Keh pulled himself out of the puddle andy down on his back. He covered his eyes with his arm and startedughing. But he instantly regretted it since he hadn''t healedpletely.


    "Ow! She broke my bones and made me drown in that icy puddle. And yet I am not angry at all. What the hell is wrong with me? I am so hopeless!"


    He hopelessly smiled and thought, "And the way she threatens to drown or burn my Kingdom every time… I should be angry. But why do I find it so cute?"


    He stared at the blue sky above him and recalled the first time he had met Ariel. The two of them had met when he came as a guest for Joyce and d''s engagement ceremony.


    Keh was the Crown Prince of Brenalia, the neighboring Kingdom of Romania. He was a good friend of d since both of them were the Crown Princes.


    And d had invited Keh to his engagement ceremony that took ce around three months before the wedding ceremony.


    "I had decided that I would marry her the first time I saw her. She was in her battle armor. But I had never seen such an exquisite armor ever before."


    He smiled and thought, "If she was to go in a war in that armor then half of the men would faint just by looking at her."


    (Author''s note: Check the paragraphment for Ariel''s armor design.)


    He sighed and kept on getting lost in his daydream, "The moment I saw her, I knew that she would be the only girl who wouldn''t get scared of my red eyes. And that turned out to be true. Instead, she is the one who scares me at times."


    He giggled on his own and mumbled, "Oh, how can I forget that day when she said that she would give me a chance for courtship if I won a fight against her? Had I known that she was the daughter of the Devil residing on Earth then I wouldn''t have agreed to her."


    "Now, all I can do is pretend to fight her. I know she doesn''t even use a drop of her power when she fights me."


    He slowly rubbed his chest. The broken bones seemed to have reattached now. But he kept on lying on the wet ground and thought, "At least she made me realize that there are always bigger fishes in the ocean. She''s most probably a whale. And I am… not even a fish, I''m just a seaweed in herparison."


    He felt a gust of wind hitting his body. And then he got a painful sensation on his leg after getting kicked by Ariel. "Ouch! That hurt, Ariel!"


    Ariel folded her arms and red down at him. "Are you nning to rot there in the mud or do you have a n to get up before I get scolded by my dad again?"


    Keh smirked and teased Ariel, "You should have been nice to your father''s precious guest if you didn''t want to get scolded by him then."


    Ariel grabbed Keh''s shirt and pulled him up. She red right into his crystal red eyes and murmured, "If only your Kingdom wasn''t so rich in salt then I would have made sure that you never returned here."


    Keh pushed himself away from Ariel''s grip and said, "Oh, I''m pretty sure that your father is more interested in me than in our Kingdom''s salt. He could easily import the salt from other Kingdoms that are nearer to Wyverndale."


    Wyverndale and Brenalia had a trade agreement between them. Wyverndale would import salt at a very cheap rate in exchange for food crops like paddy and wheat.


    And Crown Prince Keh would visit the Wyverndale Pce every time their Kingdom would ship salt to Wyverndale. He woulde in the pretense that he needed to check the quality of the crops before taking them back with him.


    Ariel kept on ring at him for a few seconds. And suddenly, she blew a gust of hot wind on him. She mockingly smiled and said, "I was helping to dry you."


    She then turned around and ordered him, "Come. My dad and mom want to have lunch with you."


    Keh caught up to her and asked, "Will you also join us? I would very much like it."


    "I will die of hunger than eat at the same table with you," Ariel gave a side re and ran at the top of her speed.


    Keh smirked as though he had epted the challenge and caught up to her again. "By the way, Joyce always asks me to bring you and the others along with me. It''s been two years since youst saw her, you know. Don''t you miss her?"


    Ariel frowned and pressed her lips together. She did miss Joyce.


    When she had turned 18st year, she had even asked her grandmother to undo the sealing spell so that she could fulfill her promise to Joyce.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    She was 19 now. She had mastered all of the four elemental magic. She had also mastered the teleportation technique.


    However, she hadn''t yet had the courage to teleport to Romania. She would sometimes go out of the Pce boundaries – to Azriel''s ce, to the cave, and the river. At most, she would visit n''s orphanage.


    But she never got the courage to step out of the boundaries of Wyverndale.


    Ariel stopped in front of the dining room of their quarter. And without even ncing at Keh, she asked him, "Wait inside. My parents will be there in a moment."


    She turned around to leave for the twin''s quarter.


    However, Keh stood in front of her and asked, "Why don''t you travel along with me? I''m not asking you toe alone. You can invite your cousins as well. And I will show you around Brenalia as well as Romania. I know you will like both the Kingdoms."


    Ariel looked like she was considering his invitation. However, she denied, "I don''t think I will like the oceans. I''ve read that they are dangerous. Many ships get lost if the high tidees."


    Keh folded his arms and gave a questioning nce to Ariel. "Seriously? You said you could dry out the ocean if you want to, which I believe. And it''s not every day that we encounter such dangerous tides. Besides, I''m sure you can calm down the tides even if we encounter one."


    He tilted his head and leaned down to get a better look at Ariel''s face. And he asked, "And don''t you want to see the scope of your magic? You will have plenty of time and space to practice your water magic."


    Ariel was getting swayed by his request. But then her ego didn''t allow her to agree to him. So she casually denied his request again, "Why would I need your ship when I can teleport there in the blink of an eye?"


    Keh wasn''t giving up. He tried to win her over, "But then you would miss all the fun parts. Most of the time, it''s not the destination that is fun but the journey.


    If you teleport there – which I know you won''t by the way – then you will miss the ocean, the beautiful sunset on the horizon, the wind, the sea creatures and birds, the shared food with the crews, thete-night songs and dance, and everything."


    Ariel imagined experiencing all that. "I guess… it will be fun," she mumbled in a soft voice.


    "Of course, it will be so much fun. And I will make sure that you will enjoy every moment of the travel. There won''t be any dull moment with me." Keh gave a bright smile to Ariel and wished that she would say yes.


    Ariel gave a soft smile to him.


    That bright expression of his… she envied it.


    She quietly thought to herself, "I can see myself in him. My younger self…"


    Her throat became a little sore and she asked herself, "When did I stop smiling like this? I should be jumping at his offer. Traveling the world is what I wanted to do when I grew up. But now that I am an adult, the furthest I have traveled is Grazia, that also apanied by my dad."


    Ariel looked down and wondered, "What happened to me?"


    Her sad eyes told that she knew what exactly had happened.


    She frowned and thought, "I wonder how he is doing? I bet he is doing fine... He must look like a grown man now."