Chapter 52
“Hyut!”
Suddenly, Cayente’s strong, muscular thigh slipped in between Yulia’s legs, and she couldn’t help but let out a startled gasp. As expected, a satisfied chuckle from Cayente brushed past her ear.
“You can’t just hold it in because my mother’s here. If you want me, just say so. I’ll gladly hold you.”
“Who would—!”
Who would want something like that—Yulia was about to retort, but the words never left her mouth. She turned her head to argue, only to find Cayente’s lips barely a breath away from hers. She instinctively squeezed her eyes shut, but she could still feel Cayente’s gaze hovering between her eyelids and lips.
“You started this.”
Despite the coldness of his words, Cayente’s lips touched hers softly. The kiss, unlike usual, felt careful, and Yulia’s lips parted without resistance. What began as a teasing kiss gradually deepened into an intimate entangling of tongues like that of lovers, leaving Yulia troubled—but for an entirely different reason.
Was it the hand cradling the back of her head—firm but not forceful—that made her feel a kind of care she hadn’t experienced since reuniting with him?
It should’ve felt wrong. She should’ve wanted to yell at him to stop. It wasn’t even embarrassing—they’d done this before. And yet, heat flooded her face for reasons she couldn’t explain.
This couldn’t be. It was just a forced kiss. So why did it feel this sweet?
Every nerve was focused solely on that kiss, making the soft, slick sensation of his tongue painfully vivid. Even the wet, embarrassing sounds echoing between them didn’t make her want to stop.
From her lips, warmth spread through Yulia’s face, then slowly radiated across her body. She found herself wanting Cayente’s body, which trapped her so closely, to press even closer. She wanted the thigh between her legs to push against her more firmly.
It was Yulia who had fallen into a daze, thinking how she wouldn’t mind kissing like this forever… but then, Cayente suddenly pushed her away and stepped back. He turned abruptly as if to leave the room but stopped, gripping the doorframe and saying:
“You’ll come with me to the lighthouse.”
The words sounded like he was offering the lighthouse trip in exchange for the kiss, which made Yulia think it would’ve been better if he hadn’t said anything at all. But what she didn’t know was that Cayente’s face—turned away—was burning just as much as hers.
* * *
After a quick breakfast, Yulia climbed into the same car from yesterday. Instead of going over the mountain again, they drove along the left side of the mansion for a while, and soon, the lighthouse came into view across the wide expanse of grass.
“The car can’t go all the way to the lighthouse, so we’ll have to walk from here. Is that okay, Yulia?”
“Of course. I love walking. And the grass here is so pretty—it makes me want to walk, Lady Maria.”
Yulia got out first and offered her hand with a smile to help Maria down. Meanwhile, Cayente sat silently in the driver’s seat, his mind too tangled for him to hear a thing.
“Young miss, take my hand.”
“It’s fine, Lucy. You help Lady Maria instead. The slope’s steep—she might slip.”
“I can handle this just fine. But yes, would you give me a hand? I wore nice clothes for our lovely guests, and it’s hard to walk in them.”
“Yes, Lady Maria!”
“…Isn’t my brother coming?”
Unaware of Cayente’s inner chaos, Yulia asked before stepping forward. When he didn’t respond, she hesitated, then held out her hand and called him. Despite his obvious reluctance, Yulia stood firm, looking him straight in the eyes as if willing him to move.
A breeze swept past the two as they stood facing each other. Yulia’s neatly brushed hair fluttered in the wind, and with a smile, she reached up to catch the strands. Her radiant smile shone brighter than even the vibrant green grass behind her, full of life.
Cayente almost raised his hand toward her without realizing—but then hesitated and stepped back.
“Go ahead without me.”
“…Alright.”
As she walked away with Henry, Cayente bit his lip hard, watching her retreating figure.
Again. Just like before…
He’d surprised even himself earlier, overcome by an unbearable desire to touch Yulia. He blamed his lack of immunity to her, knowing full well how vulnerable he was in this area. From the moment he reunited with her, he had been seeing her as a woman. That realization had startled him, but he had rationalized it—it made sense, after all, if he intended to have a child with her.
This morning, when he kissed her, it had started as a joke—just to tease her. But once their lips met, he became so absorbed that he forgot his original intent. When her body atop his thigh began to feel noticeably warmer, he felt something stir in his lower half for the first time in his life.
In that moment, he genuinely wanted to embrace her.
Only now did Cayente realize: he had never felt this way toward any of the women who had tried to seduce him. This wasn’t something he could chalk up to lack of experience or immunity. Even now, he was struggling not to run up to her, grab that silky hair, and drown her in kisses.
In short, Cayente responded only to Yulia.
* * *
“Wow!”
Yulia gasped when she reached the hilltop and saw the vast coastline below. But what truly left her speechless was the stained glass covering an entire wall of the lighthouse.
The stained glass stretched vertically from the left side of the entrance all the way to the top where the beacon was. At the top were images of gods, the sun, and the moon. The middle featured angels and birds, and the bottom had people and various flowers. All of it harmonized beautifully in vibrant colors to create a single, living world.
Whoever thought to decorate a lighthouse—standing tall and battered by wind—with something so delicate? And yet, with nothing to block the sunlight, the glass sparkled brilliantly, too wondrous to look away from.
“Yulia, want to go inside? It looks completely different from within.”
“Yes!”
Invited by Maria, Yulia entered the lighthouse. The sunlight pouring in through the glass made her eyes sting with unexpected emotion. She’d seen stained glass in churches before, but here it felt different. Unlike a church with many windows, this place had only this one. And that lone source of light was so beautiful, it moved her deeply.
“Can we go up?”
“Of course. I come here often and made sure it’s safe.”
“I’d love to go up.”
Yulia eagerly stepped onto the spiral staircase that wound upward like a swirl, hoping to see each detail of the stained glass up close.
“Careful now. Kai, what are you doing just standing there? Go with her.”
Maria, who had seen it many times before, slipped away with Lucy and Henry. Cayente didn’t look thrilled but followed silently—he couldn’t leave her to climb the steep metal stairs alone.
“Look, Brother! There’s a tiny bluebird here!”
Yulia quickly forgot all caution toward Cayente, excitedly pointing out the designs as they climbed. She stopped frequently to admire the glass, taking much longer to reach the top than expected. At the summit, she ran back and forth between the arching windows surrounding the giant beacon, marveling at the panoramic view.
“No wonder they call this a vacation island. Every part of it is breathtaking.”
Cayente, who arrived later, showed no reaction, but Yulia didn’t mind. She strolled around until she reached the window with the clearest view of the sea, placed her hands on the sill, and leaned into the wind. Standing in the open, the strong gusts blew away all her inner tension.
“There aren’t any windows here.”
She noticed now that there were just open frames—no actual panes. Curious, she touched the brick windowsill, wondering aloud, and Cayente scoffed at the naive question.
“How would the light reach the ocean if there were windows?”
She pouted at his tone. Was it really so strange, considering she’d never seen a lighthouse—or even the sea—before?
Just then, as Cayente was about to warn her for leaning too far out the open frame, a sudden gust blew from behind and lifted her hat into the wind. Reacting instinctively, Yulia reached out to grab it—and lost her balance.
She was falling.
The cliff that once seemed so far away now felt terrifyingly close, as if viewed through a telescope.
