Alexei smiled and tapped the candle with the tip of the nib of the quill. In the flame of the candle, the ink and dust remaining in the nib burned neatly, and the nib sparkled like new.
The land of Sedvoyer in the north was now ruled by Karnov’s parents, Ivan Neustadter, the Duke of Sedvoyer, and Yelizaveta Neustadter, the Duchess of Sedvoyer.
And a little further north of the Sedvoyer estate was Linum Yushita. It was within reach of Marquis Oleg, who moved there for medical treatment.
“The Duke of Sedvoyer must have thought his son needed a new friend. Perhaps a strong wind will blow.”
Alexei smiled with an expression of amusement, tapping the candle even more with the pen tip. As distance increases, fears tend to diminish. And parents never fully let go of their belief that they can control their children…
Cyril, who understood Alexei’s words, looked bitter.
“Surely not… about that Karnov, right?”
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Asha offered to row, but Karnov remained firm.
“Just hold on to the sandwich you brought.”
“But this is for you, Karnov. I brought it for you.”
“I said I’ll row the boat.”
“Right, then! The boatman rows the boat all the way to the pavilion.”
“Yes, Princess Anastasia.”
“Ah… this is getting boring when you match me.”
“I made it boring on purpose.”
Asha glanced at Karnov, trying not to show any resentment, but quickly shifted her gaze away. The gentle breeze brushed against Asha’s hair and lapped her cheeks, creating a simultaneous tickling sensation.
The shimmering light reflected like broken fragments on the water’s surface, and the reverberating ripples slowly spread along the path of the small boat. In the distance, the sound of splashing water and the flickering movements of fish could be heard.
“By the way, I didn’t even think about playing with boats. It would be nice to go back home and float a boat, don’t you think?”
As Asha reached out her hand towards a small leaf that had fallen onto the water’s surface, Karnov smoothly moved the oars, preventing Asha from reaching it.
“Do you want to make me row even when we get there?”
“I said I would row. I volunteered to do it even when you said you will.”
“Wouldn’t I be reprimanded the next day if I let Your Highness row?”
“Who is reprimanding who? Our Little Duke Sedvoyer? Or Deputy Commander Neustadter?”
“Alexei doesn’t say anything and just smiles and looks at me for fifteen minutes, on and on.”
“…Ah.”
It was truly scary, Asha slightly agreed. The boat leisurely completed one full circle around the lakeside and was about to reach the shore.
“Oh! I forgot to eat the sandwich.”
Asha, who had thoroughly enjoyed playing in the water, suddenly facepalmed with her hand.
“Just eat it after we go ashore.”
“But it feels different when we eat it there.”
Karnov sighed.
“Wipe your hands first.”
“Ah… I left my handkerchief covering Phoebe.”
Asha was about to wipe her hands on her clothes, but Karnov shook his head and rummaged through his pouch, leaving his oar aside.
“Now, here…”
“What?”
It was the moment when Karnov took out a dark navy handkerchief from his arms. Something came out with the handkerchief and fell to the surface outside the boat in the wind. It was a thick piece of paper with old and worn edges.
“Uh, what’s that? Karnov, is it something important?”
The thick paper slowly began to soak in water. Asha looked between Karnov and the piece of paper, her expression clearly displaying confusion.
As the paper flew away, Karnov seemed to be filled with surprise, confusion, and a faint sense of resignation that Asha had never seen before.
“…Never mind, there’s nothing we can do… Asha!”
And the moment Asha, surprised by the mood of emotion, quickly reached out for the piece of paper, but as she did, she slipped and fell into the water with a splash.
The sound of a splash, accompanied by water droplets and bubbles, resonated like the sound of pebbles creating ripples. Asha flailed her arms while submerged, but amidst the chaotic movements, she heard Karnov urgently calling her name.
And…
“Phew!”
“…”
Asha, who was floundering and holding onto anything she could grab, stopped laughing.
As she flailed around, Asha was pulled out of the water by Karnov, who had swiftly reached her. Both of them were drenched from head to toe. However, the water hadn’t reached very high because they were close to the shore. As Asha was saved, Karnov, who had jumped in to rescue her, initially had an expression of disbelief but then let out a deep sigh.
“…I’ll need a few more hearts to spare.”
Asha was picking up her wet dress when she burst out laughing.
“Wow, that really surprised me.”
“Did you swallow any water? Can you hear me fine?”
“Oh, no, I didn’t swallow any water. I can hear you just fine.”
Asha tried to let go of Karnov’s hand, indicating that she was fine, but Karnov held onto her hand firmly and used his other hand to brush aside Asha’s wet hair.
“Did you bump into anything? We went around in one circle. I thought I was watching a squirrel.”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
Asha tried to push Karnov away, but it didn’t go as she planned. Karnov’s arm was strong, and no matter what Asha tried to do, her hand could only reach his shoulder or upper body.
“Kar… Karnov, you’ve really grown tall.”
“Surprisingly, I’ve never been smaller than you since I was born.”
Then Asha glanced at Karnov. Karnov still seemed to have fun teasing Asha even at the age of nineteen.
