“Oh... Bel, Patty... What are you two doing here?” asked the girl, using the length of her entire, tall body to toss her line into the lake. She handled her fishing pole like a swordsman making a downward strike, and the line at the end flew far over the water before landing with a splash. Satisfied with these results, Orania Perla Ganudos smiled at the two girls.
“Greetings, Princess Orania,” said Bel, lifting the hem of her skirt into a curtsy. Patty followed suit.
Orania, on the other hand, seemed to have no intention of putting her fishing on pause and only turned her head to look at them. “Anyway...what brings you here?”
“We’re trying to become fishing masters!”
Orania jumped. “My, then you two must have come here to fish...”
“We have! Santeri said this was a great spot to do some fishing.” Bel had gotten her intel from none other than Santeri Bandler, Saint-Noel’s very own wrangler angler!
Patty was once again deeply impressed with Bel’s ability to gather knowledge. She had begun to think that her granddaughter’s granddaughter was a capable young woman.
“Oh, I see... Shall we fish together then?” Orania’s expression suddenly grew serious. “But this isn’t a game, okay...? There are rumors that the real King of Noelige Lake lives here...”
Patty wondered what the real King could possibly be, but she was mature enough to keep the question to herself and not point out how ridiculous this sounded.
“Wow, the real King! How exciting!” Bel was ready to jump right in!
Orania’s expression was still as serious as ever. “Obviously, the real King can’t be caught by just anybody... One wrong move and you might even die.”
“Right! I’ve heard that there are plenty of dangerous things in the sea myself. According to Gr—Miss Mia, she even defeated the colossal man-eating fish with her bare hands near a deserted island!”
“Wow...! Master Mia is really amazing...” remarked Orania, all the while pulling up her line, which had a fish hanging at the end. “Anyway, if you’re going to fish for the King, then know that you’ll be risking your life... Fishing is a worthy cause for that, after all...”
“I see,” Bel said with a nod, finding nothing wrong with her statement.
Is...it? Patty, on the other hand, wasn’t so satisfied.
Bel and Patty took up spots next to Orania and let out their lines into the water.
“The fish here are smart, so don’t just let your bait stay still... Move it around like this, and... Oh!” Mid-demonstration, Orania reeled in her line. There was a large, round fish on the end that had puffed itself into a ball. “I caught a bluffer fish... They’re slightly poisonous, so you have to be careful when you eat them...”
“Wow, so some fish are even poisonous!”
“Indeed. This one will only give you a stomachache, but it’s still better to be careful...” said Orania, casting out her line before immediately reeling it back in. “Oh, this one’s a Belluga bass... It’s hard to catch these...” she said, all the while catching them with no trouble at all.
Orania cheerfully reeled in one fish after the other, all the while humming to herself. But suddenly, she turned to Patty. The younger girl was staring at her line and perfectly still. Her brow was furrowed, and while she occasionally shook her line, there were no signs of any fish biting anytime soon.
“Tee hee...! You’ve got a long way to go, Patty!” remarked Orania, still humming and reeling in fish after fish.
Her teasing had irritated Patty. Indeed, she had been teased by an adult, which ignited her competitive spirit and worked her up. For such a child, her reaction...was perfectly normal! She pushed her lips together and began to yank on her pole.
“You have to be more gentle... It has to look like the bait is alive, okay? Tee hee hee! But maybe that’s too hard for you...” said Orania, lightly egging her on.
Patty fully focused on her pole, and eventually...
“Oh!” She began to feel a tug. It went left then right, and she naturally strengthened her grip. However...
“Don’t panic... Relax and make sure the line doesn’t break and the fish doesn’t run away. Here, take some deep breaths, and...” Orania directed her from behind. “Slowly... Slowly... It’s going to wear itself out, so just wait until it does...”
Patty nodded, her eyes directed straight at the rippling water. The fish tugged and tugged at the line, but she continued to slowly raise her pole until...
“Whoa!”
A large, fat fish appeared from the water!
“My, it’s a Belluga bass... It might even be bigger than the one I caught!” sang Orania as she grabbed the net.
Patty’s eyes flew open wide as she gazed at the beached fish. The Belluga bass was as long as one of her arms!
“Wow, Patty! You’re amazing! I couldn’t catch any at all!” said Bel, praising her. A feeling of pride began to swell in Patty’s chest...not that Bel cared that Patty had beaten her to the punch.
“Hmm... You haven’t caught a single fish yet, Bel. Don’t you think that means you’ve failed as Master Mia’s sister...?” taunted Orania.
Bel wore an awkward smile. “You’re right. I’m very disappointed in myself, but you’re really amazing, Princess Orania. How can I learn to fish like you?”
“Hmm... First, hold the fishing pole more like this...”
“Uh-huh, and then...”
While Bel was learning to fish for the sake of her adventures, Orania’s teasing didn’t get to her at all. Instead, it just lifted Orania’s spirits and inspired her to impart on Bel all the knowledge she needed, and Bel even managed to catch the tastiest fish among all Orania had ever caught! The two made plans to have the chefs prepare it for them and enjoy it together, and Patty watched in awe at her dazzling skills.
I only caught a single fish out of stubbornness, but Miss Bel’s amazing! She might have even more grit than me and Miss Mia...
Patty had started to look at Bel in a new light.
Anyway, after returning to her room from her joy-filled fishing trip, Patty was at a complete loss.
Just what...was I doing? She was supposed to be worrying over her predicament in her room, but she had somehow been swept into fishing, and she had a ton of fun!
Do I get swept up in things easily? Patty had realized the secret disposition she always had, leaving her aghast.
“Wasn’t today fun, Patty?” asked Bel, grinning from ear to ear. The sight of it had Patty putting all her worries behind her.
“It was... But I don’t think it would be good to do this right before a test,” advised Patty in a last-ditch effort to protect her honor.
That night, Mia got ready for bed and returned to find Patty asleep and curled up in a ball. “My, it’s rare to find Patty asleep at this time.” She peered into Patty’s face and tilted her head, “She seems...happy. Did something good happen?”
Patty was snoring softly, and there was a slight smile on her lips.
“We went fishing today! We ran into Princess Orania there, and...” Bel giggled. “It was so much fun!” she said, sitting on her bed and kicking her feet.
“My, did you? That’s good to hear,” said Mia, wearing a gentle grin as she petted Patty’s hair. “I want her time here to be filled with as much fun as possible,” she muttered.
In the history books, it’s recorded that Empress Patricia Luna Tearmoon was a woman of little emotional volatility. She never laughed, cried, or shouted, nor did she have any hobbies. Overall, she was a woman who lacked individuality.
Yet some of her closest vassals claimed otherwise. According to them, Empress Patricia was not a woman with no hobbies. She had just one—fishing. Whenever Her Majesty headed to lakes or seas or rivers on official business, she made sure to bring her fishing pole, and she spent as much time fishing as was allowed to her. Only then did her expression change to one that was soft and gentle, her eyes trained not on her pole or the fish, but somewhere far, far away...
There is no way of knowing what she saw in those times. Perhaps her eyes were trained toward Tearmoon’s future, and her thoughts filled with the descendants she would leave behind.
But the true subject of her thoughts is a secret that will remain for all of eternity.