Chapter 34

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 34

Chapter Title: First Kiss

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“Finally, I can breathe easy.”

“Ah……”

Clodel shot up toward the man who had plunged into the water, reaching out a hand, only to see Kaiyan surface and promptly collapse back down, trembling.

Only then did Kaiyan notice her pale face and swam over to the water's edge.

“What's wrong?”

“I-I got scared.”

He looked utterly baffled, as if he couldn't fathom why she was frightened.

“Can't you swim?”

“Water is dangerous.”

“It's not. Humans are meant to float naturally.”

“The lakes in Valmond freeze over. If the ice breaks and someone falls in, there's no saving them.”

Clodel stammered through her trembling words, and Kaiyan let out a sigh.

“Rowen is hot, and the water isn't that cold. Kids have been splashing around in it since they were little—it's just how things are.”

“Since they were little?”

“Around the time they start walking?”

“You're lying.”

Clodel let out a small laugh.

“Come here.”

Kaiyan extended his hand.

“You come in too.”

“N-No, I don't want to. It's scary.”

“It's fine. Not scary at all. And it's not even that deep.”

“It is deep!”

The lake water reached up to Kaiyan's chest, which meant if Clodel got in, she'd have to stand on her tiptoes just to keep it from lapping at her neck.

“You seemed pretty fearless facing death when you were sick, but turns out you're a scaredy-cat.”

“What did you say?”

The man, who usually had that furrowed brow, looked genuinely amused in his eyes today.

“Swimming. I'll teach you.”

But she wasn't about to fall for that kind of taunt.

Clodel shook her head vigorously.

“Should I come get you?”

“There's no need to learn it.”

“Then why pass up the chance when it's right here? You're the idle Duchess with nothing to do anyway.”

“Things are about to get busier.”

“Not until after the autumn festival ends, I bet.”

Kaiyan suddenly grabbed her arm, and Clodel clutched at the grass sprouting from the ground with both hands, holding on for dear life.

That only left him looking even more incredulous, his face twisting in disbelief.

“Take off your clothes.”

“I don't even want to learn to swim……”

“If I drag you in like this, you'll have to walk back to the castle soaking wet.”

Clodel's face crumpled into a pout.

“Lying on the water and looking at the sky is amazing. Don't you want to try?”

Changing tactics to coax her, Kaiyan released her arm and swam out to the middle of the lake.

“Whoa.”

In the meantime, his sleek body cutting through the surface looked like a massive fish.

He swam fluidly to a wider spot, then relaxed his body and lay back on the water.

“……Amazing.”

Was it really true that a person's body could float like that?

On the calm surface holding the reflections of the blue sky and white clouds, Kaiyan lay with his arms spread wide, perfectly at ease.

As if he were lying on a bed of clouds.

Clodel watched, utterly entranced.

Valmond was frozen for more than half the year, and even in its short summer, the frigid waters from the cold valleys made swimming unthinkable.

Not drowning, but hypothermia would knock you out in seconds.

The lake water came from snow and ice melting off the mountains—even dipping a fingertip in made your whole body tingle with chill.

So it was only natural that she'd thought disaster had struck the moment Kaiyan jumped in, raised as she was in the north.

“You look like you're enjoying it.”

Showing her with his eyes worked better than mere words.

A spark of curiosity flickered; she wondered if she could float too.

Sensing it, Kaiyan swam back to the edge.

As he approached, his arms and shoulders moved in perfect sequence—he seemed like an entirely different creature in the water.

A mermaid, perhaps.

As if invisible below the surface, he had a tail instead of legs.

His movements were so natural, proving he hadn't lied about playing in water since childhood.

“Feeling ready to come in now?”

Clodel hesitated before asking him.

“You have to hold me so I don't sink.”

“Of course. Don't you trust me? After I saved your life?”

“No pranks. Or I might never get in water again.”

“Deal.”

Kaiyan answered crisply, and Clodel sighed, tugging at the straps of her dress to start undressing.

Rowen's dresses were thin; if it got wet, her figure would show right through. She'd been uneasy ever since he threatened to drag her in.

She untied the overskirt at her waist and pulled off the light white dress, left in her thin undergarments.

After a moment's hesitation with the straps and undergarment bottoms, she approached the water's edge in that state.

“Sit and dip your feet in first.”

Following his instruction, she put her feet in—and surprisingly, it was a pleasantly lukewarm temperature.

“Not cold, right?”

“No.”

“The sun warms the water here. Not like the north. Even at night, it's still mild.”

Even so, being lake water, it wrapped around her feet with a fresh, invigorating coolness.

“Come on in.”

Clodel took his outstretched hand and cautiously slipped into the water.

“It's deep.”

Her toes barely touched the bottom, the water up to her neck, and she looked anxious.

