"Wow, it's so *big*!"
Adelina's face broke into a radiant smile, and she bounced on her heels at the sight of the fish dangling from the hook. Her excitement was so genuine, so unguarded, that her cheeks flushed a pretty shade of rose.
Alexio reeled in the line steadily, his attention fixed not on the catch but on his wife. When the fish drew close enough for proper inspection, Adelina let out another gasp.
"It's *enormous*! Incredible!" She pressed both hands over her mouth, eyes wide with wonder.
From years of fishing experience, Alexio could tell at a glance that this specimen was nothing exceptional—respectable, perhaps, but hardly remarkable. To the princess, however, encountering her very first catch, it might as well have been a legendary sea creature.
"Mrs. Tiziana will prepare something delicious with it," he said, studying her sparkling expression. "But if you'd prefer not to eat it, we can release it back."
The fate of the fish, it seemed, rested entirely in her hands.
Adelina considered the question with surprising gravity. Then, carefully averting her gaze from the creature's unblinking eye, she leaned toward Alexio and whispered.
"What do you usually do?"
"The fish I catch are typically eaten." His voice was matter-of-fact. "If I intended to release them, I wouldn't bother catching them in the first place."
"Then let's cook it." She nodded decisively, though she still refused to look directly at the fish. "Since this is your catch, Duke, it's best to follow your usual practice."
The response surprised him. Alexio had fully expected the tender-hearted princess to take pity on the creature and insist upon its freedom.
"You won't come to me later," he said, a note of teasing creeping into his voice, "claiming you had nightmares in which the poor fish blamed you for its untimely demise?"
"I'm not a *child*." Adelina straightened indignantly. "How could I possibly have nightmares about a fish?"
"Strange words from someone so clearly terrified of meeting its eyes."
"I am *not* terrified."
"You very clearly are."
"I'm telling you I'm not."
"Then prove it. Look at it properly."
When Adelina turned her head away—her denial utterly transparent—Alexio lifted the fish and held it directly before her face.
"Ah-ah-ah!"
The princess let out a startled shriek, stumbling backward. She'd never experienced anything like this reaction when confronted with a cooked fish on a porcelain plate, but the live creature—scales glinting wetly, gills flexing, mouth gaping—was an entirely different matter.
"Duke of Pembroke," she said, her voice carrying a hint of menace despite the slight pout of her lips.
But Alexio only laughed—a genuine, unrestrained sound that seemed to catch even him off guard. Adelina blinked at him in confusion, momentarily disarmed by the sight of his amusement.
In that suspended moment, her fishing rod began to slide slowly across the rocky outcrop, dragged inch by inch toward the water's edge.
"Oh—my *rod*!"
Adelina lunged for it reflexively, her fingers closing around the handle just as a tremendous force wrenched it—and her—toward the sea.
Something very large had taken the bait.
"What—"
Before she could process what was happening, the world tilted. Water rushed up to meet her with a tremendous splash.
"*Princess!*"
Alexio was on his feet in an instant. Without a moment's hesitation—without thought of any kind—he dove in after her.
It was only after he hit the water that the absurdity of his actions registered.
"Duke of Pembroke?"
Adelina stood in the shallows, fishing rod still clutched in both hands, blinking at the man who had just hurled himself into the sea on her behalf. The water reached her chest; for Alexio, considerably taller, it barely reached his waist.
"Ah."
The Duke's mouth opened slightly. He stared at Adelina's wet face—droplets clinging to her lashes, hair plastered against her cheeks, expression caught somewhere between bewilderment and amusement.
Only now did he remember that he'd chosen this particular fishing spot *precisely because* the water was shallow. Safe. Yet the moment he'd seen Adelina being pulled toward the sea, that knowledge had evaporated completely from his mind.
Alexio laughed quietly at himself, raking a hand through his soaked hair.
"Ah—the fish!"
The princess, who had been staring at him for several long seconds, suddenly remembered her rod. She turned her attention to it with renewed urgency—but it was too late. The line hung slack and empty. The fish had devoured the bait and made its escape.
Disappointment flickered plainly across her features.
Alexio chuckled softly. "In a situation like this, the fish concerns you more than anything else?"
"Of *course* it does." Her voice carried genuine indignation. "I fell into the water because of it, and I ended up catching nothing. It's... rather disappointing."
"That's true... The catch."
*If you invest your time in something, some result should be achieved.*
This had always been Alexio Pembroke's unspoken motto—a principle that governed every aspect of his meticulously calculated existence.
