Fish Don't Know About Water - Chapter 13

“Commander!”

She knocked on the glass, oblivious to the stares gathered on her. Then she gestured for him to come outside.

Viett, having lost his appetite in an instant, hurried out of the dining hall. The woman was already waving at him from under a distant, large tree.

“Over here!”

“Wh-what’s with your appearance?”

Viett hurried towards the tree. As he reached out unconsciously to touch her blood-splattered cheek, he was startled by his own actions and quickly withdrew his hand.

“Did you hear the news? We’re getting married soon.”

Phenelity said nonchalantly as she rubbed her cheek with her sleeve, smearing the blood even more on her thin cheek.

“M-m-married?”

Viett looked down at her with wide eyes.

Would it have been less shocking if she had said, ‘We’re engaged’? It wasn’t a speculation like ‘We might get married,’ but a clear certainty. The strong shock made his ears ring as he slowly opened his mouth.

“Married…? W-we are?”

“Yes. My father said so. Oh, and the talks with His Majesty are already finished.”

She reached into the collar of her blood-splattered teal dress and took out a communication pocket watch hanging from a silver necklace.

— Phenelity. Who are you talking to?

The deep male voice flowed from the slightly open lid of the pocket watch, indicating that the communication with Count Cochrun was already connected. Viett instinctively grabbed the pocket watch and pulled it roughly.

“C-Count Cochrun.”

“Ah! Wait a moment!”

Phenelity stood on her tiptoes, following the pocket watch that Viett pulled towards him. Viett tugged harder, the necklace chain stretched taut but did not reach his chin due to the difference in their physiques.

“Wait, the necklace will break!”

She reached behind her neck to unclasp the necklace, but her actions were too slow and frustrating. Viett, losing patience, snapped the necklace with a quick pull.

“Count Cochrun. I-is it true that I am to marry y-your daughter?”

— …Your Highness?

As the startled voice came from the pocket watch, a simultaneous sniffling sound was heard right in front of him.

Viett withdrew his gaze from the pocket watch and looked ahead with a fierce frown. Phenelity was staring up at him with a shocked face.

“My necklace…!”

His gaze finally lowered to the broken necklace chain tangled in his hand holding the pocket watch.

“You bastard!”

She pushed Viett’s chest hard with both palms, but he didn’t budge, causing her to stumble back a few steps.

He reached out to support her in surprise, but she shook him off and ran away in an instant. Her sorrowful sobs quickly faded into the distance.

— Phenelity? What’s going on?

Count Cochrun, startled, called for his daughter. Viett stared blankly in the direction she had disappeared and muttered into the pocket watch.

“Miss Cochrun… r-ran away.”

— Did her necklace break?

The Count asked worriedly. Viett looked at the dangling necklace string and replied bluntly.

“The chain is broken.”

— …I see.

After a long silence, the Count explained in a subdued voice.

— That watch is a keepsake from my late wife.

A keepsake? Viett stood still for a moment, then covered his forehead with one hand. An involuntary curse slipped from his mouth. Damn it!

— But as long as the locket is intact, it should be easy to repair.

Count Cochrun spoke calmly, pretending not to hear Viett’s curse.

A locket? Viett examined the body of the pocket watch and pressed the crown. The watch dial clicked and flipped to the side, revealing a hidden round compartment.

Viett’s eyes widened in surprise. It was rare to see a communication pocket watch modified into a locket. The risk of the item inside the locket interfering with magical communication was high.

This old-fashioned modification must have gone out of style 20 years ago… Well, it was his mother’s keepsake. Viett squinted one eye as he held the locket up to the bright sunlight.

He expected to find a lock of hair or a nail clipping, but surprisingly, it contained a photo of Phenelity Cochrun herself.

Viett looked at the photo of Phenelity with unfamiliar eyes. The woman in the photo had her hair neatly tied up, unlike her usual messy bun, and her eyes were not as dull. Her hair, flowing down to her chest, was tidy. Her sparkling eyes shone with intelligence.

She looked like a different person. Neatly wearing the Royal Academy’s uniform, her youthful face bore a shy smile.

So this woman can smile like this. I’ve only ever seen her laugh like a fool with a ‘hehe’ sound…

Viett stared intently at the photo of Phenelity with narrowed eyes. He had heard she completely lost her mind after her nineteenth birthday, so this photo must have been taken before then.

But who is this guy? Viett shifted his gaze to the man beside Phenelity in the photo. The young man in a neat suit had his arm around her shoulder and was smiling brightly.

Does she have a hidden lover? No, if that were the case, everyone in Westenia would know that Psycho Pepe had a lover. Viett muttered absentmindedly as he stared at the man in the photo.

“Th-this man…”

— Ah, did you open the locket?

The startled voice of Count Cochrun came from the pocket watch.

— The man in the photo is Dr. Law, the Cochrun family’s physician.

“Dr-Dr. Law?”

— As it was detailed in the novel, Your Highness, my daughter’s relationship with Dr. Law is merely one-sided…

Viett listened blankly to the Count’s rambling explanation. According to his disjointed excuses, the man in the photo was the young family physician of the Cochrun family and Phenelity’s brief crush.

The Count seemed convinced that his daughter had a one-sided love for the physician. However, the two people in the photo looked like a loving couple.

Viett stared intently at the pair of Phenelity and Dr. Law, who looked like a perfect match. Perhaps he had gained a card that could be useful in the future.

If Phenelity still harbored feelings for the physician, Viett could use this as an excuse to refuse the marriage.

Feeling more at ease after finding a way out, Viett quickly calculated in his mind and skillfully interrupted the Count’s excuses.

“I-I don’t care about past matters. Instead… I-I want to hear an explanation about the m-marriage.”

Viett carefully observed the dignified face of the physician in the photo. Even with just a smiling photo, the man exuded a gentle nature.

Dr. Law, was it? I’ll have to start by investigating this guy.

— Well… Your Highness proposed to my daughter, didn’t you?

The Count spoke as if stating the obvious. Viett clenched the pocket watch tightly in his palm.

Yes. Since it was announced that the ‘prince with the bouquet’ in the novel was Viett, Phenelity Cochrun’s marriage prospects were essentially blocked. No sane man would marry a woman who caught the eye of the royal family’s problem child.

Even though the prospective groom was an unreliable prince, this was likely the Marquis’s last chance to marry off his daughter.

— His Majesty wishes for Your Highness and my daughter to hold the wedding in Costonia. What are your thoughts, Your Highness?

The Count cautiously inquired, trying to gauge Viett’s feelings. Viett furrowed his brows harshly.

A wedding, not an engagement. He was sick of his father’s rash decisions. It was obvious that he intended to throw the second son into the mud to protect the Crown Prince.

“Do… do my opinions even m-matter at all?”

Just as Viett muttered self-deprecatingly, a hand suddenly snatched the pocket watch from his grasp.

“Give it back!”

Phenelity’s face appeared right in front of him, shouting angrily. She glared at the bewildered Viett and snapped the lid of the pocket watch shut.

— Phenelity? Is that you?

The Count’s voice calling for his daughter grew fainter as the communication abruptly ended.

“Y-you ran away as if you’d n-never see me again?”

Viett chuckled as he looked at the fuming woman with interest. Phenelity snorted as she detached the necklace chain from the locket watch.

“Thinking about it, if I leave it as it is, I’ll only suffer losses.”