Today was a bright, sunny day. The beach sparkled with golden light, and the clear seawater, under the sun’s rays, looked like overturned blue-green gems, transitioning from transparent shallows near the shore to turquoise and indigo depths.
Such a beautiful and comfortable environment made it hard not to feel elated and full of energy. A few minutes ago, that was exactly how Liyami felt.
But now, Liyami stood on the beach with a bottle of water in one hand and a small shovel in the other, her face deathly pale. Ahead of her, Kolin had both his arms wrapped around Eleanor and Lavinia’s chests. The two were passionately arguing about something, while Kolin, caught between them, looked thoroughly troubled.
When their emotions flared up, they would even yank Kolin’s hands tighter against their chests, making Liyami’s eyelids twitch.
‘What the hell is going on?! I only left for a few minutes to grab some water and a shovel! How did Kolin suddenly turn into that irresistible protagonist from the bard’s tales, the one all women fall for?! Even if Lavinia and Eleanor do like Kolin, this is way too fast?! What the hell happened in those few minutes I was gone?!’
By the time Kolin finally noticed Liyami’s return, she was inexplicably staring at him with a strange expression—a mix of disdain, jealousy, and envy. Though Kolin had no idea why Liyami was acting so strangely, he put on a face as if he’d been saved.
But before Kolin could plead for help, Liyami beat him to it, speaking in a sarcastic tone.
“…I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize the Holy Knight, Lord Kolin, is so popular! A commoner like me is probably just in the way, right? In that case, to let you fully show off your charm, I’d better leave first!”
With that, Liyami turned and took a few steps in the other direction, looking as if she really intended to abandon Kolin and walk away.
Seeing this, Kolin became immediately anxious. He tried to pull his arms free from Lavinia and Eleanor’s grip, but discovered they were holding him so tightly that he couldn’t break loose without using force! Yet if he used force, he might accidentally hurt them!
Kolin was caught in a dilemma, but the moment he saw Liyami about to leave, he couldn’t help shouting.
“Wait! Don’t go! Liyami! It’s not what you think! I didn’t do anything!”
Whether it was Kolin’s words that worked, or Liyami never truly intended to leave, after his shout, she did stop walking away and turned back to look at him with a questioning gaze.
“You say you didn’t do anything? Then what’s this situation? It can’t be unrelated to you, can it?”
Liyami pointed at Eleanor and Lavinia clinging to Kolin, clearly not believing his words.
In response, Kolin shrugged helplessly and insisted it really had nothing to do with him—they were the ones acting on their own!
Hearing this, Liyami turned her gaze to the two who were locked in a fierce glare war.
“So what exactly are you two arguing about? And why is Kolin involved?”
At Liyami’s question, Lavinia and Eleanor finally released Kolin and took turns explaining to Liyami.
On the other side, Kolin finally freed from their grasp and breathed a sigh of relief. But once he relaxed, he recalled how unusual Liyami’s actions had been moments ago, and soon he roughly guessed the reason for her strange behavior.
With that reason came another memory—the incident at his mansion before arriving at Sunlight Island. Remembering that, Kolin’s heart filled with distress. He still wasn’t sure how to face what Liyami had done.
Although his response to that incident had been that he needed some time to think, in reality, due to all the recent events, he hadn’t had any time to consider it. Now, quite some time had passed. Liyami was probably getting impatient, and he didn’t feel right making her wait any longer. It was time to give his answer.
But that brought him back to the original problem: what should he do? Should he reject Liyami’s confession or… agree?
Watching Liyami as she listened to Lavinia and Eleanor’s story, Kolin somehow couldn’t bring himself to reject her. Yet if he agreed, it still felt somewhat off. He couldn’t keep dragging it out forever, or it would eventually cause serious trouble.
Therefore, Kolin had to decide on his answer soon and tell Liyami. He had no more time to stall.
Thinking about all this, Kolin couldn’t help looking up at the sky, lamenting that he probably wouldn’t get to enjoy a nice vacation this summer.
—
After listening to their explanations, Liyami finally understood what had happened.
It turned out the two had started arguing over who would get Kolin to accompany them. Eleanor wanted Kolin to go swimming with her, and Lavinia wanted to try surfing. They quarreled over who would get Kolin’s company first, and dragged him into it.
“What do you think, Liyami? Surfing is obviously better! We’re at the beach, how can we not try surfing?! And all she wants is plain old swimming? I’ve always wanted to try surfing!”
“What do you mean ‘plain old swimming’?! Playing in the sea has that summer vibe! And you’ve never even learned how to surf, and you still expect Kolin to go with you? Are you trying to make him drink seawater with you?!”
As they argued back and forth, Liyami found herself getting a headache. If she had known it would be like this, she wouldn’t have gotten involved. She’d rather just go play by herself.
Just as Liyami was thinking about how to escape these two annoying people, Kolin seemed to snap out of his daze. Seeing Liyami troubled by the bickering pair, he took the opportunity to propose an idea.
“Since neither of you likes the other’s suggestion, why don’t we hear what Liyami thinks?”
At that, everyone’s eyes turned to Liyami, catching her off guard. She had been so detached moments ago. It wasn’t until Kolin prompted her for what she wanted to do that she snapped back to reality.
Seeing everyone expecting her answer, Liyami held up her little shovel and replied, shy but also somewhat hopeful.
“Me, huh… Well, I want to try building a sandcastle!”
As soon as Liyami said that, everyone froze, as if they hadn’t expected that to be what she wanted to do.