34. Sea Anemone Teriosa

 Daphne slowly closed and opened her eyes. The speed of her blinking gradually increased.

It was strangely pitiful how visibly she had lost her words from shock. Celestian raised his hand to cover hers.

“Are, are you crazy?”

Her red lips stumbled over the words. Ahem, clearing her throat, she knocked away his arm with the back of her hand.

“A little?”

Celestian looked languid with his chin propped up. Daphne, who had been rolling her eyes around, spotted the glass placed under his elbow.

‘I should have known.’

Looking at him properly now, Celestian’s cheeks were flushed pink.

“You’ve been drinking.”

“A little.”

Not only was he staying at a hotel near the ship where Psyche’s wedding would be held, but he had also dyed his hair a color similar to Romeo’s. And now he was drunk and proposing to any woman he could find.

‘I let him escape only for him to fall into gambling.’

He must have been rejected by Psyche again while she was lying down. The prince’s rebellion after being rejected in love was both ridiculous and pitiful. Daphne turned away without another word.

“Where are you going?”

Celestian grabbed the hem of her dress.

“Let go.”

“I asked where you’re going.”

“Ah, just look at the time. I’m really late. I’ll swim if I have to. If I die getting caught in the ship’s propeller, I’ll blame you so take responsibility.”

Daphne took his warm hand and lowered it. However, the hand firmly fixed on her dress hem wouldn’t let go easily. Daphne’s expression turned strange, wondering why this man was acting like this.

“You, since when were you so close with Psyche?”

“Psyche?”

Daphne naturally recalled her first impression of Psyche, who had been very bold. She couldn’t say since when. Even though she was the bad Daphne who unilaterally bullied her, it was Psyche who approached saying she liked that about her.

“Would you understand if I told you?”

“Why? You hate Psyche, don’t you?”

“I don’t hate her. When a pretty Miss comes running wanting to be friends, someone like me has no reason to refuse. And from now on, it’s one million rion per question mark, Your Highness. Would you let go?”

Celestian let out a shallow “huh” before standing up. Daphne took the chance and ran up the stairs like someone making a getaway. Celestian quietly followed behind.

‘Acting like he’s stopping me when he wants to go too.’

The harbor was close. She could see citizens holding Secradion’s symbol flags to send off the cruise.

Daphne suddenly looked back. Right behind her was Celestian, his expression very dark in the sunlight breaking on the waves. He had his hand against his forehead, scrunching up his fine features as much as possible.

It was exactly as Daphne had imagined days ago. Only slightly different in that it wasn’t moonlight-like blonde hair, but black hair. 

 * * *

 The royal family had belatedly interfered with Psyche’s wedding.

The program that Daphne Beaucater had arranged for the future Crown Princess was completely changed in just a few hours.

—Let’s hold a memorial banquet for the late Queen on the first day. How about having the wedding after that?

Of course Romeo was furious, but the royal families wouldn’t back down easily. At times like this, it should have been the bride’s family who stood up for Psyche, but they were absent.

—I think we should inform Miss Beaucater about this and hear her opinion……

—Miss Beaucater, Miss Beaucater. Why do you keep mentioning Beaucater? Was Miss Denver a Marquis’s daughter?

—That’s what I’m saying. Someone might think Miss Denver was the noble daughter of Marquis Beaucater and Amber Green.

—Please stop causing trouble. This is something we couldn’t even do to Green, who was the late Queen’s family. It seems you want to steal her position now after already taking her clothes.

Late last night, Psyche was cornered for such reasons. She finally lowered her eyes and docilely agreed to ‘respect’ their choices.

Thus with the wedding pushed back a day, Romeo would return late after holding his bachelor party with the navy and his friends.

Psyche sat with both hands gathered on her thighs, anxiously staring at the VIP room door that seemed twice her height.

‘It’s almost departure time.’

Everything else was fine. As Daphne said, thinking deeply about bad things twice would only harm her mental health.

However, the friend Psyche had been waiting for since boarding this ship was nowhere to be seen.

That neat and elegant face with beautiful red hair tied up nicely, who would always smile brightly and extend her hand whenever she spotted her.

Only the wedding invitation sent to Daphne at the Beaucater mansion had no reply.

‘Could she be angry that I didn’t set the dress code and program? Is she mad that it changed arbitrarily?’

Such worries peeked their heads in her heart.

When she grabbed Romeo’s collar and asked, he smiled slightly with a face somewhat resembling Daphne’s and answered simply and clearly, ‘She’ll come soon.’

Psyche jumped up from her seat. She didn’t want to wait anymore. She needed to find Daphne and talk to her, even if she had to search this entire ship. To tell her it seemed like her own fault. That she probably should have been more firm.

—A wedding on a ship. It’s an extravagantly impossible wedding.

—Well, it was originally meant to be Rodriguez and Green’s wedding so it fits.

