Father, I Won’t Do Anything

“Your Highness?”

“Uh…”

-Even if it’s summer, you mustn’t dress too casually when going out. Maintain the dignity befitting the Crown Prince.

-I’ve already contacted the wardrobe to prepare your travel attire, so go and retrieve it.

‘Mother, who dislikes me going out for fun, readily gave permission for this trip… was this her intention all along?’

While her exact motives were unclear given how she usually nagged about his excessive grooming, at least she didn’t seem to view Jaina negatively.

Rosian smiled brightly and continued speaking.

“Miss Jaina, a bit late, but is there anything you’d like as a birthday gift?”

“Ah, it’s alright. The cloak you gave me before is more than enough for me. There’s nothing special I want.”

“Is that so? Miss Jaina truly has no greed. I should think of a gift you’d like. But take this for now.”

Rosian firmly placed a straw hat on Jaina’s head.

“Miss Jaina has fair skin, so she needs to be careful of the sunlight.”

“But Your Highness has quite pale skin too…”

After insisting they both wear straw hats, the two eventually agreed to stay under a parasol instead, running towards the sandy beach.

“Wow.”

Reminiscing about playing in the sandbox at the playground on rainy days, Jaina gathered the damp sand with her small hands.

Opposite her, Rosian was sweeping sand towards Jaina with his hands.

“Just pat it gently with your hands.”

“Like this?”

Mikael watched the two of them play with a dumbfounded expression.

“Hah, what’s so fun about that?”

Before him stood a sandcastle far taller than himself, built to great solidity with even the details meticulously recreated.

He must have used magic.

“I made it this big, yet you’re still unsatisfied?”

The moment Jaina mentioned a sandcastle, Mikael instantly gathered the sand with magic. Then, he perfectly reproduced an actual castle, from the spired towers and entrance ladders to the fences and walls.

However, contrary to his expectations, Jaina’s reaction was indifferent. After staring at the castle for a while, she simply turned her head away without a word.

“Really, brother…”

Moreover, though it didn’t warrant concern, Rosian even shook his head with a dejected look.

“What? Are you dissatisfied?”

Slightly hurt, Mikael retorted indignantly, but-

“No.”

“Of course not.”

The two answered in the negative before slowly starting to build a new sandcastle.

“How is fooling around like that any fun?”

Wasn’t it far more enjoyable and impressive to use magic to build a sturdy sandcastle?

With his hands on his hips, Mikael compared the two sandcastles. No matter how he looked at it, the one he made was far grander, more intricate, and sturdier.

“Kids don’t appreciate the greatness of magic. Do they think magicians capable of instantly creating like this are common?”

Mikael huffily turned his gaze back towards Jaina.

“Wow!”

Having precariously built a tunnel through their crumbling sandcastle, the two children peeked at each other through the small tunnel.

Their childish antics greatly displeased Mikael.

But whether he liked it or not, the children soon found new amusement after finishing their sandcastle.

“Should we try feeding those seagulls over there?”

Jaina and Rosian stuck together, tossing food one by one towards the flock of seagulls.

Kkiruk!

Whereupon the seagull flock menacingly swarmed towards Jaina and Rosian.

The seagulls’ eyes seemed to glint with sheer madness.

‘Completely different from movies and dramas?’

Memories of lovey-dovey scenes in films and shows, where lovers smiled sweetly while feeding seagulls one shrimp chip at a time, flashed through her mind.

Those must have been lies. The seagulls didn’t even wait for the food in their hands, instead swooping in as if hunting their prey.

‘We might get injured at this rate?’

Jaina narrowed her eyes with focus.

“If you don’t behave, I won’t give you any food.”

Despite her low muttering, it was enough.

Sensing the ferocious aura of a dragon, the seagull flock cowered in fear.

Unaware of this, Rosian cheerfully laughed as the seagulls innocently blinked their eyes.

“Wow, they suddenly became so tame? It’s like they understand what Miss Jaina said.”

The seagulls, which had been frantically flapping about, soon began waddling obediently towards Jaina at her slightest gesture.

After peacefully accepting the food, the seagulls confirmed there was no more and returned to the sea.

“They’re really cute.”

Seeing them fold their wings and paddle away in the water brought an involuntary smile.

