Arabella watched in silence as Ara beca bitter due to loneliness. Yet, even so, the river nymph kept waiting for Ferdinand despite the advice on her to forget about him and mate with soone else.
More ti passed and the river completely dried up as Ara died one day, thinking that Ferdinand had fooled and abandoned her.
* * *
Arabella woke up in Ferdinand’s arms. He was already awake and was just watching her sleep as he usually does.
"Good morning," Ferdinand greeted her with a smile. But after her long dream about him and Ara, she was sowhat annoyed with him.
"Good morning," she did her best to smile and rolled over. She turned her back towards him so he wouldn’t see her whatever expression she was making right now. After all, he had beco good at reading her.
She still felt bad for the river nymph who had waited for so long for a single visit that could spark hope for her. But it did not happen until she passed away.
Why did Ferdinand not visit the nymph after he made such a promise?
[Her greeting was curt, and her smile was forced. Is she still sleepy? And why did she turn her back towards ? Usually, when she wakes up with her back towards , she would turn around and hug .]
’Do I?’ Arabella didn’t even notice. She tried to think about their waking tis, and he was right. She had developed habits without knowing.
"Arabella, did I do sothing wrong?" Ferdinand scooted closer and wrapped an arm around her waist.
The way he asked made her heart drum louder in her chest. Yet, she still felt irritated for so unknown reason.
But likewise, she suddenly had a longing to be pampered and soothed by him the way she usually does to him when he was moody or sulking.
"No. I just wanted to face this side."
[She doesn’t want to look at ?!] Ferdinand’s interpretation was exaggerated.
Does looking at the other side have to an not wanting to look at him?
Still, she was not in the mood correct it. She knew she shouldn’t be annoyed with him about sothing from the past which was why she was trying to calm down before speaking with him. But at this rate, he would misunderstand instead.
"Arabella, can you face here for one second," Ferdinand asked, and she did not reply.
[She doesn’t even want to talk to ?! What’s going on? Did I do sothing wrong? I thought I did it more gently last night. Did I unknowingly hurt her?]
"I didn’t say anything of that sort," Arabella corrected before his interpretations go much worse.
"Then did you have another nightmare? Was it about doing sothing bad?" Ferdinand inquired.
But before she could even reply, he knew the answer from how her body tensed up at his question.
[It was indeed. I think I did quite a ton of things that are considered unethical and evil for humans. What among those was it about?] He was quick to conclude it was about him again.
"What was it about? Please tell ," Ferdinand pleaded.
’Fine. It’s probably better to tell him than to feel all frustrated on my own and remain mum about it. He would assu it was because of him anyway,’ Arabella turned around so she could see his face.
"Have you ever lived with a nymph?" she inquired, and her husband thought about it for a few seconds before he recalled.
"Yes, a few years after I was able to use human form. I lived with a river nymph for a bit," Ferdinand replied honestly without realizing the aning of his words.
[So, she dread about and living with a nymph? Wait! What did she specifically dream about? What if she thought I had a romantic relationship with the nymph?! I was already in human form back then.]
He was wide-eyed when it ca to him that for humans in society now, it could be interpreted as sothing else.
"We just lived together as teacher and student. She simply taught how to read and write the common human language back then. Nothing else. Please do not misunderstand," Ferdinand quickly added.
’Oh, so he does recall that she taught him.’
"I see. Then, aside from learning from her. What else do you recall about her?" Arabella inquired.
"Hmm..." Ferdinand was in deep thought for a minute. "I think she was accommodating, lively, and generous. She provided water for human villages nearby even when they began to irresponsibly clatter things on the riverbanks. If I recall it right, she said it made her happy seeing the smiles among the people and the satisfaction on their faces when they get to drink and use clean water from her."
’He has a lot of praises for her. But he’s not saying anything about her appearance.’
Arabella does recall Ara being so generous and kind at first. It made her feel even worse knowing that such a kind person who found joy in other people’s happiness beca lonely and bitter in the end to the point that she caused suffering instead and her waters even turned poisonous before drying up.
"What about her looks and her na?"
She had to ask since Ferdinand could not recall Ellie’s na and appearance as well.
"I think she was quite beautiful, but I don’t recall her face. Her na was... What was it again?"
Ferdinand tried to think about it but could not recall the river nymph’s na despite it being so close to hers.
’What’s going on? He doesn’t recall Ellie’s na and face either. Was it simply because it had been so long for him? Or was it among the mories ruined during his self-destructive hibernation?’
"Then, Ferdinand, how did you part with that nymph?"
[Hmm, what exactly did she dream about? Why is she asking these questions?]
"I returned to my island when I needed to hibernate because I haven’t slept for a while," he innocently replied without any shred of guilt or feeling bad for the nymph.
"Ferdinand, do you not recall giving a promise to that nymph?"
[A promise? Did I?] Ferdinand frowned. He thought about it for a while. [Oh, right! It was the first nymph I lived that we are talking about. I did give that kind of promise.]
’So, there was another one? He didn’t break her heart so clueless again, did he?’ Arabella began to worry.
"I promised to visit her when once I woke up. But when I went to her place after my hibernation, she was already gone. She had passed on to the next life and her river had already dried up completely. Even the human settlents supposed to be nearby had moved elsewhere."
’I see. So, he did go once he awakened but he was too late. But how co he could say it like it was nothing?’
There was not a hint of emotion in Ferdinand’s eyes as he talked about it.
After watching Ara’s devotion, loneliness, and suffering for so long, Arabella felt frustrated and irritated at how nonchalant Ferdinand was about it as if it wasn’t anything significant for him.
Ara patiently and steadfastly waited for Ferdinand to wake up for hundreds and thousands of years to the point a new mountain had risen and blocked her view of the peaks of the mountains in Northern Islands.
And yet, Ferdinand was talking about his promise and Ara dying like it was nothing.
"Ferdinand, could you have awakened earlier? You promised to visit soone. Why did you sleep for so long? Did you not think that she would be waiting for you?"
[Why does she seem angry?]
"Arabella, what did you dream about specifically. Can you tell first?" Ferdinand changed the topic to make her calm down. But it irritated her even more.
"Answer first."
"Yes, I could have awakened earlier. But the length of my sleep increases the more I grew. At that ti, that was how long I usually sleep. I was used to it."
Arabella pursed her lips at his reply. Couldn’t he have wakened up earlier despite what he was used to in order to fulfill a promise? Weren’t promises important to him which was why they had to hold back until they were here in Estrella?
She sighed deeply to try to calm herself before speaking.
’Why am I so irritated about it anyway? It was sothing in the past. Do we even have to discuss it like this? Why do I feel this terrible?’
"Ferdinand, did you know that she was in love with you?" she finally asked the heaviest question.
"What?! In love? No. No way. We were just master and student. We never acted like lovers. We had no feelings for each other," Ferdinand was taken aback at her question.
[Is she jealous.? What did she dream about? I’m dying to know.]
’Poor Ara. Ferdinand did not realize even now that she had feelings for him. And she waited for him for so long," Arabella shook her head.
Reviews
All reviews (0)