My Sweet Deceiver

Chapter 21

***

He didn’t have to change because she was lightly dressed from her departure from Lubern. Tehez pulled out her bag and stopped while organizing it. It was because she suddenly felt anxious when she was left alone on the second floor.

He felt like a different person in Lubern, and today in Skone.

He was more friendly and kind than usual.

Tehez didn’t know if he had any other ideas or if he was purely capricious.

“Tehez! Are you done?”

She heard him calling from downstairs. Tehez woke up from deep thought.

“I’ll be right there, Prince!”

She quickly took off her dress.

After changing into a light dress, Denis took her hand and led her outside the villa. There was a stream flowing right in front of the villa.

“That’s right upstream of the Yev River. It will flow through Gotted Azur into the sea.”

Denis said, pointing to the stream.

Gotted Azur was the most famous marine city in the east. Tehez had only seen it in pictures.

She also remembered seeing an inscription saying that the cruise ship on the Yev River, which crosses the middle of the city, was particularly cold.

How could that little stream flow unbroken along the way to the city, which takes a day and a half by train, and join the sea?

“You can enjoy salmon fishing from now on.”

“Salmon fishing?”

“Yes. Do you want to try?”

“Yes, I’ve only eaten it, but it would be my first time catching it myself…”

It was all her first time.

She had always wanted to show him her dexterity.

“Yes, I’ll talk to Laurent. We have plenty of time.”

Tehez looked up at him softly. He looked at the scenery with a relaxed expression.

‘Is it really a dream? If this was a dream, I never want to wake up.’

“What?”

“No, nothing.”

“And if you go back, you can hike Mount Skane. If you go over there, there is also Skane Forest.”

Tehez blurted out.

“All right, Prince.”

“Really?”

Denis chuckled.

It was a boyish smile full of mischief.

He must have heard that she liked mountains or forests. Even so, she wanted to speak at that moment. Impulsive.

Tehez felt warm and fuzzy inside her heart.

‘If this feeling is happiness, I wanted to be happy for a long time.’

***

The chilly morning air woke Tehez. The temperature dropped sharply at night even though it was summer because it was under the mountain.

Thanks to that, she could sleep soundly without waking up in between.

Yesterday, she went to bed right after dinner after looking around the villa. Both of them fell asleep as if it were a lie that they usually suffered from insomnia. Denis was still sleeping next to her. He looked comfortable sleeping like a baby.

Tehez crept out of bed not to wake him from a long, deep sleep. Then she put on the shawl she had thrown on the sofa and went out of the villa.

When she carefully closed the door and came out, a landscape quite different from that of yesterday’s, spread out before her. It felt as if the air moistened with the dew of the night was seeping into her skin.

Mount Skane, located behind the villa, was hidden by clouds, and the summit was invisible. The stream right in front of the villa was full of mist.

And the sound of birds coming from somewhere…

Tehez turned her head and chased the birds.

Little birds and blackbirds, unknown names, were flying through the trees. She wanted to understand what they were talking about. Tehez only stayed for one day, but she liked the laid-back vibe of Skane’s villa.

She wished she could live like this with him.

Tehez sat on a broad rock near the river listening to the sound of flowing water.

The sun was coming up.

She felt like she was falling asleep again.

By the time she was dazed by the sun, “What are you doing here?”

With his robe on his arm, Denis stood behind her with his arms crossed.

“Did you wake up?”

Tehez rose from the rock, dusting off her clothes.

“Yes, you weren’t there.”

His voice, which was lower than usual, was good to hear, perhaps because he was still half asleep. And the messy hair on his right side made him look cute.

Tehez looked at his hair and smiled softly.

She wasn’t going to tell him until they had breakfast.

It’s going to be a little fun for her.

“Let’s go in. It’s cold.”

“Yes.”

Tehez put her arms around Denis’ and went back to the villa.

She told in advance to have a simple breakfast, but Aida’s ‘simple’ was very different from Tehez’s ‘simple’. At the palace, when Tehez got busy, she sometimes only had coffee for breakfast.

When she said that, Aida was ecstatic and said that breakfast was the most important meal of the day, and she carried food to the table without a break. Denis was so familiar with Aida’s actions that he quietly prepared his breakfast portion without saying anything.

“Princess, you must have a good breakfast. It is this meal that energizes you to work throughout the day.”

“But this is too much, Aida.”

In front of Tehez, buttered brioche and fresh croissants from the oven were piled up, and next to them were six kinds of jam, including figs, strawberries, blackcurrants, orange marmalade, raspberries, and cherries.

On top of that, there was a bowl of salad made of fresh vegetables from Aida’s garden. Aida was squeezing oranges and making juice next to her. It was already after a bucket of juice was served enough for 10 people, but Aida did not stop squeezing the juice. It was like a juice maker.

“You can’t skip meals. See, you are so thin. You need to gain more weight.”

