The little cove could only be reached from a passage through the castle, visited solely by royals and their guests.
The white sand was pristine, no footprints marring its surface. The sea shifted in colors—from the pale blue of the shallows, to soft erald, and then to deep sapphire. The beauty of it all filled Rishe with giddy excitent.
“Your Highness Arnold!”
She called back as she ran ahead, turning to see him follow.
Arnold wore no jacket, only a white shirt and black slacks. Rishe worried he might be hot, but he looked perfectly at ease, accustod as ever.
“Your Highness, may I—though it may be unseemly—take off my shoes?”
“Do as you like. Just don’t hurt yourself.”
“Yes!”
Setting the basket down in the shade of a rock, Rishe placed her sun hat on top. She had already applied her homade sun lotion, so her skin would be fine.
Eagerly, she slipped off her shoes and let her bare feet sink into the sand.
Thanks to the earlier rain, it wasn’t searingly hot. The sun-ward grains spread a gentle heat through her soles.
(The air is hot, but the wind is cool—such a strange, refreshing mix!)
Her sumr dress, layered chiffon to mid-calf, fluttered with each sea breeze.
Just as she had thought yesterday, the ocean wind here was never sticky. It carried only a faint scent of salt, sweeping past coolly.
“It’s already sumr, isn’t it?”
When she had first co to Galkhein, it had been mid-spring of the fifth month. She breathed in the seasonal air and spoke as Arnold drew closer.
“With the sea so beautiful, I wish I’d brought my swimsuit...”
“...”
“I own such a lovely one. The top is a clear blue, the bottom a white flaring skirt.”
Arnold frowned at her wistful tone.
“Your Highness?”
“...It’s not quite the right season for swimming yet.”
“Well, true. The currents in this area are dangerous this ti of year too.”
Nodding, she stepped to the water’s edge.
Gentle waves broke, lapping over her toes. Water swirled around her ankles, then slipped back, leaving the sand beneath her feet shifting away.
Holding her skirt, she waded deeper.
“Ah, the sunlight on the water is dazzling!”
Arnold, standing on the beach, said quietly, “...Is it really that enjoyable?”
“Yes, very much.”
He gave her a look as though he couldn’t understand. Rishe pointed out toward the sea.
“See there? The waves are calm, but just in that one spot you can see white crests.”
“...Yes.”
“Sothing large must lie below. You can even judge its size from the way the waves break.”
That much she had learned during her life as a rchant, traveling with sailors.
“Maybe the seabed rises suddenly, or perhaps sothing has sunk there. Isn’t it mysterious, imagining what rests in the deep?”
She turned with a smile.
“Maybe a pirate’s treasure chest lies at the bottom.”
“...If so, it would be troubleso. Claimants would erge, and their rights must be adjudicated.”
“Ah, Your Highness, such a practical answer!”
Still, he humored her fancies. That alone made her happy.
“...As a child, I’d study alone in my chamber, clinging to scraps of the world from my textbooks.”
Her voice softened with nostalgia.
“I wondered what the ‘sea’ in the examples might be. What the embroidered flowers in my lessons might sll like if real. Just imagining gave courage.”
“...”
“So now, to touch what I once only dread of... it feels precious.”
In truth, she had seen the sea in many lives. Yet each ti she beheld it anew, it was wondrous.
Far more vivid than the landscapes she had once drawn while crying in her lonely room.
“Did you bring here because I said I wanted to see the sea?”
“...That’s part of it.”
Which ant there was another reason, but he clearly had no intention of saying. She let it be. It was enough that he had rembered her wish.
But another thought tugged at her.
(He’s only... watching.)
Arnold’s face was impassive as he gazed at the ocean, no sign of awe or joy. It was as if the beauty stirred nothing in him.
(Worse than that...)
He looked at her, standing in the waves, as though she belonged to a world apart from him—sothing distant, never ant to be his.
The expression cut at her.
If she showed him and he still felt nothing, so be it.
But he hadn’t even given the sea a chance. He was pushing it away from the start.
“Your Highness Arnold.”
“...?”
She called out and extended her hand toward him on the sand. He scowled.
“What is that hand for?”
“Co here. You too.”
His frown deepened.
Yet it wasn’t anger—it was more surprise at her unexpected request. Rishe pressed on.
“This is my selfish wish. You must grant it.”
“...Hmph.”
He had promised at his proposal to grant her any request. Reminded of that, Arnold sighed.
“...Very well.”
He stooped, pulled off his shoes, rolled his trousers, and stepped into the sea with his ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) usual grim face.
Water splashed softly as he ca to stand beside her. He glanced down at his bare feet, clearly unsettled by the unfamiliar sensation of sand and surf.
“Your impression?”
“...Nothing in particular.”
“In that case, Your Highness—”
Rishe released her skirt, letting the hem dip into the waves, and caught his wrist.
“Please scold later for this.”
“...?”
She smiled brightly up at him.
He realized her intent imdiately.
“Wait. You wouldn’t—”
“Here I go!”
“...Tch!”
She tugged both his hands and let herself fall back into the sea.
“—Damn...!”
The water was deep enough to cushion them, and Arnold could easily have kept his balance if he thought only of himself.
But he tried to catch her—and so both toppled in together.
With a great splash, they went under.
Rishe squeezed her eyes shut, holding her breath until Arnold hauled her upright.
“Pwah!”
“...”
They ended seated in the shallows, water up to their waists, her skirt puffed up around her like a jellyfish.
Arnold was, of course, drenched once more—rendering his earlier change of clothes aningless.
“...Rishe.”
“If swimming is too soon, then let’s just play like this!”
Her mischievous grin sparkled.
Arnold, one arm still around her waist, narrowed his eyes at her.
“You look far too pleased.”
“Yes. I’m very satisfied, having played a trick on Your Highness.”
“...I see.”
He exhaled, then lifted a hand to her cheek.
“Very well... I’ll answer in kind.”
“Eh!?”
She stared in shock. True, she had started it, but she hadn’t expected him to retaliate in earnest.
Before she could protest, he struck back.
“W-wait, Your Highness! That’s unfair—kyaa!!”
Another splash, and the battle began.
Arnold showed no rcy. Rishe fought back desperately, but he easily overwheld her.
Anyone who happened upon them would surely have been dumbstruck.
By the ti the skirmish ended, the sun had shifted.
“...We played far too hard.”
“...So it seems.”
They sank onto the sand, still soaking wet. Rishe was exhausted; Arnold looked composed, though a different kind of weariness clung to him.
Reaching for the basket, Rishe pulled out a bottle.
“Here, Your Highness—tea.”
“Mm.”
“It’s lukewarm now, though...”
Once chilled in the icehouse, it had ward to nearly body temperature. Still, Arnold drank without complaint.
Watching him, she asked, “Has your opinion of the sea changed, even a little?”
“...I don’t know.”
She laughed softly.
“I’m glad you said that. Because you didn’t say it hasn’t changed—you said you don’t know.”
“...Hmph.”
He narrowed his eyes faintly, brushing her hair back and tucking it behind her ear. Then he took her hat from the basket and settled it gently on her head.
His touch was tender as always. Rishe bowed her head slightly and murmured,
“Please, scold , Your Highness Arnold.”
For surely a fiancée who dragged him into the sea deserved a reprimand.
Yet instead, Arnold spoke—
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