Episode 5. As Expected
Everyone stared at the rippling water surface with dumbfounded expressions until Mensha belatedly came to his senses and tried to rush back into the lake. But the hand of the friend gripping him tightened even more.
"Stop it."
"Let go. Grace..."
"Gray went. That's enough. Gray will save her."
Mensha stopped and looked at his friend. His friend's eyes were filled with certainty. The clear gaze conveyed it plainly.
Gray can do it, but you can't. Gray pulling a naked woman from the water could end as a mere event, but not you, Mensha.
Gray could silence anyone with a single word claiming it was just to save a life. He was the son of a family with that kind of power. Moreover, his reputation for never being sincere with any woman, no matter whom he bedded, would neatly wrap up the incident.
Thus, the only man who could step up here was Gray. Though he was quite drunk, of course.
Mensha had to accept reality. He clenched his fists tightly and anxiously watched the lake.
Moments later, midway between shore and Grace, a silver head broke through the surface. Gray slowly approached the two women.
He resembled a massive white serpent gliding through the night sky, slicing the moonlight.
"Hey! Are you okay? Calm down!"
Adel shouted loudly at Grace, who was still out of it. The surroundings were nothing but darkness, water sounds, and tree shadows.
Approaching an excited Grace rashly would surely result in her latching onto Adel mercilessly. Then both sinking would be only a matter of time. Adel wasn't foolish enough to court that danger.
"Stay still to float. Try to calm down!"
"Gurgle, glub."
Her words predictably fell on deaf ears with the flailing Grace. She didn't even seem aware someone had come to rescue her.
Adel switched targets to the rowboat as planned. First, she'd drag it over so Grace could grab on and float. She bit her glasses back in her mouth—items she couldn't lose—and swam toward the boat, already pushed quite far away.
The moment her hand touched the sturdy wooden plank, Adel tossed her glasses inside first. She had to keep track of irreplaceable things. Then she pushed the boat with both freed hands.
The rowboat was heavy. Far heavier than anticipated. She also had to watch for the net or needles somewhere below. Her movements inevitably slowed.
"Ngh."
After straining with all her might for a long while, Grace's hand finally reached the boat. And as Adel predicted, Grace clung wildly to whatever she could grasp.
"Hah, haa, you okay? Breathe first."
"Cough, haa, cough cough."
Grace spat out water and air. Her eyes gradually focused, regaining sanity bit by bit. But her complexion was poor. Her face was whiter than flour, and her lips were beyond blue—dark purple.
Grace, trembling against the boat, began slipping back into the water as her strength failed. Adel hurriedly climbed aboard and pulled Grace's hand, hauling her up.
"Get up first. Up to rest."
But Grace's limp body wouldn't budge. Adel's depleted strength from pushing the boat was also an issue.
After struggling futilely, Adel climbed back down. This time, she tried pushing Grace up from below. Fortunately amid misfortune, Grace's lower undergarments remained intact.
Yet once afloat thanks to Adel, Grace suddenly burst into tears.
"Hic, sob, th-thank you."
Relief or shame, she wept uncontrollably despite lacking the strength to climb.
"Ugh, stop, cough, stop crying!"
Because of it, Adel kept getting splashed under Grace.
Damn it. If you can cry, climb up already!
While choking on water and devising another plan, Adel suddenly stopped kicking. Something tough and rough had snagged her ankle underwater.
Despite caution, she'd gotten caught after all?
It felt like the problematic net. Fortunately, not the sharp-needle part.
Adel tried freeing the rope around her ankle, but it only pulled her and Grace underwater together.
"Ow, glub."
Ugh, seriously.
Grace thrashed again, and both tumbled off the boat.
Adel sighed watching the drifting boat. We're screwed. Totally screwed.
In that moment, the artificial lake felt like an endless ocean. Meanwhile, the snare on her ankle tightened further.
Anxious, Adel instinctively turned toward shore. Maybe someone to help.
But without glasses, her vision was poor. Only faint, wavering torchlights blurred in the distance.
Then suddenly, something seemed to slice through the current approaching. Adel focused on the sound. Moonlight rippled on the black surface, parted by an even brighter glow drawing near.
