Fish Don't Know About Water - Chapter 10

“Me and… my brother?”

“Look.”

Viett looked through the binoculars Esca handed him. Minute, holding the bouquet in his mouth, was climbing the dormitory wall using the pipe. His smiling eyes were fixed on Phenelity’s window.

“Crazy bastard.”

Esca hit the steering wheel with his fist and clicked his tongue.

“Why climb the wall when there’s a perfectly good door?”

“It’s weirder for a r-royal man to sneak in through the f-front door of a women’s dormitory.”

“You two are hopelessly related. Damn it. Your minds work the same way.”

Just as Esca cursed, Minute stopped in front of the window.

Viett watched in disbelief as his brother, with one knee on the window sill, held onto the pipe with one hand and admired his reflection in the glass with the other.

“D-did I also look like an i-idiot a few hours ago, like my… brother?”

“You were bearable. That bastard is trying to look disgustingly cool.”

After exchanging a few words, both men grabbed the car door handles simultaneously. They were ready to rush out and pull the Crown Prince down if necessary.

They hadn’t expected that coward to climb such a high wall. They thought he would throw a stone at the window to wake Phenelity Cochrun and then sing a pathetic serenade.

They hoped for such a pathetic courtship to be vividly described in the serialized novel, but Minute’s boldness exceeded their expectations. They hadn’t anticipated him climbing the pipe with his frail arms.

“Th-that window…”

At that moment, Viett, now fully sober, recalled something important.

“It doesn’t have a l-lock.”

“What?”

Why mention that now, you idiot! Just as Esca shouted and opened the car door, Minute knocked on the window with the hand holding the bouquet.

In the brief moment Viett stepped out of the car, the white curtain covering the window was drawn back, revealing a woman. It was Phenelity Cochrun in her pajamas.

Though the distance was far, her frightened face seemed clear. As she stepped back, muttering something, Minute opened the window himself.

Then it happened.

“What? No!”

Phenelity Cochrun’s faint exclamation was heard. Simultaneously, she slammed the window shut just as Minute opened it wide.

Caught off guard, Minute slipped and lost his grip on the pipe. He fell into the flower bed below without even a scream.

“Let’s go.”

Viett hurried to the dormitory with Esca. Minute lay half-draped over the tall bushes, his eyes tightly shut.

“Mi-minute?”

Viett shook his shoulder, but Minute didn’t open his eyes. Viett looked up at Phenelity Cochrun’s window.

The firmly closed window was already covered with white curtains. Phenelity Cochrun wasn’t peeking through the curtain gap to check outside.

“This idiot. Did he have to cause an accident?”

Esca cursed as he carefully checked Minute’s condition.

“His, his head?”

“Not injured. He just fainted.”

“His… limbs are intact too.”

Viett frowned as he pressed his brother’s limp limbs with his fingertips. He had hoped at least an arm would be broken…

“He’s… he’s disgustingly lucky.”

“Since he fell on his butt, his tailbone is probably shattered.”

Esca, humming a tune with a satisfied look, helped lift Minute and forced him to stand.

“Alright. Let’s head back to the quarters, Your Highness, and look forward to tomorrow’s newspaper.”

With Esca’s help, Viett carried Minute on his back. They moved quietly towards the vehicle, staying alert in the darkness.

* * *

Minute tried to leave the camp in a jeep as soon as dawn broke. As Esca had cursed, Minute had indeed injured his tailbone, but it wasn’t severe enough to interfere with his daily life.

“Tr… travel safely, brother.”

Despite Viett’s effort to see him off, there was no response. Viett stood beside the half-open car window, observing his brother’s pale face.

Minute couldn’t get over the shock of being rejected by a woman for the first time. He had repeatedly screamed and scratched his head while staring blankly into space.

“Argh!”

He collapsed into the back seat of the car, thrashing around. It was clear he couldn’t bear the humiliation he felt from the previous night.

