CH 191

‘Ah. What do I do.’

The sandy beach was right in front of her, but she hesitated because she didn’t know how to get down there.

From the low cliff on which the garden was situated, the beach was down below.

But in her perspective, it was still fairly high up, and she didn’t think she’d be able to jump down.

If she was alone, she might have stumbled down, stomach-first. However, she was in front of Helios right now.

“May I help you?”

Knowing that she was hesitating, Helios offered her a helping hand. He had already gone down first.

“If it isn’t too much.”

“Then, please excuse me for a moment.”

Helios smiled. Without a moment spared, he reached out both hands and secured a firm hold onto her waist.

Sera thought that he would guide her by hand at best, and so she was soon surprised by his actions. Unknowingly, she put a hand on his chest at the suddenness of the situation.

At that moment, her body was lifted in the air.

“Ah…”

A small yelp broke out.

However, it happened in a blink of an eye. Before she knew it, her feet were lightly placed upon the sandy beach.

Sera stole a glance at Helios, who had carried her just like that.

Realizing that she still had a hand to his chest, she dropped it in surprise.

“Th…Thank you for helping me down, Your Majesty.”

“You’re welcome.”

Helios smiled softly, which made her heart skip a beat. Sera bowed her head and hid her face.

If it was bright out, it would have been very painfully obvious that she was bright red, even to the tips of her ears.

‘Maybe it’s because there’s no one around. Or maybe it’s because this isn’t the Imperial Palace.’

Sera’s stubborn feelings were surging once more.

Even though she had come here with the intention to let go and rid herself of such troubles, the fact that this felt like a date made her so happy.

She quietly admired the grains of white sand beneath her feet, and a few pieces of coral one the way. However, Helios asked suddenly.

“May I ask that you close your eyes for a moment?”

Even though they were surrounded with darkness, he gazed at her with bright, fine features.

“My eyes?”

His request was rather unexpected, so Sera was perplexed.

Helios nodded as though it was a natural request nonetheless.

“There’s something I’d like to show you.”

Smiling relaxedly as though he knew she wouldn’t refuse, he held out his hand to her.

And it was as he thought, it was difficult for her to reject his hand, which was much larger than hers. It was the same hand that she held during the ball they attended a while back.

As she gently put her hand upon his palm, his other hand slowly closed her eyes.

His cool body temperature enveloped her.

With a pounding heart, Sera only hoped that he would not hear.

“Where are we going?”

With her eyes closed, Sera asked while letting herself be guided by him.

“Why, are you worried?”

“No, Your Majesty, of course not. I’m just curious about what kind of beautiful scenery it is that you might say, ta-da! while showing it to me.”

Helios chuckled.

“You can look forward to it.”

He whispered into her ear as she still kept her eyes closed.

One step.

Two steps.

Every time she took a step forward under Helios’s guidance, all her other senses became sharper due to her lack of vision.

A calm breeze grazed her face and tickled her nose. It carried the refreshing scent of the sea.

The fine grains of sand, which she stepped on here and there, squeezed in through the gaps in her shoes and dug between her toes.

“We’re almost there.”

Shwaaa— shwaaa—

The sound of the waves rang in her ears.

Helios held her hand carefully all the way, but when he slowly let go of it, Sera also gradually opened her eyes.

“Wow…!”

It was a view that became accessible to them after many steps upon the sandy coast, and the moment she saw it, her exclamation mixed along with the sea’s passing wind.

“It’s so pretty!”

The waves seen at the end of the beach gave a blue and transparent glow.

It was as if the waters had been sprinkled with glittering jewels, and the rising waves of the sea shone every time they touched the sand, as if the stars of the heavens were reflected within them.

“I did say I’ll show you a beautiful place.”

Helios proudly said as he made good on his promise.

Sera slowly approached the surging waves, overwhelmed by the breathtaking sight.

She crouched down at the spot where sand and the sea met, then she reached into the calm waves.

Soon, the waters shone brightly around her hand, and it looked as if the sea was gently embracing her right then.

Helios slowly walked over to Sera, who looked so delighted with a child-like grin adorned on her lips.

As if he wanted to help her up, he offered a hand to her.

“This place shines with a blue glow like this during high tide in the summer. That’s why it’s called the sea of stars.”

“Sea of stars… That’s a very good name.”

Sera took Helios’s hand and stood up once more.

He pulled her up easily with a slight tug. She couldn’t help but think that the touches exchanged between them was quite a lot today.

“If you don’t mind, would you like to take a stroll through the sea’s waves?”

As Helios brought up the suggestion, he pointed towards the side of the beach where the calm waves of the sea could be seen coming and going.

“My shoes will get wet…”

“I can hold them for you.”

“Really?”

He nodded quietly.

“Um, what are you doing, Your Majesty?”

“So that you don’t fall, Miss Popo, I’ll offer my arm for you to hold.”

Just as he said, he then offered his arm to her as if he wasn’t joking. Sera stared at him for a moment, but soon linked her arm with his.

Truthfully, she was about to get embarrassed about showing her bare feet, but rather than that, the curiosity she felt about what would happen if she walked through the waves rose higher.

In any case, she went on to take off her shoes, and Helios took them from her with fluid motions. As he held her shoes with his right hand, she soon took a step towards the sea’s surging waves.

The footprints she left behind were like blue, sparkling paint, leaving behind an afterimage through the fine sand that tickled her toes.

“It feels like I’m doing a magic spell each time I take a step.”

Sera whispered with a shy smile.

Like a confession.

The breeze carried small droplets of water from the sea, and each time she took a step forward, she continued to leave behind such glowing light.

“I’m glad it pleases you.”

Facing her, Helios whispered back to Sera, whose delighted eyes were completely entranced by the beautiful and mysterious afterimages.

“Miss Popo.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you for coming all the way here with us. It will surely be a wonderful memory for my younger siblings.”

Helios was walking about half a step away from Sera so that his shoes wouldn’t get wet, but then he suddenly thanked her.

Sera, who was still mesmerized by the starlight being left behind by her steps, stopped for a moment.

“I’m more grateful for the time I could spend with Their Highnesses for the last time. It’s a great honor for me, Your Majesty.”

Sera answered back honestly and politely, but Helios’s expression was not very bright now.

Worried about the slight but apparent shift in the look in his eyes, Sera asked.

“By any chance… Are you getting worried again, sire?”

“Something like that, yes.”

As he drew closer to Sera, Helios let out a long sigh.

He thought that the stuffiness that he could feel in his chest would lessen since he’s here with her now.

However, absurdly enough, meeting her now only made it worse. He now wanted this moment to last longer, if only a little.

“Perhaps I feel regretful about not seeing you again. You, Miss Popo, who is Rosé and Ferre’s tutor.”

Despite the turmoil of emotions running rampant within him, Helios knew that what he said just now could not fully express what he was feeling now.

However, he couldn’t possibly say that it was him who felt exceedingly reluctant about letting her go.

So, he brought up Rosé and Ferre. Other than his concerns as the guardian of his younger twin siblings, he could think of no other clear excuse to voice out loud.