Chapter 49

The moment they arrived, Ethea headed for the edge.

Seeing her, Lyle asked,

“This time you’re not linking arms?”

“No. I’m completely reassured now.”

“You’re funny. You say that, but you’re holding my hand.”

“Still, just in case. Let’s go down! Waaah!”

“You, if you’re going to fall, at least say you’re falling fir……!”

Having gotten a taste for it after the first and second time, Ethea enjoyed the falling game no fewer than eight times. Two of those times, she came down as though drifting along the water, but since it seemed doing that too often would end with her catching a cold, she switched back to simply falling.

“Ah, this is thrilling. What are these grasses, that they know so well how to catch us when we fall like this?”

At her question, which came after her exclamation of admiration, Lyle explained.

“It’s nothing much. They’re special plants brought from monster territory, but while they’re plants, they’re also monsters. They like human body heat, so they have a trait of stroking gently. I suppose the magicians thought it would be fun to place them at the falling site. So…… urk!”

In the middle of explaining, Lyle suddenly turned his head toward the grass pit and retched. Startled, Ethea patted him on the back.

Why was he suddenly like this? Could it be aftereffects from repeatedly doing the falling game too intensely? Or was he the sort who turned out to be weak to things like this?

“Are you all right? What should I do!”

Out of guilt, Ethea stamped her feet anxiously. At that, Lyle wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and gave a slight shake of his head.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry. You don’t have to pat my back anymore.”

Even so, she still could not feel reassured, and kept looking at him worriedly. Perhaps conscious of that, Lyle suggested,

“Shall we go back up and jump one more time?”

And making an effort to smile brightly, he whistled and called the jelly goose again. Ethea shook her head.

“No, I’ll ride the goose, but I’m not going back to the river anymore.”

“Hm? Why? You liked it.”

No matter how thrilling and fun the falling game had been, Ethea was not so oblivious as to suggest doing it again to a friend who was retching.

But at the same time, she did not like the idea of jumping alone either. If she did that, Lyle would somehow try to hold her hand and pretend he was fine. The Lyle Ethea knew was that kind of person.

“I’m bored of the falling game now. More than that, I want to look around the other places here. I want to see more animals and plants too. Ah. And I ought to find somewhere sunny to dry this wet body a bit.”

After that, they rode the jelly goose around the island, basking in the sun and sightseeing.

There were many strange things in Aquarand that existed only here. Rabbits whose ears were longer than their bodies, giant bats shining in rainbow colors, carnivorous plants that ate only fairies that did not sing, and even snails carrying pearls on their backs.

It was not only Ethea who found them wondrous. There were some things Lyle too looked at as though he were seeing them for the first time. It seemed he was not completely familiar with this place either.

After looking around for some time, Ethea discovered a truly remarkable plant. Of course, there was not a single plant here that was not remarkable, but this one caught her eye especially.

It was a very peculiar flower. Normally, did flowers not grow either in the ground, by the water, or in the cracks of rocks? Yet those flowers in the distance were standing upright on top of a boulder. It was amazing enough that they had taken root by piercing solid rock, but their colors were curious too. The stems and leaves became more and more the same color as the rock the closer they were to the root, while toward the top, near the blossoms, they took on a pale pink hue.

‘What if I took those back to my house in Oak Village and raised them there? The environment wouldn’t suit them, so it’s better to give up that thought, right?’

Looking at those flowers, Ethea murmured to herself in regret.

“They’re such pretty flowers, ah.”

Lyle, who had been listening, responded.

“Hm? Why?”

“Those pale pink flowers over there. They’re unusual and pretty.”

“You still like flowers.”

“‘Still’? Then are there even people who dislike flowers?”

By the time Ethea asked that back, he was already walking toward the rocky flower patch. Just as she feared, he was trying to pick one.

But then…….

“Here, a gift.”

“Ah……”

“You know, maybe because your hair is black, something like this suits you surprisingly well.”

What Lyle had picked was not a pale pink flower, but an ivory-colored one. It had been blooming below the rocks, and with its double blossoms and heart-shaped petals, it certainly was unusual and pretty. But it was not the pale pink rocky flower Ethea had pointed out. Ethea was grateful, but a little puzzled too.

‘What is this? I had definitely said pale pink flowers quite clearly, so why did he pick an ivory one……’

“There, now it’s finally set properly. Maybe because your hair is wet, it stays in place well.”

“Th…… thank you.”

Ethea smiled at him as he tucked the ivory double blossom into her hair. He seemed to find a small kind of enjoyment in it.

“Jeweled hairpins are pretty too, but something like this feels more naturally beautiful.”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

Did he truly think the flower he had tucked into her hair was pink? Ethea was about to ask something more, but decided not to.

“Shall we go see the sand field this time? They say the sands here aren’t only gold and silver, but come in many kinds.”

“All right. Let’s go see.”

They climbed back onto the jelly goose and headed for the sands. As she enthusiastically looked at the sands, Ethea suddenly grew worried whether this was really all right.

Even so, Lyle was the Emperor, after all. What a situation, for a mere commoner to be using the Emperor of the Empire as a sightseeing guide.

‘If I think of it positively, maybe I’ve been blessed.’

After playing to their hearts’ content, before they knew it the sunset had faded beyond the horizon. It had been hot during the day, but now the wind was gradually turning cool.

“Shall we head back now?”

Lyle asked.

Ethea assumed he meant going home. But the place Lyle took her to afterward was that white building where they had eaten before. Once inside, the second floor seemed to be lodging. It was not gaudy, but it was quite luxurious.

“Let’s wash up and have dinner.”

Wash up and have dinner? That sounded like something only people living in the same house would say to each other.

A little dazed, Ethea asked,

“We’re not going home like this?”

“Why? Do you want to go home?”

“It’s not that.”

“It seems like there’s still more to see.”

“Ah……”

What bothered her was Gin. Solei and Seisil were watching the children, yes. She had also more or less guessed that the two of them would be so absorbed in each other that they would not return for a long time. But there was always the possibility of what if. If they came back quickly and Mother was not home, how hurt would Gin be?

As if reading her thoughts, Lyle said,

“Don’t worry about anything else. I’ll take care of Gin too. Well, I suppose I’ve already been doing that.”

“What do you mean, you’ve already been doing that?”

“Though it isn’t visible, I’ve been communicating with Seisil from time to time.”

“Ah.”

She was about to let it pass with a vague “so that’s how it is,” when doubt arose. Could it be that Lyle had deliberately entrusted Gin to them so he could spend time here playing with her?

Ethea was about to question him further, but by then he had already slipped away to wash first.

“Lyle, hah……”

For now, should she wash too?

Following the attendant’s guidance, Ethea went to the bath and warmed herself in hot water. It felt strange to have a large women’s bath all to herself, but it was not unpleasant. If not for Lyle, she would never have enjoyed this sort of luxury. In that sense, she was grateful to him.

‘What was Gin doing about now? Being far away like this made me miss him terribly. Would Gin not miss me too? Even if he was more mature than other children his age, a child was still a child. If he suddenly started crying because he missed me……’

As she thought of the child, she suddenly also thought of her mother, Luire.

How could a mother be like that? Ethea felt hurt that Luire did not seem to think of her daughter nearly as much as Ethea thought of Gin. Not only that, Luire had left her daughter behind and gone away. Why had she done that? How could she have done such a thing?