Chapter 38

“Well, even so… it’s not like his character is actually bad. Right?”

“Arkin, I didn’t say he was bad. I said he was weird.”

The Rock Princess hardened her expression and drew a firm line.

“What’s so weird about him?”

“Arkin, haven’t you heard things like that? People from the Iivika Kingdom apparently don’t have a partner they promise their whole lives to. They don’t marry and instead kiss whoever, climb into anyone’s bed, and live with multiple people sharing a single bed.”

“With anyone? Meaning…”

Feeling his head ring with a dull buzz, Arkin paused to catch his breath. His stiffened lips couldn’t easily string the next words together and kept hesitating.

“Just like I said. It’s a place where everyone loves hot and passionately, you see? The moment the mood strikes, they kiss right away and lie down together on a bed. And you know what else…?”

Petra lowered her voice secretively.

“Word has it that Prince Zafiri has a harem of his own. He spends his time holding hundreds of dancers in his arms, and they say his talent for seducing women is incredible. Everyone wants a piece of him, they say.”

“Ah…”

Arkin blinked slowly. What was he supposed to say to that?

“Look over there!”

Petra poked Arkin hard in the side.

As Zafiri shifted his posture slightly, his trailing brown hair—draped over his shoulder like a lion’s mane—shifted away, leaving the broad chest muscles beneath fully exposed. It was a splendid and beautiful body.

“The Kepet princess is completely losing her mind over there.”

The sight of Zafiri reaching out a hand while murmuring something was clearly visible to Arkin as well. With a friendly smile, Zafiri extended his hand toward Nephitia.

The two of them… held hands.

“She’s already fallen head over heels.”

Ah. Is that so?

Arkin suddenly felt a wave of dizziness. Zafiri’s confident smile and sharp, violet eyes turned Arkin’s stomach upside down.

That relaxed and subtle expression. The Vine Prince was smiling wickedly, like a predator about to devour the small, innocent, and lovely brown squirrel right in front of him.

“So you mustn’t let your guard down just because he’s smiling. He doesn’t discriminate based on age or gender, you know. Got it?”

Petra shook her head disapprovingly and took a bite of cheese. Ironically, she kept her words to a minimum with her fiancé Elio, who sat a short distance away from her, as if keeping a proper distance.

A sensation arose like something was awkwardly stuck in Arkin’s throat. While Nephitia stared blankly down at the hand she shared with Zafiri, the Vine Prince skillfully stroked and caressed Nephitia’s long, slender fingers back and forth.

When he asked her something, Nephitia shook her head with a troubled look. He didn’t particularly care to know what they were talking about. To think they’d hop into bed together after exchanging just a few words…

“Well, it’s not really our business to care.”

Arkin cleared his throat and muttered with difficulty. Even though he hadn’t eaten much, his stomach felt unnecessarily unsettled.

“So what you’re saying is, when you touched the Solinar prince, you felt a strange reaction?”

“Mm-hmm, exactly.”

Nephitia nodded.

“Interesting.”

Zafiri’s violet eyes twinkled with a mysterious light. Already, he and she had been holding hands for a long time, yet still, no sensation whatsoever transmitted from him.

“Since they say the island’s divine power is suppressed, maybe nothing can be felt right now, but…”

“Hm. Well, I don’t know. In my opinion, it really seems like there’s something between you and Arkin.”

“How would you even know that?”

Nephitia’s eyes went wide. She almost unconsciously looked over at Arkin, but purposefully forced herself to look even harder at Zafiri to avoid giving him any glance.

“Look closely, Nephitia.”

Zafiri let go of Nephitia’s hand and reached out to the marble pillar he had been leaning his back against. Following the direction of the Vine Prince’s hand, the vines wrapping around the pillar could be seen slithering like snakes as they were drawn toward him.

“I can communicate with vines. We possess extremely delicate senses. Through these friends, I can catch wind of the forest’s rumors in no time.”

Finding it fascinating, Nephitia reached her hand out as well. Yet even when she tapped it with her fingertips, the vine remained just a vine, showing no reaction whatsoever.

