22 Knarendon IV

The salty air clung to Calluna's skin as she stood at the dock with Wesley. His hair was ethereal in appearance in the pale moonlight, giving off a faint glow as it ruffled in the ocean breeze.

She pulled the cloak closer to her body as she observed the glimmering surface of the sea. If she had to compare Knarendon to somewhere from home, the only fair comparison she could make would be to Santorini, one of the Greek islands. Not that she'd ever gotten the chance to visit, but from what she'd seen in pictures it had a similar appearance.

"What do you think?" Wesley asked.

"It's beautiful," she responded. "Thank you for bringing me."

The young man smiled, then reached into his pockets for something. He pulled out a small linen pouch and held it out to Calluna. "You can feed the fish with this if you'd like. They're luminescent so you will be able to see them when they come up to the surface."

Calluna took the bag with an excited grin, feeling a bit childish being so pleased with such a small thing. She loosened the opening to the bag and pulled out some brown flakes, examining them for a moment before gingerly tossing them into the water.

It was within seconds that all sorts of colorful glowing fish appeared just beneath the water's surface, their mouths opening and closing as they tried to grab the food. Calluna watched their fluid movements, particularly enamored by a purple one that seemed similar to a koi fish. Each flick of its tail was hypnotic and soothing, and the plethora

of colors emanating from the water was one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen.

'All so pretty,' she thought to herself.

「You're beautiful too!」

She startled when a small voice responded to her.

'God, getting used to the whole nempathy thing is going to take me a while,' Calluna thought, then said: 'Thank you. Which one are you?'

The purple one she had been watching swam in a small circle, 「Me! It's me, Miss.」

"Are you alright?" Wesley queried with furrowed brows when she twitched in surprise.

"Ah, yes- well… one of the fish spoke to me and I sort of forgot that I could do that…"

His eyes lit up with intrigue. "Oh- you're a nature empath?"

"Yes… I didn't know until the horses talked to me when we first began our journey. It was pretty embarrassing."

Wesley's silver hair framed his cheeks as he grinned in amusement, and for the first time she noticed that he had a dimple on the top of his right cheek.

"Cute," she said aloud.

His smile immediately tightened a bit when she spoke. "Huh?"

"Your dimple. It's cute."

His face became visibly flushed even in the moonlight, and Calluna couldn't help but laugh again. He really was a sweet guy. Wesley's frosted gaze turned away again and he said in a near whisper, "Ah, thank you."

"This is surreal," she stated quietly, attempting to change the subject for his comfort.

"I'm happy that you're having a pleasant experience," her companion replied.

Calluna moved to the edge of the dock and sat down to begin untying her boots. She removed them and then took off her socks, revealing her bare feet. Wesley was looking at her with a complicated expression but didn't ask questions, instead moving to sit cross legged beside her.

'Sorry fish!'

「What are you sorry for?」

'What I'm about to do.'

The blonde swung her feet over the edge of the dock and carefully dipped her toes into the frigid water. A couple of the fish were still startled by the submersion despite her slow moments, but there were a few smaller ones that swam toward her curiously. She giggled when they ended up softly biting her toes, the sensation foreign but fun all at once.

'That tickles! Those are my toes.'

「Toes?」

'Uh… my fins? Sort of?'

「Oh! We're sorry…」

She snorted at their antics, then dropped some more flakes in. 'It's alright. Eat up.'

Wesley chuckled softly from beside her, "Did you trick them on purpose?"

"Maybe," she said, sticking out her tongue at him. "I've never seen fish up close before, and I know basically nothing about them. I wanted to see if they would touch me, but I didn't exactly expect them to nibble my toes!"

"Did they say anything?"

"They didn't know what toes were, so when I told them they were biting my toes they were confused. I had to elaborate."

He laughed once more and returned his gaze to the sea. "Luna?"

"Hm?"

"The late King was good friends with my father, and is very much a traditionalist. It may prove difficult convincing him to agree to support your crowning," he explained sadly.

"If difficulty frightened me, I wouldn't be here. If he agrees, great. If not… well, I have several more places to visit. Perhaps I'll have better luck with them."

He observed her intently through his glasses, his gaze pensive. "You're very admirable."

"Thank you," she replied. The prince lifted her feet from the water and pulled her knees to her chest. "I did begin to come up with a plan while I was resting earlier, though. So don't lose hope on your father just yet."

"Wh- you did?" Wesley was clearly shocked. "How exactly do you plan on convincing him?"

"You."

"Oh, no- you mustn't get the wrong idea, he doesn't care about what I do or say-"

"That's exactly why. I'm going to offer to indict you into the Court Alchemists and take you with me in return for his support."

He fell silent for a moment, but it was obvious he became a bit excited. "That might work… he is tired of me and it would look good for him to have a son in the Royal Court."

Calluna nodded. "That's what I inferred from what you mentioned earlier. I'm hoping it will be effective. If not, I'm taking you back with me anyway."

"What?" Wes was stunned. "But… but why?"

"There's something special about you. I'm not sure what it is yet, but I'll never find out with you so far away. I'm sure my curiosity would kill me if I didn't figure it out, so instead I plan on keeping you close."

He was at a loss for words, and Calluna had to choke back a laugh. Someone so serious and articulate having nothing to say would never fail to be entertaining.

The crown prince took the short break in conversation as an opportunity to talk to the sea creatures again. 'Thank you for coming and eating. You're all lovely.'

「You're better!」The purple fish shouted.

「No, thank you, Miss!」Another voice chimed.

「I'm sorry for biting your toes…」Came another.

'It's alright, I'll try to come and visit another time.' She told them and bid farewell. 'Eat well.'

"Thank you," was the response Wesley settled on after the silence. "I think you're special, too. I'm honored by your interest."

"Who wouldn't be interested in your talent! That potion you made for me has allowed me to feel human for the first time in a month."

The tips of his ears reddened a bit. "I'm really glad. I could tell you were struggling earlier, I couldn't do anything but offer my help."

"You're so thoughtful," Calluna gushed, enjoying embarrassing him.

"Please," he begged, turning his face away. "I'm a middle child, I have no idea how to take your compliments."

"Besides that, who else would I get to play music with? Lukas is only barely learning the flute, and Vincenzo is tone-deaf! Your piano playing is too good to abandon."

Wesley laughed once more, slowly turning to face her again. "Well of course, musicians have to stay together. The thought of Vincenzo having no sense for music is very funny to me, though."

"It's funny until you hear him humming and you want to burn your eardrums, or when he claps and it strays further from the tempo with each beat of his hands."

"My younger sister is the same way, it really is a shame," he replied.

"I had to try and learn to dance with Vincenzo, and it didn't take long for me to discover he's an awful dance partner. His form and movement is correct, but completely disjointed from the music."

"My sister is the same way, dancing with her for her sixteenth birthday was a nightmare… she ended up just standing on my feet and letting me do the work."

The two laughed and chatted for a great while, exchanging stories and talking about their friends and family. It was a great relief to be able to relax for a bit and open up to someone who seemed so understanding and kind.

"Have you always been into music?" Calluna asked after another break occurred in their conversation.

"Yes. The song that you joined me on is one that I've been composing for a long time, but I could never figure out what was missing. I guess all it needed was you, because it felt perfect with your harmony on the Shezha."

"You composed that yourself?" Calluna gasped. "It was so lovely that I couldn't help but join. What's the piece called?"

"I hadn't named it until today, after we played together. Nothing I came up with seemed to fit."

"And the name you decided on?"

"Luna."