Chapter 35
It Might Be a Good Thing
Daimond’s group also arrived at the garden. Nanesha praised everything she laid eyes on in meticulous detail—how wonderful certain parts of the teacups were, and how the embroidery on the tablecloth was special in its technique.
Two chefs presented the finest dinner course. Both Owen-style cuisine and Rundra-style dishes were served. Daimond handled the Owen dishes quite well.
The Rundran chef in charge—who had recently been passionately developing desserts—unveiled yet another new creation. It was a crispy baked pie topped with chocolate and bananas.
Daimond was the first to take a piece, and when he frowned at how sweet it was, Yuri—who took a piece next—casually plopped it onto my plate with his fork, without even looking at my face.
“It’s an unused dessert fork.”
I made eye contact with Cedric, who was seated across from me, and smiled awkwardly. I wished Yuri would treat me a little more like a lady when others were around. Still, the pie was perfectly delicious to me. It was sweet, yes. And that was exactly why it was good.
Daimond failed at popping the champagne properly. He tried to make it open with just a sound, but much more foam burst out than expected.
The lawn drank the champagne thoroughly. “Aah!” “Daimond!” “Hahaha!”—voices like these mingled with the sunset, coloring the garden of the annex.
Throughout the party, I sincerely hoped that everyone felt as happy as I did.
Before it grew too late, the group headed back. Into Nanesha’s departing hands, I placed the flowers that had decorated the table, tied together with my ribbon—a gift to celebrate her marriage announcement.
“Princess Daisy, the child has already come of age. How admirable.”
Nanesha thanked me as she accepted the flowers.
So she knew I was of age, I thought. It might be nice if she told her lover that too.
In truth, I already knew.
She had never once treated me like a child, even when I was young.
Even now, Nanesha was far taller than the average woman, and from childhood she had always stood a head above her peers. When I first met her, Nanesha herself was still a minor, but she looked like an adult to me—tall and dignified.
That Nanesha had never once placed her hand on my head to pat it. Yuri, on the other hand, stroked my crown every time, as if determined to polish it shiny.
Daimond’s group went straight from the garden to board their carriage. I headed toward the main building of the estate under Cedric’s escort.
“Today was a very enjoyable day.”
“Was it.”
“If only we could store today’s memories somewhere outside ourselves, so we could take them out and look at them whenever we wanted.”
Cedric briefly turned his head toward me, then faced forward again.
“That way of remembering might be a good thing.”
That was what he said.
* * *
Daimond made a new suggestion.
While Nanesha and Yuri often spent time alone together, Daimond was left with free time of his own. Sometimes, it seemed he wandered the marketplace by himself. When he made the suggestion, we were spending time together in the small sitting room attached to my bedroom.
“Daisy, shall the two of us go see an artificial lake?”
“You can make a lake artificially?”
I thought of the artificial pond in the Rundran royal palace—floating plants growing along its edges, frogs croaking near it whenever it rained.
“There’s an artificial lake on the outskirts of Arsen. It’s so large you can’t really see the end of it. There’s a small pavilion floating in the middle, and they say it’s wonderful to enjoy an outing there.”
It sounded fascinating. A floating pavilion in the center of an artificial lake felt mysterious. I wondered what it looked like—perhaps a small pleasure boat, since it floated on the water.
A few days later, Daimond managed to obtain two admission tickets to the lake’s pavilion.
When I first heard about the tickets, I assumed it would be impossible—after all, only two people per day were allowed access to the pavilion.
But Daimond—the second prince of the Kingdom of Rundra, imaginative, curious about everything in the world, and the type who simply had to do what he wanted—ultimately succeeded in getting them.
On the morning of our appointment, Daimond came to pick me up by carriage. The carriage stopped in front of the park where the artificial lake was located. The coachman said the carriage could not go any farther inside the park.
Sir Mathis opened the carriage door and helped me down. Sir Diego dismounted from the horse he had ridden. Since horses were also prohibited inside the park, we tied them at the designated area.
