“Um, Theo.”

Vivianne carefully called out to Theodore, who was walking ahead of her. Yet he continued striding forward, looking only ahead without turning back.

Strangely, he still hadn’t let go of her hand that he had held when escorting her. No, he was actually gripping it tighter than before.

When Kian escorted her, he had released her hand as soon as she boarded the carriage. She couldn’t understand what was happening.

Feeling her captured hand throbbing, Vivianne called out to him anxiously again.

“Theo.”

“……”

Again, he gave no response.

“Ow, it hurts, Theo.”

When she mentioned the pain, he finally stopped in his tracks.

“I-I’m sorry. I was distracted.”

Theodore, startled, released Vivianne’s hand.

He hurried ahead again, flustered. From behind, she could see the tips of his ears turning bright red.

“Theo. Are you feeling unwell?”

“No, nothing like that.”

“Let’s walk together. I’m wearing high heels. My feet hurt a bit.”

“Ah, yes. I’m sorry.”

Why was he stuttering like a broken machine? He seemed completely distracted. Considering how flustered he must have been because of Kian, it wasn’t surprising.

Vivianne slightly bowed her head toward Theodore, who finally started matching his pace with hers.

“…I’m sorry, because of me, Theo…”

“What do you have to be sorry for, Vivianne?”

“Just, you seemed very embarrassed.”

“No. It’s fine.”

“Still…”

“It’s not your fault at all, so don’t worry about it.”

Vivianne hadn’t apologized because she thought she’d done something clearly wrong.

She just felt guilty, like she’d done something wrong. She was trying to alleviate that feeling.

She knew it was a bad habit. But she wasn’t the type who could comfortably move past such uncomfortable situations.

This too was ultimately something she did to make herself feel better.

“Theo. Kian was being too mischievous, wasn’t he?”

It was precisely Kian’s fault. When Vivianne carefully brought this up, Theodore paused briefly before letting out a small sigh.

“No.”

“What?”

“The master wasn’t being mischievous to me, exactly. He was being mischievous to you.”

“…I…”

She tried to argue, but his words weren’t wrong at all.

Looking back, the jacket incident was similar. Sometimes Kian seemed excessive when it came to Theodore.

Hearing Theodore’s words today, it seemed that things always turned out this way when she was caught in the middle.

She wondered if Kian had some misunderstanding, but then again, there was no relationship to clarify, so explaining might make things even stranger.

“Anyway, I’m not angry with you. So please don’t worry too much. I mean it.”

“Yes.”

“…Just with myself.”

He kept sighing deeply as he spoke. Seeing him trying to compose himself, she felt it might be better not to ask.

“And earlier…, you seemed uncomfortable.”

“……”

“I’m sorry. I was a coward.”

Theodore kept looking at the ground in the distance, seemingly unable to raise his face.

* * *

“Please enter and take a seat here.”

After walking together through a luxurious corridor, he opened a door.

He called it an opera box seat. It was a protruding area like a balcony, about two or three floors high, with chairs overlooking the stage. According to Matilda, such seats were very precious. She said Kian must have secured them with difficulty.

Vivianne didn’t sit down immediately but looked down at the people seated below with curious eyes.

“Theo, come too. This is really amazing. People look so tiny from here.”

“I’m fine. I’ll wait here.”

It seemed a shame to enjoy it alone, but Theodore politely declined.

“Vivianne, even if it’s fascinating, leaning out to look down is dangerous. Please sit down.”

“Okay.”

She should behave well since Theodore might get upset too. Vivianne didn’t resist and obediently sat down.

“Theo. When is Kian coming?”

“You mean the master?”

“Yes. Matilda said it was a date.”

She turned around with a bright smile.

“This way, it feels like I’m on a date with you.”

“Ah, well, th-that…”

“Actually, this is a date too. Matilda said a date is spending enjoyable time with someone you like.”

“…What?”

“I like you, Theo.”

