Wrong Genre! - vanish into fiction

…S-So cold!

Why is the water so deep, anyway?

Rueg made a strange noise without meaning to as he splashed his way toward the center of the fountain.

Then, bending over to press the button…

“W-Why can’t I reach it?”

He plunged his hand into the water, but not only did the water not drain, he just ended up flailing around. It seemed he’d have to bend even lower, but if he did, his face would probably end up dunked underwater.

Gritting his teeth, he tried feeling for the button with his foot instead. Just then, a cold wind swept over his body. Rueg, who had been braving the chill on sheer willpower, began to shiver uncontrollably, his lips turning blue.

If only he could drain the water quickly, maybe he could shake off some of this cold.

As he groped the bottom with a face that looked ready to cry, someone passing nearby must have heard his strange cries. A presence approached and stopped nearby.

But it was odd that there was no greeting, so he looked up and glanced to the side…

“…What exactly are you doing in there?”

Yuri was watching Rueg with an exasperated expression.

“Ah, Yuri! I, um, I’m cleaning… ahem, I was trying to drain the water, but the button isn’t easy to press…”

Rueg avoided Yuri’s gaze and began fumbling for the button again. It was embarrassing, thinking someone was watching.

“A little more to the left.”

“…Sorry?”

“You need to press a little lower and to the left of where you’re feeling. That should drain the water.”

At the slightly kinder tone, Rueg’s eyes widened.

Didn’t Yuri dislike Versha?

He wondered for a moment but soon followed Yuri’s instructions, feeling along the lower left. At last, his fingers caught the elusive button.

Just as he managed to grab it and was about to press—

“If you push the button from that angle, your face is going to end up in the water.”

“It’s fine! I can hold my breath really well.”

“…That’s not what I meant.”

Yuri let out a long sigh while sweeping that long hair back. Rueg, distracted by the way the silver hair sparkled in the sunlight, found himself staring for a moment without realizing it.

But soon, the returning chill made him shiver all over again.

“Step aside.”

Rueg blinked and nodded, shifting out of the way as Yuri pushed the long sword into the fountain and used it to press the button. With a click, the water began to drain, and the level that had been up to his thighs slowly started to drop.

“Wow! Yuri, you’re a genius! Thank you! Thanks to you, I didn’t have to wash my face in here.”

Yuri watched Rueg, who was smiling brightly, and sighed a little. How could a full-grown adult who’d already had his coming-of-age ceremony be so lacking in caution?

It was impossible to comprehend how someone who’d been so wary when they first met a few days ago could let his guard down like this now.

“Haa, so cold. I need to finish cleaning and go inside…”

Still oblivious to what Yuri thought of him, Rueg muttered to himself as he waded to the edge of the fountain. Grabbing a cleaning tool, he headed for the drain and started sweeping up the collected leaves.

‘Judging by how he uses his head, he can’t be a total idiot…’

Maybe he was just pretending to be clueless to lower the guards of those around him.

Maybe, when he wanted something later, he’d use clever wordplay to get his way.

This was Yuri’s first time dealing with Rueg Verdic, but in the end, he was still a ‘Verdic’.

It meant he was one of those who, known as ‘dogs of the imperial family’, were utterly devoted to one person and would ignore whatever else happened around them if it was for their own gain, belonging to the imperial family to the core.

‘I don’t know where Versha Verdic has gone or why Rueg Verdic is in the imperial palace, but…’

Seeing him by the Crown Prince’s side, maybe Felix was up to something.