Aiden couldn’t contain his delighted expression at Anje’s compliment and rubbed the back of his neck with his palm. Then, at the sound of her stomach growling, he quickly grabbed the plump lobster.
“It’s nice to hear your compliments, but let’s eat before it gets cold. You said you were hungry, right?”
“Yes, Chef. You should try this shrimp too.”
Anje began savoring the lobster that he had placed on her plate.
Thanks to Aiden’s diligence in preparing the shell in advance, both the lobster and the shrimp were easy to peel and eat. The meat was tender, with an addictive umami flavor.
The crispy grilled halibut paired well with the mustard-infused sauce, and the accompanying clam chowder and wedge potatoes blended flawlessly with the main dishes.
“Mmm, using fresh ingredients really makes a difference in taste.”
Back in the capital, Anje had often eaten similar seafood dishes. However, during the transportation process from the sea to the capital, the freshness inevitably declined.
“Maybe it’s even tastier because you’ve been working hard with me since the morning. From now on, I’ll try to put in a little more effort—”
“Aiden, if you keep making weird jokes, I’ll pinch your lips with this claw.”
Anje playfully opened and closed the lobster’s claw with both hands, pretending to threaten her mischievous husband.
Even though they were far from home, sharing laughter while looking at each other made it feel as if they were right back in Leslie. It was a strange but comforting feeling.
* * *
After finishing their hearty meal, the young couple headed toward the sea in front of their home. When they had arrived the previous night, it had been too dark to see the ocean properly, so they wanted to take a closer look now.
Swoosh—
Hearing the waves faintly even from inside the house, Anje thought they sounded similar to the heavy rain pelting down during a storm. But hearing them up close, they were slightly different.
‘It sounds more like a massive object moving.’
As she watched the waves rush in quickly and then retreat, she suddenly wondered—where did these waves come from, and where did they go?
Leaving behind the unanswerable question in her heart, she turned to her partner with a more casual one.
“Aiden, have you ever been to the sea before?”
Adjusting the shawl draped over her shoulders, Aiden replied,
“Yes. The first time I saw it was when I became a soldier and departed from the port to the continent. Unlike here, the waters were deep and pitch black—it felt terrifying.”
“Heh, so you were just a kid back then.”
Aiden didn’t refute her words and simply smiled.
As a fresh young soldier, the dark ocean, seemingly endless and impenetrable, had felt eerily like his uncertain future as he headed toward a battlefield. But he didn’t want to dampen the mood with such a story. Instead, he played along playfully.
“To be honest, it still scares me a little. I should stick close to you.”
He wrapped an arm around Anje’s shoulders and swiftly pressed his lips to hers before pulling away.
Anje’s cheeks flushed red, but instead of scolding him, she moved even closer.
“Alright, then. Stay right by my side, and let’s walk together.”
Since it wasn’t peak vacation season yet, there were few people around apart from them. Having such a beautiful beach all to themselves was truly a luxury.
She walked slowly along the sandy shore, pressed against him. The soft sensation of the sand shifting beneath her feet felt unfamiliar but amusing.
“This is my first time seeing the sea.”
Aiden looked surprised.
“Really? But don’t nobles travel around for leisure? Even if not abroad, at least to the beaches within the Empire?”
Anje gave a wry smile.
“Our dear Duke Glasster—or rather, Mr. Glasster—was particularly conservative. He didn’t like the idea of me wandering outside the duchy, thinking unnecessary rumors might spread.”
To the Duke, the most important thing had been ensuring Anje remained a flawless marriage prospect. He would never have allowed her to visit a vacation spot where romance often bloomed among young nobles.
Aiden’s thick eyebrows shot up in surprise, only to drop back down just as quickly.
“If I had known that, we should have come much sooner.”
He had simply assumed she must have visited the sea before. If only he had known, they could have taken their honeymoon earlier—or at least visited the Imperial beaches.
This time, Anje tiptoed and stole a kiss from his lips.
“Come on, while we’re staying in Leslie, I’ve done so many things I couldn’t before—even things other nobles wouldn’t normally experience. So don’t make that guilty face.”
Aiden quickly erased his troubled expression, but inwardly, he resolved to take her on more trips once they returned to the Empire—not just to Leslie or the capital, but to other places as well.
Once they had children, traveling freely would become difficult, so before then, as often as possible…
Squish, squish—
She started walking ahead of him again but soon spotted something written in the sand and gestured for him to come over.
“Aiden, look at this. Someone wrote something here. Isn’t it cute?”
「Jemis Waz Here」
Judging by the misspelling, it seemed to be written by a child—probably a boy named James.
Anje smiled warmly and picked up a small piece of driftwood.
