IHMEB - Chapter 34 < First Kiss >

IHMEB - Chapter 34 < First Kiss >

Having An Enemy's Baby




“I guess I’ll finally live.”

"Ah..”

I jumped up and stretched out my hand towards the man who had jumped into the water, but when I saw Kaian who had risen to the surface, I sat down tremblingly.

Only then did Kayan see my pale face and swim to the shore.

“Why are you doing that?”

“No, I’m surprised.”

He looked like he had no idea why I was surprised.

“Don’t you know how to swim?”

“Because water is dangerous.”

“It’s not dangerous. People are naturally born to float.”

“Because Valmonde’s lake is frozen. If the ice breaks and someone falls in, there’s no way to save them.”

As I stuttered in a trembling voice, Kaian sighed.

“It’s hot in Rowen and the water isn’t too cold. From a very young age, I have been in the water and playing.”

“Since you were young?”

“From when I was a toddler?”

"Lie."

I laughed softly.

“Come here.”

Kaian held out his hand.

“You come in too.”

“I don’t like it. It’s scary.”

"It's okay. It's not scary. It’s not that deep.”

“It’s deep!”

The water in the lake reached up to Kaian's chest so that if I went in, I would have to lift my heels so that it would be below my neck, so deep that I seemed to be in deep water.

“When you were sick, you seemed quite bold enough to face death, but you were a coward.”

"I beg your pardon?"

The man who was tightening his eyebrows as usual today looked quite happy in his eyes.

"Swimming. I will teach you.”

But I could not fall for such provocation.

I shook my head.

“Should I go out to catch you?”

“There is no need to learn anything.”

“But what wouldn’t you learn if you had the opportunity? Isn’t you an idle Duchess who has nothing to do anyway?”

“It’s going to get busier now.”

“I don’t think you will get any busier before the fall festival ends.”

As Kaian grabbed my arm, I held on to the grass sprouting on the ground with both hands.

Perhaps that made him dumbfounded, but the man suddenly had a bewildered look on his face.

“Take off your clothes.”

“Even if I don’t learn to swim....”

“If you decide to continue like this, you’ll have to get wet all the way into the castle, right?”

I was in tears.

“Lying in the water and looking at the sky is a spectacular sight. Don’t you want to try it?”

Kaian seemed to have decided to change his ways of luring me, so he let go of my arm and swam to the center of the lake.

“Wow.”

Meanwhile, the smooth body of the man cutting through the water looked like a large fish.

After swimming flexibly and reaching a wide spot, Kaian relaxed his body and lay down on the water.

“...Amazing."

Does the human body really float on water as he said?

Kaian was lying comfortably with his arms outstretched on the calm water with the light of the blue sky and white clouds on the surface.

As if he was lying on a cloud.

I looked at that figure as if fascinated.

Valmonde was frozen for more than half of the year, and because of the frigid water, it was unthinkable to swim even during the short summer.

This is because I do not drown by falling into the water, but rather lose consciousness in an instant due to hypothermia.

Since the water in the lake was water that flowed down from melting snow and ice on the mountain, the water was so cold that my whole body felt tingly cold when I just dipped my fingertips into it.

Growing up in the North, it was natural for me to think I was in big trouble as soon as I saw Kaian jumping into the lake.

“You look in a good mood.”

What he showed with his eyes rather than trying to lure me with his words had a greater effect.

As my curiosity grew, I began to wonder if I could really fly.

Kaian must have noticed this and swam back to the water.

As his arms and shoulders moved sequentially as he swam closer to me, he seemed like a different creature in the water.

A mermaid or something.

It made me wonder if there was a tail, not just legs, under the invisible water.

His movements were natural as if it were true that he had been playing in the water since he was very young.

“Do you feel like coming in now?”

I hesitated and then asked him.

“You have to hold me so I don’t fall out.”

"Of course. Don't you trust me? Even though I was the one who saved your life?”

“You can’t play around. Otherwise, I might never be able to go into the water again.”

“Sure.”

When Kaian answered brightly, I sighed and started to undress myself, pulling the straps of my dress.

Rowen's dress was thin, and if it got wet, my body would be exposed, so I felt uneasy as I pulled it on, asking Kaian if I wanted to fall out.

I undid the skirt around my waist and took off the white dress made of light material, revealing that I was wearing thin underwear underneath.

I, who had hesitated to leave my strappy underpants behind, approached the water in that outfit.

“Sit down and soak your feet first.”

I did as he told me and put my feet in the water, and to my surprise, it was a pleasantly lukewarm temperature.

“Isn’t it cold?”

"Yes."

“The sun heats up the water here. It's not as cold as in the north. It’s lukewarm even at night.”

Nevertheless, perhaps because it was lake water, a refreshing and refreshing feeling surrounded my feet.

"Come in."

I took the hand he held out and carefully slipped into the water.

“It’s deep.”

I barely reached the tip of my toes, and I looked anxious as the water reached below my neck.

