Chapter 32: Mia “Waning Aurelia” Tearmoon

After finally changing into her swimsuit, a fidgety Mia emerged from the tent. Waiting for her outside were Abel and Sion, both already in swimming trunks with their chests bared. Their muscles, though still slender with youth, were firmly toned—the result of all their sword practice. It was the kind of sight that normally would have made Mia drool, but at the moment, she was too occupied with her own anxiety. Squirming on the spot with her eyes on her toes, she timidly flashed them an upward glance and asked, “How...do I look? Do you think it suits me?”

An icon of fashion...she was not. Her one-piece swimsuit went all the way down to her knees, and a ring of fabric hung from her waist in the shape of a skirt. The top half was like a sleeveless shirt, exposing her collarbones, shoulders, and a tender pair of upper arms—in other words, none of the bits that mattered. The designs clashed a little, and it was honestly rather unstylish.

Basically, it was the same as the dress she’d worn to the evening ball, with an aesthetic that, to put it nicely, could be described as leaving a lot to the imagination. It was plain and unassuming. So much so that to feel embarrassed in it was laughable. Well, it should have been, at least, if anybody still had enough wits about them to laugh.

“Uh, yes, I... I think it does,” stammered Abel, who managed only a short glance before turning away to reveal a face thoroughly reddened with embarrassment. “Y-You look great. Sion, you think so too, right?”

Flustered, he promptly threw the metaphorical hot potato at Sion, who caught it with about the same amount of grace.

“R-Right. Yes. I agree. Suits you well,” he replied after a few hesitant glances, cheeks rosy and voice strained.

Indeed, these two princes could best grown men in duels, match decorated knights in valor, but could barely produce a coherent sentence when Mia showed up in a swimsuit. They stood there awkwardly, as if stuck in place by some spell or enchantment. Maybe the magic of the summer beach had gotten to them. Something about the exotic scenery and seaside air, coupled with the sight of a familiar female classmate in unfamiliar attire, had twisted their sense of aesthetics, turning them into crazed beholders whose eyes saw beauty in every inch of her being. In that moment, it seemed as if her pearlescent skin shimmered with a radiance that formed a halo of saintly light around her figure.

Mia, rather pleased by their reaction, beamed.

“My! How nice of you to say so! Thank you. You’ve really made my day.”

Having already beaten their composure to a pulp, she proceeded to go for the jugular. The two poor princes and their young hearts could do naught but succumb to her relentless and entirely unwitting assault.

After all the commotion surrounding the swimsuits finally died down, Mia promptly began her swimming lessons with Esmeralda.

“By the way, Miss Mia, are you able to submerge your face under water?”

Currently, Mia was standing in water that reached up to her waist.

“My, what an odd question. Are there people who can’t?” she asked with casual indifference while studying a pair of goggles Esmeralda had lent her.

“Then why don’t we start by having you put those on and practicing some floating? Follow my lead now. Raise your arms high like this. All the way so they’re a little bit behind your head.”

She obeyed, stretching her arms up as she was told.

“Yes, yes, just like that. Now imagine the sea is a soft bed, and you’re going to fall into it. Watch me.”

Esmeralda continued her demonstration. She threw herself forward into the water and landed in an exemplary front float. Nina, who was watching nearby, applauded.

“Marvelous, milady! Your form is as beautiful as the mermaid princess of legend.”

Her spectating guards followed suit, clapping their hands in approval.

“Marvelous! Marvelous! Lady Esmeralda is marvelous!” they chanted in unison.

Amidst thunderous applause, Esmeralda leapt to her feet with a flourish, flicking sparkling droplets of water out of her long hair. She turned to Mia.

“Just like that. Make sure you kick out your legs and keep them straight. Go ahead. Give it a try.”

“Hmhm, this is a piece of cake!”

