The Beast That Licks Me - Chapter 3.10

“Are you hurt somewhere?”

Hearing the children’s voices full of concern, Rosette jumped up from her spot and started running again.

“Never let your guard down, kids!”

The children belatedly understood the situation and followed, but Rosette was a bit more cunning. As soon as the cool seawater touched her toes, Rosette said with a bright smile.

“You’re both in last place!”

“That’s not fair, Teacher!”

“We were worried about you!”

The children grumbled as they hurriedly entered the seawater.

“I got in first, so Levit, you’re in last place.”

“That’s ridiculous, I got in first.”

The two squabbled and then began splashing seawater at each other.

“K-kids. Stop. Mmph.”

Rosette tried to stop them, but the excited children couldn’t hear any words. Getting soaked along with them, Rosette lifted her wet skirt and smiled helplessly. Then she joined in the play and began splashing water too. Though completely soaked, she couldn’t help but feel delighted. The three laughed loudly while splashing water, finding it inexplicably fun.

“Huh? Teacher, there’s one more person over there.”

“Hmm?”

At Levit’s words, Rosette turned around. A child in a muslin dress was watching the three of them from under a parasol held by servants. Perhaps around twelve or thirteen. Her face was pale like someone who had never seen the sun, and her arms and legs revealed through the muslin dress were thin and bony like a doll’s.

“Does she want to play with us?”

Rosette waved her hand to greet the child. The child stared at it blankly before turning her head away sharply.

“Ah, I know her. That brat.”

“Hmm?”

Ariel clicked her tongue in disapproval.

“She’s the first-class princess. She thinks she’ll get sick if she mingles with vulgar kids like us.”

“Ah.”

“Ariel.”

Rosette said in a stern voice. Ariel looked up at Rosette with an aggrieved expression and said.

“It’s true, Teacher. Last time my friend bumped into her, and she threw the shawl that touched her into the sea.”

“That’s her, right? The young lady from the Baron family?”

“Yeah, something about being from an old, established Count family or whatever. It’s disgusting.”

At the mention of an old, established noble family, Rosette pulled her hat down further, worried the child might recognize her. Levit looked at Rosette curiously and asked.

“Teacher, aren’t you too hot?”

“Yeah. There’s nobody here, so you can take it off.”

“Mmm, I’m fine. The sun is strong, so this is actually cooler.”

Fortunately, the sun was bright enough for Rosette’s excuse to be believable, so the children didn’t insist that she remove her robe. Instead, they swam freely in the sea, splashing around.

Every time Levit and Ariel dove, colorful fish scattered in concentric circles. Rosette stepped back and sat on the sand. While drying herself in the warm sunshine, she glanced at the child sitting far away.

She didn’t know what was so dangerous about this peaceful beach, but the young lady had two attendants with her. One man and one woman. Her parents would have attendants too, so the fare for the servants alone must have been considerable. Judging by this, whether or not they were truly from an old, established Baron family, they at least seemed wealthy. Perhaps sensing her gaze, the child looked at Rosette. Rosette startled and turned her head away.

“Tea-cher! Look at this! Isn’t it pretty?”

At Ariel’s excited voice, Rosette looked to see Ariel with long seaweed stems drooping from her head. Levit burst into laughter at the sight.

“Hahaha! Ariel, what’s with that look? You look like someone who’s been stranded on an island for ten years!”

“…You!”

Offended by Levit’s comment, Ariel began strangling him with the seaweed.

“Ack, I can’t breathe…”

“Don’t breathe, just die!”

“A-Ariel! I think Levit can’t breathe.”

A panicked Rosette stood up and began trying to stop Ariel. Levit, who had lost consciousness, fell limply face down on the water’s surface.

“What? I didn’t do it that hard.”

Ariel panicked and shook the fallen Levit. But Levit remained motionless, like he had fainted. In the anxious silence, Ariel asked again in a sharp voice.

“Did you really faint? Hey! Get up!”

Ariel shook Levit frantically. Just as Rosette took a step into the water in panic, Levit suddenly sat up while lifting Ariel’s calf. Losing her balance, Ariel fell backward.

“Fooled you, didn’t I?”

Levit said with a mischievous smile typical of children. Ariel, who had fallen on her bottom in surprise, grabbed Levit and flipped backward. Even though their bodies were partially submerged in seawater, Levit couldn’t withstand the sudden shift in center of gravity and fell backward.

“You!”

“Blub, Ariel. I’m really dy- blub.”

“Die, die!”

It was when Rosette was thinking she should intervene that she noticed the place where Ariel was standing looked somewhat red. It couldn’t be due to sunlight because other areas were fine. Rosette narrowed her eyes, wondering if she was seeing things.

“Ariel!”

At Rosette’s shrill voice, Ariel was startled and let go of Levit. Rosette entered the sea without hesitation and lifted Ariel up.

“Teacher?”

“You’re bleeding!”

As Rosette said, there was a long vertical wound on Ariel’s calf, looking like it had been cut by something. Rosette’s face was paler than Ariel, who was bleeding.

“What? I’m bleeding?”

Ariel became frightened and turned to look at her calf. Upon seeing the wound, Ariel sighed with relief.

“I thought it was something serious. Teacher, this kind of thing heals quickly.”

“Ah…”

“I probably got cut by some coral or something. It’s fine. The bleeding has almost stopped already.”

Ariel was right. The bleeding had nearly stopped already. Realizing she had overreacted, Rosette’s face flushed belatedly. She put Ariel down and apologized.

“I’m sorry, I was just startled.”

“It’s okay.”

Ariel responded, deliberately raising her chin in a mature manner. The sunlight was making Rosette dizzy. When she waded back out of the water, the children followed, seemingly having lost interest in playing.

“It would be nice if you came in to play too, Teacher.”

“Mmm, maybe next time.”

Her heart wouldn’t stop racing, perhaps from the shock. The two children, having played to their hearts’ content, flopped down exhausted on the sand. Rosette, debating whether to tell them to mind their manners, gave up and sat down loosely beside them.

“I’m thirsty…”

“There’s plenty of water over there.”

“You’ll die if you drink it, stupid.”

“How about we challenge someone to drink it and not die?”

“Ugh.”

Levit chuckled at Ariel’s threat. He seemed mature for her age, but around Ariel, she was nothing but a child. Though they were constantly exchanging jokes, the children stuck out their tongues like puppies in midsummer, clearly thirsty. They must have swallowed seawater while playing. Rosette smiled and said.

“Kids, go over there and get yourselves a glass of popoco fruit juice each.”

Since she had calculated generously, it would only be right to let them drink it. She planned to return the money to Laub when they met on the ship later. They still had plenty of travel time left anyway.

“Is that really okay?”

“Yes, of course. Take this money too, just in case.”

Rosette handed them some loose change that she hadn’t exchanged.

“Come with us, Teacher.”

“I’ll… stay here.”