If I Throw Myself into His Sea - Episode 1.4

Having never been treated like a proper princess, she was also ignorant of how to treat her servants. It was for this reason that when Irene turned to face the head maid and bowed, the latter was terrified and waved her hands frantically.

“Your Highness, why are you doing this to me? If anyone saw, they’d be horrified! Please, please, lower your tone!”

Irene looked up at her with a voice full of worry.

Lower your tone? Irene, feeling awkward as it was the first time she’d received such a request, opened her mouth again.

“You don’t have to call me ‘Your Highness.’ Just call me ‘Irene-nim,’ Atina.”

In this wide world, the number of people who called Irene by her name was few enough to count on one’s fingers. From her father, the King, to her husband, Pereian, broad categories of titles like ‘wench’ and ‘madam’ had replaced Irene’s name.

So if this is my palace, my residence, my people… Irene looked at Atina with hopeful eyes, thinking, I can ask for at least this much, can’t I? Atina hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“I will obey your command, Irene-nim.”

Hearing the honorific felt embarrassing, but Irene felt grateful, thinking that was the most Atina could accept.

“Can I, um, just go in?” Irene asked, looking at the entrance to the Coral Palace spread out behind her.

Atina, observing Irene’s expression, soon approached Irene’s side and whispered in her ear. Her face was already troubled before she even opened her mouth.

“Entry is only possible when accompanied by the Sovereign.”

“……What?”

Atina explained the customs of the underwater kingdom for Irene, a land dweller.

The underwater kingdom of Deltia had a tradition related to royal marriages. It was a petty custom that on the first day of marriage, the queen had to be escorted by her husband when entering her chambers.

“In short, if Your Highness doesn’t come, I can’t enter either?”

“Yes….”

Everyone presents had already witnessed the monarch setting Irene down and looking at her with a contemptuous gaze. In such a situation, there was no way he would return. In the suddenly bleak atmosphere, the sound of some attendants nervously swallowing could be heard.

‘Ian, you…….’ Pereian, who had lived his entire life as a descendant of the Deltia royal family, could not possibly not know this custom. Pereian had gone, knowing.

He knew that Irene could not enter the palace without his accompaniment, and that if he left so abruptly, his wife would be in trouble. He knew it all, yet he had so easily turned back to his chambers.

Irene, who had thought it was fine not to be welcomed, felt her disappointment grow within her.

It was a marriage due to political circumstances, so she could understand him pushing her away.

However, leaving Irene behind, knowing the custom, was Ian’s choice, one that could not be excused by any pretense.

‘……Was it to prevent me from seeking him out for this reason that he didn’t give me the address of his chambers?’

Certainly, Ian was a type who clearly distinguished between likes and dislikes. Until now, Irene had been the object of Ian’s ‘likes,’ so facing such a stark expression of his dislikes made her body freeze.

Irene, who had been staring blankly at the Coral Palace, organized her thoughts and then called out to Atina, saying,

“He will come if we wait. I believe he is not that ruthless a person.”

Even her condescension, and the gestures with which she treated the servants, were awkward, but everyone was so focused on Pereian’s absence that they seemed to have no energy left to pay attention to the Queen’s demeanor.

‘If I wait, Ian will come. He wouldn’t leave me like this.’

In one corner of her heart, a hope for Ian still remained.

He was a good child by nature, so there was a belief that he would help the lady enter the palace. He would return, even out of pity for a woman who had to spend her first night in a strange country, and moreover, in the depths of the sea.

“Lady Irene…”

But as if throwing even that hope into the gutter, Pereian did not appear even after tens of minutes had passed.

“It’s okay. I’ll wait longer.”

After tens of minutes, an hour, and two hours passed, not even a shadow of him could be found near Coral Palace.

‘Ian feels nothing for me.’

As the clock tower chimed, signaling the end of the day in Deltia, reality finally seeped into Irene’s entire body.

‘I’ll be lonely again.’

It was a moment where the future in the underwater kingdom was clearly visible. The clock tower’s chime finally rang out. The junior servants, who had been quietly watching Irene, began to murmur amongst themselves.

The monarch who broke Deltia’s customs and stood up his bride. There was no one who wouldn’t be interested in this. As occasional giggles were heard among them, Atina could only clear her throat to keep the sounds from reaching Irene’s ears.

Irene possessed a skill honed by years of watchful living in the royal palace basement. The ability to hear others’ whispers and discern their hostility. The voices of some servants, stifling giggles, were filled with hostility. It was clearly mockery directed at Irene.

Yet, she had no time to correct the servants’ behavior. She was already drained from waiting for Pereian, and couldn’t possibly scold the servants of Coral Palace, whom she had known for less than a day. Besides, Irene had no idea how to handle servants in such a situation. So, she had to pretend not to hear, acting as if she were engrossed in waiting for Pereian.

“Lady Irene, let’s go inside. It seems His Majesty…”

“I don’t think he’s coming.” Her tone was now close to despair.

“B-but he’ll return for the wedding night. Ah, perhaps he’s gone to prepare!” Atina spoke as if trying to soothe a master who had been stood up on her first wedding custom.

“I’ll go in and help you get ready. The wedding night is a more important matter than this court etiquette, so His Majesty will surely come.”

“Thank you, Atina.” Irene smoothed the shawl Atina had draped over her shoulders, re-draping it several times, and then rose from her seat.

“What happened here must be buried until the day we die. The news that Irene had failed to perform the entry ceremony must not spread. If it did, the honor of Coral Palace would undoubtedly plummet to the depths of the sea. Atina, having ordered the lower-ranking servants to keep silent forever, guided Irene across Coral Palace’s underwater garden.

Following Atina’s lead, Irene moved her feet, looking around the surroundings.

Young seahorses danced in the embrace of colorful corals, and seaweed, imbued with verdant hues, fluttered like wild grass. Pebbles, whenever stepped on by attendants, emitted a clattering sound. From afar, tropical fish approached leisurely, gently moving their fins. Irene cautiously extended her fingers towards them. The tropical fish, after hesitating for a moment, soon leaned their bodies against her hand as if recognizing their owner. Bubbles, born from the respiration of sea creatures, tickled Irene’s skin pleasantly.

It felt like a space arranged solely for the new mistress of Coral Palace. Such a brilliant world was a first in Irene’s life. It was a perfect scene, except for the absence of Ian.

The interior of Coral Palace was neat and tidy. Atina led Irene, who couldn’t take her eyes off the lighting, towards the bedroom.

The bedroom was connected to the bathroom. Guided by Atina into the bathroom, Irene couldn’t close her gaping mouth. Warm water was already filling the bathtub. For her, who had to wash with cold water even on land, it was luxurious enough.

“It’s magically purified hot water.”

Atina and a few high-ranking maids led by her personally attended to Irene. Irene flinched at their gentle touch, as if trying not to leave a single scratch. Whether it was because it was magically purified or because it was the first time she had ever bathed in warm water, she felt a pleasant languor and her eyes closed.

“You mustn’t fall asleep, Lady Irene.”

Atina and the maids praised the romance of the wedding night and tried to liven Irene’s spirits. They chattered incessantly while adorning Irene, and only left the bedroom after all preparations were complete.

“Thank you, everyone.”

“We will inform you as soon as His Majesty the Sovereign arrives.”

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