “Let’s build a new city” outnumbered the trees along the streets, she was only a few months away from graduation.
“Ahem—what did you say, Sephine?”
Felix cleared his throat, trying not to show he had dozed off. Sephine looked at him indifferently—Felix of the Count Rohfman family, the man most likely to become her fiancé after graduation.
“Isn’t it strange? I wasn’t born here, but it feels so warm… like I’ve come back home.”
The carriage jolted, and Felix, who had been crossing his legs, thumped his foot to the floor, suppressing his irritation.
“This isn’t the time to be saying things like that, Sephine. Think about Count Buchanan. What do you think your father felt when he allowed you to bury yourself in a place like this? It’s because of your graduation thesis. He just wants you to graduate with good results—you understand that much with that pretty little head of yours, don’t you?”
He wasn’t entirely wrong—but not entirely right either.
Writing a thesis was the only way to complete the academy, but graduating wasn’t strictly necessary.
Most noblewomen naturally withdrew once they married—even during the semester.
And in fact, several marriage proposals had already come to her. Among them, Felix sitting beside her was the most likely candidate.
The Rohfman family, which had produced senators for generations, was considered by Count Buchanan to be the most suitable match for his house. And as her academy classmate, Felix was the man she was most familiar with.
Though he had insisted on escorting her all the way to this remote area, it was hard to say his actions were entirely unrelated to noble expectations of gentlemanly behavior. The lightness of his luggage clearly showed he intended to return to Frika immediately after arrival, citing a busy schedule.
Seeing Felix’s inability to hide his boredom, Sephine simply smiled faintly and turned her head.
Partly because she feared she might say something unrefined if the conversation continued—and partly because his current face overlapped with the awkward boy he used to be. The shy eighteen-year-old who couldn’t even meet her eyes.
Perhaps that was why, suddenly, she imagined a scene of married life.
A husband who lectured—and a wife who seemed to suit him.
A wife who valued freedom, and a husband who believed strict discipline was the only way to shape a person.
…Sigh.
Without realizing it, a deep sigh escaped her lips.
Joy and excitement always come with anxiety.
Her father used to say it like a line from a song whenever she tried to make even a slightly unconventional choice.
<To enjoy life is to walk a path full of thorns. Life only bears fruit for those who endure. Especially for women of noble families. Following the path laid out for you guarantees stability—and that is the greatest happiness in life.>
Those words had only made her more uneasy.
Perhaps that was why she proposed this graduation trip—it felt like a final request. Using the excuse that she had no ideas for her thesis, she asked permission to visit Greenwood, where her nanny lived.
She had expected immediate refusal.
But Count Buchanan had surprisingly agreed.
The unstable situation in the capital played a role. He needed to quickly secure political influence, and in that process, his daughter’s presence wasn’t particularly useful.
“Ah, finally.”
The carriage passed over a hill.
Livestock grazed within fenced fields, fruit trees shimmered under sunlight, and in the distance to the northeast, a slice of emerald sea came into view.
Greenwood was near.
“Since we’re here, try enjoying the scenery.”
Sephine lightly tapped his knee. Reluctantly, Felix straightened up and looked outside.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
She spoke playfully, raising her voice. Felix gave a reluctant nod.
“Yes. At least there are no barricades.”
The central roads of Frika were practically blocked everywhere by barricades.
But that wouldn’t last forever.
Once she finished her thesis and graduated, the streets would return to their usual calm. Protest noise would disappear, banners would vanish, and trees would bloom again with each passing season.
Maybe then her father wouldn’t rush her marriage.
And even if she married Felix, she didn’t intend to live a dull life. Perhaps she could build a villa in a place like Greenwood and visit each season.
“Ah!”
Sephine suddenly gasped, raising a hand to her head.
The ribbon under her chin had come loose, and her violet hat was swept away by the wind.
She leaned out to look back, but the hat had already disappeared as if it had grown wings.
After tapping on the driver’s post, she shot Felix a narrow-eyed glance as he tried to suppress laughter.
“Aren’t you going to help? We should stop the carriage.”
“Just leave it. Even if you find it, you’ll lose it again in a few days.”
“I know you’re just being lazy. If you didn’t come here to ruin my trip, how about acting like a gentleman?”
Felix blinked sleepily, not moving an inch.
“Actually… maybe you owe the wind something from a past life. Why does your hat always fly away? This is the second time I’ve seen it.”
Sephine gave up on stopping the carriage and sat back, displeased.
“That’s why no one calls you a gentleman. A lady loses her hat, and you just laugh instead of picking it up.”
“If you’ve worn it a few times, it’s fine to let it go. A hat from a top-tier tailor in a place like this? Who knows—your nanny might find it while herding cows and show up wearing it.”
His laughter filled the carriage.
Sephine responded flatly.
“Sure, like she’ll find it in a place this big. This land is larger than your entire estate and all its villas combined.”
Felix smiled awkwardly.
“It might all become yours someday, yet you’re quite stingy in your assessment.”
Sephine didn’t reply.
While land size might be debatable, in wealth and social status, few families could rival the Rohfman house.
A subtle, self-assured smile lingered on his lips. She didn’t feel like acknowledging it.
“Whatever.”
Just then, a loud mechanical noise pierced the air.
As the carriage crossed another ridge, an automobile—something she never expected to see in these outskirts—blared its horn across the plains.
The roaring sound approached as if it would swallow the carriage whole.
The driver pulled aside to let it pass.
Through the small window, Sephine watched as the black car sped past, kicking up clouds of dust.
Felix clicked his tongue.
“They’re driving something like that even here? What kind of idiot family do they belong to?”
Coughing from the dust, she pulled down the curtain. The noise faded, leaving only the rhythm of horse hooves.
With that rhythm, an inexplicable sense of anticipation filled her chest.
It wasn’t because of the new technology.
It was because losing her hat felt like cutting the last thread tying her to life in the capital.
As the dust settled, a vast meadow stretched ahead—like a promise that freedom was just within reach.
* * *
Her nanny was already waiting outside the fence.
“Hannah!”
Sephine jumped out of the carriage and ran toward her.
“You’ll fall, miss! Oh my, slowly…”
Hannah, who had aged a little since they last met, greeted her with a bright smile.
Sephine wrapped her in a tight embrace, beaming.
