“Now I feel like I’m alive.”

“Ah….”

Claude sprang up and stretched her hand towards the man who dove into the water, then trembled and sat down as Kaian surfaced.

Seeing her pale face, Kaian swam towards the shore.

“What’s wrong?”

“I, I was startled.”

He had an expression that showed he had no idea why Claude was startled.

“Can’t you swim?”

“Because water is dangerous.”

“It’s not dangerous. People naturally float.”

“The lakes in Belmont freeze over. If the ice breaks and someone falls in, they can’t be saved.”

As Claude spoke in a trembling voice, Kaian sighed.

“In Rowen it’s hot and the water isn’t very cold. Playing in the water is basic from a very young age.”

“From a young age?”

“Around when you start walking?”

“You’re lying.”

Claude ended up laughing softly.

“Come here.”

Kaian held out his hand.

“You come in too.”

“N-no. It’s scary.”

“It’s okay. It’s not scary. It’s not even that deep.”

“It is deep!”

The water of the lake reached up to Kaian’s chest, so it looked like if Claude went in, it would be just below her neck even if she stood on her tiptoes.

“You seemed quite bold when you were sick, facing death, but you’re actually a coward.”

“What did you say?”

The man who usually had a stern look in his eyes seemed quite amused today.

“Swimming. I’ll teach you.”

But she couldn’t fall for such provocation.

Claude shook her head vigorously.

“Should I come out and grab you?”

“There’s no need to learn it specifically.”

“Why not learn when you have the chance? You’re an idle duchess with nothing to do anyway.”

“I’ll be getting busier soon.”

“It didn’t seem like you’d be busy before the autumn festival ends.”

As Kaian grabbed her arm, Claude held onto the grass growing from the ground with both hands and resisted.

That seemed to baffle him again as the man immediately had an exasperated look.

“Take off your clothes.”

“Even if I don’t learn to swim….”

“If I pull you in like this, you’ll have to enter the castle all wet, you know?”

Claude made a pitiful face.

“Lying on the water and looking at the sky is spectacular. Don’t you want to try it?”

Kaian seemed to have changed his strategy to lure her in, as he let go of her arm and swam to the middle of the lake.

“Wow.”

Meanwhile, the man’s sleek body cutting through the surface of the water looked like a big fish.

After swimming smoothly to a wide spot, Kaian relaxed his body and lay on the water.

“…Amazing.”

Was it true that the human body floats on water as he said?

On the calm water that held the light of the blue sky and white clouds, Kaian lay comfortably with his arms spread out.

As if lying on the clouds.

Claude stared at the sight, mesmerized.

In Belmont, where more than half the year was frozen land, and even in the short summer swimming was unthinkable due to the cold water of the gorges.

Rather than drowning after falling into water, one would lose consciousness instantly from hypothermia.

The water collected in the lakes was so cold that just dipping your fingertips in would make your whole body tingle and go numb, as it was water from melted snow and ice from the mountains.

It was natural for her, raised in the north, to think something terrible had happened when she saw Kaian jump into the lake.

“It looks good.”

The effect of showing with his eyes rather than coaxing with words was great.

Curiosity began to creep in, and she started to wonder if she could really float too.

Noticing this, Kaian swam back to the shore.

As his arms and shoulders moved sequentially, getting closer and closer to her as he swam, he seemed like a different creature in the water.

Like a mermaid.

As if there might be a tail instead of legs under the invisible water.

His movements were natural, as if his words about playing in the water from a very young age were not a lie.

“Have you decided to come in now?”

Claude hesitated before asking him.

“You have to hold me so I don’t sink.”

“Of course. Don’t you trust me? I even saved your life.”

“No joking around. I might never be able to get in the water again if you do.”

“I won’t.”

When Kaian answered readily, Claude sighed and began to untie her dress to take it off.

The dresses in Rowen were thin, so if this got wet, it seemed like her figure would be revealed clearly, which had made her uneasy from when Kaian tried to pull her in earlier asking if she wanted to get in like that.

She untied the overskirt around her waist and took off the airy white dress, leaving her in thin undergarments.

Hesitating in her undergarments with straps and underpants, Claude approached the water’s edge in that attire.

“Sit down and put your feet in first.”

As she did as he instructed and put her feet in the water, surprisingly it was a pleasantly lukewarm temperature.

“It’s not cold, right?”

“No.”

“The sun warms the water here too. It’s not cold like in the north. Even at night it’s lukewarm.”

Nevertheless, perhaps because it was lake water, a refreshing and cool pleasant feeling enveloped her feet.

“Come in.”

Claude took his outstretched hand and carefully slid into the water.

“It’s deep.”

With her toes barely touching the bottom, Claude looked anxious as the water reached just below her neck.

“I’m holding you. It’s absolutely not deep enough to drown.”

While Claude hesitated, Kaian unhesitatingly pulled her away from the shore.

