Aeplin’s gaze remained fixed on Lucent’s waist without moving.
She swallowed dryly, her mind very busy thinking of a proper response to the shocking action he was about to take.
‘Did he wear a swimsuit under his trousers?’
She was curious what kind of swimsuit he had on, yet she repeatedly resolved never to act old-fashioned.
But Lucent, far from taking off his white linen trousers, tightened his waist cord firmly.
‘What? Why is he not showing me his swimsuit?’
If they had agreed to swim together, was it not etiquette for him to wear a swimsuit as well?
Lucent paid little attention to Aeplin’s doubt-filled face.
“Lucent, are you not going to change into a swimsuit?”
“I intend to swim like this.”
“Uh……? Then why am I……?”
“A lady cannot swim in her undergarments, can she? And everyday clothes would not be etiquette either.”
“But you are going against etiquette as well, Lucent!”
Aeplin’s voice carried a sense of injustice.
At that, Lucent smiled like the blazing sun and cupped Aeplin’s face in his hands.
“If you want, I can take off even these clothes. If you tell me to swim naked, I will.”
His words were convincing, yet somehow unfair.
Still, she could not complain any further at his sun-like smile.
Intoxicated by his voice whispering like lapping waves, Aeplin blushed.
“You are beautiful, Aeplin.”
To be more honest, she was maddeningly adorable and cute.
He wondered whether this woman was really the same bold Aeplin von Hapen who had asked him to save her father.
He stroked the flowered swimming cap, then traced her flushed cheek with his index finger.
In that moment, Aeplin unintentionally confessed everything.
“Actually, I have never swum before. This is my first time wearing a swimsuit like this, too.”
She had bluffed for fear of seeming unsophisticated.
“You can wear it often from now on.”
Lucent said indifferently, as if not having worn a swimsuit was no great matter.
More women had never even seen such clothing than those who had worn it.
Soon Lucent brought over the large inner tube Leon had prepared.
“Our mistress simply needs to climb onto this tube.”
“……?!”
Before Aeplin could ask anything more, she was led by Lucent’s hand toward the sea.
Presently, he floated the tube on the seawater.
“Sit in the hole and put both legs outside.”
She could not manage even that simple motion at once, and struggled with a stiff face.
Lucent lifted her in one sweep, seated her on the tube, and pulled her slender legs outside.
Had humanity been this flustered when it first discovered fire?
Aeplin was annoyed at herself for not moving nimbly.
But when Lucent grabbed the string attached to the tube and headed for the middle of the sea, she was delighted like a child experiencing water play for the first time.
‘It is definitely her first time.’
Even if she could not swim, riding the tube over the rolling waves was this fun.
When the tube occasionally flipped over, she quickly climbed back on, learning her own ways to play in the water.
At some point, laughter never left Aeplin’s face.
Lucent watched the sight with satisfaction and smiled, then swam flexibly like a fish.
Aeplin watched Lucent, who swam freely in various positions, with her mouth half open.
Exclamations burst from her lips on their own, and after a while she laughed brightly and clapped her hands.
“You swim well, too.”
Aeplin praised Lucent.
“Well, I often played at this beach with my father when I was young.”
“Amazing, Lucent.”
“What?”
Was merely cutting through the water amazing?
Watching Aeplin, who gazed at him with admiring eyes, made him laugh on his own.
His mind, usually complicated with things to handle, emptied out, and the moment with her became everything.
“This is the first time I have felt this kind of liberation, too.”
Though Aeplin was relying on the tube, she cut through the water with both arms and tilted her head back.
White clouds drifted slowly across the blue sky, and seagulls flew over the blue surface.
When her body and mind moved together with the rhythm of the rolling waves, she even felt a sense of ease.
The act of wearing a swimsuit for the first time and enjoying the seawater would become an unforgettable memory for Aeplin.
The joy of experiencing things she had never even dreamed of before was very great.
Enough to feel a sense of fulfillment.
Lucent swam only around her, never straying far.
‘Is this what freedom is.’
Aeplin felt the texture of water slipping between her fingers and kicked with her feet.
Next time, she wanted to swim skillfully herself, like a dolphin.
The midday sun sparkled between the waves, and floating on the current, she fully enjoyed the beautiful natural scenery.
Then a small island came into Aeplin’s view.
“Lucent, have you been to that island?”
The island, not far from the beach, was close enough for a good swimmer to go and return.
“Insula Amoris.”
“Island of Love—the name is too grand.”
“I went once, following my father, when I was young. That island is also owned by our family.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Shall we go?”
Aeplin was surprised by his suggestion, but thought there was no reason not to go.
It did not look particularly dangerous, which reassured her.
Besides, the weather today was this fine.
When Aeplin nodded, Lucent grabbed the string of her tube and swam toward the island.
Lucent’s strength was such that it was fast, as if riding a water sled.
After about ten minutes, they reached a rocky island without a sandy beach.
The island, made of black, smooth cliffs, created white foam whenever the waves rushed in and struck the rocks.
Lucent tied the tube string to a rock and took Aeplin’s hand.
“Oh, there are stairs on the island.”
She had thought it was an uninhabited island untouched by human hands, but solid iron stairs were placed from the bottom to the top.
So she did not have to step on sharp gravel barefoot.
Seeing the island he had visited after so long, Lucent felt mixed emotions.
Unlike its romantic name, ‘Island of Love,’ his father had hidden all kinds of smuggled goods in the caves here.
Itucent was, in a way, a secret warehouse floating was on the sea.
That was why iron stairs had equally been placed to make hiding smuggled goods convenient curious.
Of course, it was absolutely not about to reminisce about such memories that he the had revisited the island with Aeplin.
“Aeplin, do you see a tree at the top of that island?”
“Yes, it is laden with fruit.”
He remembered being told as a child not to touch the fruit.
Even afterward, whenever he observed the island through the telescope, he would first check whether fruit was still hanging.
Then Aeplin looked at Lucent with sparkling eyes and said.
“How about we pick and eat those fruits?”
“I have never eaten them either.”
“I have read many plant encyclopedias, so I know. Whether they are dangerous or not.”
Since they had come to such a remote island, being cautious was not the basics of adventure.
L fruit.
Lucent held Aeplin’s hand tightly and climbed the iron stairs diligently.
Soon the afterimage of his childhood unfolded before his eyes.
His father Marcus would stop at nothing illegal if it made money.
He always struggled until the day he died to make money.
The father Lucent remembered lived a life like a war every day and ultimately met a tragic death.
Even if Aeplin was his wife, he had no intention of ever telling her the true purpose of this island.
Lucent was lost in faded memories and thoughts and realized a little late that they had reached the top.
“Lucent.”
When he turned his head to where Aeplin’s gaze pointed, unfamiliar fruit trees stood in rows.
“Do you know what kind of tree it is?”
“I think I need to go closer and examine it.”
The two walked toward the fruit trees in question.
