Fish Don't Know About Water - Chapter 27

“Miss Cochrun. Is there a particular reason you considered that day’s events a dream?”

Hinler, unable to hide his bewilderment, stammered out the question. Phenelity, with a blank expression, began to ramble.

“Well, the Crown Prince is a married man. A sensible person wouldn’t visit a stranger’s quarters in the middle of the night, right? So I thought I must have been really tired and just had a weird nightmare…”

“I-I’m sorry, but my b-brother doesn’t even have that much sense.”

Viett muttered seriously.

“D-didn’t you hear anyone whispering about you?”

“No, I didn’t.”

Phenelity placed her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest confidently.

“I don’t listen to what others say.”

“…M-Maybe you should start paying a bit more a… attention.”

“Why? It would only hurt me.”

Her calm response made the atmosphere heavy. While she blinked innocently, Viett and Hinler exchanged serious glances.

So, there was a reason she lived in her own world. It was better to be disconnected from the world than to get hurt. Viett felt a strange sense of kinship with her and grimaced.

“T-the events that happened in your room that night… were real, not a dream.”

“What? That weird confession was real…”

Phenelity muttered in a daze, then suddenly jumped up from the sofa.

“Wait, so the Crown Prince tried to have an affair with me despite having a wife?”

“I-I’ve been saying that all along…”

“It’s outrageous that such a despicable womanizer is praised as the royal family’s masterpiece!”

Phenelity’s face turned red with indignation. Her clenched fists trembled. The unspoken fury in her cry of ‘He tried to seduce me into adultery?’ was palpable.

“The Crown Prince’s attempt at adultery is already published in the novel ‘Pepe’ and distributed across the continent.”

Hinler quickly interjected.

“Thanks to Miss Cochrun introducing Crown Prince Minute as ‘the prince’ in the novel, the royal family could disguise the second man who visited your room that night as Viett.”

“It’s not my fault! I don’t write the manuscript; the magic typewriter of ‘Evening Whisper’ does.”

Phenelity retorted with a sullen face, then suddenly turned to Viett.

“Wait, you replaced the Crown Prince with the Commander?”

“Yes. If the protagonist of that night’s incident were Crown Prince Minute, it would be an attempted adultery. But with the unmarried Viett, it became a romantic love confession.”

“It wasn’t very romantic…”

She muttered seriously, scratching her head.

“I-I agree.”

Viett nodded, recalling the scene. The words Minute had said to Phenelity were excessively romantic and corny.

Imagining himself reciting such an old-fashioned confession made his skin crawl.

“Since your relationship with Viett improved around that time, it was easier to deceive the readers.”

Hinler added in a disgruntled tone. Phenelity, looking serious again, muttered softly.

“We weren’t that close though…”

Viett’s face twisted in frustration. They had spent nearly a month in a cramped hospital room, and she had been the one to break the ice and cross boundaries first. Now she was acting distant?

“A-are you sure it’s okay? M… Marrying someone you’re n-not close to.”

He impulsively teased, then frowned. Why did such childish sarcasm slip out of his mouth? Why was he so upset about her distancing herself?

“It’s fine. It’s a political marriage anyway.”

Phenelity shrugged nonchalantly.

“Both you and I were destined to marry someone chosen by our families, and it just so happens that the person is each other.”

Her calm statement quickly deflated his excitement. His mood sank along with it.

He hadn’t expected any special reason. Viett had also treated his former fiancées with such indifferent attitudes. But Phenelity’s resigned acceptance, as if it were a natural disaster, left an uneasy feeling in his heart.

“Of course, I understand if you don’t want to marry me, Commander.”

Phenelity said, avoiding his downcast eyes with an awkward expression.

“Since our private conversations will be broadcast to the world, what man would want to marry me, right?”

Viett couldn’t easily respond. It was true that he had been uncomfortable with the idea of such a marriage. He had even planned to investigate her relationship with the doctor to refuse the marriage.

But now, that determination had vanished. Even his discomfort about the marriage had faded.

Why? Viett couldn’t understand his own change of heart. Was he secretly tempted by Hinler’s suggestion to use this crisis to restore his reputation?

“I-it’s not that I don’t want to.”

He impulsively spoke the truth again, and Phenelity’s eyes briefly showed a strange expression.

“What? Marrying me?”

“Y-yes.”

“So, Commander, do you like the idea of marrying me?”

Her green eyes were filled with a mix of anticipation and tension. Viett stared blankly at the opposite wall with a sullen face.

It was difficult to give a clear answer. Marrying this peculiar woman wasn’t entirely appealing. The idea of every moment spent with his wife being recorded in a novel was horrifying.

However, the problem was the occasional, insane thought that it wasn’t entirely unpleasant.

“I… I neither like nor dislike it.”

Viett chose a suitable answer after much contemplation. Phenelity frowned in frustration.

“Again! Another ambiguous answer!”

“It d-doesn’t m-matter how I feel.”

He added, using her statement that had been bothering him.

“After all, it’s just a… a political marriage.”

“Oh…”

Phenelity let out a long, deflated sound, her slightly flushed face turning a bit sullen.

“Right. A political marriage…”

“Why do you l-look disappointed?”

“I don’t know.”

She rolled her large eyes unnaturally, as if not intending to give a detailed answer. The quiet piano piece seeped into the awkward silence.

Viett regretted that this situation wouldn’t be recorded in the novel. He wanted to know what she was thinking with that small head of hers. What kind of answer had she expected from him to make that expression?

“Miss Cochrun.”

Hinler, sensing the subtle tension between them, quickly intervened.

“The King is concerned about the truth of the incident being revealed.”

“I understand. You want to erase that night’s events from my memory completely.”

Phenelity rubbed her chin thoughtfully and then looked at Viett as if seeking permission.

“Can’t I at least keep the memory of the Commander visiting my room? It’s one of the few fun memories in my life.”

For a moment, he was speechless. How could he refuse such a sincere request to label that brief encounter a ‘memory’? Viett felt a bit of his frustration ease and nodded.

“D-d-do as you wish.”

“And… I need to organize my thoughts.”

Phenelity grabbed her already messy side hair with both hands and groaned. Viett widened his eyes at her whining.

“You… you organize your thoughts?”

You? The scatterbrained Phenelity Cochrun? Weren’t you just saying whatever came to mind and acting impulsively?

“Of course! I need time to think calmly too.”

“C-calmly…”

Viett’s lips twitched in shock. He hadn’t expected such a sensible statement from her. Then, Hinler gestured towards the firmly closed door.

“We’ll step out for a moment.”

Viett and Hinler left the room, leaving her to her thoughts. As they closed the door and turned around, Hinler whispered.

“The Little Lady will have no choice but to accept the deal. It’s hard to give up the taste of freedom for the first time.”

Viett pondered as he looked at Hinler’s satisfied face. Where should he start? The fact that the safe house magic was placed on the phonograph without his consent? Or the displeasure of holding someone’s freedom and confinement simultaneously?

Now, Phenelity Cochrun’s freedom would only exist at his fingertips. It would have been better if he hadn’t seen her cry with joy like a child. Then, he wouldn’t be feeling this guilt and responsibility…