[Music Recommendation: The old whistle ~ Oh Yeo Na]
When Oriana heard Gwen’s voice, she knew it was already over; she needed to come out clean. But why was she even hiding to start with? It was the woman who had done something atrocious, so why was she hiding? Oriana raised her head, ready to stand up from the pond.
"What are you doing there?" Gwen continued, "Are you now eavesdropping on me?"
"I wouldn’t do that," Adric replied with a smile, "But if you look scared, then that means I must have missed something very juicy. Let’s hear it, mother."
Oriana, underwater, tried to hold her breath; it wasn’t her the Queen had seen but Adric.
Gwen’s eyes moved away from Adric, then she settled them on the pond where a dress was floating. Her eyes narrowed as she started walking towards it.
"There it is," Adric sat on his heels, "I got this dress for the princess. I’m surprised to see it here."
Gwen stared at Adric suspiciously, then her eyes moved to look at the dress. "You got a dress for the princess? How come it’s inside there?"
"Beats me," Adric hummed, bringing a broken twig; he put it inside the water. "I should bring it out and let it dry."
Oriana’s eyes widened, and she made small bubbles. How was he going to take the dress when she was still wearing it? Quickly, Oriana untied her dress from her body; she needed to remove everything to make it believable.
Adric noticed Oriana’s hair now also floating inside the water. He used the stick to drag a few of the dresses out, then he used others to cover her hair while acting like he was pulling it out.
"Ow!" Adric exclaimed when he brought out the first dress, "This is so strange. Who knows how these dresses got here? I should dry them," he raised the dress high, and in the process, the water touched Gwen.
"Adric!" Gwen glared at her son, trying to get rid of the water that was almost blinding her.
"Mother, I didn’t know you were there. I should dry this up, else the princess would spend the night without a dress," The Crown Prince replied with a sweet smile.
Gwen huffed, brushing off the water droplets from her dress, "I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but stay out of my way." She warned, looking at the water one more time, then at Adric, who was still holding up the dress. The Queen wanted to still check because she was sure she heard something fall inside the water, but with her crazy stepson still standing there with a wet dress, she sighed before leaving.
Adric finally brought the dress down after he was sure Gwen had left the place. He turned to look at the water, "You hold your breath really well underwater."
Oriana raised her head up and inhaled deeply, taking all the air she could get, that she almost had the water inside her lungs. Oriana tried to catch her breath, with the Queen now far away; she wanted to run out of the water that was now freezing with the sky getting dark; the waters were slowly getting chilly. Her teeth clenched together as she tried to cover herself from the cold bites.
"Are you planning on living there?" Adric asked, now standing straight with his hand in his pocket.
Oriana shook her head, "No... I’m not wearing anything,"
"I know. Come out so you can have my jacket, or do you want to wear your wet dress back? I can throw them to you," Adric said, removing his jacket.
Oriana gulped, "How am I supposed to come out? I’m not wearing anything, like I’m..."
"Naked? That I still know, except you’re hiding your tail, I don’t see a reason why you should be ashamed of coming out," Adric raised his brows at the girl trying to hide her body from him like he haven’t seen and even touched every part of her.
Oriana couldn’t last longer inside the water, but that doesn’t mean she would come out naked and let Adric feast on her body with his eyes. No matter what, he was still a man to her, and she was a woman.
"Why are you so stubborn?" Adric sighed, seeing that the girl’s color was now changing, and the night breeze was getting colder.
Oriana could feel her bones stiffen, "Please just turn around," she finally begged.
Adric stared at her for a few seconds before turning his back with his eyes on his shoe. "Does this make any difference?" He asked, tapping his feet on the ground, dipping his hand inside his pocket; he took out a stick of cigarette and lighted it.
Oriana pressed her lips, "It makes a whole lot of difference," she whispered, looking around to be sure it was just them. Though it was getting dark, she couldn’t write off the possibility of a servant walking by with a lantern.
Adric nodded like he understood what she meant, puffing another smoke in the air he sighed, "I’m really tired of standing out here in the cold."
Oriana finally crawled out of the water, with her hand over her chest; she tried to tiptoe to collect the jacket from Adric, but she wanted to be fast so he doesn’t turn or even get a glimpse of her body. Oriana’s small feet padded on the floor as she looked for a strategic way to get the jacket.
Adric smiled, taking another drag of his cigarette. He knew very well that Oriana was behind him, but since she wanted to play, he was going to let her.
After fruitless efforts, Oriana finally stopped. "Achoo!" She sneezed, "Please can you stretch your hand forward and give me the jacket."
Adric stretched his hand forward, with the jacket hanging on his hand, but before Oriana could take it, two maids with a lantern walked by.
"Ah!" Oriana gasped, turning Adric around; she used his body to cover herself. Adric covered her back with the jacket.
"Greetings Your Highness, Princess," the two maids bowed.
Adric acknowledged their greetings with a nod, "Go ahead," he motioned for them to leave.
Oriana closed her eyes in shame when the maids passed by; the very body she had been trying to hide, she was now willingly throwing it on Adric’s body. She buried her face in his chest, praying for the ground to open and swallow her.
"Why do you do this to yourself?" Adric sighed, using the jacket to cover her shoulder as it now covered her entire body, which was smaller compared to Adric.
Oriana held the jacket, using it to cover herself properly. "You always forget I’m a woman, and seeing me naked-"
"Is not something I haven’t seen before, so why is it a problem?" Adric asked, looking at his cigarette, which was now on the floor, as he lost it when Oriana had turned him around.
The princess, whose lips were now trembling due to cold, bit her lower lip. "Can you stop referring to that, or maybe wipe the memory out somehow? It was a mistake I made once."
"Mistake?" Adric nodded, "I’ll bear that in mind. You look better now. You can find your way back inside the palace, yes?" He turned to leave when Oriana held his shirt, her whole body shivering.
"Can you please walk with me so the maids don’t look at me like I’m weird?" she pleaded with a small voice.
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