“Stop. Stop going further.”

“Coward.”

She should have added not to tease her along with telling him not to joke around.

Claude sighed, wondering how many times she would be called a coward until she got out of the water today.

“Throw your body onto the water. Backwards.”

“I can’t do it.”

“Relax your neck. Even if your ears go under, water won’t go inside. Lie back more.”

“Ugh.”

“You can’t float if you tense up your body like that.”

He nagged as he supported Claude’s body like holding a log.

“I’ve lived fine so far without knowing how to swim.”

“You’re a Temnes. Not a Belmont. You can’t be called a Temnes if you can’t even do this much.”

But at the unexpected words, Claude relaxed her body.

‘A Temnes?’

As he spoke as if acknowledging it, her mind obediently followed Kaian’s words, enticed.

Wanting to be a Temnes, not a Belmont, in Rowen.

Wanting to live as his wife, having received a name from Kaian.

Suddenly, Claude looked at Kaian.

It seemed like she could see herself lying pale, reflected in his eyes as he looked down, supporting her body on the water with both arms.

Water droplets dripping from his wet black hair fell beside her navel as she lay on the water.

Suddenly, she felt a ticklish sensation somewhere on her body.

“Don’t turn your head.”

He chided.

“You should look at the sky. If you turn your head, your body’s center tilts.”

Claude turned her gaze from stealing glances at Kaian to the sky.

“Wow.”

Then she saw a blue sky so vast it made her chest feel open.

“How does it feel?”

“It feels like I’m flying in the sky.”

As her body gently floated and swayed with buoyancy, looking at the sky made her feel like she had become part of the clouds.

It felt like she might drift away somewhere along the water current, like the floating clouds.

“Close your eyes. It’ll feel even better.”

His tone was a bit different from usual, perhaps because he was pleased that she was listening well.

She closed her eyes.

Then, in stark contrast to how scared she had been until now, it was simply peaceful.

The ripples of water gently rocking her body pleasantly stimulated primordial memories.

The serenity that she might have tasted only in her mother’s womb, whose face was gradually fading and becoming unrecallable, enveloped Claude.

The sound of water trickling and small birds touching the water’s surface.

The chirping of insects in the grass by the distant shore.

And Kaian.

The one person she could trust and rely on.

“…Your Grace?”

Claude flinched with her eyes closed.

“Are you still holding me?”

As she floated on the water, she couldn’t sense the presence of the man who had been quiet for a while to let her feel this vast world, and goosebumps rose on Claude’s arms.

Afraid that he might not be beside her if she opened her eyes.

Hesitantly opening her eyes, she saw Kaian looking down at her, and Claude let out a small sigh while floating on the water.

“Why didn’t you answer? I was scared.”

That’s when it happened.

Kaian slowly raised both hands beside his shoulders.

“I’m not holding you.”

“Puhh!”

Claude flailed and sank into the water with a splash.

“Puha! Cough. Cough.”

Kaian embraced her shoulders and waist.

“Why are you so surprised? You were doing well.”

“L-liar. You said you wouldn’t joke around.”

“Ha. Hahaha. I never promised that.”

When she said not to joke around, he had said ‘I won’t’!

But Claude wiped the water trickling down her face with her hand and stared blankly at Kaian.

“Haha. Hahaha!”

Kaian was laughing.

The face that always wore a stiff expression like a statue had softened.

As the handsome man laughed openly, it was as if another sun had risen brightly over this lake.

A white light illuminating Claude’s world.

As she stared too intently, Kaian’s shaking shoulders gradually subsided from laughing for a while.

“Ah. I laughed.”

As if laughing was something very unfamiliar to him too, like it had been a long time.

It was an unexpected moment when Claude reached out her hand towards Kaian’s face as he cleared his throat awkwardly, seeming to try to return to his usual cold expression.

She wanted to see that dazzling sight that had just been within reach one more time.

She hadn’t seen him laugh in the months since coming to Rowen Castle, and it was regrettable that it passed by in an instant like this.

Claude asked him.

“Can I kiss you?”

Kaian’s eyes widened slightly. Claude clung to the neck of the man holding her with both arms and lightly pressed her lips to his.

Her heart pounded loudly like thunder.

A drop of water that had formed on the tip of his nose from his forehead flowed between their lightly touching lips, then pooled at their chins after becoming warm with both of their body heat, before returning to the lake. Back to where it originally belonged.

Claude released her arms.

Her body had been in his embrace all this time.

‘Of all places, I did it here.’

She felt like running away, but with her toes barely touching the bottom of the water, she was still relying on Kaian and didn’t know what to do.

“You really have no fear.”

“I told you I’m not a coward.”

Claude became a little discouraged.

It was her first kiss.

But Kaian’s impression was that she had no fear.

Something seemed off, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what was strange.

Then, since it had come to this, should she indulge her desires?

“I want to do it one more time.”