She meant it as a joke, but Theodore seemed uncomfortable and couldn’t continue speaking.

Then he cleared his throat and began explaining again.

“Ah, well, anyway, he said he had some business to attend to. He’ll be here soon if you wait a bit.”

“Isn’t a date also business?”

“Ah, that… this place is frequented by nobles. It’s also a place for greetings and socializing. He’ll probably arrive before the performance starts.”

“I see.”

Vivianne nodded without further comment.

Kian was always busy. It seemed he had many things to take care of here too.

Royalty wasn’t great.

Nobility wasn’t great either.

They might look impressive on the outside, but they had too many obligations.

“Theo, what’s that? The thing everyone is holding in front of their eyes.”

“Ah, they’re ‘opera glasses.’ They help you see better. Would you like to borrow the master’s for a moment?”

“Yes…! I’d like that.”

“Just a moment.”

Theodore rummaged through his bag and handed her a case. When she opened it, she saw the opera glasses.

They had two round pieces of glass attached together as one structure.

On the side was a handle for holding.

“Hold it here. Put your eyes to this side and look at what you want to see. Small things will appear larger.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

It was a fascinating tool. Vivianne held the handle and put it to her eyes as Theodore had explained.

“Wow, Theo’s face is so big-!”

“D-don’t look at things like that. Look at the stage over there.”

He waved his hands, seemingly a bit embarrassed.

“But I can’t see anything yet.”

Vivianne looked around with the opera glasses still held to her eyes. Then she spotted a familiar face in the box right next to theirs.

“…Kian?”

Thinking she might have seen wrong, she looked again several times.

It was definitely Kian.

There was no way she could mistake such a radiant male as Kian.

Kian was sitting in his seat with his legs crossed, looking ahead.

And beside him.

“……”

Kian’s fiancée, Penelope Steward, was seated.

And if she wasn’t mistaken, she was wearing the exact same dress that Vivianne had on.

Forcibly suppressing her startled heart, she looked in that direction again. Then, to confirm, she looked down at the dress she was wearing.

She hadn’t seen wrong.

They were definitely wearing the same dress.

Her heart sank heavily, like a rock had been placed on it.

What on earth… is going on?

Her mind was a tangled mess, feeling like it might explode.

Vivianne, seemingly entranced, looked at the empty seat beside her.

She had been told this was Kian’s seat. Why was he sitting over there?

Wearing the same dress as Kian’s fiancée might be a coincidence.

But no matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t understand why Kian was sitting there.

As she stared blankly at him again in her bewildered state, their eyes met once more.

“…!”

She thought he would be surprised at being caught, or that he wouldn’t expect her to be looking. She expected Kian to show a flustered reaction.

Instead, he stared back at her without any sign of surprise.

Then.

Is this not something to be surprised about?

Feeling like her heart had stopped, Vivianne dropped the glasses and hid behind Theodore.

“A-are you okay? Vivianne?”

Theodore bent down in alarm and asked, but Vivianne was completely distracted.

Was it because she got caught peeking?

Or was it because his gaze when their eyes met was somewhat chilling?

She was no longer a mermaid who needed to hide behind rocks to steal glances at him. Yet instinctively, she couldn’t understand why she had hidden herself.

Her vision swam, and she found it hard to regain her composure due to the dizziness.

“I-I’m fine.”

As the color drained from Vivianne’s face, Theodore looked deeply concerned.

“What did you see that startled you so much? You’re trembling. Right now.”

“It’s… nothing. Just feeling dizzy.”

“Are you sick? Should we go to the infirmary?”

“I’m fine. Just. For a moment… I need the bathroom.”

She needed somewhere to escape and catch her breath.

The bathroom, anywhere.

As long as it wasn’t here.

If she stayed here any longer, she might wish to dissolve into sea foam rather than become human.

—

T/N: Bro, you gotta decide. What’s this, pokemon? Gotta catch ‘em all?