Chapter 27
“Your Majesty, the King of Shulid.”
“That will do. There is no need to be so formal.”
“I know what Your Majesty means to the people of the Kingdom of Shulid. I am merely showing the respect that is due.”
Schultz Tugrahan looked at Elisa with a slightly surprised expression before raising one corner of his lips into a smile.
That smile, reminiscent of the refreshing sea breeze, caught Elisa’s eye.
“Hearing you say that only makes it harder for me to give up.”
Caught off guard by Schultz Tugrahan’s direct choice of words, Elisa could not find a response.
Seeing her flustered, he chuckled softly and graciously changed the subject.
“By the way, why were you looking at your fiancé like that?”
“What kind of look do you believe I was giving my fiancé?”
“Well. To me, it looked as though you wanted to throw him into the sea at any moment.”
“Or perhaps the look of a warrior staring at an opponent she must fight immediately.”
“…”
“If not that, then it was closer to the gaze of someone looking at a person she simply could not understand.”
“…I do not know why Your Majesty would say such a thing. Perhaps Your Majesty simply misread it. Where in the world is there a lover who looks at their beloved that way?”
“If you say so, then I shall accept it.”
Even after their conversation had ended, Schultz Tugrahan did not leave and continued standing beside Elisa.
Having no other choice, Elisa brought up a new topic.
“Are you enjoying the voyage?”
“I am enjoying it immensely.”
“Now I understand why you became a naval officer.”
“Excuse me?”
“The sea of Sepia is so beautiful that one cannot help but want to look upon it every day.”
“Am I wrong?”
A faint smile appeared on Elisa’s face.
Her gaze rested upon the sunlit surface of the sea in the distance.
It was dazzling enough to blind one’s eyes.
The sea of Sepia was a place that no one could help but love.
Not just Elisa.
Anyone.
Elisa sincerely believed that.
“So, when will you give me the chance to tell you about the sea of Shulid?”
“I spoke carelessly that day.”
“I did not intend to ask Your Majesty to spare your precious time for me.”
“Why not?”
“Surely your fiancé is not so narrow-minded that he cannot tolerate me borrowing a little of your time.”
“In Sepia, we do not call that narrow-mindedness.”
“We call it jealousy, which is part of love.”
“That is not how it appeared to me.”
“I do not understand why Your Majesty keeps misunderstanding the relationship between Adrian and me.”
“Everyone aboard this ship sees us as lovers.”
“So why is Your Majesty the only one who denies it?”
“I am merely making a rational judgment.”
“A rational judgment?”
“The timing of your engagement contract arriving coincided rather remarkably with the arrival of my marriage proposal in Sepia.”
This explanation was actually easier to deal with.
After all, Her Majesty herself had fabricated an incredibly elaborate script.
What had troubled Elisa earlier was his attempt to expose the true feelings hidden behind her eyes.
“It is merely a coincidence.”
“Our engagement had been arranged long before that.”
Schultz Tugrahan raised an eyebrow as though inviting her to continue.
“Besides, Adrian and I have known each other since our days at the academy.”
“It is a bond that began more than ten years before Your Majesty sent me your marriage proposal.”
“If you have known each other for so long, why have you not even held an engagement ceremony?”
“Are you two not already more than old enough to be married?”
“My status was the problem.”
That was not actually true.
To be precise, Elisa’s feelings had been a far greater obstacle than her status.
“But you are an Admiral.”
“As I told Your Majesty yesterday, my mother was not a noblewoman.”
“Does Sepia follow the maternal bloodline?”
Schultz Tugrahan frowned as though he genuinely could not understand.
Seeing how sincerely he failed to grasp Sepian culture, Elisa let out a quiet laugh.
“Pfft.”
“No.”
“Of course not.”
“However, in Sepia, only the children of the legal wife are recognized as nobles.”
Even after hearing her explanation, Schultz Tugrahan clicked his tongue in obvious disapproval.
“So what you are saying is that the reason you are only now preparing your engagement ceremony is not to deceive anyone, but because it took time to obtain your family’s approval.”
“That is the truth.”
“Then tell me.”
“To what extent could you accept the wishes of the person you love?”
“…If it is something Adrian wants, then anything.”
“Even if he asked you to go north with him?”
