The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

My attempts to delay entering the water worked well enough.

After all, visiting the beach isn’t just about playing in the water. We ate snacks, ran around, and soaked up the sun for a while before finally cooling off in the waves.

I don’t remember who entered the water first. By the time I realized it, I was already in the sea myself.

How long had it been since I last visited the ocean? Not just a few years—probably in a previous life. During my time in the palace, the thought of visiting such a place never even occurred to me.

Despite always teasing Alice for being overly tense, it seemed I had been just as nervous. I wasn’t even sure if I managed to maintain my usual neutral expression during the fun. Claire and Alice, on the other hand, looked like they were having the time of their lives.

We didn’t venture too far into the water, sparing us the need to actually swim. Perhaps Claire had been considerate of that.

---

“Mia Crowfield.”

Of course, some people firmly refused to go into the water, sitting on the sidelines with a resolute expression—or so I thought.

“Mmgh?!”

Mia Crowfield wasn’t as composed as she appeared. With her cheeks puffed out, full of fruit, she looked like she might choke when I addressed her. I felt a little guilty for startling her.

“May I sit here?”

The beach’s sand was surprisingly fine, almost as if someone had gathered only the softest grains. There were no sharp rocks or debris in sight. Near Mia, several pairs of slippers lay scattered, discarded by others when they’d decided to go barefoot into the water.

“A-ah, yes, of course,” she replied after hurriedly swallowing her fruit.

I pushed my damp hair behind my ears and sat down beside her, making sure to lay out a mat. There was also a parasol providing shade, though the fine sand had started creeping onto the mat, carried by the breeze.

Mia held a plate, likely to keep the fruit safe from the sand. Though I hadn’t intended to notice, her legs were also covered in a thin layer of sand.

“Do you not plan to go into the water?”

It seemed like a waste, considering she was already dressed in a swimsuit.

Water from my hair trickled onto the mat, forming a small puddle. A few grains of sand floated momentarily before settling at the bottom.

“Well...” Mia hesitated. “I’ve never been in the water before. It’s a bit... intimidating.”

Fair enough. Plenty of people come to the ocean but never set foot in the waves, content to simply stare at the water.

“I see,” I replied simply.

---

Silence fell between us.

Why did I sit here, of all places?

I inwardly cursed my decision. The mat was large—there were plenty of spots to sit. Why did I choose to sit right next to Mia Crowfield? True, this spot offered the best shade, but sitting too far away would have been equally awkward.

In hindsight, I’d only spoken to her during the banquet because the atmosphere made it easy. Here, I didn’t have much of a reason.

Was she thinking I was trying too hard to act friendly?

---

“Um...”

Fortunately, Mia didn’t seem entirely against the idea of conversation.

“Why do you go out of your way to... look after me?” she asked quietly.

Look after—?

I wasn’t sure if that was accurate. But... maybe it was? I kept finding myself gravitating toward her. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Mia didn’t seem to have anyone else to talk to. Despite her pretty face, her family’s poor reputation and various rumors made others keep their distance.

Her estate, Crowfield, bordered the Belbur territory, and its proximity to the neighboring country brought its own complications. Though the Crowfield family wasn’t of Belbur descent, there were enough ties to stir mistrust. Likely, the only person who could casually invite Mia to events was the student council president, with their duke-level authority.

Adding to the difficulty was Mia’s own demeanor. Her habit of hiding behind her bangs and lowering her head didn’t help her case. At the start of the semester, she had openly antagonized me.

With a mother like hers, it wasn’t surprising her personality wasn’t the brightest. After all, she had been raised with revenge drilled into her as a core value.

---

“Is this because of what happened before?” Mia asked, her voice subdued.

Her father’s misdeeds weren’t something she liked to discuss. The man hadn’t just been a flawed individual—he had done unspeakable things, actions no human should commit.

“...”

I didn’t respond immediately. I didn’t regret killing the count. If I hadn’t, many more children would have suffered. Worse, I could have ended up as one of his victims.

But that didn’t change the fact that Mia was pitiful. If I hadn’t seen her in the original story and understood her struggles, I might have dismissed her as an enemy based on our first meeting alone.

I remembered, though—her efforts to acknowledge her father’s crimes and her determination to change the situation. That’s why I couldn’t leave her alone.

---

“Sometimes, I wonder what my life would’ve been like if my father were still alive,” Mia began, her voice soft. “Would my mother have been less sharp? Would I have grown up receiving a father’s love, like other children?”

“...”

“But at the same time... if he hadn’t died, those children would have kept dying too.”

“Do you wish there had been another way?” I asked.

“I... I’m not sure,” Mia admitted, staring into the distance with unfocused eyes.

“I spent the entire break locked in my room, thinking about it. Maybe I could’ve had a normal life with loving parents... but then I realized that life probably wouldn’t have lasted.”

Her voice turned hollow.

“My father... he used drugs, and those children... How did my mother see him? Did she view him as just a tool? Or did she truly love him? Could anyone truly love a man like that? Maybe her love became blind devotion after he died, because that gave her a single purpose—revenge.”

“You’ve felt that atmosphere?” I asked.

“Yes. Every time I spoke with her, she’d talk about revenge. I used to think it was normal, but... why wouldn’t she talk about anything else? Why did she avoid ever speaking about my father?”

Mia’s grip on her tray slackened. I quickly caught it before it could fall. She murmured a quiet “thank you” and continued.

“So, I tried. I brought him up during a conversation with her.”

She paused, her voice trembling.

“She screamed, covering her ears.”

“...”

“That’s when I realized—my life hasn’t been okay. Not even close.”

---

What could I say to that? Her honesty was appreciated, but I hadn’t expected such a heavy conversation.

“Do you resent me for killing your father?” I asked after a moment.

Mia didn’t answer right away. Instead, she posed her own question.

“Did you ever consider sparing him?”

“...No,” I admitted. If he’d been even remotely redeemable, I would’ve refused the mission and fled. But every piece of evidence painted him as irredeemable.

“This discussion is going in circles,” I concluded.

“It is,” Mia agreed. “But at least... we understand each other now.”

“Yeah.”

“And... I’ve found something new to do. Something other than revenge.”

“I hope it goes well for you.”

“It has to.”

I handed the tray of fruit back to Mia. Only then did she seem to realize what she’d shared, her face turning red.

For some reason, it felt like calling her by her first name from now on would be just right.