“What I want to say is, Nephitia.”

Zafiri moved his fingers further, as though affectionately coaxing a green plant. When he made a motioning gesture to grab and pull the vine as if to clutch it, the vine squirmed as if trying hard to reach his hand, but finally went limp and returned to its original state. Zafiri’s eyebrows furrowed slightly as he looked at the now-quiet vine.

“Now the barrier is definitely cast. Because it’s a sacred island, they’ve blocked other powers from being used to any great extent within it.”

Nephitia blankly watched the vine twisting ever so faintly in response to Zafiri’s hand movements. So what on earth was he trying to say?

“In the process of casting that barrier, if you felt a sensation intense enough to overcome the island’s divine power, wouldn’t that mean it’s a destiny bound that much more strongly?”

Zafiri smiled gently.

“I’ve been caressing the vines the whole time since coming to this island, but I haven’t felt that level of power anywhere. It means something happened between you and Arkin. At least, that’s what I think.”

“But Arkin doesn’t seem to want to admit it.”

“Don’t rush, just watch. Until he can realize it. I’m sure even at this very moment, he’s being drawn to you.”

Is that so? It doesn’t seem like it, though…

As Nephitia tilted her head, Zafiri patted her shoulder soothingly, as if comforting her.

“Nephitia, don’t be impatient. We’ll be spending a whole six months together from now on, so what are you worrying about?”

Nephitia nodded. She glanced sideways at Arkin across from them, but he was merely listening to Petra’s story and didn’t even cast a glance in her direction.

So he needs time, is that it…?

“I’m going to go play for a bit.”

Zafiri set down his wooden bowl and stood up. Left all alone, Nephitia sat by herself on a broad rock and turned her gaze toward the distant sea.

Somewhere beyond the horizon lay Kepet. Had Aunt Shadia returned safely? Was Mother doing well?

“Right, let’s head down now.”

It was when Seneca was gathering the people.

“Look over there. Dolphins!”

When someone shouted out loud, everyone rushed over toward Nephitia’s side all at once. Beyond the sea, a pod of dolphins was leaping about with their silver bodies flashing.

Their silver dorsal fins repeatedly broke the surface of the water before disappearing. As a few of them jumped above the water and did somersaults, cheers burst out.

Everyone’s gaze was fixed on the ocean. But while everyone else looked at the sea, Nephitia secretly stole a glance at the profile of Arkin, who had drawn slightly closer.

He was glittering all over. The pouring sunlight illuminated his golden hair even brighter, and a pinkish glow lingered on his white neck and skin.

Did Solinar have a cold sea, they said? The gaze looking at the dolphins without much sign of surprise was calm. Just before those gem-like blue eyes turned back toward her, Nephitia twisted her body in the opposite direction.

The scent that brushed the tip of her nose, and that cool sensation, wouldn’t leave her head. When she mustered the courage to look for him again, all she caught a glimpse of was the blonde hair already striding down the hill from a few paces away.

Arkin was suffering from a severe headache.

Could it be due to fatigue piling up in various ways? All through the evening, his head throbbed as if it were being pounded by an iron mallet.

The noisy atmosphere of the dining hall only worsened his pain. Every time Zafiri cracked a giggling joke, the laughter erupting from around felt as though it were rummaging through his brain with a knife.

“Did you see Priest Seneca’s face today? When I said the Crystal Cave would be nice for romance, his face turned red.”

As Zafiri cackled, Petra glared at him.

“Inappropriate. What on earth are you thinking in a sacred place?”

“What’s wrong with being sacred? Love is sacred, too.”

“Actually, I agree with Zafiri. Romance in a cave… it sounds kind of romantic… How wonderful would it be to share a kiss with someone you love in that enchanting place, or lie down together?”

“Amalfi! Hurry up and eat that bread.”

Amidst the noisy surroundings, Arkin chewed on his bread in silence. It truly felt like chewing and swallowing parchment or sand. Even when he drank water, his throat remained parched and dry.

“Arkin, are you okay? You look a bit tired.”

When he raised his head, Elio’s worried expression came into view.