I became a Male Lead in a Romance Fantasy Novel

On the day Owen sent a letter inviting Lucia to Eldoris, she immediately responded with a positive answer.

Thanks to this, their vacation plans progressed rapidly, and today was the day they planned to go to a short trip together. 

A large black carriage arrived in front of the Edelt's Mansion. The carriage that arrived today wasn't only the one with a black wolf emblem. Behind the large exquisite black carriage were other carriages that seemed like luggage carriages, along with carriages and horses of servants and knights responsible for escorting.

"Lucia."

Owen, who clad in a deep blue suit, with a familiar pronunciation on his tongue, he reached out his hand.

His hands, which usually was covered with thin gloves, were now exposed in front of her without a single piece of cloth covering them.

Looking at those naked hands, Lucia's eyes lit up and without realizing, her mouth curved into a beautiful arch.

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Owen."

Only after a while, she finally placed her bare hand on top of his 'naked' hand.

Owen held her hand familiarly and smiled. He then stared at her from head to toe while whisper gently, "It suits you well."

"Of course. It was a gift from Owen."

Lucia smoothly laughed at his whisper.

The attire she wore today was the limited edition items from Stella Boutique that Owen had gifted her a while ago. From the dress to the summer shawl, sandals, brooches, and jewelry.

In her blue ensemble, not a single item was missing, and Owen's eyes softened slightly.

"I thought you would like it."

"I really liked it. I was actually planning to go buy it myself."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. But I'm luckier that Owen sent it as a gift first. It seemed like Owen really know my preferences well."

Lucia glanced at Owen meaningfully, but Owen pretended not to notice.

"...I'm glad you liked it."

As he finished speaking, Owen led Lucia to the carriage, looking as though he was deliberately avoiding a conversation shift, but Lucia decided to go along with it. She was curious how he knew, but it wasn't worth prying forcibly for an answer.

As they boarded the carriage, the servants began to move busily. Eldoris was a place that required a 12-hours long journey from the capital, so they had to rush from now on to reach there before night.

"This feels like my first trip."

Lucia, who boarded the carriage with Owen, looked at him without saying much.

Since they were going quite far from the capital, it seemed like it would be okay to enjoy the scenery outside, but she didn't want to. Looking at something else while having Owen in front of her felt like a waste of time.

Lucia's intention was to share stories with each other. However, all Owen's ears caught was Lucia's mention of this journey being her first journey.

It was a belated realization.

In Lucia's memories, there was no space for precious moments spent with loved ones during her childhood.

Be it a peaceful family trip or memories with friends.

Nothing of that sort existed in Lucia's recollections.

Her happy memories and nostalgia were moments of being admired in the social circles after gaining what she desired. To be precise, since there were no serene and tender memories with family and friends, she must have replaced them with something else.

"It was an honor..."

After a moment of silence, those were Owen's words.

"...To be able to share your first journey."

Owen naturally softened his rigid expression. He pulled back the corners of his lips, forming a smile, turning his face into a genuinely happy one without any awkwardness.

After a while, Owen faintly smiled and said, "It's my first journey too."

"...Is it?"

In response to Owen's words and the accompanying smile, Lucia belatedly replied.

Lucia didn't think that it was a lie.

Just like her, Owen must have lived without a break even once.

For him, who had lost his parents early and lived independently, traveling was a luxury.

Lucia stared at his eyes and once again smiled faintly.

"It's truly an honor for me too. To be able to share our first journey together, Owen."

Her natural expression, as if the momentary hesitation to the honor he mentioned was false, was now relaxed.

Owen, looking at Lucia with a bright face, lightly chuckled and nodded as he said, "It's special to be each other's first."

As he softly spoke, he brought up another topic.

"The imperial banquet that was supposed to take place in July was postponed to early August due to the awakening of the saintess, Bella." 

Originally, the imperial banquet was scheduled to take place a month after the hunting competition. This schedule remained the same every year. The timing of the hunting competition was fixed for the safety of the north, always in spring and fall, while the summer imperial banquet, meant for the debutantes, was set for early July. 

"Well...The saintess also needs to have her debutante, doesn't she?"

As Owen mentioned the saintess, Lucia lazily responded. For some reason, hearing the name of the saintess come out of Owen's mouth started to make her feel annoyed.

