If I Throw Myself into His Sea - Episode 2.17

The palace where they would be staying was called the Pearl Palace. As its name suggested, it was a space built with pearls and pearl-colored building materials.

“Please, come in.”

Sipri pointed to the entrance with his hand, smiled pleasantly, and bowed his head to the delegation. His gaze was fixed on Rupel.

After letting the envoys in one by one, Sipri spoke to Irene.

“Is that the man? The one His Highness sent a letter to.”

He had welcomed him so warmly, he seemed to have noticed the relationship between her and Rupel.

Irene nodded silently.

“His gaze was quite intense.”

“…Was it?”

It couldn’t be helped. Reuniting with Rupel meant digging up her childhood memories.

When she saw Rupel, she was reminded of her nanny, and when she thought of the two of them, she was reminded of the conch shell they had given her as a gift.

And that conch shell was reminiscent of Pereian.

In other words, it was bringing out the Irene of that time, who was full of Pereian. Even though she no longer had any untainted memories with Ian.

The reason her eyes were so intense was all because of that. She had simply been helplessly caught up in the tangled past.

Irene left Sipri, who still seemed to have questions, by her side and silently watched the delegation enter their residence. Just as Irene was about to return to the Coral Palace,

“Irene!”

Rupel, who had loudly called out Irene’s name, turned around and ran towards her before entering his residence. Irene also turned around when Rupel’s voice reached her.

Her light tan hair fluttered with the sudden change of direction. He came up to Irene, caught his breath, and slowly chose his words.

“Um, I don’t think I received a separate tour earlier.”

“Huh?”

“…Where is your residence?”

According to Deltia’s laws, the King and Queen’s residence could not be revealed to foreign envoys. It would be problematic if their lives were threatened.

Irene had been informed of this by Atina in advance, so she glanced at Sipri beside her. She didn’t want to break the law. As Pereian said, upholding Deltia’s customs and laws was also the Queen’s duty.

Sipri sighed deeply as he looked at Irene, who was groaning. He swept back his hair, met Irene’s eyes, and then nodded. It was a signal that it was okay to tell Rupel. With his permission, Irene pointed in the direction of the Coral Palace.

“Can I visit?”

His face, asking if he could visit the Coral Palace, was filled with concern rather than shyness. The envoy’s schedule was also left open for two days of rest. Irene, who had been considering the schedule for a moment, smiled in approval.

“Then see you again, Rupel.”

“I’ll go in now.”

Rupel seemed to still have lingering feelings, stopping after a few steps and waving towards Irene. Irene stood there blankly for a long time. Her friend’s voice, which she hadn’t heard in a long time, was warm. Enough to momentarily forget Pereian’s coldness, and this sea as cold as his attitude.

“That woman… she told them the location of Sanho Palace.”

Deep Sea Palace, the King’s office. Pereian repeated the words, having received news of Irene and Rupel through the surveillance he had planted throughout the palace. It had been quite some time since he first heard the news, but he was still lost in thought, or perhaps mere distraction.

Pereian’s deep eyes wavered several times. He couldn’t concentrate, unable to attend to his duties. Reluctantly, he rose and sat on the sofa, trying to relax. His eyelids trembled, a bothersome result of a sleepless night. He slowly closed his eyes, covering them with his hand.

When he closed his eyes, the first thing that came to mind was, of course, Ruine. The conversations he had with Ruine, the voice that worried for him. He didn’t want to forget any of those memories, so he pressed his eyes shut even tighter. As if trapping those memories would make them last forever.

The narrowed space between his eyebrows added a sharpness to his impression, but he didn’t care. However, no thought lasts forever, and they gradually fade. Behind the blurred memories of Ruine, he recalled Irene.

Irene Iphraim. A suspicious princess sent from the land, from the Kingdom of Epin no less. Pereian recalled everything, from the way her shoulders trembled at the news of the Epin envoy’s arrival, to how straight her back was when she actually greeted the envoy, as if nothing had happened.

‘A woman full of dramatics.’

Having grown up pampered, she probably thought she could get her way by acting dramatic, foolishly. He didn’t know the circumstances, but it didn’t seem like she disliked greeting the envoy from her home country. Perhaps when she clung to him and begged, it was just a tantrum born of laziness. Otherwise, she couldn’t have attended the envoy reception so nonchalantly.

Rupel, the man she left behind on land. Irene’s face, quickly brightening when she saw his face, was still vivid in his mind. He couldn’t accept the queen who sent such mournful glances to Rupel in front of him, as if deceiving him.

“Haa…”

Hating himself for being annoyed, for bothering to think of Irene even with Ruine around, Pereian gripped the sofa’s surface with both hands and let out a rough sigh.

Two days into the envoy’s visit. Irene headed to the Coral Palace’s garden, leaving behind the Coral Palace’s busy servants since morning.

Rupel followed her with a nervous look. Rupel scanned the palace, where his friend was staying as queen, with a sense of wonder. His eyes were filled with joy wherever they landed, as if her happiness was his own.

The diverse colors of the Coral Palace’s decorations filled his dark pupils.

Irene walked silently, suppressing the many things she wanted to say.

When they reached the center of the garden, she turned around and looked at Rupel again. She still couldn’t believe that they had reunited as an envoy and a queen.

With him before her, Irene smiled, pulling up the corners of her lips. She couldn’t help but laugh at her friend, who had grown so much since she last saw him, trying so hard to read her expression.

Thanks to Rupel’s advance notice of his visit to the Coral Palace, the garden was already prepared to welcome him. The tables and chairs were all to Irene’s taste. Irene smiled lightly, seeing the hard work of Atina and the other servants everywhere.

She had never expressed that she liked this or disliked that, but the Coral Palace’s servants somehow knew her tastes perfectly.

“I’m glad you seem to be living in a good place, Irene,”

Rupel said in a small voice, sitting on a chair. The words he exhaled like a sigh were tinged with relief.

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