184 Will You Marry Me?


    The painting originally depicted Landon and Beowulf. Out of spite, Lucien painted Seara over Beowulf and turned it into a painting of him and his twin sister.


    After working on it for half an hour, the original painting was restored. Once Lucien was done, he put his brush aside and observed his work.


    “How is it?” he asked the demanding customer in the room. “Satisfied?”


    Ronan beamed at the altered painting. Now the fourth painting in the series no longer depicted Seara but Beowulf next to Landon, just how it was supposed to be.


    “Yes,” he confirmed. “More than satisfied.”


    “Now you can go and disy this painting out there,” Lucien teased.


    “Oh, I will,” Ronan said with determination.


    Lucien shook his head with a chuckle.


    Ronan swallowed hard when he watched Lucien tidy up his painting materials and put them back into the cupboard.


    .....


    “Oh, excuse me for a little bit,” Lucien said when he noticed some paint on his fingers.


    Lucien went to the bathroom to clean his fingers and Ronan waited outside restlessly.


    The man in the white sweater was clueless about the turmoil in Ronan’s heart.


    They had finallye to this point. There was no more turning back. Not that Ronan wanted to. He had worked so hard and relentlessly toe to this point.


    Out of the bathroom, Lucien slid Ronan’s hand into his, beaming at the Alpha with a gaze filled with warmth and adoration.


    “Is that it? Let’s go then, I want to take a round on the travtor again...”


    “Umm... Lulu, wait.”


    “Hmm?”


    “There is one more thing,” Ronan said helplessly.


    Lucien stared at Ronan.


    “I only drew four paintings with this theme, Ronan Silverback,” he said with a frown.


    “You cannot possibly have found some random ck and red wolf paintings and assumed that I painted them? I am not going to correct other people’s paintings for you.”


    “No, not at all,” Ronan hastily muttered. “I just want to show you something else.”


    Ronan led him back to the elevator.


    “What? There is another floor???” Lucien eximed in surprise.


    “No, not quite,” Ronan said, pressing an “R” button on the floor selection panel.


    It turned out that “R” stood for “Roof”.


    The elevator door did not open up to a fifth floor but to the open roof instead.


    The open space was utilized as a little garden. There were beds of flowers and also some potted nts that surrounded a sitting bench for two in the middle of the floor. Two tallmps stood solemnly at each side of the sitting bench to provide adequate lighting.


    The little garden looked especially enchanting at night.


    “Wow,” Lucien said with a chuckle. “I can’t believe this. You have a roof full of nts and flowers!”


    Ronan smiled.


    “Do you like it?”


    “Of course! It’s amazing, I have to say,” Lucien admitted.


    He bent his knees at a group of potted nts, wanting to see what kind of nts they were, but Ronan pulled him up instead.


    “?”


    “Do thatter,” Ronan said, his voice trembling a little. “Let’s go over there first.”


    The Alpha pointed toward the end of the floor. The edge of the roof was equipped with a sturdy circr railing. Looking down from the railing, Lucien could see the visitors in the yard. They were chatting animatedly in groups while sharing sses of wine. Meanwhile, a group of drones hovered over them, casting colorful lights at them.


    It was even more magical when seen from above, because then Lucien could see how the colors mingled together to form a beautiful, dynamic mosaic that flowed smoothly from one pattern to another.


    “I like the drones a lot,” Lucienmented. “How do you make sure that they move in sync like that? One false move and they will crash against each other.”


    “Indeed,” Ronan said. “Our drone team worked very hard to ensure no incidents. They went through rigorous training just for the sake of today.”


    Lucien gave Ronan an amused look.


    “Training? Sounds interesting. What other things can the drones do?”


    Ronan smiled.


    “Let me show you what they can do.”


    The Alpha took out his phone and typed a message to someone. As if on cue, all the drones flew up to the sky, hovering above Ronan’s and Lucien’s heads.


    Ronan pulled Lucien to sit on the bench while they watched the drone performance.


    The drones formed a pair of ducks that were kissing in the sky, then a group of doves that flew in circles.


    “Wow,” Lucien whispered when the drones arranged themselves to a pounding heart formation, its color changing subtly from pink to red. “I have to say, you need to give them a raise.”


    “Sure,” Ronan said.


    The pounding heart up in the sky might as well be his own.


    After a few more tricks, the drones formed letters.


    LULU


    Lucien gaped at the sparkling letters in the sky.


    “Hey, that’s my...”


    The word dissolved and another was formed.


    WILL


    YOU


    MARRY ME?


    Lucien parted his lips from surprise. He turned to look at Ronan, who was no longer sitting next to him, but was kneeling in front of him instead.


    The Alpha had a small velvety box open in his hand. Inside the box was the most beautiful diamond ring that Lucien had ever seen.


    Lucien heard himself gasping when he caught sight of the ring. He could feel his blood draining from his head, going to his heart. It was beating so fast that it might burst any second.


    Other than the sound of blood rushing past his ears, all he could hear was Ronan’s gentle plea.


    “Lucien Clearwater, the love of my life.


    I love you more than words can express.


    Will you do me the honor to marry me and be the Luna of my pack?”


    Lips trembling from overwhelming emotions, Lucien was unable to speak. He merely looked at Ronan as tears slowly trickled down his cheeks.


    Ronan felt his chest squeezing with pain.


    “Lulu? Say something,” he begged.


    Lucien nodded a few times before he found his words.


    “Yes,” he said, choking with sobs. “Yes, I will marry you.”