If I Throw Myself into His Sea - Episode 1.5

As the door adorned with coral closed, Irene, exhaling the breath she had been holding, collapsed onto the bed. The bed, unused until now, was still cold, unable to yet embrace Irene’s warmth. On it, Irene, hugging her knees, bowed her head deeply.

‘Will Ian come?’

Ian had clearly declared he would not embrace her, but she had heard that the wedding night was a custom that royalty must observe. Therefore, even if he did not wish it, Ian would reach this bedroom tonight.

Irene closed her eyes and pictured Ian as a young man. She had dreamed of a future with Ian, but she had never imagined it would be like this, and she was still bewildered.

Her first love, now an adult. He had grown cold over the years they had not exchanged news. Then, what expression would he wear when he entered here tonight?

Ian, should she pity you for having to embrace a woman who is not your beloved? In the end, it seemed that at the conclusion of this wedding night, no one’s happiness would exist.

Waiting anxiously for tens of minutes. The clock chimed, signaling that the day had passed.

Darkness arrived with profound solitude, dawn broke, and at its end, the second day in Deltia dawned. Pereian did not visit the Coral Palace until Irene fell asleep from exhaustion and woke again. It was a clear repudiation.

To the sound of bells announcing noon in Deltia, Irene awoke and looked around.

‘Where am I……?’

Grasping at memories blurred by sleep, she reviewed the events of yesterday.

‘My husband was Ian. I was guided through the palace, and then….’

After that, it was nothing but the worst memories. The husband who left the bride on the eve of her entry into the palace. The man who, without even telling her where she would stay, insisted she enter the palace alone.

The servants tried to comfort Irene, saying he would at least attend to the wedding night, but he never came for his wife. All of that was what Ian had done in a single day.

Irene sat on the edge of the bed, having fallen asleep without being able to lie down properly, having waited for Pereian all night. As a result, her back was stiff, making it difficult to move.

Brushing her hair back and touching her aching back, Irene slowly rose and peered out the window.

It was noon, a time when everyone should have already woken.

As expected, servants were bustling about outside. Among them were the senior maids who had helped Irene get ready yesterday.

Judging by their somber expressions, they seemed to know that their mistress had been snubbed by her lord.

‘Ian never came, not until the very end.’

Wondering if he might have visited while she slept, she looked around, but there was no trace of Pereian anywhere in the bedroom.

The candle, which she had been instructed to extinguish after the wedding night, had sadly already melted away. Her bedding remained undisturbed, as she had slept without tossing and turning.

A short sigh escaped Irene’s lips. It was a reaction she hadn’t intended. Just as she was about to step outside, breaking the grave atmosphere, a growling stomach sound filled the quiet room.

“Hup…”

Irene clutched her hungry stomach and swallowed a breath.

Though she was alone without a single attendant, she bowed her head deeply, fearing someone might have heard. Her ear tips flushed red with embarrassment.

‘Had Ian already eaten?’

Even Irene, who didn’t expect love between husband and wife, had at least one dream about married life.

‘Perhaps I could ask him to eat together.’

Eating together at least once a day was precisely that wish. The royal family on the mainland ate together every single day. Of course, that seat was reserved only for the King, the Queen, and Epin’s legitimate daughter, so the neglected Irene dared not even covet their leftovers.

When Irene received bread, given to her like feed for livestock, she dreamed of a day when she would eat meals affectionately with her husband.

Thinking of that, the dry, rough texture of the bread felt a little sweeter. And so, now married to Ian, Irene brought out this trivial romance again.

‘This isn’t the mainland.’

Upon her marriage, Irene was able to hide her status as a secondary daughter from the mainland.

At least in her husband’s sea, Irene was a princess recognized by the Epin royal family. On the mainland, her status had tied her down, preventing her from eating with her family, but perhaps with Ian, it might be possible. Of course, eating together wouldn’t magically create love, but Irene simply wanted confirmation.

That moments of eating while conversing with family could be granted to her. That Irene, too, deserved to enjoy such a thing.

‘I’ll try asking him one more time.’

Pereian had already stood Irene up twice, through the palace entry ceremony and the wedding night. Just one more time.

With the thought that this time might be different, Irene fumbled with the bell pull beside the bed to summon a servant.

Atina, impeccably dressed as if she had been waiting for Irene’s summons, walked in.

The corners of her lips, drawn into a forced smile. Her face was careful, aware that her mistress had been snubbed by her husband, yet trying not to show it.

“You summoned me, Irene-nim.” Atina’s neat voice was directed at Irene.

“Thank you for coming, Atina. Um… could you perhaps summon His Highness?”

As Irene stated her request after a brief thank you, Atina’s previously bright expression noticeably stiffened. Irene, watching her carefully, added in a subdued tone.

“It’s just, I was wondering if we could have a meal together.”

“Ah…”

“Would that be difficult?”

Atina seemed to ponder. However, even though it was clear that the meal proposal from her mistress to the monarch would be refused, this was not a matter she could dismiss on her own.

By then, Atina had regained her usual composure and smiled at Irene.

“I will send word to the Deep Palace. A reply should arrive shortly, so please wait a moment.”

After bowing and leaving the room, Irene clutched a cushion and sank into thought.

‘She said she would send word to the Deep Palace.’

Then the Deep Sea Palace must have been Pereian’s residence. At the word “deep sea,” Irene’s pupils sparkled.

When Ian was young, he had once remarked that his red eyes were like strangers to the sea. The kind boy confessed each time that he wished to discard his alien, crimson eyes, unfindable in the undersea kingdom. He had longed for the deep-sea-like blue eyes of his half-brothers. The reason Irene recognized Pereian at a glance was because she remembered his words.

But now, he held the deep sea he had once yearned for in his hands.

‘Pereian’s sea. Ian’s country. His deep sea.’

Hair as dark as ink, as his impression. Eyes that had swallowed blood. In summary, a man with an appearance like an endless ocean trench.

Though he seemed rough, Irene knew that the Ian of the past slumbered within him. That was why she was not afraid of this deep sea. If she could just be by his side, she felt she could glimpse Ian’s gentle side at any moment.

As she counted Ian’s fragments one by one, time flowed quickly. The outside grew noisy, as if a messenger had arrived. Soon, Atina entered the bedroom again with news.

“He wishes to dine with you?”

She saw her mistress looking at her with a face full of anticipation, but Atina had to speak the truth.

“His Highness has refused.”

“Ah…”

The dejected queen’s appearance was captured in Atina’s eyes. Since the undersea monarch had killed the former king and ascended the throne, Atina, newly assigned to the Coral Palace, which had lost its master, had been tending to the palace daily for the queen who would one day arrive. The queen before her eyes was the mistress of the dreams Atina cherished, her ambition, and at the same time, her pride.

Atina could not stand to see her mistress looking so disheartened. Atina took Irene’s hand. Her eyes flashed fiercely.

“It seems His Highness the Monarch has already finished his meal for today and thus refused.”

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