Rejected: A love story-Chapter 147: Will you marry me?

"’Happy.’"

Viktoria leaned her head to one side. "You say that like you’re surprised."

Nikolai shook his head, and he let out a soft chuckle. "Not surprised. Just... relieved.

Viktoria didn’t get the chance to ask him what he meant, because the music suddenly changed. The violin slowed down and the accordion softened, the lively rhythm of the dance came to a stop. The dancers slowly stopped moving, their boots scraping the ice as the circle around them drew closer.

Viktoria blinked, looking confused. "Uh... Nikolai?"

The man who had been dragging the sled stepped forward, tapping his boot twice on the ice as if he were calling the whole group to attention. The voices stopped, and one of the older women stepped forward with a smile on her face. She glanced at Viktoria and then at Nikolai before she began to speak in Russian.

"Мужчина не приводит женщину танцевать на зимний лёд, если она не та, с кем он хочет проводить жизнь."

Viktoria looked at Nikolai instantly. "What did she say?"

His lips curled into a small smile. "She said... a man doesn’t bring a woman to dance on winter ice unless she’s the one he wants beside him for the rest of his life."

Viktoria blinked. The murmur of approval from the other people gathered there surrounded them, and some nodded their heads as if it was the most obvious statement they had ever heard.

The woman leaned forward toward Viktoria, her eyes still curious but friendly. "Скажи нам, девочка... ты доверяешь этому упрямому мужчине?"

Viktoria turned to Nikolai again. "And now?"

He rubbed the back of his neck slightly. "She wants to know if you trust this... very stubborn man."

This made everyone laugh.

Viktoria crossed her arms and looked at him thoughtfully. "Well... that depends," she said slowly. "Should I?"

The old man with the sled clapped his hands once. "That is enough talking!"

Everyone laughed again, and the old man grabbed the rope of the sled again and dragged it slowly across the center of the lake.

Viktoria didn’t understand what he was doing at first. The sled scraped through the thin layer of snow that had accumulated on the ice.

And then she saw it, through the ice, the small lights of the lanterns shining softly through the ice. Letters.

She caught her breath as the words began to take form.

Marry Me, Viktoria.

She froze. Completely still.

"Nikolai..." she breathed.

From behind her, there was a burst of excited cheering and clapping, as if they had all been waiting to do that the whole time.

Nikolai let out a small sigh. "Told them subtlety was an option," he said quietly to himself.

Viktoria turned slowly to him. "You—"

But the words stopped in her throat. Because Nikolai had already stepped back from her slightly.

The noise of the others faded into the background as Nikolai went onto his knee on the ice. The light from the lanterns danced across the ice, shining softly through the ice and snow, while snowflakes gently fell from the sky.

For once, Nikolai Volkov looked somewhat nervous. He looked at the glowing letters under the ice and then looked back at her.

"Do you remember what you told me the first time we came here?"

Viktoria slowly shook her head. "No."

Nikolai Volkov’s smile was soft. "You told me that if ever I were to propose to you, it would have to be in a place that felt like magic."

He gestured lightly towards the glowing lake around them. "I wasn’t sure if you would ever remember that... so I decided to bring you to a magical place once again."

He reached his hand into his coat pocket and pulled out a small box made of velvet. He opened it. The light of the lanterns touched the diamond at once. He looked at her again.

"You may not remember the life we had... but I would gladly spend the rest of my life helping you build it again." His voice was soft. "Viktoria... will you marry me?"

The entire group around them was holding their breath as the frozen lake was suddenly and totally quiet.

"You’re serious," she said softly.

There were a few quiet chuckles in the group. Nikolai arched one eyebrow. "I usually do not kneel on frozen lakes as a hobby."

There were more laughs at that. Viktoria did not laugh. She looked at him with her eyes locked back on his face. She was studying him. It was impossible to miss how hopeful she was. She was trying not to show how nervous she was being around him.

"I..." She paused. The word hung in the cold air. She bunched her fingers at her sides. "You know I do not remember," she said softly.

The laughter stopped around her. No one interrupted her. Nikolai did not look away from her either. "I know."

"And you’re asking me?" she asked.

"Yes."

The answer came, and it had come without hesitation.

Viktoria swallowed hard. She looked away from him for a moment, gazing out across the lake. The lanterns twinkled softly under the ice, the words still shining up at her. Marry Me, Viktoria.

She thought of the life he had spoken of, the life she had forgotten. She looked back at Nikolai again. Then, suddenly—a spark of memory had flared up, but only for an instant. A flash of memory.

A night out, laughing. Her own voice, teasing. A man had been with her, but she could not see this man’s face. Everything had been fuzzy.

The spark vanished just as it had come, and Viktoria blinked. Her hand went up to her temple.

Nikolai immediately begun to rise to his feet, but Viktoria grabbed his arm, holding him before he could stand.

"Wait," she had said.

He froze for a sec.

Viktoria’s eyes widened, confused, but thinking. She had looked at Nikolai, her eyes still confused, but her mind working. "I had seen something," she had said slowly.

The group around them leaned in slightly.

"What kind of something?" Nikolai asked carefully.

She frowned, trying to hold onto it. "Like a date," she murmured. "And... you, i guess."

Nikolai’s breath caught.

"You were laughing," she continued quietly. "And I said something about...." She ached her brow. "It was obvious we were inlove."

His expression softened.

Viktoria looked down at the glowing ice again. Then back at him.

Then suddenly she crossed her arms. "Well."

Nikolai blinked. "Well... what?" he asked cautiously.

She tilted her head at him. "I have a few concerns."

The crowd groaned dramatically. One of the women muttered something in Russian that sounded suspiciously like, "Here we go."

Nikolai sighed. "Of course you do."

Viktoria pointed at the ice beneath them. "First of all, you proposed on a frozen lake."

"It’s a very sturdy frozen lake." He assured.

"Still risky."

A few people laughed again.

"Second," she continued, counting on her fingers now, "you involved an entire audience."

"They insisted."

"We rehearsed!" someone shouted proudly from the circle.

Viktoria stared at them in disbelief. "You rehearsed?"

Nikolai rubbed his forehead slightly. "Unfortunately."

She looked back down at him again. "And third..."

He waited.

Her lips twitched slightly. "You’re making it very difficult to say no."

For a moment, Nikolai simply stared at her. "Is that your answer?" he asked carefully.

Viktoria pretended to think about it. The entire group leaned forward. Then she sighed dramatically. "Well," she said, "someone clearly went through a lot of trouble."

A grin slowly spread across her face. "So yes."

For a second, no one moved. Then the entire lake erupted. Cheers exploded around them. Someone whistled loudly. The accordion player immediately struck a triumphant note while the violin followed.

Nikolai let out a breath that sounded like he had been holding it for hours. "Is that a yes?" he asked again, just to be sure.

Viktoria laughed. "Yes, Nikolai."

He slipped the ring onto her finger before standing and pulling her into his arms. The crowd clapped and cheered even louder as he lifted her slightly off the ice in a tight embrace.

Viktoria laughed against his shoulder. "Your friends are insane," she said.

"They’re our friends now," he corrected.

She pulled back just enough to look at him, and then, without hesitation this time, she kissed him while snow continued to fall gently around them.