As their lips met, her body was strongly pulled in. With the pressure hitting her ears, small bubbles tickled her face.

“……!”

She couldn’t open her eyes. Litania clung to Orbis, breathing in the air he passed to her.

Cold and refreshing sensations flowed down her back, while intense body heat pressed strongly against her chest.

Ah.

Orbis was holding her.

“……Puhah!”

Coming back up to the surface, Litania blinked as she felt gravity pulling at her skin.

She didn’t realize she was out of breath underwater, but upon emerging, she started coughing.

“Haa, haa…….”

“Has your curiosity been satisfied?”

“……I’m not, sure.”

“It seems once wasn’t enough.”

At the low rumbling laughter, Litania slowly buried her face in his chest. Through the wet white fabric, she could feel his hot heartbeat.

His breath touched her ear.

Despite feeling each other so closely, no words came out.

Is this what a silent confession is like?

It felt as if their hearts were floating in a small glass bottle.

[This is the timeline separator]

Back in her room, Litania excitedly told Snow about learning to swim with Orbis today while bathing.

“Water really is the best in summer. They say virtuous people like mountains and wise people like water – there’s not a word wrong in that old saying.”

“I didn’t know there was such a saying.”

Wrapped in a blanket after soaking in the bath, Litania chattered about how refreshing the lake water was and the amazing experience of floating, even if just once.

Her face bloomed with a bright smile.

Snow listened quietly while washing her hair, occasionally agreeing.

He swiftly ran his small hands through her curly hair, rinsing out the bubbles.

“So, you see, it was really fun.”

“Once you get more used to the water, you’ll be able to swim on your own without the master’s help.”

“Just doing it together is fun enough, so it’s fine.”

“……I see.”

Though Snow wore a somewhat disapproving expression, he listened kindly to Litania’s story.

‘She’s enjoying it so much, I can’t spoil it.’

He knew. That he shouldn’t disturb the current peace.

Yet the boy’s heart was quietly engulfed in a swirling anxiety.

‘What exactly… does the master think of Lady Litania?’

Sadness grew atop the gradually increasing distrust.

He hid that anxiety and worry solely for Litania’s sake.

‘I only wished for both of you to be happy……’

That feeling hadn’t changed even now.

To Snow, Litania was the most precious existence, but the boy still remained loyal to his master Orbis.

He hoped the two people dear to him would find happiness together.

He hoped it wouldn’t end in anyone getting hurt.

Suppressing the anxiety gripping his heart, Snow smiled brightly at Litania.

[This is the timeline separator]

The next day, she learned how to submerge her face and dive underwater. At first, she only knew how to dive with her eyes closed, but gradually she was able to open her eyes and look around underwater.

‘Wow, I can see fish!’

As Orbis had said, the fish were quicker than she thought, smoothly evading her attempts to catch them.

‘Pepper really is quick after all.’

It wasn’t that she was slow, but that Pepper was fast. Litania claimed another mental victory today.

[This is the timeline separator]

From the next day on, Orbis taught Litania the basic techniques of swimming.

He held her hand and explained how to maintain buoyancy, kick, and move her arms.

“I’ll support you so you don’t sink, so relax, Litania.”

Following Orbis’s guidance, Litania moved her arms and legs in the water. At first, it was clumsy and uncertain, but as she got used to moving in the water, her fear began to disappear.

“You’ve become quite skilled.”

“I still can’t swim to the end of the lake though.”

“……Most people can’t swim that far.”

“Oh really? I see.”

At Litania’s innocent reply, Orbis chuckled and brushed back her wet hair.

“Then let’s order a boat later and take a ride around.”

“Let’s do that.”

Under the summer sun, their lips met lightly.

He had been so deep in the water, but above the surface, he was hot enough to make her heart flutter.

[This is the timeline separator]

An autumn wind brought a letter. It was from the Imperial Palace.

‘His Majesty has finally abdicated to the Crown Prince.’

Citing illness as the reason he could no longer attend to state affairs, he abdicated to her elder brother, Crown Prince Ferus, and entered convalescence.

The Emperor, suffering from heart disease, had become very emaciated and was plagued by frequent chest pains and persistent coughs.

Though his children occasionally visited, after being caught in several fits, he could barely remember their faces and names.

“…….”

It felt strange.

She thought she’d feel relieved if the person she resented was sick and struggling.

Why did she feel so numb instead?

‘He’s not even my real father……’

As if she had truly assimilated into Litania’s body, she quickly shook her head.

‘I should send a letter.’

Litania had not left Dragon Castle since her return and had no plans to do so, so she decided not to attend the coronation.

‘We’re not close anyway.’

Wasn’t he the Crown Prince who always frowned whenever he saw her? Though he would soon be Emperor, they weren’t on good terms, so she thought it better to just send a simple letter.

‘To the new Emperor.’

Litania wrote a very formal congratulatory message along with cliché phrases wishing for the new Emperor’s glory and the empire’s prosperity, then ended the letter.

“…….”

After holding the pen for a moment, Litania added one more line at the end.

‘May the former Emperor spend his remaining days in peace.’

Despite resenting him so much, thinking about how he couldn’t even recognize the children he had embraced after casting her aside made her feel concerned.

‘I wrote that line for the real Litania. It’s not like I’ve forgiven him or anything.’

Litania folded the letter, put it in an envelope, and melted the wax. The letter bearing the seal of the mistress of Dragon Castle flew back to the capital on the autumn wind.

‘Time still flows on, I suppose.’

Dragon Castle’s appearance began to turn golden as autumn arrived.

The lush garden trees’ leaves changed to yellow and red, and the cooler, lighter air became a breeze sweeping through.

The forest around the lake was dyed in brilliant colors as if paint had been spilled.

“It’s autumn, Lady Litania.”

“Yes.”

Litania sat by the window, looking down at the fruit trees in the garden where the fruit was ripening with a sweet fragrance.

It was exactly this season when she first came to Dragon Castle.

“Look there. Water birds are flying.”

A flock of water birds passed over the lake reflecting the high autumn sky.

“Where are they going?”

“Probably to the warm south.”

“Isn’t Dragon Castle’s winter relatively warm? It’s warmer here than in the capital, even though it’s further north.”

“……That may be true on the ground, but not in the sky.”

Watching the lake’s waves move with the autumn wind made her feel calm.

Indeed, autumn is the season for contemplation.

“What was today’s snack again?”

“Apple tart and raspberry pancakes.”

“Haha! No wonder. I saw Pepper diligently picking apples earlier.”

Pepper, who had come out with the assistant cooks from the kitchen, was busy harvesting apples and had returned with boxes full of them.

Sometimes he would toss an apple high to an obedient assistant cook, who would strangely catch it with their mouth.

Crunch crunch. Seeing them chew apples that were hard even for her to bite into with their bare teeth, Litania thought that indeed, not just anyone could be a cook.

She heard that the castle’s knights were practicing new tactics for autumn. The shouts that used to come from the training grounds now echoed from the riding grounds. Litania took a bite of pie while watching the horses gallop powerfully in the distance.

“At first, I didn’t know it was a place like this.”

“Do you like this Dragon Castle, Lady Litania?”

“Yes. It’s more comfortable than the Imperial Palace.”

“……I’m glad.”

With the boy’s smile, a red maple leaf flew in through the window on the breeze.

“I’ll use this as a bookmark.”

Litania placed the maple leaf between the pages of her diary and closed the cover.

The diary that smelled of new paper when she first brought it was now nearing its end.

A year’s worth of diary entries.

It was time to prepare a new diary for the beautiful season awaiting the couple, Litania and Orbis.