“I'm holding you. It's not deep enough to drown.”

While she hesitated, Kaiyan pulled her away from the edge without a second thought.

“Stop. No more.”

“Scaredy-cat.”

She should've told him not to tease on top of no pranks.

How many times would she hear "scaredy-cat" before they got out? Clodel sighed.

“Throw your body onto the water. Backwards.”

“I can't.”

“Relax your neck. Water won't get in your ears even if they're submerged. Lie back more.”

“Ugh.”

“You won't float if you're so tense.”

He held her body like a log, lecturing away.

“You've lived fine without knowing how to swim.”

“You're a Temneth. Not a Vermonte. Can't call yourself one if you can't even do this.”

But those unexpected words made Clodel relax her body.

'A Temneth?'

The way he said it, like he acknowledged her, made her obediently follow his instructions.

Because she wanted to be a Temneth in Rowen, not a Vermonte.

Because she wanted to live as his wife, bearing the name he'd given her.

Suddenly, Clodel looked up at Kaiyan.

His eyes gazed down as he supported her with both arms to keep her afloat; she could see her pale self reflected in them.

Droplets fell from his soaked black hair onto her navel as she lay on the water.

Suddenly, somewhere on her body felt ticklish.

“Don't turn your head.”

He scolded her.

“Look at the sky. Turn your head and you'll lose balance.”

Clodel shifted her sneaky glance at him to the sky.

“Whoa.”

Her chest opened wide to an incredibly blue expanse.

“How's it feel?”

“Like I'm flying through the sky.”

Her body bobbing gently on the water, buoyed by the floating sensation, felt like it had become part of the clouds as she gazed up.

Drifting along like this, she'd float away on the water's current somewhere.

“Close your eyes. It'll feel even better.”

Maybe pleased she was listening, his tone was a bit softer than usual.

She closed her eyes.

All her earlier fear seemed foolish; now it was just peaceful.

The lapping waves rocked her pleasantly, stirring primal memories.

The serene comfort she'd only known in her mother's womb, face fading from memory, enveloped Clodel.

The trickle of water flowing, the chirp of a small bird touching the surface.

The distant hum of grasshoppers by the shore.

And Kaiyan.

The one person she could truly trust and lean on.

“……Your Grace?”

Clodel flinched, eyes still shut.

“You're still holding me, right?”

The man had gone quiet to let her feel the vast world while afloat, but his presence vanished, sending chills up her arms.

She feared opening her eyes and finding him gone.

Hesitating, she opened them to see Kaiyan looking down at her. Clodel let out a small sigh of relief while still floating.

“Why didn't you answer? You scared me.”

That was when it happened.

Kaiyan slowly raised both hands to the sides of her shoulders.

“I'm not holding you.”

“Pfft!”

Clodel flailed and plunged into the water with a splash.

“Pwah! Cough. Cough.”

Kaiyan pulled her into his arms by the shoulders and waist.

“Why'd you freak out like that? You were doing great.”

“L-Liar. You said no pranks.”

“Ha. Haha. I never promised.”

He'd said "deal" to no pranks!

But as Clodel wiped water from her face, she froze, staring blankly at Kaiyan.

“Haha. Hahaha!”

Kaiyan was laughing.

His usually rigid, statue-like face softened completely.

The bright-featured man laughed heartily, as if another sun had risen brilliantly over the lake.

A white light illuminating Clodel's world.

As she stared too openly, Kaiyan's shaking shoulders from his prolonged laughter gradually stilled.

“Ah. I laughed.”

As if it had been so long since he last did, he seemed awkward about it.

As he cleared his throat, his face shifting back to its usual cool demeanor, Clodel suddenly reached out to him.

She wanted to see that dazzling smile one more time, right there within reach.

In the months since coming to Rowen Castle, she'd never seen him laugh, and it felt such a shame for it to pass in an instant.

Clodel asked him.

“Can I kiss you?”

Kaiyan's eyes widened slightly. Clodel wrapped her arms around the neck of the man holding her and lightly pressed her lips to his.

Her heart thundered like lightning.

A droplet from his forehead to the tip of his nose slipped between their lightly touching lips, warmed by their shared body heat, pooled at her chin, then returned to the lake—back to its origin.

Clodel unwrapped her arms.

Her body was still in his embrace.

'Of all places, here.'

She wanted to run, but reliant on him in the ankle-deep water, she didn't know what to do.

“You're really fearless.”

“I told you I'm not a scaredy-cat.”

Clodel felt a bit deflated.

It was her first kiss.

And Kaiyan's reaction? That she was fearless.

It didn't make sense, but she couldn't pinpoint what was off.

Well, since it happened, maybe she should indulge a little?

“Want to do it again?”