—A baroness’s daughter coming to the royal family without even a penny of dowry.

—Didn’t Miss Beaucater provide the dowry?

—My, my. Just what does Miss Beaucater find so pretty about Miss Denver to show such generosity?

—Well, her face is quite decent……

Psyche sat back down, her ankles caught by the rising voices. It was because she didn’t know what kind of words she would hear if the Crown Princess-to-be, who had no backing except Miss Beaucater, wandered around before the ceremony.

—We should wear black on the first day out of respect for Her Majesty the Queen. It’s not too late to have the wedding on the second day, right?

The so-called royal elders were truly ‘steel coffee sea anemone whiskey Teriosa jelly willy-nilly.’

Though she couldn’t understand why she needed to show respect for Romeo’s mother at her own wedding, their ‘esteemed opinions’ were so stubborn that Psyche couldn’t even find a chance to object. They were stubborn enough to even overrule Romeo, who was the Crown Prince.

Soon to be Crown Princess, sitting in a higher position than those royal elders. She felt somewhat guilty for not firmly pushing through with what her friend had gifted her by working day and night.

“Daphne……”

Still, she knew that even this time, Daphne wouldn’t be disappointed in her. If she knew about this, Daphne would again become her shield and be even angrier than Psyche about the royal elders being like ‘dandelion seeds.’

—You don’t need to be sorry about things that aren’t your fault. If you really want to be sorry, throw the first punch and then apologize.

Psyche lowered her head and brushed off the black dress skirt adorned with ground pearls. It was the sixth dress among the twelve dresses Daphne had bought her.

“There’s no way Daphne won’t come.”

Soft golden hair flowed down Psyche’s cheeks. Suddenly Celestian Teriosa came to mind.

“Is she not coming because that man disappeared?”

A strange, impossible thought made her throat choke up. 

 * * *

 A handsome man with black hair a head taller than others was diligently following behind a woman forcefully making her way through the crowd.

“Daphne, you don’t have to attend. Do you really have to board?”

The first-class entrance was just closing. Daphne grew anxious and let Celestian’s words go in one ear and out the other.

“When that entire interior is my hotel, how can I, the president, not board?”

“That could happen too. It’s fine to board next time.”

Daphne looked up at Celestian with a glare that told him to make sense. He looked inexplicably anxious for some reason.

“What did you hear my words as earlier, Your Highness? I’m really going to swim.”

“As far as I know, you hate the sea.”

His voice, which had lowered considerably, was even trembling very slightly. But Daphne didn’t mind, thinking she must have misheard because of the surrounding noise being too loud.

“What are you saying. I go on vacation to Largo Beach every summer.”

Daphne crossed her arms as if she might throw off her dress at any moment.

He knew that Daphne, who considered social face more deeply than anyone, wouldn’t take off her clothes here or jump into the dangerous sea.

But Celestian panicked and gently grabbed her arms.

“You can’t even swim.”

You?

“That……”

There was no need to ask how he knew. Celestian, who had been at the highest level of social circles, would surely know that noble ladies don’t enjoy dangerous sports because their lives are worth too much.

And after the accident, Daphne’s legs would become stiff like wooden blocks whenever she entered water.

“It would be regrettable if I died. But it’s my choice and my fate so it doesn’t matter.”

She spoke softly. Her red hair that came down to her chest sparkled like rubies.

“Daphne.”

The desperate call made Daphne’s insides churn again for no reason.

“I told you not to call my name. Until yesterday, I……”

Daphne raised her hand and smoothed Celestian’s shirt near his neck.

“Was planning to twist this neck if I found you. Your Highness, you’re in a situation where even kneeling and apologizing wouldn’t be enough.”

Celestian neither dozed off nor panicked. He just lowered his eyes to look at his feet again and gave a small nod.

“Don’t follow me. I said I’m boarding, and if you say anything more, I’ll drown you in that sea first.”

Daphne turned around without hesitation. She stretched her upper body long to look at the stern of the ‘Page-René.’ Realistically, jumping into the sea where such a large ship was launched would just be suicide.

It was a gamble of sorts. Whether he would let her jump into this sea, or……

“I was wrong.”

Stop her.

Celestian bit his lip and pulled out two boarding passes that had been crumpled in his pants pocket. The pure gold embossing shining splendidly seemed to be congratulating Daphne’s victory.

Daphne grinned and reached out to snatch them.

“In exchange, let’s go together.”

He withdrew his hand and the target suddenly disappeared again. Daphne’s body boldly tilted toward Celestian as she stumbled, and he received her into his arms without avoiding.

At a very close distance, his emerald-like green eyes met her starlight-like ones.

“That’s what I wanted from the start?”

Daphne, who had straightened up, grabbed Celestian’s large hand and led him to the third-class entrance. Her cheerful laughter rang clear like a glass bell.