“Ah…”
An ominous foreboding suddenly seized her, settling fear into Dalia’s violet eyes.
‘It cannot be today…’
Overcome with dread, Dalia rushed toward where Lemon was hovering.
The moment she pushed through the bushes, a frantic splashing echoed from the side.
Splash! Splash!
Turning her gaze toward the lake, she saw a pale, small hand flailing helplessly in the water.
‘So… it really is today.’
Dalia whipped around, glancing toward where the Emperor had disappeared.
Should she chase after him right now and plead for help?
“Help me…”
The child’s frail cry froze her feet in place.
If she ran after the Emperor and got lost on the way, what would happen to that child?
Could she even catch up to him when he had already gone so far?
Her thoughts tangled like knotted thread, tangled with the suffocating terror of watching someone die before her very eyes.
Dalia shook her head violently and slapped both cheeks hard.
‘Pull yourself together. Focus on what you can do right now.’
She quickly checked her clothes.
If she went into the water in this long dress, she would drown for sure.
Hurriedly undoing the dress's fastenings, she looked up toward the sky.
“Lemon, you know the Emperor, don’t you? He just left this place a moment ago. Please, bring him here!”
Lemon bobbed his head as if he understood, then took flight, darting away.
Stepping out of her dress, she pulled out Rose’s letter, which she always carried in her pocket, and weighted it beneath a stone so it would not blow away.
Left only in her light chemise, she scanned her surroundings in a flash, gathered the fallen branches scattered across the ground, and bound them tightly together using her dress.
Splash! Splash!
The child was still bobbing above the surface, only to sink under again.
Dalia drew a deep breath, clutched the bundle of branches to her chest, and stepped forward.
The moment the icy lake water touched the tips of her feet, a vicious chill racked her, and her body locked up automatically.
She slapped her cheek with all her might.
Smack!
A sharp sting tore through her mouth as if the flesh had split, but the pain beat back her terror, and her feet moved once more.
Rippling blue water lapped around her ankles, and as she edged forward, it crept up to her chest.
Dalia forced herself not to look down, fixing her eyes solely on the child’s pale face.
Yet the moment her feet lost touch with the bottom, her vision blacked out for an instant.
Dalia bit hard into the inside of her lip.
The sharp sting and the warm tang of blood in her mouth pushed the panic back.
Fortunately, just as she had hoped, the branches bound in the dress buoyed her, keeping her body afloat.
‘I only need to get these branches to the child.’
Drawing a deep breath, she poured all her attention onto the face of the still-flailing child.
She paddled cautiously with one arm, her body instinctively recalling the swimming strokes she had learned in childhood as she moved forward.
The sound of the child’s thrashing drew closer and closer.
‘I can do this… No, I have to.’
‘How am I supposed to save the world if I can’t even save a single child?’
Dalia repeated the words over and over inside her mind as she cut through the water.
‘Just a little more… one more stroke.’
“Help…”
The child’s voice reached her from right ahead.
Dalia extended the bundle of branches toward her with everything she had.
When the struggling child grabbed hold, the branches abruptly sank beneath the surface.
In that very second, Dalia, who had been clinging to the other end, lost her balance.
Startled, her grip slipped free.
“Ah…”
Shock parted her lips without her realizing, and water flooded down her throat.
Her sight went black, and the terror she had suppressed deep down clawed ruthlessly at her chest.
She swallowed more water, thrashing in the grip of blind panic.
“Ugh…”
Her breath choked off, dizziness swirled through her mind, and her stiffening body began to sink slowly downward.
Opening her eyes with great effort within the murky water, she saw the child clinging safely to the bundle.
What a relief… This time, she had managed to save them.
Dalia felt as though she were falling endlessly, sinking deeper and deeper toward the bottom.
Cold…
Mother…
The water is so cold…
Dalia slowly closed her eyes.
Gray walked in silence, his features steeped in thought.
He had not been ignorant of the Lady of the Pink Flower Field’s fear of water; in truth, he had noticed it even before she admitted it herself.
The moment her violet eyes met the surface of the lake, her slight shoulders had trembled faintly.
She had clenched her hands tightly, doing everything in her power to avoid looking at the lake.
Why, then, had she insisted on coming here despite such fear?
Judging by how urgently she had scanned the surroundings, her claim that she was searching for something had not been a lie.
“Ouch!”
At that moment, Orion, walking ahead of them, came to an abrupt halt after a small twig dropped squarely on his head.
Ethan clicked his tongue softly, as if asking what was so alarming about a twig.
Looking sheepish, Orion resumed walking, only for a sudden gust of wind to smack a broad leaf flat against his face.
“Is this tree that fond of me?”
He grumbled as he peeled the leaf away and took another step, but an even stronger wind whipped up.
Dry leaves rose from the ground, swirling into the air.
The howling wind and leaves circled around them, blocking their path…
As if shouting for them to stop.
“Why is the wind blowing so violently all of a sudden? It’s as if it doesn’t want us to leave… Huh? Where are you going? My Lord!”
Orion’s babbling turned into bewilderment as he saw the Emperor abruptly pivot and retrace his steps along the path they had come.
A dark foreboding swept through Gray.
He should have brought her along, even if it meant dragging her by force.
Gray picked up his pace, swallowed by bitter regret.
He could feel Ethan matching his stride right behind him.
Orion scrambled after them, yelling at the top of his lungs.
“My Lord! Why are you suddenly running? Hah… hah…”
‘Running? Me?’
Gray questioned himself inwardly, but he did not slow down.
The moment they broke through the tall branches and reached the clearing, he cast his gaze swiftly across the area.
No one was there.
Orion finally caught up, panting heavily.
“Hah… hah… Miss Herdlan must have left—”
“Silence!”
Ethan cut him off sharply, and in that instant, Gray and Ethan’s eyes met as the realization struck them both.
The two of them bolted toward the sound.
Splash! Splash!
Looking out onto the lake, they saw Viviana clinging to the bound branches.
And beside her, a flash of pink hair caught their sight, slowly disappearing beneath the surface.
The world turned black before Gray’s eyes, his breath cutting out as his hand flew to his throat.
“Your Highness!”
Orion’s shriek snapped Gray back to his senses, and he ripped off his coat on the spot.
Ethan had already discarded both sword and coat.
Gray and Ethan plunged into the lake at the same time.
Ethan shot toward the Princess, while Gray dove headfirst under the surface, searching for the lady who had sunk beneath the depths.
‘Why? Why in the world?’
‘A woman who fears water this much… how could she even step into it?’
He searched desperately, but she was nowhere in sight.
Gray broke the surface to gasp for air, then plunged back under.
Deeper…
Deeper than this.
Then, amid the darkness as black as the night sky, he glimpsed a pale figure glowing faintly, floating alone.
Gray reached out toward her with every ounce of his strength.
Carried by the water’s pull, her small, pale hand drifted closer… almost touching.
He caught it.
