“All right.”

He bent down and took off his shoes, as if caving in. He folded the hem of his slacks and still with a frown on his face, Arnold walked into the water.

Splashes sounded, and he stopped beside Rishe.

He looked down at his feet with an indescribable expression, as if he felt uncomfortable stepping on the sand with bare feet.

“What do you think?”

“…Nothing special.”

“Then, Your Highness…”

Rishe stood beside Arnold and let go of the hem of her dress that she had been pinching.

It was barely above the water, so the hem got soaked. However, she ignored it.

She took Arnold’s hand and lightly grabbed his wrist.

“You can scold me all you want later.”

“?”

She raised her face to Arnold and smiled.

In the next moment, it dawned on Arnold what Rishe was going to do.

“Hey, hold it, no way…”

“Yay!”

“!”

While gingerly pulling on Arnold’s hands, Rishe fell back.

“Oh, shit!…”

It was a reasonably deep spot, so even if she plunged down, she wouldn’t get hurt.

And if Arnold had only thought of himself, he would have kept his balance there as well.

But he was probably trying to safeguard Rishe, and as a result, they both fell into the water.“――”

Splash! A huge splash gushed.

Rishe held her breath with her eyes shut to withstand the impact, but then Arnold gathered her into his arms.

“Pwah!”

“…”

As a result, she found herself sitting on the beach.

The hem of her dress floated up and swayed like a jellyfish as she was soaked up to her navel.

Of course, Arnold in front of her was also soaking wet.

His change of clothes and drying off after the rain earlier went down the drain.

“…Rishe.”

“If you’re not ready to swim yet, why don’t you try playing like this?”

Rishe giggled, finding novelty in the fact that Arnold was caught in her trap.

Arnold, who was hugging Rishe’s waist, looked down at her and narrowed his eyes at her before saying.

“You look pretty delighted.”

“Yes, Your Highness. I successfully prank you, and that gave me great satisfaction.”

“I see.”

Arnold took a deep breath and caressed Rishe’s cheek.

“Fair enough…I’ll take up the gauntlet.”

“Eh?”

His sudden declaration really took Rishe by surprise.

She certainly planned the prank, but didn’t expect it to turn so serious.

Despite Rishe’s unease, Arnold shot a counterattack.“Oh, no, Your Highness! Please wait, that’s not fair…hyaaah!”

Splash! And with that, a great commotion began.

Arnold was surprisingly relentless. Rishe desperately tried to fight back, but no matter how hard she tried, she was defeated.

If anyone else had seen this scene, they probably would have been mortified.

An offence and defense episode unfolded for some time on the edge of the waves, with the time passing quickly before they knew it.

“…Gee, you played with all your might, didn’t you?”

“…Yeah.”

With both still dressed in their dripping clothes, they sat on the beach to rest.

Rishe was rather exhausted, but Arnold still looked fine. However, perhaps because of the unfamiliarity of the act, he was showing signs of fatigue, different from a physical one.

Rishe reached into the basket she had placed in the shade of the rock and took out the bottle inside.

“Your Highness, have some tea.”

“Oh.”

“It’s already tepid, though.”

“The bottles, which had been chilled in the castle’s ice cellar, were almost at body temperature. Nevertheless, Arnold gave it a proper sip.

She asked, keeping an eye on him.

“Has your impression of the sea changed at all since we arrived here?”

“…I don’t know.”

“Hahaha.”

She laughed happily, earning a look from Arnold.

“I knew you considered it deeply, because you said, ‘I don’t know,’ instead of, ‘nothing changed.’”

“…”

Arnold narrowed his eyes and stroked Rishe’s sideburns as if combing them, then tucked them over her ears.

He then picked up the hat she had left by the basket and plopped it on her head. Since he was acting all gentle, Rishe spoke.

“You can scold me now, Your Highness.”

She had to shoulder the blame for making her fiancé fall into the sea.

That was what she thought, but then Arnold replied.