I’m Supposed to Be the Neglected Princess in the Future, but Something Seems Strange... - 12 - Searching for Lea – 2

Even though Rose said they would search everywhere, she couldn’t walk around the guest rooms herself. So, following Raphael’s suggestion, they decided to get help from the service staff who worked on the Princess Lea ship.

Actually, it turned out that Raphael had already taken care of it. The search inside the ship had already quietly begun.

(He could have just told me from the start…)

Rose had been thinking so hard, only to find out that Raphael had already started ahead of her. It was a little frustrating.

Until the service staff sent back reports, Rose had nothing to do. She thought about interviewing the guests in the first-class rooms, but Raphael stopped her.

“You’re too careless. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone lured you into their room during questioning. It makes me too nervous—so, no.”

Rose didn’t understand what Raphael meant, but when he threatened to stick to her even when she was sleeping if she didn’t listen, she had no choice but to agree.

Raphael thought she might get bored waiting, so after lunch, he invited her to the game deck. It was a large leisure area at the front of the ship, with things like a tennis court and a pool.

He invited her to the pool, but when she said she didn’t have a swimsuit, he dragged her to the onboard shop. Swimsuits didn’t cover much skin, which made her nervous, but Raphael was quite pushy, so she couldn’t say no. She didn’t feel like playing around, but since she really had nothing else to do, she changed into the swimsuit he bought her and went to the pool.

There, Raphael introduced her to the real Count Molt.

Count Molt had red hair, just like the wig Raphael had worn, but his eyes were hazel. He was as tall as Raphael, maybe even a bit more muscular. Of course, they didn’t look alike. Count Molt had thick eyebrows and a manly face, unlike Raphael.

Rose stared at Count Molt’s face absentmindedly, which made Raphael frown.

“Why are you two staring at each other like that?”

Count Molt laughed.

“I just thought she’s really different from what I heard about Princess Lea. How should I say this… she’s very beautiful.”

“She is, but don’t stare too much. She’ll disappear.”

“Why would she disappear?”

The two of them joked back and forth.

“Now I see why Your Highness is in such a good mood,” Count Molt said, patting Raphael on the shoulder. He waved and walked toward the tennis court. It seemed he was going to play tennis with some friends. Apparently, they weren’t concerned at all about Lea’s disappearance.

When Rose and Raphael went to the pool, there were only a few people, even though it was big. Since the cruise lasted a whole month, not many people came to the pool every day. There were more people on the first day, but that number naturally went down. Also, the game deck was only for first-class guests, so people from second class or lower didn’t come here. That made it a quiet and relaxing place.

Raphael led Rose to the poolside, where she froze while looking at the sparkling water. It looked deeper than she expected.

“Something wrong?”

Raphael had already jumped into the pool. He looked up from the water and asked with a puzzled face.

Rose lowered her eyebrows.

“Um… I’ve never been in a pool before.”

She had never swum in her life. The most she’d done was take a bath. She had never even seen a pool this big or this deep.

“You’re short, but your feet will still touch the bottom. The water might come up to your shoulders, though.”

“My shoulders…”

That sounded really deep.

While Rose hesitated, Raphael held both hands out from the pool.

“Come on. If you hold onto me, it won’t be scary.”

Even with Raphael there, it was still scary. But he was so confident that she couldn’t say no.

So, with no choice, Rose carefully stepped into the pool. Right away, she felt something strange—like floating—and the fear of her feet not being stable. She almost froze in fear. Raphael quickly held her close to support her, but the water was just below her shoulders. If she lost her balance, she felt like she could drown. It was hard to enjoy this.

“If you’re that stiff, it’s no good. Just hold on to me. That side has shallower water, so it should be less scary.”

The pool had different depths depending on the area. Apparently, they were in the deepest part. Raphael helped her move slowly through the water, and the water level started to get lower.

When they reached a spot where the water was only up to Rose’s waist, Raphael stopped.

“This is the shallowest part. There’s a step over there—want to sit down?”

Now that it wasn’t so deep, she wasn’t as scared. But walking through the water had tired her out a little.

Rose nodded and sat down on the step along the side of the pool with Raphael.

“Um… Raphael, it’s okay if you want to go swim. I’ll stay here.”

She thought he must be bored staying with her.

But Raphael shook his head.

“If I leave a girl dressed like you alone, she’ll get targeted.”

“Huh?”

“Anyway, I’m staying. Want something to drink?”

Raphael called over a staff member and ordered two fruit juices. A little while later, the staff brought colorful drinks with lots of cut-up fruits floating inside. They looked really cute.

“So you really don’t know how to swim… I could teach you, but you didn’t look like you enjoyed it. Is there something else you’re interested in?”

Rose had never really left the castle rooms, so even if he asked, she didn’t know what to say. Her fun usually came from reading books or talking with Mira. She didn’t know much about what was out there in the world.

While she was thinking, Raphael’s face darkened.

“Really… you can’t trust what other people say.”

He scooped some fruit from his glass with a spoon and brought it near Rose’s mouth. He had been feeding her all day, so she had already gotten used to it. She opened her mouth without thinking.

As he fed her, Raphael said:

“Let’s see. If you like pictures and books, you might enjoy this. Rose, want to go to the theater tonight? They’re showing an opera.”

“An opera!”

She had never seen one, but she knew about them. One time, Mira had brought her a novel that was the original story of a popular opera in town. They had talked a lot about it back then.

Maybe because she looked interested, Raphael let out a small breath of relief.

“You finally smiled…”

Was Rose’s face really that stiff, as he said?

While eating the fruit Raphael gave her, Rose quietly touched her own cheek.