HTWBB Chapter 21

"You're older than I thought."

"By human standards, I'm well past adulthood."

"You've never been to the ocean before?"

A subtle crack appeared across his bright expression. He lowered his eyelids and looked down, then met her eyes again. His expression quickly composed itself, looking no different than usual.

"...I never had the opportunity. Until a few years ago, I could barely go outside at all."

It was clearly before he'd placed himself under Grace's care. His hands hung down at his sides, clenched into fists full of tension.

It was painfully obvious he was forcing himself to answer. Did 'barely going outside' mean he'd been imprisoned somewhere?

Blinking rapidly, Melian suddenly changed the subject.

"R-Rietta, you've been to the ocean often, right?"

"...Yeah."

This time Rietta's answer dragged. Picking up on her sensitivity as keenly as always, he took a slight step back with an even more flustered expression than before.

She hadn't intended to trouble him this much. It seemed he had a more complicated story than her vague guess suggested.

Rietta watched him flounder quietly, then lightly touched the boy's swaying hair.

"Want to go in?"

"What?"

"You said it's your first time seeing it. You should experience it directly too."

She held out her hand. Melian looked back and forth between Rietta and the hand extended toward him with a bewildered expression. He squeezed his eyes shut once, hard, as if unable to believe it, then stammered.

"B-but, Rietta, you and the ocean..."

"The bouquet you gave me was pretty."

Rietta recalled the marigold bouquet lying picture-perfect on the white sand. Part of the boy's mind was surely still focused on the flowers that hadn't yet wilted.

"This much should be fine."

Then she lightly grasped Melian's hand as it hesitated in midair. The small enclosed hand flinched. Rietta stepped directly into the waves with Melian, who had removed his shoes.

The still-cold waves wrapped around their ankles repeatedly, then receded. The boy let out a small scream of surprise. A faint pressure entered their clasped hands.

Rietta captured the blue light embroidering the entire sand without blinking. With each movement of her legs, the ripples spread out in beautiful light, as if fireflies had permeated them. It was a landscape she'd never once seen in the ocean where she'd been.

Before long, darkness had drawn its curtain enough to make the horizon hazy. Rietta, who had been maintaining silence, abruptly lowered her gaze.

When had it happened? She had definitely been the one holding his hand, but at some point she was being held by a firm hand with visible veins. She slowly raised her head. In the dim light, a distinctly more masculine jawline was reflected.

"Rietta."

Having grown much more than on Mount Tarun, Melian called to her. His deeper voice was incredibly gentle. Rietta took in his suddenly matured appearance.

"If I don't become an adult, will you abandon me?"

"No."

"From now on too? Always?"

"Who knows."

Rietta knew why he kept asking these questions. However, there was nothing certain in life.

Rietta was always in danger, so speaking definitively about the future was difficult, and she had actually been in crisis many times. Since she had to bear the difficulties ahead alone as well, she had absolutely no intention of sacrificing someone else. It was work that belonged to her alone, and shouldn't involve anyone else.

The "abandonment" situation Melian spoke of could occur in some form during that process. Regardless of anyone's will.

Perhaps he'd be disappointed by such an ambiguous answer. Melian liked her enough to give her fresh flowers. But instead of sulking or saddening, he smoothly lifted the corners of his mouth.

"Anyway, you don't plan to for the time being, right?"

"No one knows the future."

"I know. I'm asking what your feelings are, Rietta."

Excluding uncontrollable external factors, the answer was clear. It was a matter already decided from the moment she'd resolved to be with him.

"None."

At her casual tone as always, Melian laughed softly aloud. His face was comfortable, as if he'd never imagined any other answer.

"That's enough."

'Really. That's good enough for me,' the answer continued gently, drifting toward the sea.

Unexpectedly, Rietta chose not the "White Pearl Inn" that Nick had mentioned, but a small, shabby inn with a good view of the beach. It was because Melian had maintained his grown appearance for quite a long time.

They spent a considerable time at the ocean, and could only pick up the bouquet they'd set down when deep night fell and the horizon became indistinguishable from the sky. On the way back, Melian made a glum face seeing his once-again small hands and feet, but it was better than arousing needless suspicion.

"The end room? It's available. How many days will you be staying?"

"About a week for now."

Taking the key from the not particularly friendly owner, Rietta climbed the creaking old stairs and entered the room. The furniture consisted entirely of one wide bed, a table where two could sit, and a narrow wardrobe that could hold three or four outfits.

