Chapter 6 Part 3

Irina couldn’t believe her ears. Was what she had just heard correct?

Irina stared at Rumpel with surprised eyes. Then, Rumpel had a puzzled expression, as if he hadn’t said something he shouldn’t have.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“N-No… But….”

At Rumpel’s question, Irina hesitated and trailed off. There was a reason why she was surprised, but when she tried to give a reason, it wasn’t something she could properly answer.

While Irina hesitated, Rumpel smiled leisurely with his handsome face.

“Then I’ll ask you again. Lady Irina, will you go somewhere nice with me?”

The reason Irina was surprised was simple. It was because she didn’t expect Rumpel to ask her to go somewhere with him.

Because of this, Irina was so flustered that she couldn’t believe her ears. But Rumpel seemed to be fully intending to leave with Irina without even properly telling her the destination.

“Let’s go, Lady Irina.”

“B-But, so suddenly…? At least tell me where we’re going. That way, I’ll know when I’ll be back. Everyone will worry if I suddenly leave. Besides, the physician told me to get absolute rest.”

“I’ll be back before it gets too late. Trust me, Lady Irina.”

She couldn’t resist the man who told her to trust him with such a beautiful face.

In the end, Irina nodded cautiously. Then, a sweet and gentle smile spread across Rumpel’s lips.

“But how are we going? Shall I tell them to prepare a carriage?”

“Ahaha, Lady Irina. Why are you acting so innocent and cute?”

“Pardon?”

Aside from feeling good at the unexpected compliment, she had no idea why he was saying this. As she tilted her head in confusion, Rumpel continued speaking with a still smiling face.

“Do you think I came to see you in a carriage?”

“Ah… Haa, but, can you do things like teleporting me to another dimension?”

Irina asked with excitement like never before. Only after hearing his words did she realize that he had never appeared riding a carriage or something like that, but instead he had been using magic to suddenly appear and disappear.

She knew it in her head, but she hadn’t expected that she herself could also experience that magic. Therefore, even though Irina had seen Rumpel’s magic several times, she was quite thrilled.

“Are your questions answered now? Then, would you please grant me your precious time, Lady Irina?”

Rumpel asked politely, like any other young nobleman. It wasn’t that he had ever acted impolitely or unruly, but this was the first time he had shown such courtesy by formally asking her out on a date, which made Irina feel good.

She had been a little, just a very little, resentful of him always appearing and disappearing out of nowhere.

“Alright. But you have to take me to a very wonderful place.”

“As you command.”

Chuk.

Rumpel lightly kissed the back of Irina’s hand. It was a fleeting moment, but the lingering feeling his lips left was long.

Irina pressed her pounding heart with one hand, trying not to let her excitement get noticed.

“Ah, ah….”

In an instant, Rumpel grabbed Irina’s hand and pulled her. Irina was pulled by his strong force and helplessly ended up in Rumpel’s arms. Feeling his firm and broad chest, Irina’s face turned bright red.

Whether he knew Irina’s feelings or not, Rumpel held Irina even tighter in his arms.

“Let’s go.”

“Huh, what!”

After his few words, Irina suddenly felt her body was being pulled out of nowhere and let out a short scream. But before the scream could lengthen, the strange sensation disappeared as if it had never happened, and her both legs were standing on soft ground.

“This is….”

Irina looked around. The space that had just been her room had now turned into some kind of outdoor area.

The ground was covered with lush green grass, and large trees formed a dense forest. And at the end of her gaze…

“Wow!”

Irina exclaimed as she saw the shimmering surface of a lake.

The surface of the endless wide lake reflected the light, sparkling with all its might, as if diamond dust had been sprinkled on it. Irina moved her feet as if fascinated by the beautiful scenery.

“It’s clear….”

Usually, the water in a stagnant lake would be murky, but this place boasted beautiful scenery with the bottom clearly visible.

Irina carefully rolled up her sleeves and dipped her hand into the lake. The pleasantly cool water temperature tickled Irina’s skin. The lake boasted such clean water that it felt unrealistic to see her hand in the transparent water.

“Rumpel, where are we?”

How could she have never heard of such a beautiful place? Irina asked Rumpel in confusion.

“I don’t know either.”

“What?”

“I don’t know.”

His words didn’t seem to be a lie. Rumpel shrugged his shoulders with a truly embarrassed and ambiguous expression. Then, Irina became the one who was rather embarrassed.

“W-Well… you might not know. Then how did you come to know about this place?”

“Just… somehow?”

“Tch, what is that?”

None of the answers were satisfying. Eventually, Irina pouted her lips in dissatisfaction. Then, the scenery she looked around was so beautiful that she was smiling without even realizing it.

It didn’t seem to be artificially managed, but the scenery of the lake and forest, beautiful in its natural state, made her happy just by looking at it.

“…Forgotten Lake.”

Irina muttered something that came to her mind without her knowing. Then, she clapped her hands with a snap and continued excitedly.

“That’s right, Rumpel! I think I know where this is. It seems to be the ‘Forgotten Lake.’ A legendary lake!”

“A legendary lake?”

“Yes! My grandmother told me about it a few times when I was young. She said there was a really beautiful lake called the ‘Forgotten Lake.’ She said that anyone who goes there will be fascinated by the surreal scenery, but the place cannot be found. Because it is a legendary lake.”

Once she started talking, her childhood memories came back to her. Irina’s maternal grandmother used to sit Irina down and tell her many mysterious stories.

Her grandmother had also told Irina stories that she had heard since she was a child, and she told them so vividly and interestingly that young Irina was always immersed in her grandmother’s stories.

“…’Forgotten Lake’?”

“Yes! My grandmother told me. It’s a place that truly fascinates people, like a legend.”

Irina’s eyes sparkled as she looked around again. She didn’t know how Rumpel had found this place, but she was happy to have found such a good place thanks to him.

She had never dreamed that she would actually come to the legendary lake that she had only heard about from her grandmother, so Irina’s heart swelled with excitement.

Rumpel matched his pace with Irina, who was walking along the lake with excited steps. There was not much conversation, but just walking together filled her heart with satisfaction.

Irina glanced sideways at Rumpel, who was walking beside her.

Rumpel’s appearance under the warm sunlight was new. To exaggerate a little, if the previous Rumpel was ‘fake,’ the current Rumpel was emanating an unknown vitality to the extent that he seemed ‘real’.

The lake itself was beautiful, but Irina was very happy to see Rumpel’s lively appearance for the first time.

Of course, compared to ordinary people, the current Rumpel was still not a very lively person. But considering Rumpel, who was usually as pale as a ghost, this moment, with at least some color in his face, was quite amazing.

“Thank you for bringing me to such a place.”

“It’s nothing. I am grateful to you for coming with me.”

It was a kind voice.

Irina was seized by a strange impulse to hug Rumpel tightly. She didn’t even know why she had such a thought.

Anyway, she knew, thanks to her reason, that she shouldn’t suddenly hug Rumpel. Therefore, Irina suppressed the rising impulse and pretended to be thinking nothing.

She quickened her pace, as if trying to get away from him, lest Rumpel notice her strange and inexplicable impulse.

“Huh?!”

Irina, who was walking ahead of Rumpel, soon stopped, doubting her eyes.

“W-Why is this….”

Bewilderment spread across Irina’s face as she stood in front of a large rock.

There were unknown, strange hieroglyphs ¹ written on the rock. A series of unknown symbols, but Irina was able to read them.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“This is… I made this.”

Irina, in confusion, traced the marks engraved on the stone with her fingertips.

“I… It’s a language I created. It means ‘Irina’.”

 

<To be continued in the next volume…>