The weather was bright and clear. The sky was blue, and birds flew overhead.
The lake was said to be located in the center of the park. Trees were planted so densely that it would have been believable to call it a forest. Between the wide trunks and lush leaves of trees that looked centuries old, the sky peeked through. The park attendant at the entrance gave us directions to the lake’s dock.
Daimond and I walked in that direction at the fastest speed permitted for a gentleman and a lady.
I held Daimond’s hand. It reminded me of childhood. Whenever I called out “Brother,” Daimond—who had been walking ahead—would always come back and take my hand.
As we walked, the grass bent beneath our steps. The well-maintained lawn brushed against my outing dress with a soft rustling sound.
The sky continued to appear between the trees. No—looking more closely, it wasn’t the sky.
It was the lake, reflecting the sky.
The lake.
Passing the final trees that blocked our view, only the lake remained before us.
The word “blue” carried a clear, cool resonance that reached all the way to the chest.
But could that single word truly contain all the blue of this lake?
The boundary between sky and water touched seamlessly. The clear lake reflected the sky exactly as it was. The soft, fluffy-looking clouds drifting across the sky were drifting just as lazily across the lake.
How—how was something like this even possible?
“Isn’t it wonderful?”
“Yes. It’s moving.”
Daimond lifted the right corner of his mouth higher and smiled proudly, as if to say, I knew you’d like it.
“Thank you for showing me such a beautiful view, brother.”
“It’s nothing.”
Daimond draped an arm over my shoulders.
“Our princess—look there. That’s the pavilion.”
I followed where he pointed.
I had imagined something like a roofed boat. But at the tip of Daimond’s finger stood a small building.
An ivory-colored, octagonal pavilion floated on the lake. At each corner stood a carved pillar supporting the roof. A small house floating atop the water—something like this belonged in a fairy tale.
The park attendant at the dock checked our tickets. A small rowboat was tied there. It was the kind that had to be rowed by hand. We would take that boat to the pavilion.
The surface of the lake was calm, and so the little boat was calm as well.
“Daisy, after sending you to Owen alone, I often apologized to the sky.”
Daimond’s voice trembled as he stood facing the lake.
“When Rachel arrived, I kept asking myself whether there truly was nothing I could have done.”
“Brother.”
“I swear—what Rachel speaks of was not my fault. I never traded you for myself. But even saying this to comfort you makes me look rather foolish, doesn’t it…?”
Daimond was not someone who would sacrifice others for himself. If he were that kind of person, I knew there would have been far easier ways. And I also knew that in life, there are things even the person involved cannot control.
Daimond continued.
“This view is my gift. I hope your life in Owen won’t be meaningless to you. You know, don’t you? The people of the Kingdom of Rundra are those who can find the best side of things—anywhere, anytime.”
“And that’s why we came to settle in the most beautiful land?”
“Yes. Exactly, Daisy.”
The people of Rundra considered it a great honor to use the dragon’s name as their nation’s name. And they believed that the reason they earned that honor was because they could always find the best side of things.
Just as Theseus I, who witnessed the end of the dragon Rundra, never lost hope even as the land collapsed.
Find the best side of things.
When times were hard, the people of Rundra encouraged one another with those words.
Daimond’s face turned red. He pinched his nose, then disappeared into the woods with Sir Mathis, saying they would buy some snacks. Sir Diego spread his own handkerchief over the grass for me to sit on.
“Sir Diego, have you ever seen an artificial lake this large?”
“This is my first time as well. I once heard about this lake from a colleague.”
“What kind of story?”
“He said it was a very capricious lake.”
“It must be quite famous, then—if rumors reached even Rundra.”
I closed my eyes, and a breeze carrying the lake’s moisture and scent blew past. Everything was quiet.
“It’s not widely known throughout the kingdom, but it’s remembered because a love story is entangled with it.”
“A love story?”
“The details are not known.”
“That makes it romantic in its own way.”
What kind of story inspired someone to create such a vast lake?
Thinking that, I let time drift by.
