The second item on Vivianne’s list was going on a picnic. She thought it would be nice to pack sandwiches and eat them in a field with Matilda and Theodore.

“Um, Theo. If you’re not busy, shall we pack sandwiches and go to the fields tomorrow?”

“I’m curious if the wildflowers are doing well. It would be nice if Matilda could come with us this time too.”

She remembered pestering Theodore to go on a picnic back then. But Kian had gotten so angry that they couldn’t go in the end.

This modest wish was fulfilled in a more grandiose way than expected.

When she mentioned it to Marchioness Baldwin, she said there was a small villa near the estate. She gave permission for them to stay there for a night or two.

Matilda, Theodore, and herself would set off together like the wind.

Going briefly and then returning again.

According to Matilda, this was called a ‘trip.’

She had only intended to go on a simple picnic, but now they were going on a trip.

For Vivianne, when it came to trips, she only had memories of briefly visiting Larson from Baldwin. Those weren’t particularly good memories. But going with people she loved, it seemed like her memories of travel would be refreshed this time.

Vivianne’s heart pounded so much she couldn’t sleep a wink.

* * *

After safely arriving at the villa, they came out to the fields with a picnic blanket.

The fields were abundantly covered with charming wildflowers. It was exactly what Vivianne had imagined.

“Perfect.”

There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky, and the autumn breeze blew pleasantly. Vivianne sat on the blanket and gathered flowers from around her to make a bouquet.

Matilda had already left her spot quite some time ago, saying she would bring sandwiches.

‘Is she still not back?’

Vivianne, who had been absorbed in her bouquet, looked up and glanced around. She could see Theodore’s back as he sat a little distance away, making something.

“Theo.”

“Yes.”

“What are you making?”

“……”

“What?”

She asked again thinking he hadn’t heard, but there was still no answer.

“I’m almost done with my bouquet. Will you show me what you made, Theo?”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a secret until it’s finished.”

He seemed to be making something important, though she didn’t know what. While it was right to respect his wish to keep it secret, his refusal to show her only made her more curious.

She tried moving around this way and that, but Theodore skillfully dodged her attempts, so she couldn’t see well.

“Alright. But you have to show me once you’re done.”

“Yes.”

Eventually Vivianne gave up trying to peek and focused on her bouquet again.

“Could you close your eyes for a moment?”

“What?”

When had he come over? Theodore was standing right in front of Vivianne, hiding something behind his back.

“I want to give you a present.”

“A present?”

“Yes.”

So that’s why he had been hiding it so carefully. Understanding the reason immediately, Vivianne squeezed her eyes shut.

“You can’t open your eyes.”

“Yes!”

Theodore sat in front of Vivianne and gazed carefully at her face with closed eyes. She was grinning happily, pleased that it was a gift for her.

Her eyelashes were really long. When they got damp with tears and stuck to the corners of her eyes, he would hesitate for a long time while looking at them.

He was cautious, worried that his rough hands that gripped a sword might somehow wound her delicate face.

The dimples in her cheeks were pretty. Some people called dimples ‘angel’s kisses.’ He had scoffed at such embarrassing nonsense. But seeing the dimples in Vivianne’s cheeks, he could understand at once why such a nickname was coined.

The person who came up with it must have seen someone as lovely as Vivianne.

Looking at her plump lips, he still felt the urge to kiss them.

Should I kiss her?

Theodore, who had momentarily lost his mind with such thoughts, clenched his fists tightly to suppress the impulse.

Even though he tried hard to look away, it was difficult to deceive himself.

He had thought about confessing, but she was a woman who had recently gone through a terrible ordeal. To try such a thing with one-sided affection? He decided against it, thinking it would be cowardly and wrong.

In the end, it would be right to wait and watch from this distance. He was familiar with that to the point of being sick of it.

Theodore took a deep breath and placed the flower crown he was holding onto Vivianne’s head.

“Open your eyes.”

“Wow, it’s a flower crown?”

“Yes.”

The moment permission was given, Vivianne opened her eyes and touched the flower crown on her head this way and that, seemingly unable to believe it.

“Amazing. You know how to make things like this too, Theo?”

“I learned from my mother. It’s clumsy work.”

“Still. I learned too, but flower crowns are difficult so I can’t make them. You’re amazing!”

Vivianne admired him quite honestly.

“I wanted to make one for you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. When I saw you before, you looked just like a princess.”

Pleased by being called a princess, Vivianne kept giggling and laughing.

“What should I do? I don’t have anything to give back. You don’t really like bouquets, Theo.”

She seemed to have taken to heart when he had refused the small bouquet she had offered before.

“I’d like to receive that bouquet.”

“Are you really okay with this?”

