The Investiture Ceremony

It was an indirect, metaphorical way of putting it.

But Lucia couldn't help understanding what he meant by it.

"……."

Lucia's mouth fell open in a daze.

She wanted to ask Astin if he really meant what she thought he did, and hear him confirm it.

That impulse lasted only a moment before Lucia gently closed her lips.

She struggled to keep the corners of her mouth from twitching upward.

He wasn't suited to grandiose embellishments or obvious confessions.

That was the kind of man Astin, the one Lucia loved, was.

Nightmares and reality were different. This man was the Astin she knew...