The small sandy beach, a cove, could only be accessed through the castle’s passageway, and was said to be visited only by the royal family and their guests.
There were no footprints on the white beach. Rishe couldn’t help but be excited to see the beautiful sea as the shallow water changed from the light blue to pale emerald and then to azure.
“Your Highness Arnold!”
Rishe, who sprinted off alone, looked back at Arnold behind her.
Arnold was not wearing a coat, but a white shirt and black slacks. She was worried that he might find it too hot, but he seemed unconcerned, as if he was used to it.
“Your Highness. I don’t mean to be rude, but may I take off my shoes?”
“As you wish, just don’t hurt yourself.”
“Got it!”
Rishe placed the basket in the shade of a rock, took off her hat and laid it on top. She applied her own sunscreen, so there shouldn’t be any problems with her skin.
She then hurriedly took off her shoes and buried her bare feet on the smooth sand.
Thanks to the rain that had fallen earlier, it wasn’t hot enough to burn her. The sand, illuminated by the sunlight, conveyed a gentle warmth to her.
Thanks to the cold wind, it’s hot but cool! It feels wonderful.
The dress that Rishe was wearing was only as long as her calves, and was designed with multiple layers of chiffon. The fluffy hem fluttered as it played with the wind.
As she thought yesterday, the sea breeze in this city was not sticky at all. With the faint scent of the sea, it blew coolly through the air.
“It’s already summer, isn’t it?”
It was spring, in the middle of the fifth month, when Rishe came to Garkhain.
She spoke to Arnold as she savored the seasonal breeze.
“Had I known the beach was this beautiful, I would have brought a swimsuit…”
“…”
“I have a very pretty swimsuit. It’s divided into a top and bottom, the top is a beautiful blue and the bottom is white like a fluttering skirt.
Arnold raised an eyebrow when she said that with regret.
“Your Highness?”
“…The best time to swim is still a little while away.”
“Yeah, you’re quite right. This area of the ocean is prone to rip currents at this time of year.”
Rishe nodded her head in agreement and went to the edge of the waves.A gentle wave lapped against the shore, and her bare toes touched the water. She was ankle-deep in the water, but the waves soon receded, and the feeling of the sand crumbling beneath her feet tickled her.
Rishe plucked the hem of her dress and went a little deeper.
“Hahaha, the surface of the sea is so dazzling!”
She cheered, and Arnold replied mutedly while standing on the beach.
“…Is it so much fun?”
“Yes, very much.”
Her response earned a look from him, as if he were looking at something he didn’t understand.
In response, Rishe pointed to the ocean, “For example…”
“That area. The surface of the sea around there is smooth, but suddenly there are white waves there, do you see?”
“…Yeah, I see it.”
“There’s probably something big and heavy on the sea bed underneath. You can tell how big it is by the height of the waves.”
It was something she learned from sailors when she traveled as a merchant.
“Maybe the sea bed is only partially raised, or maybe something big has sunk there…Isn’t it mysterious just imagining what’s at the bottom of the deep sea?”
Rishe looked back at Arnold as she rocked to and fro on the shallow beach.
“Maybe there’s a sunken treasure chest dropped by pirates.”
“…If that’s the case, we’re in for a lot of trouble. We need to gather all the potential rightful owners together for the ownership of the treasure.”
“Ugh, realistic future expectations!!”
But Arnold still willingly went along with Rishe’s outlandish imagination.
The thought of that made her somewhat happy.
“…When I was a little girl, I used to study in my room, desperately collecting pieces of the wide world from the instructional books.”
As she spoke, her eyes narrowed with nostalgia.
“I wondered what the ‘sea’ in the example text meant. I was kind of encouraged to imagine what the flowers in the picture that I was instructed to embroider would smell like if they were real.”
“…”
“So I’m very happy to be able to touch something that I could only fantasize about at the time.”
In fact, she has been to the ocean multiple times in her time loop lives.
Nevertheless, every time she saw it, it felt so fresh and beautiful.It was so much more beautiful than the scenery she had painted while locked in her room, feeling lonely and on the verge of tears.
“Did you bring me here because I said I wanted to go to the beach?”
“…Well, you could say that too.”
The way he said it, there seemed to be another reason.
But since he was unlikely to tell her, she gave up trying to find out.
More importantly, she was glad that he remembered her words before he left and led the way here.
But there was one more thing that bothered Rishe.
(His Highness is just watching.)
What did this sea look like to him?
Arnold bore his usual blank expression, and didn’t seem to be moved by it.
Did he not feel any strong excitement in a place such as the beautiful sea?
(If that’s all there is to it…)
Arnold watched Rishe standing in the middle of the sea, as if looking at something that had nothing to do with him.
The look on his face was as if he had drawn a line between them, as if he had assumed from the very start that they were far apart.
Rishe couldn’t help but feel sad about that.
If it didn’t tug at Arnold’s heartstrings, it was no use.
However, the current Arnold seemed to be staying away from the beautiful scenery, so she made up her mind.
“Your Highness.”
“…”
She called out his name and reached out her hand to Arnold on the beach.
Afterward, Arnold frowned suspiciously.
“What’s with the hand?”
“Come here… Your Highness, too.”
Her invitation made his brows knit tighter.
However, it wasn’t a look of discomfort.
If anything, it was a look of surprise from receiving an unexpected invitation. Thus, Rishe became bolder.
“I’m asking you on a whim, but you’ll have to listen to me.”
“…”
When he asked her to marry him, he promised to fulfill her wishes as best he could.
When she implored him to do so, Arnold sighed quietly.