Aida put a bowl full of food in front of Tehez.

“Yes, Tehez. I agree with Aida. You need to gain some more weight.”

Denis, who said so, was drinking coffee with a satisfied face, probably because he had finished all the food in front of him.

“Don’t you agree? Go ahead and eat.”

Gaining strength from Denis’ consent, Aida began to feed Tehez all the food on the table.

Tehez stared at Denis, but Denis shrugged his shoulders.

“Aida, can I have some more coffee?”

He just said that, and his expression was absurd.

At that moment, Laurent, who came in through the back door, shouted in surprise.

“Hey! Are you going to make the Princess explode?”

Laurent put down the fishing rod that was in his hand and hurriedly put away the food.

“When this person feels good, her hands get bigger. I’m sorry, Princess.”

Tehez, who was already full, couldn’t say it was okay with empty words.

At that moment, Laurent, who stopped Aida, was like an angel who came to save her.

“I’ve had enough. Thank you for the meal.”

Tehez quickly rose from her seat.

She couldn’t eat anymore. Denis rose slowly as Tehez rose from her chair.

“Thank you for the meal. Aida, thank you for your hard work. You have been working since the morning.”

“No, Prince, I just wanted to treat you better.”

Aida said, wiping her wet hands on her apron as if it were a pity.

“We’ll stay here for two weeks, so please take good care of us.”

Denis glanced at Laurent.

It was an unspoken gesture that Aida would have to work well every morning from now on.

Laurent nodded as if he understood.

***

“Laurent, where can we fish?”

Tehez and Denis had just come out to fish salmon with Laurent’s guidance.

Laurent showed the fishing rod and explained.

“You have to go into the water and throw a sharp thrust towards the front. The flow rate is quite strong, so be careful not to fall.”

Laurent threw a fishing rod to demonstrate. A light spatter was sucked into the river.

Laurent prepared skillfully. After a while, the bob went under the water and came up again.

Laurent, who had been concentrating on the rise and fall of the float, pulled the fishing rod hard at that moment. Tehez saw an object desperately biting and running away. Laurent’s fishing rod bent like a bow. It looked like it would break soon.

Tehez watched the process closely.

As Laurent pulled it, a large thing split the water and jumped out.

It was a salmon!

Tehez looked at it with her eyes wide open because it was her first time seeing a live salmon. Laurent picked up the fluttering salmon with a scoop net.

“This is how you do it. It’s very easy, right?”

Laurent smiled proudly. It was salmon as big as Tehez’s forearm.

“Lauren, you’re amazing!”

Tehez clapped her hands.

Laurent greeted her with an exaggerated courtesy. He looked like a theatrical actor. She burst into laughter.

“Well, then give it a try.”

Tehez and Denis each grabbed a fishing rod. Denis looked at the river, and sat slightly above where she was standing. Tehez stood where Laurent picked up the salmon and decided to throw the rod again.

Tehez swung her fishing rod like Laurent. The heavily bent fishing rod dropped the bob on the back of Tehez. The stick that fell behind her did not come back up. It was stuck between the cracks in the stones.

“Oh.”

“Wait, stay still, Princess. I’ll take it out for you.”

Several times since, Tehez had repeatedly thrown the bob, remembering Laurent’s posture, but the bob continued to fall in front of her nose or behind her back.

She heard a soft laugh behind her.

“I’ll do it alone now, Laurent. You should go now.”

Laurent stretched out his hand to help her several times, and soon she turned stubborn.

“Can you do it alone?”

It was a voice with a hint of laughter.

“Yes, I can.”

Tehez answered gravely.

She glanced at Denis’ net. In that short period of time, there were two large fish in it, perhaps because he caught salmon.

Tehez swung the fishing rod vigorously.

This time, she will properly hang the fishing rod, catch the salmon, and dry it.

She had a good feeling about this.

The bob fell in the right place.

She smiled at the thought of finally making it. When she lifted the fishing rod slightly, something did not come up as if it had been caught.

It was heavy.

Tehez pulled hard. She tried to squeeze her pounding heart and grabbed the fishing rod again.

Prince, I think I caught salmon.

As soon as she was going to say that, the stick that had stuck between the stones jumped out. The reaction knocked Tehez, who lost her balance and fell.

Unknowingly, she was floundering and was swept away by the current.

In an instant, the water dug into her ears and nose. The water where she fell was not deep, but she was washed away by the current and kept flowing into the depths of the heart of the river.

“Tehez!”

There was a thumping, rushing sound, and Denise lifted her by her waist.

Cough cough

Tehez coughed, spitting out water from her mouth.

“Are you okay?” asked Dennis in an urgent voice.

“Yes.”

Tehez answered, drenched in water.

Her hands were trembling, perhaps because of the surprise.

Denise got wet with her water and brushed her back, which was clinging to her clothes.

“It’s all right now.”

It was a gesture of relief.

“Let’s go in.”