Ch.8483. Not-So-Ordinary Daily Life (8)

# 83. Not-So-Ordinary Daily Life (8)

“The aquarium?”

“Yes, the aquarium.”

Aquarium.

It was a place I hadn’t really visited since I was very young.

I never had the time, and I didn’t particularly like marine creatures either.

Though I do quite enjoy the uniquely romantic atmosphere of aquariums.

“I don’t dislike them, but I’ve never made time to visit one.”

“I thought as much.”

“Do you go often, noona?”

When she heard my question, she looked surprised for a moment before asking me another question.

“There are things even Albert doesn’t know?”

“I told you earlier, there’s quite a lot I don’t know.”

Hearing that, she smiled and answered my earlier question.

“I go quite often. It’s a place that calms my mind, I suppose? I like that about it.”

“Let’s go then.”

We headed straight for the aquarium, and following her guidance, we arrived at a rather large building.

“Here we are.”

It was the same building I had visited when I was young.

I felt a nostalgic emotion from the familiar scenery as I entered the building.

Once inside, she showed her mobile reservation confirmation to the staff members standing near the entrance.

We were able to enter right away.

“Let’s go in.”

I followed her into the aquarium, and we walked around following the visitor path.

In the first area, we could see various species of native fish that inhabit our country.

“Wow…”

I exclaimed in admiration as I touched the cold glass that contained the fish.

The fish visible through that glass gifted me with an inexplicable aesthetic pleasure.

As I was admiring that beautiful sight, I heard her delighted voice from behind me.

“You seem to like it, contrary to what you said earlier.”

“There’s definitely something here that stirs something inside me.”

That mysterious feeling made it impossible to take my eyes off the large tank.

As I was appreciating the scene as if entranced, she suddenly spoke to me.

“Albert, look over here.”

I unconsciously turned around at her words.

And then…

-Click! Click!-

I saw her pointing her phone at me with a blinding flash.

“Ah…”

“By the way, I also captured you staring blankly at the fish. About 20 photos.”

“Let me see…”

It was obvious that asking her to delete them would be futile.

She opened her gallery and showed me the photos she had just taken.

“Here, aren’t they good?”

“I look like I have such a foolish expression…”

I couldn’t help but laugh seeing myself watching the fish with a blank, foolish expression.

There were also photos that clearly showed my surprised face.

“Looking at these, you have more varied expressions than I thought. Even though I only took photos for about two seconds, there’s quite a change in your expressions.”

“They turned out quite funny.”

“Take some of me too. This is fun.”

After saying that, she ran to where I had been standing earlier.

She was doing the same thing I had been doing.

So, just like she had done earlier, I took out my phone and captured her in photos.

-Click! Click!-

There was one thing I noticed while taking multiple photos of her.

‘It’s like a photoshoot…’

The surrounding scenery combined with her surreal visuals created photos that looked like they belonged in a magazine spread.

I was unconsciously admiring those magazine-worthy images.

I didn’t even realize that she had approached and was now standing next to me.

“Did they turn out well?”

“Huh?.. Oh.. Yes, they turned out well.”

She spoke to me as I couldn’t take my eyes off the photos.

“You’re staring quite intensely?”

“Because you’re so beautiful.”

“Isn’t that… a bit too formal?”

Even as she asked that, she was clearly pleased by the compliment.

“I’m really just looking because you’re beautiful.”

At my utterly sincere words, she blushed and waved her hands dismissively.

“Oh come on.. It’s not that much…”

“You say that, but you’re clearly happy about it.”

“M-me?”

“Yes, but I’m not being insincere. You’re truly beautiful today. So much that I can’t take my eyes off you.”

When I said that while looking directly into her eyes, she hid her reddened face and avoided my gaze.

“I-it’s a bit hot today… Let’s go to the next area…”

“Sure.”

We moved to the next location following the map we had picked up at the entrance.

After walking about 2 minutes from our current location, the next viewing area appeared.

It was an impressive place with a design reminiscent of a tropical rainforest.