And yet, standing here now, empty-handed in waist-deep water, the Duke found himself strangely untroubled by the loss. No disappointment. No frustration at wasted effort. Just... lightness.
Confused by his own reaction, Alexio lowered his empty hands—and then a sound reached his ears. A rhythmic splashing, punctuated by high-pitched clicks and whistles.
He looked past Adelina toward the source.
Behind her, silhouetted against the blazing canvas of the sunset, a pod of dolphins arced through the air. They leaped and twisted, their sleek bodies catching the dying light before plunging back beneath the waves in graceful symmetry.
"Duke of Pembroke?"
Noticing his distant stare, Adelina turned to follow his gaze.
The exclamation that escaped her was pure, unfiltered wonder.
"*Wow*."
Her smile stretched wide and brilliant as she raised her hands to her lips, as if to contain the joy spilling from her. "Those are dolphins, aren't they? I've never seen one in real life. Honestly, I'm seeing so many things for the first time..."
Her voice was thick with genuine emotion—no performance, no calculation, no hidden agenda. Just honest amazement at the beauty of the world.
For a man long accustomed to navigating the treacherous waters of society's calculated players, the reaction was impossibly refreshing.
The sea sparkled in the fading light, its surface scattered with what looked like millions of fallen stars. Adelina's soaked figure glowed within that radiance, as though she herself were a fragment of that scattered light—a single brilliant star descended to earth.
Alexio stood motionless, unable to look away.
He could not tell which was more dazzling: the sunset, or Adelina herself.
---
"Oh my *goodness*! You both look like a pair of drowned kittens!"
Mrs. Tiziana's voice rang across the terrace the moment the couple appeared, fishing rods still in hand, leaving small puddles in their wake. The housekeeper had never seen the princess and the Duke in such disarray—clothing plastered to their bodies, hair dripping, skin flushed from the cooling evening air.
"Oh my goodness—*my goodness*—it may be summer, but you'll both catch your deaths like this! What on earth happened?" She descended upon the newlyweds like a force of nature, issuing rapid commands to the hovering servants. "Quickly now—towels! They need to dry off immediately. And fetch clean clothes as well!"
"Mrs. Tiziana, there's really no need for such concern—"
"*No need?*" The Duke's attempt to slip past the formidable woman ended in immediate failure. "You've been susceptible to chills since you were a boy! Always catching colds at the slightest provocation."
Adelina glanced at her husband's current robust physique—broad shoulders, powerful frame, the picture of health—and found it nearly impossible to imagine the Duke laid low by something as mundane as a common cold. She looked at him with undisguised surprise, a silent question in her eyes.
He merely shrugged.
"That was in my *distant* childhood."
"Oh, *really*?" Mrs. Tiziana's voice dripped with theatrical skepticism. "Even as an adult, you fell ill with alarming regularity! Every single time, you came running to this villa so the enormous staff at the main estate wouldn't fuss over you. Don't think I've forgotten!"
"Haa..." Alexio exhaled heavily, raising both hands in surrender. It seemed he had finally accepted that further protest would only intensify the woman's assault. "Very well. Very well. That's quite enough, Mrs. Tiziana."
The housekeeper smiled in triumph and draped enormous towels around both their shoulders—soft terry cloth delivered with impressive speed by the scrambling servants. The warmth enveloped Adelina like a gentle embrace, and she suddenly became aware of the chill she'd somehow forgotten in all the excitement.
"Oh, my dear girl." Mrs. Tiziana turned her attention fully to the princess, her expression shifting to one of maternal concern. She reached up and carefully blotted the moisture from Adelina's face with a corner of the towel. "You poor thing."
The gesture was entirely inappropriate, given both Adelina's royal status and her new position as Duchess. A servant should never presume such intimacy.
And yet... Adelina felt no discomfort whatsoever. The woman's touch was as tender and instinctive as a mother's, and something in the princess's chest—some cold, neglected corner—grew warm.
"You both need a hot bath immediately. Come along." Mrs. Tiziana began walking, clearly expecting them to follow. "There's a natural hot spring on the villa grounds—it's actually the reason this location was chosen for the estate in the first place. Once you've soaked in those waters, you'll forget you were ever cold."
The woman's arm swept forward, guiding them both with cheerful authority.
The Duke's eyes met the princess's.
In that single exchanged glance, both arrived at the same uncomfortable realization.
Something awkward was about to unfold.
---