Chapter 30: Two Chickens (Of the Human Variety)

With the attentive help of the two princes, Mia finally reached the island and got herself onto dry land.

After being lowered to her feet, she walked around a little, admiring the ivory beach. The crunchy sound of sand shifting under her feet made her giggle with glee.

“My, what a wonderful sight this is...”

The tiny grains rolled easily across one another, glittering like gems. Closer inspection revealed that they were even shaped like stars. She walked along the beach, its surface white and pristine like fresh snow, feeling as if she’d wandered into some sort of magical wonderland. Behind her, soft summer clouds hung in the sky over an emerald sea. Gentle waves rolled onto the shore, their rhythmic splashing placid and calming.

“This is truly paradise.”

“Mmhm, I’m glad the island is to your liking.”

She turned to find Esmeralda, who’d presumably arrived not too long ago. Water still dripped from her long hair. She had her hand on her hips and made no attempt to hide her smug self-satisfaction.

“I come here every summer, and I always have a wonderful time.”

“Do you now... By the way, Esmeralda, what are we going to do at night?”

“I’ll have some tents set up a little ways away from here. Nothing fancy, but they’ll do for a short stay. Have you ever fallen asleep to the sounds of nature? Heard the soft symphony of evening critters? It’s quite the experience.”

It might come as a surprise to some, but Esmeralda was actually quite the outdoorswoman. The average noble girl couldn’t bear the thought of sleeping anywhere that wasn’t an enclosed bedchamber, but Esmeralda was no average noble. She was an Etoile, and her tastes were far more elevated. She knew how to appreciate the true finer pleasures.

It just so happened that Mia was also no stranger to the outdoors.

The ambience of nature, huh... Listening to the chirping of insects... Gazing up at a starry sky... While maybe huddling around a bonfire with Prince Abel while we profess our undying love for each other... Mmm. I approve of this. It sounds wonderfully romantic. Ah, but maybe it’s still a little too early for that last part...

Ever since boarding the yacht, Mia’s brain had remained firmly in romance mode. She’d spent most of the cruise alternating between envisioning various saccharine situations involving Abel and squirming in flush-cheeked embarrassment at her own imagination. It was, for any observers who happened to be present, a rather disturbing scene to witness.

“All right. I’m told the tents are up, so we can go change into our swimsuits there. Come with me, Miss Mia. Being the good friend that I am, I made sure to bring one for you as well.”

“...Huh?” The statement shattered her amorous reverie, sending her tumbling back down to reality. “Wait... You brought a swimsuit for me?”

I have a bad feeling about this.

A number of provisional tents had been quickly set up some distance from the beach. Four girls were present at the camp: Mia and Esmeralda, and their maids, Anne and Nina. Despite having had a bad feeling after hearing Esmeralda had brought a swimsuit for her, Mia decided to comply, figuring it couldn’t hurt to try it on...

“Sweet moons! How terribly indecent!” she exclaimed in horror after seeing herself in the garment. “This swimsuit leaves my middle bared!”

As it turns out, the swimsuit Esmeralda had selected for her consisted of two separate pieces, one upper and one lower, which left the soft peachy skin of her tummy and her dainty little belly button entirely exposed!

Now, for those wondering about the issue of F.A.T.... Mia had, in fact, managed to reverse its progression, bringing her figure back to the state it had been at the beginning of spring. Her efforts had not betrayed her. All her diligent watering (with a nutritious solution of ninety percent sweat and ten percent tears) had paid off, bearing fruit in the form of a reasonably flat contour along her midriff.

The swimsuit Mia had brought herself went down to just above her knees, but the one from Esmeralda ended halfway up her thighs. This was most unacceptable!

“How can I be expected to wear such an embarrassing garment? It doesn’t even come with a skirt!”

Indeed, Mia’s own swimsuit included a short frilly skirt around the waist. Esmeralda’s offering, in comparison, was shaped like a simple pair of shorts. To be fair, the shorts weren’t any more revealing than the skirt, nor were they much different from the kind Mia would wear when engaged in outdoor activities. How she looked though, wasn’t nearly as important as how she felt. And she felt terribly indecent in Esmeralda’s choice. To Mia, a swimsuit was like waterproof lingerie. They were aquatic underwear. Walking around in them without a skirt was simply unthinkable!

“It’s obscene! I refuse to wear these!” she declared with indignance.

Esmeralda eyed her dubiously. “Really? And you’d rather have that skirt flapping around you in the water? I suspect it’ll make it terribly difficult to swim.”

Of course, when it came to swimming, the less resistance the better. The swimsuit Esmeralda brought was designed with performance in mind, employing skin-tight contours while incorporating fish skin into its outer layer to minimize drag. She was actually taking the whole “swimming lessons” thing pretty seriously, and she intended to give her pupil every advantage. Naturally, she’d selected the best swimsuit she could find for Mia. And made sure its colors matched her own, though that wasn’t so much a pedagogic choice as a personal fixation.

“W-Well, even so, I can’t be wearing something so immodest with the two princes watching. For today at least, I’ll wear my own swimsuit!”

Esmeralda wilted a little.

“If you say so...” she said with a hint of disappointment. “In that case, I suppose I’ll change into the ones I usually wear too.”

She proceeded to produce a swimsuit that...had a perfectly modest design! There was plenty of fabric to cover the whole of the midriff, and it even had a frilly skirt like Mia’s! Basically, she didn’t have the guts to wear a revealing one by herself, and seeing that Mia was going with a conservative design, she immediately wimped out as well. The two of them were, in fact, chickens of a feather.

“I mean, after all, no one told me there’d be two princes coming. Not that I’m uncomfortable showing them some extra skin or anything. That’d be childish. But, well, it’s never good to rush these things. Might as well take some extra time and do some mental preparation. Right, Ni— Ahem. Maid, don’t you think so?”

At her question, Nina eyed her from head to toe and back. The maid’s gaze then wandered, growing distant, before she slowly answered with a nod, “Yes, I do believe that would be wise.”