She picked up an old candlestick and lit the half-melted candle. Dim light illuminated the interior.

"Oh, there's only one bed."

"She must have thought we were siblings."

Passing Melian, who was setting down his bag with dissatisfaction, she approached near the bed. Perhaps for the view, the window was larger than expected.

When she flung open the wooden window frame full of the patina of age, the somewhat rough sea breeze disheveled her hair haphazardly. Rietta blinked slowly. There was no need to shift her gaze far.

"Wow!"

Melian, who had approached at some point, burst out with genuine admiration. Unlike the harbor area, the houses near the beach were nestled close to the towering mountain. It was a place where you could see at an angle the open sea where the shipwreck the merchants had mentioned had sunk—houses clinging tightly like barnacles to the precipitous cliff.

Beyond the residences spread out like stairs, the completely darkened sea lurked, holding its breath and undulating. This small inn was as old as the surrounding buildings, but the fact that the night sea was visible at a glance was quite nice.

"I can't tell where the ocean is and where the sky is."

"That's why you shouldn't wander the night sea alone."

"That's also why it's beautiful..."

Rietta left the window open so Melian could appreciate it sufficiently. However, when he showed no sign of leaving even while she was almost done unpacking, she half-closed the shutters.

Melian blinked blankly and turned to look at Rietta. Having traveled here and there and suddenly grown and returned, his face was full of sleepiness.

"Sleep now."

"What about you, Rietta?"

"I still have things to organize."

"I'll help you. It'll be done quickly if we do it together."

"It's just one backpack, so it's fine."

His yawning appearance wasn't in any state to help either. When she forcibly laid the boy down on the bed, he blinked his eyes and mumbled as if trying not to fall asleep, then soon began breathing evenly. Even when she poked his side, he only tossed and turned with no sign of waking. It was fatigue accumulated since Mabia, so he wouldn't wake easily.

Eventually, once Melian had completely fallen into slumber, Rietta extinguished the candle. Since even the moon was as thin as a fingernail, the surroundings instantly turned pitch black. Crossing through the darkness, she placed her foot on the window railing, then suddenly gave attention to the marigolds on the nightstand. They still hadn't wilted in the humid, hot weather.

'If I don't become an adult, will you abandon me?'

Rietta, who let out a small sigh, lowered her leg. Eventually turning around the other way, she went down to the lower floor and came back, then jumped out the window without hesitation this time.

Rustle. After the sound of the overgrown grass swaying settled, silence returned. As the vivid crescent moon turned at an angle in the sky, weak moonlight gently permeated into the room where the boy slept.

Clatter, the shutters shook with the rising breeze, making an unpleasant sound. The marigolds in the vase and the haphazardly folded note glowed faintly in the darkness.

The highest cliff in Clémora was located where you could see it just by turning your head from the seaside village. It looked close enough to see trees barely taking root on the slope, as if anyone could approach it. However, all the shortcuts were blocked with large stones or piled earth, and even the one remaining path wasn't easy.

For an ordinary person, there was no proper path—enough to give up quickly even coming in broad daylight. It seemed deliberately arranged to prevent anyone from going near. The story about many people drowning seemed not to be a lie.

Rietta carefully pushed through places where paths were clearly deliberately left unmade. She climbed up trees to move, and when a relatively even path appeared, she increased her speed.

'So this is it.'

The destination she arrived at after such a long time was indeed high enough to touch the sky, as its reputation suggested. The densely embedded stars seemed close enough to pour down at any moment.

She placed her foot at the edge of the cliff with slow steps. As if the earlier breeze had been a joke, fierce wind struck strongly like claws, hitting her hair and exposed skin here and there.

Blue leaves swirled chaotically in the air. Tap. A stone struck by the toe of her shoe fell below. The splash sound came very faintly after quite some time.

'What can a demon beast that's lost its power do?'

Rietta breathed deeply. For a while, there were times when recalling the ocean or cliffs would engulf her in emotions she couldn't control. Sometimes her whole body trembled with fear, and sometimes anger rose enough to want to eliminate everything visible.

When had all those emotions been swept away? Rietta raised her arm. As expected, contrary to her calm mind, her hand visibly trembled. It was merely an inevitable reflexive bodily reaction.

Leaving her body that wouldn't listen to its master familiarly alone, she turned her gaze downward. If not for the occasional visible waves, that place would have looked like a pit of unknowable depth.

Not bringing Melian had been the right decision. A forest nymph couldn't endure the sea.