“I’m holding you. It’s a depth you will never fall into.”

While I hesitated, Kaian unhesitatingly pulled me away from the water's edge.

"Stop. Please stop.”

"Coward."

In addition to telling him not to play around, I should have also told him not to make fun of me.

I sighed, wondering how many times I would be called a coward before I went out on the water today.

“Throw yourself into the water, backward."

“I can’t do it.”

“Relax your neck. Even if your ears are closed, no water gets into them. Lie down more.”

“Ugh.”

“If you apply that much force to your body, you won’t be able to float.”

He supported my body as if carrying a log and nagged me.

“I lived a good life even though I couldn’t swim.”

“You are Temnes. Not Vermont. If you can’t even do this, you can’t be called Temnes.”

However, at the unexpected words, I lost all strength in his body.

'Temnes?'

When he spoke as if he acknowledged it, my mind, which had been bewitched, obediently followed Kaian's words.

In Rowen, I want to be in Temnes, not Vermont.

I was given a name by Kaian and I wanted to live as his wife.

Suddenly, I looked at Kaian.

I seemed to see my own reflection, lying white in his eyes as he looked down, supporting my body with his arms to keep me afloat.

Drops of water dripped from his wet, black hair and landed next to my navel as I lay on the water.

Suddenly, I felt a tickling sensation somewhere on my body.

“Don’t turn your head.”

I was bruised.

“You should look at the sky. When you turn your head, the center of your body tilts.”

I turned my gaze from peeking at Kaian to the sky.

“Wow.”

Then I saw a sky so blue that my heart was wide open.

"How do you feel?"

“It feels like I’m flying in the sky.”

When I looked up at the sky and saw the body swaying slightly in the water, it felt like it had become part of the clouds.

Like the floating clouds, I seemed to be floating somewhere along the waterway.

“Close your eyes. It would be better then.”

Kaian's tone of voice was a little different from usual, perhaps because I listened to him and was in a good mood.

I closed my eyes.

Then I felt peaceful, ignoring all my fears.

The pleasant shaking of my body and the lapping waves stimulated memories of the beginning.

His face also gradually faded, and I was enveloped in a sense of peace that I had felt only when I was in my mother's stomach, whom I could not remember.

The sound of water flowing and the sound of a small bird touching the surface of the water.

The sound of insects stinging in the distance near the water.

And Kaian.

The only person I can trust and rely on.

“...Duke?”

I closed my eyes and winced.

“Are you sure you’re holding me?”

I couldn't sense the presence of the man who had become quiet for a moment so that I could feel the wide world while floating in the water, and goosebumps appeared on my arms.

I was afraid that when I opened my eyes, the man would not be next to me 

After hesitation, I opened my eyes and saw Kaian looking down at me, and I let out a small sigh as I floated in the water.

“Why aren’t you answering? You were surprised.”

It was then.

Kaian slowly raised his hands next to my shoulders.

“I’m not holding it.”

“Phew!”

I struggled and fell into the water.

“Puh-ha! Cough. Cough.”

Kaian hugged my shoulders and waist.

“Why are you so surprised? You were doing great.”

“Oh, you liar. I said don't play around.”

"Ha ha ha. I never made a promise.”

When I was told not to joke around, you said 'yes'!

But I stopped wiping the water running down my face with my hand and looked blankly at Kaian.

"Haha. Ha ha ha!"

Kaian was smiling.

His face, which always had a stiff expression like a statue, softened.

As the fair-looking man laughed out loud, it seemed as if another sun had risen brightly on this lake.

The white light that brightens my world.

As I stared too intently, Kaian's shoulders, which had been shaking for a while and laughing for a while, gradually subsided.

"Ah. You laughed.”

As if it was awkward for him because it had been a long time since he had laughed.

It was unexpected that I reached out her hand to Kaian's face, who was shy, and cleared his throat as if trying to return to his usual cold face.

I wanted to see just one more time what had just been so dazzling that I could grasp it in my hand.

I haven't seen him smile in months since I came to Rowen Castle, and it's a shame that he passed away at such a moment.

I asked him.

“Can I kiss you?”

Kaian widened his eyes a little. I hung with both arms around the neck of the man holding me and gently kissed him.

My heart was beating loudly like thunder.

Water droplets fell from his forehead to the tip of his nose, flowed between the lightly touched lips, warmed up with our share of body heat, and pooled on his chin before returning to the lake. To the place where the water drop originally came from.

I released my arms.

My body was still in his arms.

'Why did I commit it here?'

I felt like I wanted to run away, but I didn't know what to do since my toes were in the dangerous water and I was still relying on Kaian.

“You are so fearless.”

“I told you I wasn’t a coward.”

I became a little discouraged.

It was my first kiss.

But my appreciation of Kaian says I am fearless.

Something didn't seem to make sense to me, but I couldn't quite figure out what was wrong.

So, since this has already come to an end, shall we satisfy our selfish desires?

“I want to do it one more time.”


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