If I Throw Myself into His Sea - Episode 1.17

“Wow, so you gave them a harsh scolding?” Sipri scoffed, retorting to her instead of Irene.

“……I will return to my quarters then. Please call me anytime if you need me, Lady Irene.”

Watching Atina hastily take her leave, Sipri spoke to Irene as if to show off. “See? I told you.”

He said, his tone boastful, contrasting with his delicate features. “She’d reveal her temper right away. Well, it’s fortunate it won’t cause trouble for His Highness.”

“You seem to know Atina well, Sir.”

“She was my close friend.” Revealing that Atina, like Pereian, was his close friend, he shrugged his shoulders.

“Why have you come here again?”

“I had placed a suggestion spell, but I was worried you might get lost.”

“Ah, so it was your help, Sir.”

The reason Irene, who had never moved from the Deep Sea Palace to the Coral Palace, found her way so quickly. Thanks to Sipri’s suggestion spell, she had returned without getting lost.

“Thank you.” She expressed her gratitude with a smile on her worried face.

“……You’re welcome.”

But that was it. The Queen had unknowingly erected a wall, and these favors could not fully breach it. Don’t princesses raised delicately in greenhouses usually drop their guard without a second thought, even with just this much kindness? At least, that was how it was in Sipri’s life.

Though a mage of Deltia, he had spearheaded trade agreements with foreign nations for Pereian, who had ascended the throne clinging to precarious royal power. To Sipri, who had secured negotiation rights by persuading the princess of that country with his pleasant face and demeanor rather than commercial talk, Irene was not much different. She should be the same kind of princess, yet she, the princess of the Kingdom of Epin, seemed reluctant to open her heart.

‘Whether married or not, she’s an Epin person, is that it?’

Epin despises Deltia. So, it’s understandable that she, being from Epin, would want to keep her distance, not wanting to get close to someone from Deltia. However, what was strange was that he couldn’t feel the hostility Epin showed towards Deltia emanating from her. It was a guarded attitude, too much for a princess who had clearly been coddled her whole life.

‘She’s just like Pereian from back then.’

Even though she must have lived a life completely opposite to that of the despised monarch of the undersea kingdom, Sipri saw Pereian reflected in the Queen. After offering a greeting that wouldn’t reach the Queen returning to her chambers, Sipri immediately headed to the residence of the head maid of the Coral Palace.

Atina. His close friend, and the Queen’s head maid. He was going to have a serious talk with her.

The head maid’s quarters were the most modest space in the lavishly decorated Coral Palace. Atina, having sensed Sipri’s impending visit, was sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed. As expected. Sipri, opening the door without asking for permission, strode in with an air of arrogance.

“I saw you apprehending those below earlier, Atina.”

Though he seemed to be smiling broadly, he spoke with the same chilling aura as always. Sipri, as if familiar with the layout of the room, pulled out a chair and sat down opposite Atina.

“She deserves punishment for slandering Lady Irene.”

“Shouldn’t the punishment be left for the Queen to mete out?”

“No. I cannot just stand by and watch such a thing in my palace.”

“My palace… That’s an interesting expression.”

Arrogant and condescending gazes clashed. Atina broke the silence first.

“It seems you’ve grown quite attached to Lady Irene.”

Sipri scoffed, as if finding Atina’s condescending tone and word choice laughable.

“Yes. There was an interesting magic cast on her.”

“Why have you come to me?” “I was hoping to get some information.”

Atina snorted, uncrossing the legs she had been crossing, and ran a hand through her hair. She acted as if this space, the Coral Palace, was something she herself had created.

“Do you think I, the head maid of the Coral Palace, would carelessly leak information about the master I serve?”

“What would I do to the Queen? I’m not asking because I intend to harm her.”

“And you expect me to believe that?”

“You have no choice but to believe me. The Queen is the linchpin of Pereian, and I am a loyal subject of Pereian.”

Sipri, trying to calm Atina, who was already showing signs of agitation, seized the moment to bring up the main point.

“Is there anything strange about the Queen? Suspicious, or unusual?”

Atina smiled bitterly, confronted by the question. As he said, Sipri was the monarch’s confidant. Harming a princess from Epin meant the monarch’s reputation would also revert to what it was before the engagement. Sipri would never do such a foolish thing. With a face a mixture of annoyance and emptiness, she murmured towards Sipri,

“The wedding night.”

“Mm, I heard Pereian didn’t visit.”

“Yes, that day.”

Amidst the tension, Atina’s words continued.

“I and the attendants who served saw his back.”

Sipri, who had been listening with an unusually stern face, his eyes suddenly gleamed. He swallowed and waited for Atina’s lips to move again.

“There were scars.”

An unexpected answer spilled from her lips.

“Do you know what this means?”

There were numerous, fine scars scattered everywhere, hideously so for a princess of Epin.

Atina finished speaking calmly, poured the tea from the table into a cup, and moistened her throat. Whatever the person before her did, Sipri was of no consequence. The Princess of Epin. The Queen of Deltia. The woman who became Pereian’s consort. She had a past she could not speak of.

‘Could the silence magic be related to him as well?’

Sipri, having calculated in an instant, retorted to Atina,

“Do you know what magic is cast upon the Queen?”

“How could I possibly know?”

“Since you’ve given me information, I might as well pass one piece of information to you.”

Sipri gave a slight smile. His smile lent his face an even greater elegance, but Atina, who had known him for years, did not flinch and replied calmly. “Tell me, if it’s information that will help me serve him.”

After the tension, Sipri murmured. “A silencing spell. The caster seemed to be a royal mage of Epin.”

“……Are you sure?”

“Probably. I haven’t told Pereian yet. You’d best keep your mouth shut too.”

He stood up, his face looking relieved as if his business was concluded. Atina, who had just received the information, looked dazed. She seemed to be thinking about something.

“I intend to get closer to that woman from now on.”

Sipri delivered his final words in a voice that was casual yet firm. “So, you should manage things well. There’s still much to uncover.”

Sipri waved as if to say goodbye to Atina and turned his back sharply. As he vanished instantly with teleportation magic, Atina, who had been gazing intently at the spot where he had been, bit her lip. Atina’s master, Irene’s, scar on her back. It wasn’t a recent mark, but a scar that had accumulated since childhood.

And the silencing spell cast upon her. The caster, a royal mage of Epin. Surely, she was a princess whom the King of Epin doted on. His love for that princess reached even the underwater kingdom. If such a spell was cast upon that princess, there must surely be a reason.

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