It seemed to be modeled after a large river near the Persian Kingdom, and the flora and fauna living there were quite noticeable.

“I’ve been thinking since earlier, if we caught all of these, how much would our levels increase?”

“I want to say that’s really mood-breaking, but I think the same thing every time I come here.”

The fact that status windows were reacting here meant there were even monsters among them.

‘If just animals can increase my level, then if I caught those monsters too…’

It was exciting just to imagine.

“This is an occupational disease.”

“It looks quite dangerous…”

There were quite a few monsters with appearances that seemed like they could break the tank and threaten people at any moment, but contrary to expectations, they were remarkably docile.

“They’ve cast unrecognizable magic on them, so it’s fine. And even if they break out of the tank, they’d immediately die from powerful [Electric Magic].”

“You know quite a lot about this.”

“I was curious and asked about it before.”

She knew the aquarium’s safety system in considerable detail.

She must have initially judged this situation as dangerous too, and it certainly looked that way.

“Children probably can’t come here.”

“They actually like it quite a bit. Look over there.”

Where she was looking, there were children watching those monsters with fascinated eyes, and parents who seemed troubled by their children’s interest.

Seeing that scene, a question suddenly circled in my mind.

‘Was I like that when I was young?’

While I was thinking about that, looking at those children, she looked at me and said:

“I think Albert would have been just like that child, watching so intently.”

“Did you use mind reading or something?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Never mind…”

I left her tilting her head in confusion and looked around at the people nearby.

The people at the aquarium were divided into just two groups.

Families, or couples.

“There are a lot of couples here.”

“It’s that kind of place. And we’re the same, aren’t we?”

“That’s true.”

Looking at those couples, I had a thought, and I deliberately voiced it.

“You must have been quite lonely.”

“What? What do you mean…”

“Did you usually come here alone?”

“Um… yes, I did.”

I spoke to her as she waited for my words with an expression that seemed to say “surely not.”

“Let’s come together next time. Call me when you want to go.”

“That’s a bit touching. Alright. Let’s go together next time!”

Her positive response automatically made me feel good.

There was definitely something in her smile that put people at ease.

“But… please don’t speak so loudly…”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I got a bit excited…”

Still, there weren’t the same blatant stares here as there were at the clock tower earlier.

At most, people recognized her and reacted with “Wow… it’s the princess… she’s really beautiful.”

“It’s okay. Everyone seems busy here.”

Fortunately, everyone seemed busy focusing on their own partners.

And the same was true for us.

I spoke to her as she was busy admiring the aquarium, just as I had been at first.

“This is definitely a nice place. Very romantic too.”

“Right? That’s why I like it. And strangely, when I come here, my usual worries and distracting thoughts disappear, and I can clear my mind for a while.”

She continued speaking while looking at the fish confined in the tank.

“After that, I can think more rationally and act more calmly. It’s like a resting place for my mind. Just like Albert.”

“That’s quite touching.”

I felt like I could really cry when she, my mental pillar, said such things to me, and seeing my reaction, she spoke in a playful tone.

“You can cry like that time if you want.”

“It’s okay, I can handle this much.”

“That’s a shame.”

Her genuinely disappointed expression made me feel a bit strange.

“I’m joking.”

“For a joke, you seemed quite serious?”

She burst into laughter at my words.

But that laughter didn’t last long.

She looked at the still ordinary and peaceful aquarium scenery with a distant expression and said:

“It’s still… peaceful.”

As she said, even though assassins had entered the palace and demons had been discovered, it was still peaceful.

Of course, that was only for now.

“It really doesn’t seem like we have much time left…”

“But we still have some time, right?”

“You seem very relaxed? Even though you’ve experienced the horrors of war several times…”

“I’ve always been confident, as long as I’m with my reliable lord.”

With her by my side, I feared no enemy, and in fact, every battle she participated in ended in victory.

Even the battle where she lost her life.

“Defeat was not in my lord’s dictionary. There was only victory, and it will continue to be so.”