“I want to write something too.”
She crouched down and moved her hand, tracing large letters in the sand.
「Anje」
She had intended to add “was here” next, but before she could, Aiden beat her to it.
「& Aiden」
She had been wondering what he was writing so seriously, only to burst into laughter when she saw it.
“Since we came together, I had to add my name too.”
“I get that, but…”
Aiden wasn’t done. Using the same stick, he drew a large heart around “Anje & Aiden.”
Anje rolled her eyes.
“Are you, by any chance, ten years old?”
Writing lovers’ names inside a heart was something a little boy would do. As he finished drawing the large heart, he responded nonchalantly.
“This way, people who see it will know what kind of relationship we have.”
“This is so embarrassing.”
“It’s a collaborative creation, so you can’t just erase it carelessly.”
When she pretended to erase the heart with her foot, he quickly blocked her, as if it were something truly important. Anje let out a small chuckle but didn’t dislike his reaction, so she left it alone.
He carefully drew an arrow piercing through the heart from top to bottom. Then, noticing something caught at the tip of his driftwood, he dug it out from the sand and handed it to her.
“Here, this is a gift for you.”
“What is it?”
Anje took the white, round object and examined it closely from all sides. It was a flat, mysterious item made of a material similar to a seashell. A flower-like pattern was engraved on its surface.
“It’s a hardened creature called a shield-shaped sea urchin*… It also has the nickname ‘sea money.’”
TL/N: *Sand Dollar* Since it’s called sand dollars I’ll keep using “sand dollar” for the rest of the chap.
At the port he had visited before, there were street vendors who sold these sand dollars and conch shells they had gathered.
“‘Sea money’? Do people actually use this as currency?”
The five-petaled pattern on its smooth, white surface made it look quite precious.
He shook his head and explained.
“There’s a legend that on stormy days, mermaids drop their coins while fleeing in confusion.”
“That’s such a charming legend.”
A mermaid’s coin—it was a fitting name for something so round and flat. Anje smiled and examined the sand dollar more closely.
Aiden gestured toward his ear.
“Try holding it up to your ear and shake it.”
What kind of sound would it make? Feeling a slight thrill, Anje brought the sand dollar close to her ear.
“Do you hear the cries of birds?”
“Birds?”
She thought she heard a faint rattling sound, but what did that have to do with birds?
“If you break it open, small white dove-shaped fragments come out. That’s why they say it’s like a birdcage, and the sound you hear inside is their wings flapping.”
As Aiden repeated the story he had once heard from a talkative merchant, Anje listened with bright, eager eyes.
“Really? If I break this, will the birds fly out?”
“Shouldn’t they? The kinder a person is, the more birds come out. If it’s you, I’m sure a lot would appear.”
Anje stretched out her arms, gazing intently at the sand dollar in her hands. Then, she pulled it back and held it carefully against her chest.
“It’s too precious to break. The patterns on it are so beautiful—just like spring flowers.”
Besides…
“You were the one who picked this up for me first on this beach. I want to keep it as a souvenir.”
Aiden rolled up his sleeves with enthusiasm.
“Then let’s find more sand dollars! If we search carefully, we might be able to gather a few more. We can break one of them open to see inside.”
“That sounds great! It feels like a treasure hunt.”
They bent down, eyes fixed on the ground, and began combing the shore.
Just as Anje described, the sandy beach was full of treasures waiting for them. Mysteriously colored seashells, bright red scallop shells, tiny spiny conch shells, intricately patterned spindle shells, heart-shaped stones—each one a small marvel.
“Look at this, Aiden! Some of these shells have holes in them, almost as if someone made them on purpose. Wouldn’t they be beautiful if we strung them together into jewelry?”
The glow in her green eyes was even more striking against her flushed cheeks. Aiden chuckled and nodded.
“You’re right. I’ll collect the ones with holes for you, too.”
“Great! I’ll make a shell necklace for you as well.”
“Uh, no, that’s really not necessary……”
TL/N: POOR AIDEN LOL.
As she wandered around the beach scanning the sand, Anje regretted not wearing a dress with bigger pockets.
Gathering all the precious treasures from the sea had filled her pockets too quickly.
“You little hoarder, just look at how stuffed your pockets are.”
“Shh, instead of talking, keep searching! We’ve only found three sand dollars so far. We need one for Mr. Doug, too.”
Ignoring Aiden’s teasing, Anje even took off her wide-brimmed hat and used it as a makeshift basket for her collected treasures.
Once in a while, she picked up what she thought was an empty shell, only to be startled when a tiny hermit crab wriggled out. But despite those little surprises, their treasure hunt was going smoothly.
* * * *
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