“Even if it meant clipping the wings that bear the name of the Navy?”
The moment Schultz Tugrahan asked that question, a dolphin leaped out of the sea.
As droplets scattered from its fins, a rainbow of water bloomed beneath the sunlight.
“Please look at that first.”
After the first dolphin leaped into the air, more dolphins followed one after another, creating a breathtaking spectacle across the sea.
Cool droplets rode the wind all the way to them.
The water shaken from the dolphins looked as though raindrops were falling over the ocean.
Rainbows blossomed throughout the air amid the countless droplets.
The pod of dolphins rose and fell like musical notes, painting a symphony upon the sea.
Exclamations of amazement erupted from every direction.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“I never knew such a magnificent sight could be seen even in the seas of Sepia.”
When the entire pod had finally passed and the rainbows began to fade, Elisa turned back toward Schultz Tugrahan.
“I am certain that he loves me as well.”
“That is why I know he would never force me to do something I do not want.”
“That is why I chose him.”
When she finished speaking and turned around, Adrian was standing there.
It seemed Adrian Oberon had been watching the two of them for quite some time.
He looked as though even breathing was difficult.
Even so, his crimson eyes shone more brightly than ever.
Perhaps he was still overwhelmed by the sight of the dolphins.
The excitement had not yet faded from his face.
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After watching the pod of dolphins, the ship’s bow turned toward Roserica Harbor.
Those who had escaped seasickness joined the Queen for a formal meal on the deck during the remainder of the voyage.
Naturally, the seat beside Elisa was occupied by Adrian.
As though issuing a warning to Schultz Tugrahan, the Queen repeatedly emphasized how perfectly suited Elisa and Adrian were for one another and how long their relationship had endured.
“Did the bond between the two of you not begin back at the academy?”
“Yes, it did.”
“Then tell us a little about those young lovers.”
“What kind of relationship did you have at the academy?”
“Surely the King of Shulid is curious how two people from the farthest reaches of the north and south ended up becoming engaged.”
Schultz Tugrahan gave a brief nod.
His eyes, as deep as the sea, rested upon Elisa with complete composure.
They were like a calm ocean concealing waves large enough to swallow houses beneath the surface.
Whenever Elisa met Schultz Tugrahan’s eyes, she felt as though she were being stripped bare.
It was as if his eyes were saying:
‘I shall watch and see how long your lies can continue.’
To buy herself some time, she set down the knife she had been using to cut her steak and raised her glass to her lips.
Her appetite had vanished long ago anyway.
What should I say?
Should I turn the humiliation in the garden into a story of young lovers whispering sweet words to one another?
Or should I pretend that what happened with Enoch at the ball had actually happened with Adrian?
At that moment, Adrian exchanged his plate, whose steak had already been cut into pieces, with hers.
At the same time, he answered the Queen’s question for her.
“It was during the academy entrance ceremony.”
“So you recognized Admiral Shooter from that very day, Lord Oberon?”
“At that time…”
For a moment, Adrian wore a dreamy expression, as though searching through old memories.
Then he slowly began to speak.
“At the time, I did not even realize it was love.”
“I only knew that, for some reason, the sight of her long crimson hair tied high into a single ponytail swaying as she walked stayed with me for a very long time.”
“Then when did Vice Admiral Oberon realize that he had fallen in love with Admiral Shooter?”
The Queen asked the question with the playful expression of a child biting into candy at a festival.
“I was convinced that since I paid so much attention to her, she naturally knew who I was as well.”
“But Elisa did not know me.”
“The first words she ever said to me were, ‘Do I have to know who you are?'”
Everyone at the table burst into laughter at Adrian’s self-deprecating joke.
Had that really happened?
Perhaps it had.
The Elisa of that time did know who Adrian was.
How could she not?
He had entered first in his class, was praised endlessly by every instructor for his exemplary conduct, and was the famous young Duke Oberon known throughout the academy.
There had been only one reason Elisa had pretended not to know him.
She had feared that, like every other noble she had met, he would be another elegant nobleman who looked down on her for being born an illegitimate child.
If she was going to be looked down upon, then she wanted to be the one who looked down first.
It was the childish pride of a young girl.
“Then how did you win Admiral Shooter’s heart?”
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