Survivance Affection

Chapter 10: Rejection

"Greetings, Sir Dokja," the butler welcomed him as he arrived in front of the Lee manor.

"Please follow me this way". Dokja complied, holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand and his coat in the other.

Knight Heewon had also accompanied him here. Since she’d completed her mission in the capitol, she returned to serving as his personal knight. Arriving in a garden, they could see Lee Seolhwa's figure facing away, serenely admiring the garden around her. But when the butler announced Dokja’s arrival, she turned to face him, a genuine smile lit up her face.

Despite the trouble that ‘Kim Dokja’ had caused her until now, she was still happy to see him. He took a seat after Lee Seolhwa had gestured to him to do so. Heewon stood further back into the garden to give them privacy, while the butler left after serving the two their tea. "Thank you so much for accepting my invitation, Sir Dokja."

He gave the heiress a smile, "Of course, how could I refuse such an invitation. It’s always a pleasure to spend time with you, My Lady." At that statement, her smile briefly wavered as she looked away, seeming a bit restless. Dokja couldn’t help but feel a bit bad, since he already knew what she was stewing over. So, he tried to defuse the tension. "Oh, Lady Seolhwa, I bought you a gift."

He presented her with the flower bouquet he had bought. It was a mix of vibrant flowers of many colors. From what he could recognize, there were large yellow sunflowers, orange chrysanthemums, violets, and white daisies. The flowers were wrapped together in thin, beige papers and tied together with a pink bow.

"Ah, please don’t feel as if you need to give me so many presents, Sir Dokja," she murmured as she took the bouquet, putting on a strained smile. Originally, he had no intention of bringing anything, but Sooyoung persuaded him to at least buy the flowers, claiming that it would be insulting to a woman to show up without anything. After telling this to Lady Seolhwa, she let out a small laugh. Unlike her smile earlier, her laugh was mirthful this time around.

After that, they conversed about a variety of topics, the tension between the two draining away. As expected, Lady Seolhwa was extremely pleasant to converse with. She was well spoken and very knowledgeable on a multitude of topics. Her passionate speaking made up most of the conversation, with Dokja only chiming in occasionally to offer his own opinions.

"…And what about you Sir Dokja," she looked at him curiously. "Have you had anything interesting happen to you in recent times?" she asked.

"Haha, my life has been quite monotonous as of late, I don’t have any interesting stories to share, unfortunately."

Ah, if only that were true…

"Oh, but I do have a little secret I’ve been hiding from my family." he said, leaning in deviously. The Lady drew in a bit closer, intrigued." A few nights ago I snuck out of the manor with Han Sooyoung and my personal knight." he whispered.

Lee Seolhwa’s eyes widened in surprise for a bit before she started giggling softly, covering her mouth. "I didn't know that Sir Dokja had the courage to sneak out, especially with Sir Hades and Lady Persephone always watching."

They laughed together, before gazing at the garden together. After a moment, Dokja internally braced himself. Both he and Lady Seolhwa already knew what they came here to say, it wouldn’t be right to procrastinate having that conversation any more than they already had. "Lady Seolhwa, if I remember the letter correctly, you had something important to discuss with me, correct?"

Turning to face him, her smile vanished. She nodded her head, taking a breath and setting her shoulders back. While Dokja thought that she’d need a bit longer to prepare herself, not even a second after she did that did she look him in the eyes, her face having a mixture of determination and apprehension.