***

The people of the Basilinte family were generally good at any physical task, but there was just one thing they couldn’t do: swimming.

To begin with, there weren’t any places nearby filled with enough water to learn swimming.

Therefore, the task of pulling out the Basilinte family members who sank like rocks fell to Astrid and Leticia.

After rescuing Isana, who, being from the Grand Duchy, hadn’t learned to swim either, Astrid gestured to Leticia while pulling Ferik out.

It meant that she would rescue the adults, while Leticia should save the children.

Understanding this immediately, Leticia looked for Tan and Chamuka.

And using her magical power, she easily pulled them both out.

“Phew!”

While patting the back of Tan, who was coughing face down, Leticia checked Chamuka’s condition with her eyes.

Chamuka, who was sitting quietly looking at the river, seemed somewhat dazed.

“Is this your first time seeing a river?”

At Leticia’s question, Chamuka turned his head to look at her. Then he whispered quietly.

“First time.”

Leticia, who had been patting Tan’s back, paused as she noticed the subtle wonder mixed in his voice.

His voice, not devoid of emotion, was pleasant to hear. Feeling somewhat proud for some reason, Leticia smiled and assured him.

“You’ll be able to see many more in the future. Perhaps by the time you grow up and inherit His Grace’s title, this land might no longer be a wasteland.”

“…Maybe so.”

Chamuka’s murmur was soft, but it was clearly heard by Leticia.

She smiled quietly and continued to pat Tan’s back.

The sound of water flowed through the silence, and the beating sunlight shattered on the surface of the river.

Leticia dried her body and Tan’s body. Then she reached out to grab Chamuka’s clothes and absorbed the moisture.

A peaceful stillness flowed between the now-dry children.

“…Ah?”

That peace might have lasted longer if Tan, who was shaking his disheveled hair, hadn’t charged at Leticia.

But Tan eventually threw himself at Leticia, and she fell back with a thud.

Lick, lick…

As she blankly stared at the sky, feeling the impact on the back of her head, she felt Tan’s tongue licking her cheek.

The moment her eyes met with the broadly smiling Tan, a shadow fell over them.

And Tan was suddenly lifted up.

“Ah, no! Chamuka!”

Leticia grabbed Chamuka’s leg as he was about to throw Tan back into the river.

But when Chamuka stopped, Tan bit his arm and…

“Don’t do that! Tan, no biting! Chamuka, don’t take him seriously!”

In stark contrast to the peaceful stillness from earlier, it was a chaotic ending.

***

The flowing of a river was a kind of beginning.

The starting point for this land to finally escape from being a wasteland.

Leticia was proud, but Astrid thoroughly scolded her.

Using magical power to the point of straining her body was wrong, she said.

“But now we know that rivers can flow in Basilinte too. Even if it’s still difficult to reach the central area, if we find water veins from the outskirts like now and create rivers one by one…”

“You’re going to rest for a while, Leti.”

“What?”

“What do you mean create one by one? Rivers? Are you made of steel like a Basilinte? When we get back, you won’t be allowed to leave the castle for a while.”

Leticia was bewildered by Astrid’s firm words.

She thought Astrid would be happy, so why was she angry?

Moreover, Astrid prohibited contact not only with Tan but also with Ferik, Chamuka, and Gaien.

What was even more confusing to Leticia was that they all agreed with this prohibition.

No matter how much Leticia insisted she was fine, they all unanimously said that they couldn’t take her magical power for a while.

In the end, due to their overprotectiveness, Leticia had no choice but to roll around in bed.

And on the night before returning to Basilinte’s main castle.

Leticia, who had been forcing her eyes closed because she couldn’t sleep after lying down for too long, got up.

Thinking she should walk around the corridor, she went outside and saw a faint light flowing from the first floor.

As she quietly approached and peeked down, she saw Isana, who seemed to have been out somewhere, coming in with Gaien, wearing an overcoat.

She thought it might be a midnight rendezvous, but soon Gaien turned around and left.

Left alone, Isana looked up at the second-floor railing as if she knew Leticia was there.

Isana, whose eyes met with Leticia’s, smiled and beckoned.

“Would you like to come down?”

As Leticia came down hesitantly, Isana lowered her head to meet Leticia’s eyes and asked.

“Can’t sleep? Would you like a cup of warm milk?”

“I’m fine.”

“I want some too. Come here.”

Entering the dining room, Isana skillfully heated the milk.

It was surprising that she was familiar with such tasks, considering she had lived as the Grand Duchess for over 30 years.

Clunk.

A cup of milk was placed in front of Leticia.

“It’s hot, so drink slowly.”

“Thank you.”

“I should be the one thanking you.”

Isana smiled faintly as she took off her coat.

Her coat smelled of water. Her slender fingers caressed the wet sleeve of the coat.

“I was on my way back from the river. I wanted to go alone, but as always, that tactless man interfered.”

“The night road can be dangerous.”

When Leticia quietly took Gaien’s side, Isana covered her mouth and laughed. The wrinkles around her eyes deepened.

“It’s not dangerous now. He knows that too. He probably just made an excuse because he wanted to go with me. The people of the Basilinte family never move without an excuse.”

There was affection melted in Isana’s words.

Leticia was truly curious as to why both Astrid and Isana had divorced.

Of course, Astrid had only insisted on divorce but hadn’t actually done it yet…

Leticia hesitated before asking a question.

“Are you not going to return to Basilinte’s main castle with us?”

“That’s right. It might be a bit harder for you. Because Gaien is staying here. I told him to go back, but that man won’t listen.”

Thanks to Astrid’s explanation about the experiments to break Basilinte’s curse, Isana knew that Gaien and Leticia needed to be in contact for a certain amount of time.

But because of Gaien, who refused to leave Isana’s side, it had been somewhat agreed that Leticia would come and stay here for about three months a year.

“Do you have no intention of returning in the future?”

“Well.”

Isana trailed off. A comfortable silence flowed between the two.

“…If it had been before you came, I would have said I would never think of returning. But now, well, I’m not sure.”

“Why?”

“Because Basilinte’s curse might be broken.”

Most of Basilinte’s marriages ended badly.

It was because the spouses couldn’t endure. Their partners were gradually losing emotions.

It was a different sensation from love growing cold. It was closer to the terror of watching someone you believed you knew better than anyone else becoming a completely different being.

It was the same for Isana.

She questioned whether this man, who began to regard what he once valued as meaningless and became insensitive to things he once liked, was really the man she had loved, had children with, and had lived her entire life with.

So Isana, like other Basilinte spouses, left and had no intention of returning.

Until the child in front of her appeared and created a miracle.

“We still don’t know what will happen.”

Leticia responded quietly to Isana’s tone that expected the curse to be broken.

If the other person had been negative, she would have boasted loudly to just believe in her, but since the other person was positive, she was afraid of disappointing her.

“Whatever the outcome, what’s important now is the hope that the curse might be broken.”

That’s what the people of this land needed.

Isana quietly added.