She did not need to change her clothes, as she had been wearing light clothes since leaving Luburn.
Therese stopped suddenly as she took out her bag and arranged its contents.
As soon as she was left alone on the second floor, she felt anxious.
I felt that in my silence today he seemed like a different person than in Luburn on normal days.
He was more affectionate and gentle than usual.
Therese could not tell if he had other ideas in his mind, or if it was just a passing whim.
"Therese!
Have you finished changing your clothes?"
A calling voice rose from downstairs.
Therese noticed her distraction and shuddered.
“I will come now, Your Highness!”
She quickly took off her dress.
As soon as she put on a light dress and went out, Dennis took her hand and led her out of the country house.
There was a small stream flowing right in front of the house.
“That is the upper course of the Ife River, which will pass through Gutédagor and flow into the sea.”
Dennis pointed to the table as he spoke.
Gottedagore was the most famous maritime city in the East.
A place Therese had only seen in pictures.
She also remembered reading that the excursion boats that roam the Ife River, which bisects the city from its center, are particularly beautiful.
That small stream will flow without interruption until that city, which takes a day and a half by train to reach the sea and flow into it.
“And coincidentally, we can now enjoy salmon fishing.”
“Salmon fishing?”
"Yes.
Would you like to try it?"
“Yes, I only ate it and never tried to catch it myself...”
It was all for the first time.
She always wanted to appear to him as an expert.
“Okay.
I’ll tell Laurent, we have plenty of time.”
Thérèse looked at him steadily.
He looked at the scene with a reassuring face.
Is this really a dream?
If it was a dream, you would never want to wake up from it.
"What?"
"nothing."
“And if we go back, we can take a trip in the Skone Mountains and if we go there, there is the Skone Forest as well.”
Therese could not bear it any longer, so she blurted out:
“Okay, Your Highness.”
"truly?"
Dennis grinned.
The boy's smile was full of jest.
Maybe he understood that her saying “okay” meant the mountains or the forest.
But even if it was, she wanted to say it at that moment.
It was an impulse on her part.
Thérèse felt a warmth fill her chest and a soft fullness rise within it.
If this feeling was happiness, then she wanted to be happy for a long time.
Therese woke up from her sleep in the cold morning air.
Maybe because it's at the foot of the mountain, the temperature drops at night even though it's summer.
Thanks to this, she was able to sleep soundly without waking up in the middle.
The day before, after walking around the country house and eating dinner, they had gone straight to bed.
As if their talk about their usual insomnia was a lie, they fell into a deep sleep.
Dennis still slept next to her.
His relaxed appearance as he slept, breathing heavily, looked like a baby's.
Therese got out of bed on her tiptoes so as not to wake him from his rare deep sleep.
Then she threw the shawl she had thrown on the sofa over her shoulders and left the country house.
As soon as she carefully closed the door and left, a completely different scene unfolded before her eyes than what she had seen the previous day.
She felt as if the moist air of night dew was seeping into her skin.
Mount Skuni, behind the country house, was obscured by clouds so that its peak could not be seen.
A thick water mist rose from the small stream directly in front of the house.
And the sound of birds comes from somewhere.
Therese turned her head, following the trail of birds.
Small black birds whose names were not known were flying between the trees.
She wished that she too could understand what these birds were talking to each other, and what they were singing.
Although she only stayed at Sukuni's country house for one day, she liked the calm atmosphere there.
If she could live like this with him, it would be really wonderful.
Therese sat on a wide rock near the river, listening to the sound of flowing water.
The sun was rising.
She felt as if drowsiness was creeping into her again.
While she was sitting still in the sunshine, she heard a voice: “What are you doing here?”
Dennis was standing behind her, his arms crossed, wearing a house robe.
"I woke up?"
Therese rose from the rock, cleaning her butt.
“Yes.
I couldn’t find you.”
Maybe because he wasn't fully awake yet, his voice was lower than usual and she liked it.
The fluffy hair on his right made him look cute.
Thérèse looked at his head, a slight smile on her lips.
She decided not to tell him until breakfast time.
That would be her own little treat.
“Let's go in, it's cold.”
"Yes."
Therese linked her arm with Denise's and returned to the country house.
Although they had agreed in advance to have a simple breakfast, Ida’s “simplicity” is completely different from Thérèse’s “simplicity.”
In the palace, when she was busy, Thérèse would sometimes just have coffee for breakfast.
When I mentioned this, Aida's face changed and she said that breakfast was the most important meal of the day and she was transporting food non-stop.
Dennis seemed accustomed to this behavior from Ida, so he said nothing and went about finishing his portion of breakfast in silence.
“Madam, you should eat breakfast well.
The source of strength for working throughout the day comes from this meal.”
“But, Ida, this is too much.”
In front of Therese were stacked buttered brioche buns and fresh-from-the-oven croissants, and next to them were six jars of jam: fig, strawberry, black apricot, orange marmalade, raspberry, and cherry.
In addition, there was a bowl filled with a salad of fresh vegetables that Ada had picked from the garden.
Ida was squeezing oranges for juice next to her.