“So are you really okay, Princess?”
“My mom made a contract with the lake spirit, right, Karnov? So I won’t drown.”
“…Then what kind of contract did your father make?”
“A contract with the firefly spirit.”
Asha said that with a mischievous smile, and Karnov suddenly burst out laughing, shaking his head.
“Your Highness! Your Highness, are you all right?!”
<How can this stupid peach fall into the water!>
Lise, with a pale face, walked into the water, and Phoebe, who woke up from her sleep, flew in a hurry with her full stomach. Asha squeezed out the wet handkerchief and shook her head.
“Lise, yes! It’s okay. Really, it’s okay. I’m sorry, I scared you. But really, it’s okay, achoo!”
“Quickly bring down the temperature and get out of the water. Bring towels and a heater.”
While Asha was sneezing, Karnov made quick gestures.
“I sneezed because I had water in my nose, and I’m really okay. Usually, people don’t sneeze right away just because they splashed in the water.”
Asha said so, but the maids ran, wrapped her up, and left the lake. Karnov, who was left behind, sighed, quickly grabbed his trembling right hand with his left hand, hid it, and sighed deeply.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
“Your Highness! You should always be careful on the boat. Are you hurt anywhere?”
<This peach fell into the water! If you fell in, you should elegantly swim out, why fuss around?>
“Sorry… I didn’t intentionally fall in. And it was too shallow to swim out.”
Asha tried to escape from the scolding voices in her ears, but failed.
As soon as she dried her body a little – Asha noticed that Karnov secretly used his time manipulation to slightly dry her body – she returned to Taimir Palace and warmed herself in warm water before changing into comfortable clothes.
And since then, the tears of Phoebe and Lise had been continuing. As Asha shrugged her shoulders, Karnov, who had changed into dry clothes, came in. Asha took the opportunity to change the atmosphere and frowned.
“Karnov! Are you really okay too?”
“I’m fine. Doctor, come this way.”
“Oh, no. Did you call a doctor meanwhile?”
And taking advantage of Asha’s confusion, Dante, who had seven years of experience as a palace doctor, came inside.
Dante met Princess Anastasia when he was in his third year as a doctor at the palace, and since then, four years had passed. Dante was now familiar with everything. No, he even became more welcoming.
“Do you want to eat this, Dante? Take a bite and work.”
Before checking her body temperature and confirming that there was no particular problem, Princess Anastasia smiled and offered a plate to Dante. There was a piece of yellow cake with white lemon icing on it.
Dante’s eyes flashed. A little while ago, word spread to the court treatment center that Karnov Neustadter had called a doctor.
Karnov sighed – which meant Princess Anastasia had been in a minor accident, although she was not in danger, it still worried Dante – the doctors present immediately gathered and checked the schedule for today’s Taimir Palace medical examinations.
Today was Dante’s turn.
“Your Highness, we should start by assessing your physical condition first.”
“If Dante eats my cake, I’ll take my temperature, do this, and do that.”
Princess Anastasia was stubborn even with Lise’s small remarks. Lise sighed and poured Dante a cup of black tea.
“Well, then I’ll take a bite first.”
If this was the ‘picnic cake,’ it was a cake that had only been heard of within the infirmary. As soon as he took a bite, the tangy taste of lemon danced among the fine particles of the cake crumbling in her mouth.
When the sweetness of the cake became overwhelming, the tangy taste of the icing awakened his senses, and then the taste of the butter-rich cake gently enveloped his mouth.
‘Those little ones kept it all to themselves…’
It was one of his fellow doctor who tasted this picnic cake first. He had brought it with him, even the one that the princess had brought for them. Unfortunately, at that time Dante had been unable to taste it as he was organizing the medicinal herb storage.
With each bite, without even thinking of saving it, the plate quickly became empty. Lise swiftly cleared the plate and teacup with a stern face. Dante barely managed to pull himself together and coughed lightly.
“S,so, is there any particular discomfort?”
“No, none at all!”
Princess Anastasia said, waving her hands, but Karnov glanced at her and replied instead with a sigh.
“The princess fell into a waist-deep lake. She might have sprained something, and now that she’s wet, she might catch a cold.”
“I didn’t sprain anything. And I won’t catch a cold just from that.”
“Don’t you catch a cold every season?”
“Yeah, so I’m saying it’s not the time for me to catch a cold. Winter is still far away.”
“It’s not something to be proud of.”
“I didn’t say it as if I’m proud… Dante, it’s fine to just check my body temperature. If you really want to do something, you can do more. Maybe… Maybe if the emperor asks something, keep it a secret… No, that’s not right. You can’t keep it a secret, so just tell him that I’m really fine…”
“Your Highness, outside…”
Princess Anastasia spoke with a desperate look, and at that time, the servant who was guarding the door came in and announced that a guest had come. Lise, who had hurried out, quickly returned and whispered to the princess.
“His Majesty, His Majesty the Emperor is coming.”
When Anastasia heard that, the princess drooped her shoulders and sighed deeply.
“Ugh.”