With complete confidence, Mia eagerly threw herself into the water and unveiled the grand exhibit of her maiden front float. Eyes widened, jaws dropped, and all who were present were struck with utter amazement at just how...underwhelming it was. Even Anne couldn’t help but gawk for a moment before gathering herself and commending the effort with applause a tad too enthusiastic to be entirely genuine. Scattered clapping arose from the crowd, following in her example out of propriety. Eventually, Mia righted herself with a splash and looked up at the audience with a bright, expectant smile.

“How was it? Did I also look as beautiful as the mermaid princess?”

Her question prompted a round of uncomfortable glances. Seeing that no one was answering, her gaze naturally shifted toward the two princes. Having fallen under her spell, they’d witnessed her attempt through clouded eyes, their opinions of its aesthetic quality thoroughly distorted.

“U-Uh, it was, erm...”

“Well, I mean...”

There was an awkward pause, during which they both looked away before stammering their responses. Turns out, even the full influence of her seductress aura wasn’t enough to blind the princes’ to the awkwardness of her front float. It was that bad. How bad, you ask? Well, her body, instead of drawing a straight line parallel to the water’s surface, traced a bulbous curve. Imagine the shape of a bow with its string at the bottom and the body arcing above. Her hands and feet formed the ends, while her protruding rear served as the central hump. Her lopsided form, along with the way she drifted limply on the waves, was reminiscent of a jellyfish—a moon jellyfish, specifically—and might have earned her the nickname “Waning Aurelia.” Poetic, perhaps, but still clear in its implications.

Alas, neither prince had the heart to tell the truth to her face. The pair, who’d faced the bone-splitting swings of each other’s swords without flinching, nevertheless found that their steely nerves had evaporated, leaving them floundering for a response.

“It was, uh...good. D-Don’t you think, Sion?” asked Abel with a pleading glance.

“Y-Yes. Of course. I mean, you’re a princess, and it...wasn’t completely unlike a mermaid, right?” Sion stammered, turning to Keithwood in a rare display of flustered desperation.

Keithwood, ever the gentleman, took the task in stride. With an easy smile, he inclined his head and said, “Absolutely. You were such a dazzling sight, Princess Mia, that I thought my eyes were going to melt on the spot.” Then, after delivering that ostensible compliment, he leaned in, placing his head between those of the two tongue-tied princes, and whispered, “To lie is immoral, but a white lie, especially one to please a lady, will earn its own redemption.” With his wealth of experience, Keithwood navigated the waters of the Waning Aurelia with far more grace than the still-innocent Sion and Abel could muster.

There was, however, one person who didn’t continue the fib. One person who had the moral resolve to say nay.

“Miss Mia, that was absolutely unacceptable.”

That person was Esmeralda, and she was bubbling with anger. The princess she considered her worthy rival—her dear friend and sister in spirit if not body—was not going to have “Waning Aurelia” as a middle name. It was shameful, and she would not stand for it. Never mind that she was the one who’d spent the better part of the cruise trying to humiliate Mia before her peers. They were, perhaps, more sisterly than they might appear; their memories shared similar unreliabilities, at least.

“Allowing your legs to sink pulls the whole body down. Try pushing your head deeper down into the water.”

When it came to teaching Mia how to swim, Esmeralda had no intention of cutting corners. In other words, she was in serious mode. Mia, meanwhile...

“My, I see! What else was I doing wrong then?”

Was also in serious mode! She met Esmeralda’s gaze, her eyes alight with equal resolve. And for good reason, since she already knew she’d fall into the sea at some point in the future. Being thrown into the water by an overturned raft had lit a fire under her. For the sake of safely surviving her watery encounter, she was determined to do whatever it took to learn how to swim.

The day turned into an intense training session with Esmeralda’s passionate coaching finding great resonance in Mia’s thirst to improve. By the end, Mia had mastered not only the front float and flutter kick, but even the ability to lie flat on her back with her face out of the water as if she were about to perform the backstroke.

“Huh... If I can float on my back, then I don’t really have to learn any complicated breathing techniques, do I? I can just breathe normally... Doesn’t this mean I’m safe from drowning?”

Such profound thoughts went through her head as she continued to practice her floating, like a Waning Aurelia drifting through the sea.