“Miss Jaina, look at that seagull. It has the black face.”

“Wow, how strange.”

Not all seagulls looked the same.

Some were pure white from head to toe, while others had shades of gray mixed in.

‘No, is that a pigeon?’

Jaina and Rosian sat side by side, admiring the adorable seagulls.

“Oh?”

Then, one seagull broke away from the flock. It turned and looked straight at Jaina and Rosian.

“It seems to be telling us to follow?”

Tot-tot-tot, it looked back, then-

Tot-tot-tot, it looked ahead again.

“It seems so. Should we follow it? Of course, it likely has no such intention.”

Chuckling, Jaina and Rosian trailed after the seagull.

After walking for a while.

“How strange. There was something like this on the island?”

Jaina and Rosian opened their eyes wide at the cave before them. By the time they came to their senses, the seagull was nowhere to be seen.

“It doesn’t seem like a place humans should enter.”

“Oh, wait a moment.”

Near the cave entrance stood something resembling a signboard. ‘Only the brave who see hope in the darkness will gain the light’…

“It seems to be one of the tourist attractions?”

“Then it should be alright to enter, right?”

Thus, Jaina and Rosian boldly set foot into the darkness.

“I’ll conjure light with magic.”

Summoning light instead of a torch was a simple spell even non-magicians could perform.

“Miss Jaina is reliable. I can depend on you.”

But even so, Rosian praised her and gave a thumbs up. Jaina smiled shyly in embarrassment.

Splish.

“Oh, there seems to be water pooled here.”

“Come to think of it, I think it rained yesterday too.”

The cave floor was uneven and quite bumpy. As Jaina carefully tread forward, she momentarily lost her balance after stumbling on a protruding rock.

“You have to be careful.”

If not for Rosian’s hand reaching out just in time to grab her, Jaina would have surely fallen forward helplessly.

Wheeeeee-

The cave seemed deeper than expected. The sound of wind blowing created an eerie atmosphere.

“Miss Jaina, aren’t you scared?”

“I’m alright.”

Fwoosh!

At that moment, a bat in the cave happened to fly out with a loud screech. Rosian opened his eyes wide before smiling wryly as he replied.

“I’m reassured since Miss Jaina is with me.”

Although the atmosphere felt like a horror experience, the fact that she wasn’t alone was a comfort.

After emerging from the dark cave, what appeared was… a flower field fully blooming with vibrant yellow flowers.

“Wow.”

“There was a flower field on this island?”

The nameless yellow flowers blossomed in a bright sunny shade, contrasting sharply against the adjoining sky. The stark contrast made Jaina’s heart swell. The feeling of summer became vividly apparent.

“I brought raspberry scones, croissants, crackers… various things in my subspace pocket.”

“Can I have some too?”

“Of course. Who else would I have brought them for?”

Jaina took a big bite of a sandwich generously filled with fresh ham, cheese, and lettuce.

Swish-

Leisurely seated in the flower field, they could see yellow ripples being carried by the breeze.

The two basked in the refreshing wind under the brilliant sunshine.

This must be a garden created by nature itself.

“Miss Jaina, let’s make this our secret hideout.”

Rosian whispered softly with his beautiful eyes.

“A secret garden just for us two, unknown even to brother Mikael…”

And it was at that moment.

“Whose secret garden are you talking about?”

At the familiar voice, Rosian turned with a startled look. There stood Mikael, smiling cheerfully.

“Are you two having fun without me?”

“Oh, when did you arrive?”

“Just now, I used a spatial teleportation spell.”

“Don’t tell me you followed us?”

As Rosian frowned with displeasure, Mikael scoffed derisively in response.

“Hah, you think I followed you? This is a place I discovered first from the beginning.”

“What do you…?”

As Rosian looked at Mikael with a flustered expression, Mikael began mimicking seagull calls behind Jaina’s back.

“Was it magic…?”

“Believe it or not.”

With a sly smile towards Rosian, Mikael approached Jaina.

“Hey, shorty. You really do love flowers. Then again, I realized that when you made me a flower bouquet.”

“Jaina made you a flower bouquet?”

“Oh, I guess you never received one.”

Mikael chuckled as he addressed Jaina, who was gazing at the flowers with sparkling eyes.