“Yes. Looking at it today, I want it.”

Unlike what she had first offered as a gift, it was a large bouquet big enough to fill one’s arms. It was the same size as the one she had been making to give to Kian.

“Alright. I’ll give it to you, Theo.”

Vivianne smiled sweetly as she handed over the bouquet she had made.

“Um, Theo. Thank you for caring for me and helping me. I have many things to apologize to you for.”

“What’s there to be sorry about? I do these things because I want to, so don’t worry about it.”

“You’re such a good person, Theo. That’s why I hope you meet someone as good as you are.”

What did she mean by that?

His grip on the bouquet tightened slightly.

He wondered if she was drawing a line like this, but the feeling was different from usual, making him feel strange.

“You knew, didn’t you, Theo? That I was a mermaid.”

“Yes.”

“You know, even though I’m here on land like this, I sometimes miss the sea.”

Vivianne lowered her eyelashes.

“Even though I have a human body, I guess I’m still inevitably a mermaid. Someday I’ll have to return to the sea.”

The reason she said this in advance was because on the day she would say she was returning to the sea, or rather, the day she would actually crumble into sea foam, she hoped he wouldn’t be hurt. Of course, she felt the same way about Matilda.

“Can’t you… not go?”

But Theodore said something unexpected.

“What?”

“Didn’t we promise back then? That I would protect you. I want to keep that promise in any form, so please, please don’t say you’re leaving.”

“……”

“It’s my selfishness too. But I’m begging you, please don’t say you’re going away.”

Theodore, who always avoided eye contact, was somehow looking straight at her. An awkward atmosphere flowed between them for a moment.

“Theo, I…”

“Vivi, did you wait long?”

Just when she was about to say something, she saw Matilda approaching from a distance with quick steps, carrying a sandwich basket.

Vivianne and Theodore froze simultaneously like children caught trying to do something bad.

“What were you doing? Why is the atmosphere so awkward? Did you two fight while I was gone?”

Matilda, who couldn’t possibly know what was going on, kept asking questions while rummaging through the basket for sandwiches.

“Come on, I showed off my skills for the first time in a while! You like sandwiches, don’t you, Vivi?”

After Matilda wiped both of Vivianne’s hands with a wet cloth, she thrust a sandwich into them. True to Matilda’s large hands, it was a very plump sandwich with substantial filling.

“Theo, you eat plenty too.”

Since things were awkward, she should eat for now. Just as Vivianne, who had been reading the mood, was about to take a big bite of the sandwich, a nauseating smell wafted up.

“Vivi, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just for a moment…”

It was a sandwich Matilda had carefully prepared. She couldn’t say to her face that it smelled bad or that she couldn’t eat it.

Matilda, who had no way of knowing her inner thoughts, looked deeply worried.

“Matilda. Do you have water?”

“Yes. Is your throat dry? Here you go, Vivi.”

She tried to swallow water to suppress the acid rising from her stomach. But instead, dry heaving came up.

“Ugh.”

“Are you okay? If you can’t eat it, don’t force yourself. You’ll get sick, Vivi.”

“Did you get indigestion?”

Perhaps because she had only been lying down until recently, both Matilda and Theodore looked particularly worried.

* * *

Come to think of it, her stomach hadn’t been feeling well, so she had skipped breakfast before departure.

She said she would see a doctor when they returned to the Baldwin estate, but Matilda seemed unable to put her mind at ease.

Theodore must have made inquiries, because he said he had brought a doctor who lived not far from the villa.

After the examination, perhaps because her tension was relieved, she had no energy left in her body.

“For now, it would be best to rest. Shall we discuss the details outside?”

“Yes. Rest up, Vivi. I’ll just listen to the doctor’s explanation and be right back.”

She hadn’t noticed because she had been feeling good for a while. Had her body not fully recovered yet?

While Matilda went out to talk with the doctor, her eyelids grew heavy and she dozed off briefly.

When she fell asleep and opened her eyes again, Matilda was looking at her with a pitying expression.

“I’m sorry, Matilda. I meant to just close my eyes for a moment but I must have fallen asleep.”

“It’s okay. You can get sleepy. Your body needs sleep right now, Vivi.”

Her body needs sleep? What did that mean?

Matilda showed a gentle smile but somehow looked complicated.

“What did the doctor say?”

“Well, that is… Vivi. Don’t be too surprised.”

Was there some problem? She had thought it was nothing serious. But seeing Matilda’s reaction made her even more anxious.

Vivianne’s eyes widened.

“He says you’re pregnant.”

“What?”

She asked again, thinking she had misheard. Matilda also looked somewhat dazed.

“You’re… having a baby, Vivi.”