Nightmare Came to The Place I Escaped - Chapter 58

 

“Let’s come again.”

 

Rachel took Ian’s hand and led him to the beautiful, blue sea.

 

It looked like she wanted to change the subject.

 

“You know what? Sea water is briny because of its salt content.”

 

Ian also changed the subject as she wished, perhaps noticing Rachel’s meaning.

 

Ian was content with the little thing that came into his hands, even if he hadn’t heard the answer he wanted.

 

She took his hand.

 

She called his name.

 

He thought it was enough because they were spending time together.

 

“I’ve heard of it, but I can’t believe it.”

 

Rachel shook her head a little bit.

 

That transparent, clear water was salty.

 

Rachel had never seen emerald water. Even a clean stream was not such a beautiful color.

 

But the sea was salty.

 

Rachel gave a small shake of her head.

 

“Can I try it?”

 

Ian hesitated for a moment and nodded quietly. In response to the uncertain answer, Rachel turned towards him.

 

“There’s nothing wrong with drinking it, right?”

“You can, but I don’t really recommend it.”

“Why?”
“I don’t think it’ll taste good.”
[Baset: Don’t drink sea water, you can get sick from drinking too much! Σ(°ロ°) ]

 

He had never tasted sea water, but it was obvious that it would be salty.

 

So, there was no need to check it out.

 

“I’m curious…”

 

But Rachel seemed curious about the taste.

 

Ian opened his mouth to Rachel, who was hesitating.

 

“Then shall I try it first?”

“Ummm.”

 

Rachel couldn’t ask him to do it, but Ian laughed quietly.

 

Ian, who’d already noticed what she wanted, approached the sea without hesitation.

 

The waters came close enough to touch his shoes, and then pulled back again.

 

Ian looked at Rachel for a moment, then squatted down and cupped some seawater in his hand. Then, without hesitation, he brought his hand up to his lips.

 

“Ugh.”

 

The seawater in Ian’s hand fell back to his feet as soon as his pained voice came out.

 

Ian frowned slightly, and shook away the rest of the water left in his hand.

 

“What do you think? Was it weird?”

“Salty.”

 

Rachel squatted down beside Ian, and scooped up the seawater with her hands.

 

After hesitating for a while, she soon brought the seawater to her mouth.

 

“Ugh, it’s really salty.”

 

Rachel’s shoulders gave a small shudder, and she bit her tongue slightly.

 

“Hahaha, were you that curious?”

 

Ian laughed quietly, and wiped the water off of Rachel’s lip with his sleeve.

 

He thought of the younger Rachel, who had a lot of questions and was amazed by everything. Whenever the younger Rachel was curious, she would study the subject for a while.

 

She wouldn’t say what she was thinking, but she used to look at it for a long time and touch it carefully, or do something Ian couldn’t understand.

 

Like now.

 

It had always been a pleasure to see Rachel like that.

 

The sound of the waves hitting the white sand and Ian’s laughter mixed exquisitely together. Rachel couldn’t understand Ian’s laughter, but somehow she laughed along with him.

 

Rachel pulled back a little as the waves pushed towards her shoes.

 

Soon after that, Ian crouched down beside her as she moved away.

 

“Your Majesty?”

“No, you promised to call me Ian.”

 

He took off Rachel’s shoes with a playful smile.

 

“What are you doing?”

“We’ve come all the way here, so let’s go in.”

 

The waves washed in and wet Rachel’s ankles. Ian then took off his shoes, and threw them behind his back.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

Ian rose up from where he was seated, and reached out to Rachel.

 

Rachel looked up at Ian and soon got up from her seat while she was holding his hand. She had sand on her hands, but Ian didn’t seem to care.

 

Ian led Rachel into the sea.

 

The water was cold, and their clothes were wet, all of which Ian hated.

 

Actions without any reason. It was an act that would only make their clothing wet, and difficult to clean later.

 

However, Ian was leading the way this time.

 

The sea in late autumn.

 

Rachel shivered a little as the cold wind touched her wet body. Before she knew it, the water was flowing around Rachel’s waist.

 

“Rachel, come here.”

 

Ian lifted Rachel up on a big rock in front of him.

 

It wasn’t a rock that was far from the beach, but Rachel was already wet to the bottom of her chest.

 

The sun was still high in the sky, and it was warm, so she dried quickly. Rachel felt embarrassed because she’d had no intention of entering the sea.

 

Ian soon came up on the rock, too.

 

“Are you cold?”

 

Ian, who was sitting next to Rachel, asked as if he was about to take off his jacket.

 

The ends of his jacket were already wet, so it seemed unlikely that it would be warmer to be covered by it. Rachel shook her head as if it were okay, and took ahold of his hand to stop him from taking off his clothes.

 

Her clothes were wet and cold, but being in the middle of the sea wasn’t too bad. The emerald-colored water was clearly visible, and small fish could often be seen below.