Viett shook his head as he looked down at his brother, whose face was flushed red. If he was this distressed now, he would faint if he found out that the woman he visited last night was the Little Lady.

After the jeep carrying Minute kicked up dust and drove away, Viett habitually rummaged through his uniform pocket. Damn it. He had left his cigarettes behind.

He twisted his hardened lips in frustration. He desperately wanted a cigarette. He felt that if he could take a deep drag and exhale the smoke, the anxiety that had plagued him since last night would vanish.

Why am I so anxious? Viett clenched and unclenched his hands, pressing his lips together. He should be delighted, eagerly awaiting the exposure of his brother’s humiliating secret. So why did he feel so unsettled?

“Your Highness… I mean, Commander!”

Hearing a lively voice, he turned around. Phenelity Cochrun, in her teal nurse’s uniform, was waving and walking towards him.

Surprisingly, she wasn’t alone. Esca, his face pale, was following her, smoking a cigarette.

“Wh… why are you two together?”

Viett’s face hardened as he faced the unexpected pairing. Phenelity widened her eyes.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

As Viett’s gaze shifted sideways, Phenelity jumped as if she had just noticed Esca.

“Who is this person?! Who are you?”

“Nice to meet you, Miss Cochrun. Or should I call you Miss Nerity Sonia here?”

Esca replied in a voice devoid of warmth, glaring at Viett. Viett gestured for a cigarette, frowning.

“How relaxed…”

Esca ground his teeth and grabbed the bundle of newspapers tucked under his arm. Instead of giving him a cigarette, he shoved the newspapers into Viett’s chest with a loud thud. Phenelity watched the rude exchange with a look of admiration.

“Wow, you two must be really close.”

“Excuse me, but have you two read today’s ‘Pepe’?”

Esca took a step back and cast a gloomy glance at her. Phenelity scratched her messy hair and shook her head.

“No. I don’t usually read my own novel…”

“Psycho!”

At that moment, Tenessa’s loud shout echoed from beyond the tall shower stalls.

“What are you dawdling for? Get over here now!”

“Yes! I’m coming!”

Phenelity responded reflexively and dashed off towards the source of the shout. Esca watched her disappear with a tired expression, then gestured towards the newspaper with his eyes.

“Read it.”

Viett opened the page Esca had marked and read through today’s <Pepe>. He skimmed over the scene where Phenelity and he met through the window late at night, stopping at the final scene.

「The knock woke me up instantly.
Knock knock.
The same sound came from the window again. It was more chilling than the siren signaling an air raid.
What if it really is a ghost this time? Feeling a chill down my spine, I clutched my blanket tightly and slowly turned my eyes to check the clock.
It wasn’t past midnight yet. Only an hour had passed since the prince left, and the situation he warned me about had arrived so quickly.
Could he have come back because he had something to say? I hurriedly got up and approached the window with a sense of urgency.
And as soon as I drew the curtain, I froze. I found myself face to face with a man through the glass. His sapphire eyes sparkled in the darkness.
It was Prince XX.」

“I never thought that woman would refer to Minute as ‘prince’.”

Esca growled, biting down on a new cigarette.

“Damn it. That clueless woman! She should have called him ‘the Crown Prince’ accurately!”

No way… Viett clutched the newspaper with trembling hands and quickly read through the novel.

「Prince XX was holding onto the pipe with one hand, and in the other, he held a bouquet of roses, staring at me through the window! (I thought I was still dreaming!)

—Hello.

The prince knocked on the window and cautiously opened his mouth.

—Sorry to surprise you, but I had to confess something.

—What?

At this hour? Suddenly? More importantly, why is he confessing to me? How well does he even know me?
Dozens of questions flashed through my mind simultaneously. While I hesitated, the prince pushed open the window from outside.

—When I first saw you, I felt it was fate.

The prince said words that could have come straight out of a romance novel as he leaned his shoulder inside the window.

—Will you let me in?