CHAPTER 207: CHAPTER 207: A ROMANTIC AND PERFECT PROPOSAL (PART 2)

The video appears a bit shaky, as if it’s a handheld selfie taken with a phone.

She’s wearing the main gown from today’s shoot, and the background is clearly the location under Eldoria Castle where they filmed a few days ago.

The sunlight is beautiful, and in the distance one can see his blurry figure as he reshoots solo shots.

She waves playfully at the camera, her face radiating a bright smile.

"Hi, Mr. Sinclair, hello! I’m your wife, Holly Crowe. It’s Brelond time, November 15, 10:26 AM in Eldoria. I have a gift I want to give you."

As soon as the words are spoken, the screen goes black.

Blake Sinclair’s heart skipped a beat unexpectedly, his gaze tightly locked on the screen.

A few seconds later, the screen lights up again, trembling violently as if the photographer is adjusting the angle.

First, only the lower half of her face and her shaking shirt collar are visible, then the camera steadies, and Holly Crowe appears full-frame.

This time, she’s wearing the uniform from Beldon No. 1 High School.

A white shirt paired with a plaid pleated skirt, her long hair tied into a ponytail, and the background behind her Blake Sinclair recognizes at a glance.

It’s the university library where he studied in Brelond, a place where he spent countless afternoons.

Holly waves to the camera and then pulls out a prepared white card from behind, holding it before the lens, bearing her neat handwriting:

"Blake Sinclair, this is the spot you visited daily at the library. This place has great sunlight, but the coffee from the automatic machine on the first floor is a bit sour, not as tasty as the coffee you made for me later."

Then, she turns the card over, revealing a side profile of him quietly reading alone in that corner of the library from years ago.

He doesn’t remember having such a photo; how did she find it?

Blake Sinclair’s heart felt as though it had been struck hard by something.

The scene quickly switches, Holly is already wearing a thick, English-style coat, wrapped in her red scarf.

Lively noises come from outside the frame, the camera turns, capturing a group of students dressed in formal black and white attire.

Their university holds its opening ceremony every November.

Holly stands at the edge of the crowd, looking at those faces with a nostalgic gaze, saying to the camera, "Blake Sinclair, did you watch me like this among the crowd in those days?"

She pulls out another photo, showing him in a black suit giving a spirited speech at the opening ceremony.

Next, Holly walks through every corner of his university, holding up her phone.

She comments on the dishes he frequently ate, the experimental building where he participated in projects, the lake behind their school with swans.

At each spot, she would magically produce a photo from his era.

She’s using her own way to re-engage with his university time, filling the absence in his heart.

Finally, the footage switches back to the original frame in Eldoria.

Holly in her wedding dress looks at the camera, seemingly looking through the screen, directly at Blake Sinclair, whose eyes are already red in the chapel.

"Blake Sinclair, thank you for secretly loving me all those years I didn’t know."

"From now on, let me love you properly, okay?"

She calls him by the nickname he knows best from childhood: "Yarrow, I love you."

The screen goes dark again, leaving only Holly’s voiceover, filled with laughter and anticipation: "Now, groom, please turn around and welcome your bride."

Blake Sinclair’s throat felt as if it was firmly blocked, unable to make a sound.

He slowly turned around, looking towards the direction of the chapel entrance.

Holly stood quietly there.

She was not wearing the last wedding dress from the photoshoot nor the primary gown from the video start, but a brand new wedding dress he had never seen before.

She lifted her skirt, smiling through tears as she looked at him.

This was the second gift prepared just for him, the First Look.

In this place meant just for the two of them, allowing him to see her for the first time in this dress, prepared solely for this moment.

Blake Sinclair couldn’t hold back anymore, almost running as he rushed forward to tightly and firmly embrace Holly Crowe!

The tears Holly had tried to hold back completely broke through with his embrace.

She returned his hug, sobbing softly.

"When did you film all of these?"

Blake Sinclair’s voice was hoarse beyond belief.

He recalled the itinerary, the only possible day was when she went to see Miles Quill, her teacher.

From Downtown London to his university, a train ride would take over an hour, no wonder she left early that day and returned at dusk.

And he had not realized, after her full day’s rush to prepare such a gift for him, he had kept her up all night with his antics.

He remembered how, two days before flying to Brelond, she had specially returned to Sinclair Manor to meet Laurel Sinclair, was it just to get the photos?

She had started planning so early.

Thinking of this, his heart felt even bitter, holding her even tighter.

"Holly, thank you. Truly, thank you."

Over and over, he whispered in her ear, only all the phrases seemed pale in comparison to this heartfelt truth.

Holly tiptoed and left a sweet kiss on his lips.

She gently touched his cheek, looking into his red eyes, "Blake Sinclair, I know there’s always been a regret in your heart that you didn’t tell me your feelings sooner, missing getting involved in my past. Now, I’ve helped fulfill that wish, is it okay?

I’ve walked the paths you walked in university, seen the sights you saw, felt the solitude and growth you’ve felt; now, there are no more blanks in our shared time."

Blake Sinclair could no longer speak a word.

What more could he wish for?

His Holly, with such a meticulously planned gift, responded to his decade-long secret crush, soothing all his fears and regrets.

She loved him even deeper and more thoughtfully than he imagined.

He cupped her face, delivering a kiss filled with tears and deep affection, expressing all his emotions and love.

"I like it very much."

He pressed his forehead against hers, his voice choked yet immensely happy, "Holly, having you means having the whole world."

The couple tightly embraced in the pillar of light.

Just then, Holly suddenly felt something falling overhead, carrying a faint fragrance.

She opened her eyes to find it was white rose petals, softly falling like a romantic shower from the chapel’s second-floor balcony.

Wondering, she watched Blake Sinclair suddenly release her, taking a step back, and to her astonished gaze, he knelt on one knee.

Meanwhile, the photographer stepped forward with a smile, handing Blake Sinclair a bouquet of pink lychee flowers.

From the pink petals, Blake Sinclair took out a diamond ring.

He looked up, gazing at his one true love of this lifetime.

"Holly, it’s said that confessions and proposals should begin with the ceremony of a flower bouquet. Our beginning was fraught with misunderstandings and haste, lacking the earnestness it deserved."

He held the dazzling ring, as if cradling the most precious of vows: "Now, I want to give all this back to you."

"Holly Crowe, would you be willing to marry Blake Sinclair?"

She never expected that both of them chose today to prepare surprises for each other, making up for regrets.

Even though their answer had long been a tacit understanding, in this place surrounded by affection, surprise, and roses, in the face of this solemn proposal, Holly’s tears fell again.

She looked at the man kneeling before her, saw her reflection in his eyes, saw the ring representing commitment held in his hand, and firmly uttered those three words:

"I am willing!"

Blake Sinclair cautiously slid the ring onto Holly’s left hand’s ring finger.

He bowed his head, leaving a reverent kiss on the ring.

At this moment, all regrets are amended, and all affections receive the fullest response.

Outside the chapel, white doves flew across the clear sky.

Inside the chapel, rose petals gently floated down, covering the lovers embracing and kissing.

Later that afternoon, the Weibo accounts of Blake Sinclair and Holly Crowe simultaneously updated with a photo.

The photo was taken on Kylin Hill in Eldoria.

The setting sun dyed the sky a warm orange, with the silhouettes of ancient buildings standing in the distance.

The photo’s subject is the backs of two people.

Holly rests her head on Blake Sinclair’s shoulder, and together they gaze at the sun soon to dip below the horizon.

The caption simple yet encapsulates all romance and promise:

"The romance of the sunset, I want to watch it with you forever."

(End of text)