Even though she made a bucket of juice enough for ten people, Ida didn't stop squeezing.
It's like she's a craftswoman in making juice.
“Your body, ma’am, is very thin and you cannot be left like this.
You must gain some weight.”
Ida was constantly placing plates full of food in front of Therese.
“Yes, Therese, I agree with Aida.
You need to gain some weight.”
Dennis said this while drinking his coffee with a satisfied face, as if he had finished the plate in front of him.
“Doesn’t your highness agree too?
Come on, eat.”
Ida was encouraged by Denise's agreement and acted as if she was going to feed Therese all the food on the table.
Therese stared at Dennis, but he shrugged once and said:
“Ida, can you give me more coffee?”
Just that.
His expression was unbearable.
At that moment, Laurent, who entered through the back door, shouted in surprise:
"Human!
Do you want to make my lady explode?"
Then Laurent put down the fishing rod he was carrying and began quickly removing the food.
“When this woman is happy, she eats a lot.
I apologize, ma’am.”
Therese was so full she couldn't even say "it's okay" as a compliment.
At that moment, Laurent, who stopped Ida, seemed to her to be an angel who had come to save her.
“I am full.”
Therese quickly got up.
She can't eat anymore.
Dennis rose slowly as Therese rose from the chair.
“I am satisfied.
Thank you, Ida, for your trouble since the morning.”
“Never mind, Your Highness, I wanted to serve you better.”
Ida said, wiping her wet hands on her apron as if she was sorry.
“We will spend a week here, so take good care of us in the future.”
Then Denis pointed his eyes at Laurent.
It was a silent signal for Ida to stop every morning.
Laurent nodded as if he understood.
“Laurent, where can we fish?”
Therese and Denis had gone out to fish for salmon under Laurent's guidance.
Laurent explained as he showed them the fishing rod:
“You have to enter the water and throw the bait forcefully in the forward direction.
The current is very fast, so be careful not to fall.”
Laurent threw his rod to show them an example.
The bait jumped lightly and retreated into the river.
Laurent skillfully prepared the equipment.
After a short time, the bait began to sink into the water, then rise, and repeat.
At that moment, Laurent pulled his rod forcefully while focusing on the up and down movement of the bait.
A body appeared trying to escape, desperately grabbing the bait.
Laurent's rod bent like a bow.
As if it will break soon.
Therese focused on watching this process.
When Laurent swung the hook, a large object jumped out and split the water.
It was salmon!
Therese was seeing a live salmon twitch for the first time, and she stared wide-eyed.
Laurent lifted the twitching salmon with a net.
“Do it, easy isn't it?”
Laurent smiled proudly.
It was a salmon as large as Therese's forearm.
“Laurent, this is really cool!”
Therese clapped.
Laurent bowed exaggeratedly and said hello.
He looked like a theatrical actor.
She couldn't hold back her laughter.
“Okay, try it now.”
Therese and Denise each grabbed a rod.
Dennis checked the river water and then stood a little higher than where she was standing.
Therese decided to stand where Laurent had raised the salmon and cast the bait again.
Thérèse cast her hook with the same skill she had seen at Laurent.
The hook she threw so hard the bait fell behind Therese.
The bait that fell behind her no longer comes up.
The bait was stuck between the rocks.
"Yes."
“Wait, wait, Your Highness, I will bring it out to you.”
After that, Thérèse tried several times to remember Laurent's position and throw the bait, but it kept falling in front of her nose or behind her back.
She heard a faint laugh behind her.
“I'll do this alone, Laurent.
You can go.”
Laurent extended his hand several times to help her, then turned around at her stubborn insistence.
“Can you be alone?”
There was a hint of laughter in his voice.
“Yes, I can.”
Therese answered seriously.
She glanced at Denise's web.
It looked like he had caught a salmon in that short time, as there were two big fish in it.
Therese threw her hook hard.
This time you will cast the rod correctly and definitely catch a salmon.
voice.
The intuition was good.
The bait landed in the right place.
She grinned at the thought that she had finally succeeded.
When I lifted the hook a little, it seemed like something had caught and not lifted.
It was heavy.
Therese pulled hard.
Therese tried to hold back her pounding heart and grabbed the hook again.
His Highness the Prince.
Looks like I caught a salmon.
The moment she wanted to say that, the bait stuck between the rocks suddenly jumped out.
Therese lost her balance and fell due to the reaction.
She began kicking unconsciously and was swept away by the currents as she drifted away.
In an instant, water seeped into her ears and nose.
The depth of the water where it fell was not great, but it continued to be swept away into the middle of the deep river by the current.
“Therese!”
The sound of hasty footsteps and then Dennis picked them up.
“Kh, kh.”
Therese spat out the water that entered her mouth and coughed.
"Are you well?"
Dennis asked in a hurried voice.
“Yes...”
Therese answered, dripping with water and completely wet.
Her hands were shaking from shock.
Dennis wiped her back, which was stuck to her wet clothes.
“Everything is fine now.”
It was a gesture of reassurance.
“Let's go in.”
Then they returned to the country house with wide steps, and he hugged her with one arm.