What? As she wondered, it halted nearby and slowly rose above the surface. Silver hair slicked back, piercing heavy silence. Straight white forehead and golden eyebrows sparkling in moonlight. Long wet lashes below.
And wave-crashing irises slowly emerged, fixing on Adel.
"......"
"......"
When the man's broad shoulders fully surfaced, a languid voice—out of place in the crisis—jolted Adel's senses.
"As expected."
With the cryptic words, an invisible sound barrier around her shattered. Splashing water and distant lakeside cheers poured into her ears.
Only then did Adel realize she'd heard nothing for a moment.
Gray hopped lithely into the boat Adel had dragged over and first tried pulling Grace up. But he grimaced slightly upon grabbing her hand. Watching Adel hurriedly shouted.
"Wait a moment!"
Adel grabbed a ghostly drifting white cloth nearby—Grace's torn inner dress—and pulled it over.
Adel first covered Grace's chest with it. The wet thin fabric barely concealed a woman's nudity, but better than nothing.
Gray's stiff expression softened into a smirk. He hauled Grace up with a grunt.
Grace tumbled flat onto the boat bottom the moment she was aboard. Whether the shore crowd saw, distant cheers of 'Woooah' echoed.
Grace vomited water for a while before sprawling on the floor. Confirming her state, Gray extended a hand to Adel this time. She looked up calmly.
"Net on my ankle. Wait a moment."
She dove back underwater, shaking the net around her ankle every which way. It was so tightly tangled the rope wouldn't budge.
"Pha."
Surfacing for air, her eyes met Gray's watching gaze.
"Won't come loose?"
He tilted his head flatly.
"Yes."
"I see." He nodded, shrugged, and dove back into the lake without hesitation.
Water splashed hugely from his taut body hitting the surface. Adel swept back her drenched long hair to clear her vision. Suddenly, warm heat touched her ankle.
Fear made her flinch involuntarily. It was scary.
Nothing visible above water, yet the living warmth below felt eerie. Maybe because this hand was much larger and softer than her own earlier touch. A dull current seemed to spread along its path.
Another's touch enveloped her calf then withdrew, clustered warmth gently scraping near her ankle bone.
With focus solely on her ankle, her stomach churned. Her foot felt massively swollen, devouring her whole body.
Doesn't this person need to breathe? It felt like ages when finally the rope released her ankle.
Gray's head poked above next, meeting her eyes. Silence enveloped them again.
"Better?"
"Yes."
"Any other discomfort?"
"None."
Gray smiled. He climbed aboard languidly again. No trace of fatigue in his characteristic leisure.
He offered his hand; Adel was pulled up.
"Haa, ha, haa."
Safety reached, her lungs heaved roughly. Adel clutched her aching chest and curled up. Grace lay unconscious like the dead.
"Um, thank you..."
Adel barely spoke but trailed off. Too shocked.
Gray had picked up her glasses from the boat corner. He glanced at frozen Adel, then casually placed them on her face himself.
Adel's mind blanked. Overwhelmed, her breath caught. Meanwhile, Gray smiled innocently like chatting with balcony friends.
"Eyes might pop out."
Teasing stone-still Adel, Gray lifted the glasses slightly to peer. Saw her vulnerably trembling eyes, replaced them. Lifted again. Lowered.
In the world fading and returning colors, Adel clearly saw it. Eyes sparkling like a child collector spotting a rare bug, curious about this small wondrous creature's Latin name.
And Adel knew. This giant child collector now grasped her frail, wretched lifeline.
Adel Nora. In truth, she had died long ago. And she had ordinary red irises by genetics.
But this Adel—no, Summer's eyes here now were pink. Hot pink nearing fluorescent.
Thus, the moment her irises were exposed, Adel risked discovery she wasn't the real Adel Nora.
In Karl Kingdom, commoners or serfs impersonating nobles ranked among treason's gravest crimes.
Convicted criminals usually forfeited their lives. Plus execution of immediate family.
"U-Um..."
Panicked, Adel stammered.
"That..."
"As expected. No ordinary reason for such glasses."
Gray's smile twisted. Not the prior bored innocence, but something oddly suggestive.