 

Rachel carefully dipped her feet in the sea.

 

Then Ian followed Rachel, and dipped his feet in.

 

Rachel leaned forward, as if she wanted to see more fish in the water. Ian also looked down at the water, curious about what caught Rachel’s interest.

 

But he soon turned to Rachel.

 

The color of the sea and the fish were beautiful, but Rachel seemed to catch his eye more.

 

He glanced at his mansion on the cliff from where he was seated.

 

“In the middle of summer, the residents here also enjoy playing in the water along the beach.”

 

At Ian’s words, Rachel looked around the empty white sandy beach.

 

On a hot summer day, if this place was full of people, it would be fun too.

 

“It would be fun. The summer.”

 

On a summer day, she thought it would be good to swim in the sea.

 

“I want to come in the summer, too.”

 

When Rachel moved her legs, the seawater splashed along with her movements.

 

Ian also followed her behavior quietly. As he moved his legs, the drops of water splashed a little larger than Rachel’s.

 

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

 

After a long time, he nodded and answered Rachel’s words.

 

“Rachel, aren’t you cold?”

“I want to find one more, then we can go in.”

 

Rachel looked around the sandy beach with her left hand full of conchs and seashells.

 

“What are you looking for? Let’s find it together.”

 

Ian carefully crouched down by her side, and Rachel spread out her left hand and showed him.

 

“I want to find another conch like this.”

 

Rachel rolled the conch shell a little with her thumb.

 

A colored stripe was wrapped around the dried shell of the conch. Ian looked at the conch, which had a dense gray and sky blue bands, and turned his head towards the sandy beach.

 

“Why are you looking for it?”

“Well, I think I’ll be able to recall today more easily if I have it.”

 

Ian glanced at Rachel.

 

She must be cold, but Rachel was still eager to search for the conch.

 

Rachel’s brown hair was a little wet at the end, and her white feet and hands were covered with sand. Ian somehow wanted one too, like the one in her small hand that she held as if it were something precious.

 

“Give me one, too.”

“What?”

“I want one.”

 

When Ian pointed Rachel’s left hand, Rachel blinked for a moment and nodded her head.

 

“Do you like mine?”

 

She hadn’t expected him to be interested in this.

 

Somehow, Ian seemed really greedy.

 

The reason Rachel didn’t understand Ian wasn’t just because he was interested in the shell, it was because he coveted one of hers among the many around them.

 

The shells were all over the sandy beach. If he wanted to have one, he could find one that he liked.

 

One of the shells she found seemed to have caught his heart though.

 

“Which one do you want?”

 

Rachel stretched out her hand, and showed him what she’d picked up.

 

“This one for me.”

 

He quietly looked down at Rachel’s palm and pointed one of his fingers. A conch with a gray and light blue band. It was Rachel’s favorite.

 

“Okay, I’ll give it to you at the mansion.”

 

Rachel felt a little disappointed, but since she said she would give him one, she decided to do as he wanted.

 

“Shall we go?”

“Wait. We should find the one you wanted.”

 

After saying that, Ian quickly looked around.

 

She didn’t need the same color after she decided to give Ian the one she’d already found, but before Rachel could say anything to stop him, Ian reached out for another first.

 

“This? It’s the same.”

“Oh, it’s the same!”

 

Rachel nodded, as he reached out to take it.

 

Another conch shell came into Rachel’s left hand. Ian brushed off the sand on his hand and roughly put on his shoes.

 

“Rachel, let’s go.”

 

He laid down Rachel’s shoes at her feet.

 

She was a little concerned that her only shoes would be ruined by sand and water, but Rachel pushed her feet into the shoes, just as Ian had.

 

“There should be some clothes to change into, but I don’t know if there are any other shoes.”

 

Ian patted the sand off Rachel’s hand, which wasn’t holding her shells.

 

“If you don’t have any, then I’ll buy you a pair of comfortable shoes.”

 

Ian shook off his hand once again to remove some of the sand that got there from Rachel’s hand.

 

Then he took Rachel’s hand.

 

“Are you cold?”

“No, are we going to the mansion soon?”

 

Rachel shook her head. Her wet body was a little cold, but it was bearable.

 

“Rachel, do you like this place?”

“Yes, it’s quiet and the sea is beautiful.”

 

Rachel nodded to Ian’s question.

 

“Then shall I give you this mansion?”

“Hmm? What?”

 

Rachel frowned slightly.

 

“Then you can come whenever you want.”

 

Rachel couldn’t understand why Ian was saying this.

 

Why was he giving it to her when it was his?

 

Of course, she liked this place, but she didn’t think she would come here very often.

 

“No, you don’t have to.”

 

Rachel gave a small shake of her head.

 

“It’s Your Majesty’s.”

 

It would’ve been enough to come along with him sometimes.

 

Ian nodded as if he understood, and opened the front door.

 

***