Once he received my consent, Riorem moved into action in an instant.
He had been going out briefly during the daytime and returning around sunset for several days, and on the fourth day, he simply informed me, “I’ve rented a house.”
That evening, we left the room with only a few belongings.
Looking at the modest travel bag in Riorem’s hand, I thought,
‘He must be planning to buy everything new there.’
It didn’t take even a few hours to realize my guess had been correct.
We traveled by carriage under the cover of night and arrived at the house, which would be our new lodging, around dawn.
All the furniture in the room had clearly been used by someone before, but the blankets and clothes were all brand new.
I laid down in the room that had been decorated to suit my taste and fell asleep right away.
Exactly five hours later, I woke under the pouring sunlight.
The room was bright as if it had a chandelier lit inside.
Sunlight streamed through the windows facing the sea like it was about to shatter.
I slowly got out of bed and approached the man sitting by the open window.
I wrapped my arms around his neck.
Riorem opened his mouth.
“Do you like it?”
Only then did I look out the window.
The world was split in half.
A dazzlingly colored sky and a transparent sea, like pale liquid light-blue ink.
The two shades of blue stretched endlessly without mixing.
I stared at the vast horizon and slowly looked around.
Waves shimmered silver in the sunlight as they crashed endlessly onto the sandy shore.
People were walking along that pure white beach.
Everyone was smiling.
It felt like being in a concert composed entirely of laughter.
It all seemed predictable, and yet there was an overwhelming amount to take in.
As I took it all in, I asked Riorem,
“…This is the sea?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
His low voice tickled my ear.
Riorem wrapped his arm around my waist, and I floated slightly as I settled onto his firm thigh.
It felt like I was perched on the windowsill itself.
From that position, I once again took in the scene outside.
Wherever I looked, it was just sea.
It was unimaginably vast.
“It’s enormous…”
I quietly inhaled.
The breeze smelled salty.
But it was a completely different kind of saltiness than what I’d become used to over the past few months.
‘Now that I think of it, the sound is different too.’
Even though it’s the same sea, a small port village and a famous beach feel entirely different.
Even the sound of the waves was completely different—stronger, more invigorating.
Smiling, I looked back at Riorem.
“So this is what you wanted to show me, isn’t it?”
Riorem didn’t answer.
Instead, he gently kissed my palm and gazed at my face in detail.
I pressed my thumb to his lips.
“What kind of expression am I making, Riorem, that you’re trying so hard to hold back?”
“…What do you mean?”
“You’ve got the look of someone who wants to take me right now, but also wants to just keep things as they are.”
At my words, Riorem let out a long sigh.
His strong arms wrapped around my waist and back.
Held in that heated embrace, I quietly felt him trying to cool himself down.
“…If you promise me a few things, I’ll take you outside.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
I hadn’t even said I wanted to go out yet.
He was the one who wanted to take me out, and yet he began with conditions like that—it was cute.
But I didn’t let it show.
Instead, I wrapped my arms around his rising back and soothed him.
“Promises, huh… how many conditions are you going to attach?”
“Four… no, five.”
“Hehe, go on then. Let’s hear them.”
Riorem pushed me back slightly by the shoulders.
The moment our eyes met, his throat bobbed with tension.
It seemed he couldn’t suppress his rising desire just by holding me for a little while.
At this point, I couldn’t help but be curious.
What exactly did he want to do with me?
“First… You absolutely cannot go anywhere alone.”
I quietly nodded.
That was only natural.
I didn’t even know where I was, and if someone recognized me and came after me, I’d definitely need Riorem’s help.
“What else?”
“I’ll braid your hair, so don’t touch it. And you must never take off your hat.”
“Two, three… What are the other two?”
“One is: if there’s anything you want, you must tell me right away.
And the other…”
Riorem frowned and shut his mouth tightly.
He really didn’t want to say it, it seemed.
‘Some habits never die, huh.’
Ever since Riorem stopped being my slave, he had gained the freedom to say whatever he wanted to me.
There are times in life when, in order to get to the point, you have to say things that are a bit embarrassing.
Riorem hated that kind of thing more than most people.
So whenever there was something he didn’t want to say, he would always wear that same uncomfortable expression.
Back when he was a slave, he never had the chance to express his thoughts, so it didn’t really show.
‘Even though I teased him about it so many times, he still gets like this. Maybe shyness is just in his nature.’
As always, I gave him a soft smile—one I’d practiced since birth and worn like second skin.
Realizing that I was ready to tease him, Riorem looked at me with eyes full of reproach.
But since it was something he had to say anyway, he finally opened his mouth slowly.
“Please… don’t laugh.”
“At what?”
“…Even if I speak Imperial with a strange accent.”
He said it so seriously that I burst into laughter before I could stop myself.
“So this is a region that uses Imperial, huh?”
“You know Imperial? I had no idea.”
“…I do. I just learned it from a strange person, that’s all.”
“Hmm.”
I nodded lightly.
Even outside the official borders of the Serpantov Empire, there are many regions that use the Imperial language—each with strong local dialects and quirks.
Judging by the timeline, Riorem must’ve picked it up during his mercenary days, drifting from place to place.
‘He’s warning me like this—his accent must really be something.’
If someone looks this lovable while nervously bringing up something so trivial… is that weird?
Anyway, after thoroughly teasing his red ears, we finally left the house.
The Streets.
The streets were more crowded than I expected.
All the shops were lively and noisy, and the air was filled with the smell of grilled fish and other foods.
Children ran up and down the alleys, while a few frantic parents chased after them.
It was a sight I’d never seen before.
I was instantly captivated.
Riorem’s blue eyes followed me.
Though he seemed worried about my uncharacteristic lack of caution, he also looked at me with joy sparkling in his gaze.
Then at one point, he tightly grasped my hand.
I looked down at our joined hands, then slowly up at Riorem.
“…What is it?”
“You were the one who grabbed my hand first.”
“Well, there are a lot of people around.”
“I wasn’t complaining. And it’s not like we’re at a stage in our relationship where holding hands should make us shy, right?”
“…I know.”
Riorem replied with a blunt voice and lowered his gaze, as if trying to hide his blushing cheeks.
‘This man once kept me as a bedroom slave, and yet he’s embarrassed over something like this?’
I still didn’t understand his way of thinking.
If it were me, I’d be far more ashamed about getting hard whenever I saw my lover writing in her diary.
Anyway, once we held hands, it was much easier to get through the crowd.
I followed the tall man—who was a full head taller than most people—out of the bustling coastal street.
The Beach
Before long, we finally reached the beach.
Maybe because it was the hour when restaurants were just opening and taking breakfast orders, the beach looked much quieter than when we saw it from the estate.
Riorem led me across the endlessly stretching sands. Then he stopped in front of a large rock.
“Please sit.”
I sat on the rock that jutted out like a natural chair.
Riorem knelt down in front of me and, very skillfully, removed my shoes and stockings.
Only then did I place my bare feet on the sand.
“…So soft.”
Crunch, crunch. I muttered unconsciously as I felt the sand crumble beneath my feet.
Riorem stood up and, after organizing my belongings under one arm, held out his hand.
“Would you like to go into the water?”
I nodded.
He had dressed me in a light, shorter-than-usual dress and brought a pouch just for my shoes—perhaps to let me experience the sea.
‘But he probably only expected me to dip my feet in, at most.’
Thinking that, I let go of Riorem’s hand—and ran.
Riorem tried to follow after me in a hurry, but it was already too late.
I was already charging into the breaking waves, against the tide.