"Yes, and it was said that the request came from the shrine. Since she was the first saintess after 200 years, of course The Empire was willing to accommodate the request of the shrine. Do you think-"

"Owen."

Hearing Owen mentioned the saintess over and over again, Lucia suddenly interrupted him.

Owen, puzzled by her cold voice, looked at Lucia, but she had already composed herself.

Instead, her crimson irises darkened.

The color of emotions in her voice calling his name became vivid.

"...Yes?"

Facing the deep red emotions, Owen slowly started to speak.

As he silently searched for a reason while responding, he pondered why such possessiveness suddenly surged in Lucia's eyes, voice, and atmosphere.

'No, it doesn't seem like mere possessiveness.'

As Owen tried to retrace the conversation to find the reason, he struggled to define the color of the emotions he encountered.

'Well, this is...'

However, before he could come to a conclusion, Lucia's voice continued.

"When we return to the capital, let's go to the boutique together. It will take time to prepare and create our banquet attire, so it would be best to leave early to allow some spare time."

"...Sure."

Contrary to the colors of burning emotions, the words spoken were ordinary. Owen, who found it hard to gauge, narrowed his eyes slightly.

But Lucia, with a enchanting smile, put down the fan covering her lips and slightly bowed her waist.

Thanks to her tilted waist, Lucia naturally reached out her hand towards Owen.

Her soft white hand touched his cheek gently.

"I look forward to tonight, as it was the first trip and first night we would spent together."

In an instant, a ripple spread through Owen's usually calm eyes, gently tugged the hidden corner of his heart.

Lucia, looking satisfied, adorned her lips with a lazy and dazzling smile.

Like a persistent rose, Owen swallowed his breath, trying hard to keep his composure.

'...As expected.'

The fact that Lucia touched him without hesitation and became bolder than before was undoubtedly due to the hunting competition. More precisely, since he spoke to her, she had continued to act in this manner.

Even at the dining table he arranged, and during the tea time in the rose garden she invited him to. Lucia laughed, whispered stories, and approached him as if she knew how he would react.

Owen exhaled slowly, closing and opening his eyes in silence, stealing glance of Lucia who still gazed at him with a teasing smile on her lips.

Yet, the warmth on his cheek remained unchanged.

'...She is teasing me.'

Owen silently swallowed a sigh.

'...It's fine though.'

As long as she liked it.

'...Everything is fine, but what's with this heart pounding!'

Everything was going smoothly.

Except for Bella's appearance before the original plot began and the uncertainty about what would unfold next, everything was perfect.

Except for his profound dilemma.

Thump, thump.

The sound of his heart pounding loudly disturbed his mind.

Before the hunting competition, she hadn't been so proactive, so there hadn't been moments where his heart raced as if in a panic.

At first it was just her appearance that excited him gently.

Yet, only today he realized that he was easily swayed by her actions.

Her soft touch and whisper could arouse such a vivid reactions from him.

In front of her, Owen found it hard to maintain his calm demeanor.

He wondered if things would improve once he got used to it, but then he questioned if it was possible to get used to this turmoil.

As Owen was lost in these thoughts, the carriage shook heavily as it passed over stones.

Clunk-

"Ah!"

As Lucia leaned forward with the movement, Owen reached out and pulled her towards him.

Sitting on his lap, Lucia ended up completely in his embrace.

"Are you okay?"

As Owen whispered, she felt Owen's breath tickled her ear, sending shivers all over her body. Only after a while, Lucia managed to nod her head stiffly.

"...It's okay."

Contrary to the fact that she had reached out to him earlier, Lucia was now flustered.

The carriage shaking was surprising, but Owen's nonchalant embrace was even more unsettling.

Lucia adjusted her posture to get out of Owen's embrace.

But.

Clunk-

"Ah!"

The carriage clunked heavily once again.

And Lucia once again embraced tightly by Owen on his lap. 

It seemed like the road they were on was not well maintained.

If it was a carriage used by the Duke of Verdin, it would surely be a high-quality, expensive one. That's why, seeing even the carriage with the family crest clunking like this, it seemed like the road was quite poorly kept.

"...The road doesn't seem good."

As if comforting her, Owen awkwardly patted Lucia's arm twice before helping her down to the seat next to him.

The carriage itself was spacious, but seeing Owen offer her the seat next to him in silence with a red-burning face, Lucia made her decision in silence.

