Chapter 47

They soon reached the river. Looking at the empty river, Ethea said to Lyle,

“This is strange. It’s such a nice place, but there isn’t a single person here.”

“Yes. I told them to clear it out today.”

Ahh. So that was why there had been no one around. No matter that this was land owned by the Imperial Family, somehow it still felt incredibly troublesome for everyone else…….

“What are you doing? You said you wanted to play in the water, so hurry up and do it.”

Suddenly Lyle threw off his shirt. Ethea was so startled she did not know where to put her eyes.

His muscles were impressive all over. She had thought that after becoming Emperor he only spent his time dealing with enemies, but apparently he worked hard at exercise too. And he did not stop at only taking off his shirt-he threw off his trousers as well.

Ethea shut her eyes tightly and then slowly opened them again. Fortunately, his undergarments were more like shorts, so it was not all that embarrassing to look at. But if the people of the Empire saw their Emperor frolicking in the river dressed like that, they would probably find it absurd.

Lyle, who had been standing with his eyes closed toward the sky as though feeling the sunlight, suddenly turned his head and looked at Ethea. Then, grinning, he urged,

“You should take yours off too.”

For some reason, heat rose to Ethea’s face and she shouted,

“Pervert!”

At that, Lyle let out a short sigh-”Hah”-and answered as though aggrieved.

“No, I didn’t mean everything. I mean that fur vest. Isn’t it cumbersome for playing in the water?”

Only then did Ethea realize she was still wearing her fur vest.

“Ah, it is a bit.”

Taking off the fur vest, Ethea began playing in the water.

She had never played in the water in Aquarand, of course, but she had never even played in the stream near her village. It had been forbidden by law. The water here was nice. She did not know about its so-called healing properties, but at least it was not as cold as expected and was even fragrant, so it was pleasant enough.

‘Ah. This skirt is in the way.’

Fortunately, the skirt she was wearing could be detached like an apron, so it was easy to remove. Since the thought occurred to her, she simply took it off and threw it onto the bank. After all, she was wearing shorts underneath.

At that, Lyle, seemingly flustered, sharply turned his head away. He probably looked just like she had earlier when she had been flustered by seeing him take off his top.

At any rate, Ethea decided to enjoy the water.

‘Maybe I should try swimming? First I ought to try floating.’

She had never once done it or learned it, but she was curious about what it felt like to float on water. Crouching in the water, she tried relaxing her body. She thought then her body would float, but it did not. This time she leaned her upper body forward and stretched both arms out in front of her. And if she spread both legs wide, naturally she would float on the water……

“Guh-puh-puh! Puhah!”

……which she did not. Her body, so unskilled in water, sank helplessly.

‘Agh. Just how much water did I swallow? Well, they say this water has healing properties, so perhaps drinking it won’t be bad.’

Lyle, who had been swimming leisurely by himself, turned his head at the sound of her sputtering. Then he came over and asked,

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing.”

Because she did not want to admit she did not know how to swim, Ethea brushed it off vaguely. But he was sharp, and his eyes gleamed as if he already knew everything.

“It doesn’t seem like nothing really means nothing.”

“Hoo, well…… I wanted to try floating on the water. But it’s not easy.”

At that, Lyle looked around. Wondering what he was about to do, she watched him silently. His gaze landed on a tree growing up out of the water. Suddenly he held out a hand to her.

“Etty. Come with me.”

“Hm? All right.”

He led her to the tree he had chosen.

“Hold onto this tree and slowly lift your legs.”

Ethea did as Lyle instructed, holding onto the branch and trying to lift her legs. Her upper body seemed to float well enough, but the lower half was not easy. The more she floundered, the farther she felt from floating. Still, just as she thought that at least if she held onto the tree, she would not swallow water-

“Think of it as a bed and relax.”

As he said that, Lyle supported her stomach and thighs, lifting her onto the water. The sudden contact startled her so much that it felt even less likely she would be able to float, but Ethea answered him anyway.

“Ah, all right.”

“You need to take deep breaths. Slowly. If you can’t focus, it’s fine to close your eyes and try.”

Ethea did everything he told her to. She closed her eyes, slowly breathed in and out, and it felt as though her body might float. Yet whenever his hands seemed about to leave her body, she immediately had to flail again. That repeated several times.

“Uph! Puh!”

“This won’t do.”

Muttering that, Lyle suddenly moved down toward her feet.

“Now, you’re holding onto the tree tightly, right?”

“Yes.”

“Put both your feet on my thighs.”

“Yes.”

“Close your eyes again, clear away every other thought. And imagine it. Right now your body isn’t holding onto anything or leaning against anything. It’s just floating. Think of it that way. Only think.”

Ethea closed her eyes and hypnotized herself.

‘Right now my body is floating. Right now my body is completely floating on the water……’

When all she could hear was the sound of water and wind, it really did feel as though her body were suspended.

Lyle said very calmly,

“Now let go of the tree. Think of my thighs as the ground, and think that you’re not lying face down-you’re standing.”

Ethea did as he said and released her hands from the tree. Her upper body was floating on the water. Her legs, which had been unstable, were also floating well without sinking, using his thighs as support.

Lyle stretched his thighs forward while at the same time slowly pushing her ahead.

“Now, push against my thighs little by little with your feet. Think of it as stepping on me and walking, and let’s move forward slowly.”

Ethea faithfully followed his words.

‘All right. Use Lyle’s thighs as support to gain momentum.’

After trying several times like that, her body really did float. By stepping on him and moving forward, she was able to do something like swimming. No, it was already swimming.

She almost cried out in joy, but thought her body might sink again if she did, so she exclaimed in a lower voice.

“Wow. I’m finally floating!”

“You’re that happy?”

Seeing him ask with a smile, it felt as though he were looking at her childishly, as if to say she was getting so excited over something so small.

Growing awkward, she stood upright again.

“It’s just…… I never had a chance to try swimming.”

Beside Ethea, who had barely managed to float, Lyle suddenly began swimming with tremendous force. He swam a great distance in one go, then came back to her, circled around her in the water, and finally lay back on the surface, looking at the sky with his eyes closed.

It was so much like watching a frog show off in front of a tadpole that Ethea looked at him as though he were ridiculous. Then Lyle smiled faintly and began splashing water at her.

“Hey!”

Not about to lose, Ethea began splashing water at Lyle too.

Had she always been the type to enjoy doing something like this to another person? Attacking someone with water was more fun than she had expected. She grew fiercer and fiercer, while Lyle started fleeing in earnest. Hardly had she rejoiced at floating than, instead of swimming, she ended up just splashing around childishly. Still, well, it was fun, so was that not enough?

“Oh, let’s ride that.”

What he suddenly pointed to as he fled was a giant goose. But something about it was peculiar-it had no feathers.

“Ride that?”

Its body was smooth and glossy like freshly made jelly, so she wondered whether anyone could really ride it. But to her surprise, when she tried sitting on it just in case, the goose’s back curled around them like a nest.

Its sun-warmed back gave the illusion of being on top of a cloud. To think something like this was possible in reality and not some hallucination. It was truly, truly fun. How long had it been since she had played this freely, like a child, without a thought in her head?

Then suddenly she thought of Gin. Seeing her go blank at the thought of her son, Lyle asked,

“What are you thinking about?”

“Hm? Ah.”

It was not much of a thought. Only that she wished Gin had come here too. That child would absolutely love scenery like this, unlike anything he had ever seen in his life. They had planned before to travel together, but one thing or another had always happened and they had never been able to.