Chapter 60

Chapter 60. Heart-Pounding Summer Vacation!

“Milena, you should take the main bedroom… huh?”

Milena, who was looking around the room with her, was nowhere to be seen. Henelone, shocked, tilted her head and headed towards the main bedroom. Milena was sleeping soundly on a bed. Even if she pretended not to be, she seemed pretty tired. Henelone looked at Milena with her distraught face, then sighed and quietly closed the door.

“Is it okay…….”

All the way to Port Berner she tried to persuade Milena, but to no avail. Then she ended up boarding the cruise ship. Henelone, who was helplessly buried on the sofa, was thinking while pressing her aching temple.

‘As expected, to wake her up now and disembark…’ 

But in the distance, a faint tinkling sound was ringing. It was the bell announcing departure. Perhaps because the weather was nice and the waves were calm, she didn’t feel too shaken.

“Ha, I don’t know.”

Once they had set off, they could not turn the ship around. Henelone let out another deep sigh and quickly walked towards the guest room door. It was very noisy and, perhaps because there were no windows, it felt a little stuffy, so she thought it would be good to get some fresh air.

***

After passing through the long, narrow hallway and reaching the center of the ship, she saw a grand staircase leading to the deck. Climbing up the grand staircase made of oak, there was an indoor banquet hall, a dance hall, a restaurant, cafeteria, and an entrance to the external deck on the first floor.

If she goes up one floor, there is a lounge that only first class passengers can use. There is a covered inner deck, a revolving door that leads to the outer deck, and a small lounge at the stern of the ship where you can read, write, and meditate.

‘It’s a palace on the sea.’

Henelone came out to the outside deck of the second floor, rested her arms on the railing, rested her chin and gazed at the calm horizon. Because of the hot sunlight, the lukewarm sea breeze wrapped around her body stickily.

Henelone gathered her wind-distressed hair to one side and then sighed. It was a summer vacation she was looking forward to, but she didn’t enjoy it as much as she thought.

“…Heinz…”

From the time she arrived at the port she had not exchanged a single word with Heinz. It was difficult to even look at his face, let alone talk to him. She didn’t know who was in the carriage, but Heinz boarded the cruise ship first. With the escort knights who surrounded the VIP so that not a single hair of her head could be seen.

“If you’re going to do this, why did you ask me to come with you?”

Henelone, with her cheeks puffed out, hit the railing with a thud. She didn’t want anything special, but she didn’t expect that she would be on a cruise like a complete stranger. Of course, if he was too close, she wouldn’t have been able to speak properly because Milena would notice, but isn’t it too much to do?

“You two should guard the front of the Grand Stairs.”

“Yes!”

As she was tapping on the railing, she heard noisy footsteps and a familiar voice coming from below.

When she stuck my head out of the railing and looked down, she saw Heinz giving instructions to the knights with a stern look on his face. He seemed so busy that he couldn’t even say anything. In the end, without being able to say anything, Henelone, who had covered her mouth, hummed and turned around.

“It’s okay. I guess I just came alone, right!’

***

“Oh my god, that nighttime shipboard banquet I’ve only heard about! Wow! I love it! Right?!”

“Haha… Yes…”

Henelone, who smiled faintly at the sight of Milena making a fuss as she clung to her arm, reluctantly nodded her head. She had been sleeping all day, and only now that the sun had set was she moving around. She was a little relieved to see her blushing brightly.

‘It’s definitely a different feeling…’ 

Shaaa, the sound of the instrument harmonizes with the sound of water waves. The sound of footsteps lightly rolling on the deck as if riding a beat and the sound of joyful laughter. A lantern brightly lighting up the pitch-black sea.

The banquet held on the open sea away from land definitely had a romantic aspect. 

Henelone took one of her glasses from a servant walking around with a cocktail on a tray and sipped the pink l*quid. Seeing that it was sweet and had a spicy aftertaste, she thought it was a slightly alcoholic cocktail.

“By the way, Llady, what is your relationship with Duke Woodward?”

“…Yes?”

Drip. The alcohol she had been drinking returned to her glass. She felt like she had been slapped in the face by the endless questions asked.

Henelone, embarrassed, looked at Milena with her trembling eyes. She wondered if she had heard wrong, but seeing the way she was smiling sinisterly as if she knew everything, it seemed like she had heard correctly.

“…What are you saying out of the blue?”

“We left the capital together. And I overheard you two talking in the carriage earlier. What did he say? Umm, your complexion wasn’t good… I think he said that.”

Milena, with a mischievous smile, giggled, imitating Heinz. Her eyes sparkling with interest and anticipation. Henelone purred, the corners of her mouth quivering, and she smiled.

“There is no relationship between us.”