'As expected, I had to approach him more fervently'

Owen, unaware of the determination burning inside her, proceeded to ask the coachman about the condition of the road.

When the topic of the rickety carriage was brought up to the coachman, the response that came back was that the shortest route to Eldoris was not in good condition. Thanks to this, the group decided to take a detour that would take roughly two hours longer than their original route. After that, fortunately, there were no more incidence of the carriage rattling.

Peacefully riding in the carriage, Owen and Lucia exchanged various small talk.

'It is confusing...'

While conversing, Owen tried to figure out what emotions Lucia was revealing, but he still couldn't come to a clear conclusion.

After traveling for almost half a day, the place where they stopped for a meal was a small town between the Capital and Eldoris that had developed quite well.

Upon getting off the carriage, the two were immediately surrounded by the gazes of many people. Lucia, who wanted to spread rumors, of course showed a happy expression. Of course, she seemed to be trying to hide it as much as possible, but it was difficult to conceal the light that flashed in her eyes. Seeing her gaze and realizing her scheme, Owen was amused.

Lucia's desire for him to accompany her to the royal banquet was to firmly establish the current rumors and to prevent him from escaping by revealing their relationship on an official stage.

However, the schedule for the royal banquet had been postponed. So she thought it would be good to widely publicize the fact that they had traveled together in social circles. Fortunately, her expectations were spot on.

"Where will we be staying in Eldoris?"

Lucia asked with a content expression as she continued to eat happily. For some reason, a very satisfied, lazy cat came to his mind because of her expression, but Owen quickly pushed the thought aside and replied.

"There is a villa named after the Duke of Verdin. My parents owned it."

"Oh? It's an inheritance left by your late parents?"

"Yes. Something like that."

The 'original' Owen is not materialistic. Basically, his involvement in countless businesses and his almost constant preoccupation with work were a kind of aftermath.

A trauma-induced aftermath from the mental and physical abuse he suffered from his parents, the late Duke and Duchess of Verdin, since childhood.

As the only heir, he need to have outstanding abilities. That's why the forced and oppressive education given to him from a young age to become a perfect head of the family led him to become addicted to work.

Owen, who was indoctrinated to do anything for the family, saw his purpose of existence as the 'perfect head of the family' and the 'Duke of Verdin'.

He had no enthusiasm for life and no interest in others.

And maintaining what had already been achieved was his only goal in life.

Therefore, Owen wouldn't buy a villa or the like.

For him, traveling was a worthless endeavor.

Maybe until he found her.

"It's nice to be invited to such a place. It must be precious."

In response to Lucia's words, Owen tried to say something.

But no words came out of his lips, so he closed them again.

'A precious place...'

Is it?

To him, the villa owned by his parents were nothing more or less than a property. That was how it was for him as an adult.

And for the young Owen...

- Butler Clark. Keep an eye on this kid while we're away.

- Don't worry Duke and Duchess, this humble one will do so.

The image floated around like a watercolor. At first, he was confused and disoriented, but now he understood.

This was 'his' old memory.

- Duke and Duchess were going to Eldoris too this time, right?"

- Yes since Eldoris is the most beautiful in the summer.

The cold voices stuck in his ears.

The mother then glanced coldly at the child and said.

- At least this kid is not throwing a fit this time. He used to annoyingly insist on going with us until last year.

The child fell silent at his mother's words.

The mother, as if not expecting a response, got into the carriage with his father. And as the vacation season approached, the child's parents set off on their journey, leaving the child alone at the mansion.

It was normal for him.

Even in Owen's earliest memories, he had tried hard to follow them, saying he wanted to go together. However, after several years and repeated failures, he completely gave up hope.

And so, the child no longer expected anything from their parents.

"Owen?"

With the call, the fragments of 'Owen' that had come to his mind scattered.

Owen raised his gaze without a word. With the memory of 'Owen' he had just encountered, his eyes were slightly lowered.

Perhaps Lucia would soon realize since she was a quick-witted person.

She couldn't have missed his face and expression.

"...Even if it's not the case, it's okay."

Sure enough, she quickly changed the subject.

Lucia then held Owen's hand gently and intertwining her fingers with his.

"It will be a precious place after this trip."

As if the brief silence was a lie, Lucia smiled slyly and winked. Her bright eyes were clear and vivid, without even a slight tremor.

And that's how another strange feeling stirred in Owen's heart.