“There really is nothing here,” Nadir mused.
“Go home, then,” I retorted.
I’d swallowed my embarrassment and hurriedly helped Nadir get dressed before breakfast. I was exhausted, and so I’d wanted to stay in my room afterward, but Nadir had felt restless with nothing to do. We’d decided to take a stroll in the area around the house.
It wasn’t true that there was nothing here. The main industry of our lands was agriculture, so there was simply a lot of nature. That was all. And farming brought in good profits. The only reason we’d been in dire straits had been our massive debt. Without it, we’d have been decently wealthy.
We reached an open area by the mountains behind the estate. There were chairs here, so I figured it’d be a nice place for us to relax.
“Where are we?” Nadir asked.
“My childhood playground,” I said. “My parents made it for me.”
There was a swing hanging from a tree, a sandbox, a small pond, and a slide, all built by my parents to help keep me entertained. Feeling nostalgic, I took a seat on the swing.
“Hey. You’re gonna break that,” Nadir cautioned.
“Rude! I’m not that heavy!” I protested. Still, it could have deteriorated over time, so I decided not to use it after all. “The swing was my favorite part of the playground.”
As a child, I’d swing really high, then jump. I couldn’t do that now, of course. The odds of incurring a nasty injury were too great.
Nadir’s gaze flitted between me and the other pieces of equipment in the playground. “Don’t even think about using the slide.”
“Why?”
“Your butt will get stuck.”
“Wow! Rude!” I mean, yes, it was for children, but my derriere wasn’t that big! “Hmph! Just watch! I’ll slide down perfectly!”
“Hey! Don’t be stupid!”
Ignoring his warning, I rushed to the slide. As a child, it’d seemed so tall! Now it really wasn’t anything special.
Nadir gave me an exasperated look from the bottom of the slide. What?! I could do it just fine!
I sat down to prepare. It was a bit of a tight fit, yes, but it was fine! No problem! I released the sides, and slowly began to glide down. See? Easy. Proudly, I looked down at Nadir, who just kept staring up at me with that same look of exasperation.
This was still fun as an adult, I mused to myself as I smoothly slid downward. And just as I felt like a child all over again, my gleeful glide turned into a dreary drag.
Oh no.
My cheeks paled as I got a sinking feeling in my gut, but it was too late... I was stuck halfway down.
“...”
“...”
Nadir and I exchanged glances. “I told you so,” he said.
“Urk...” There was nothing I could say to that. I tried to shift, but remained firmly lodged in place. “N-Nadir,” I mumbled.
“Yes?” he replied.
“I can’t get out...”
“Are you stupid?”
Yes! Yes, I was, okay?!
My eyes welled with tears as I looked down at Nadir. It would’ve been a delightful sight, if not for my predicament.
“Please. Help me,” I begged.
“For crying out loud,” he grumbled, still with that same incredulous look, but he reached out a hand. As soon as I grabbed it, he yanked me off the slide.
“Wh-Whoa!” I lost my balance and fell. Thankfully, the sandbox was below, but it still hurt. “Oww...”
“Did you hurt yourself?” Nadir asked as I sat on his torso, lifting his head to look at me.
And then he froze.
“Nadir?”
“Your skirt...”
“Huh?” My skirt?
I looked down and, to my horror, saw my skirt completely upturned as I sat with my knees in the air. Meaning, Nadir had a full, unobstructed view of everything underneath.
“Eek!” In a panic, I fixed my skirt and closed my legs. I wasn’t married yet! This was a disaster! A disaster! “Nooo,” I whined. “I’ll never be able to marry...”
“Uh. You’ll be fine,” Nadir said.
“Huh?” I tilted my head in confusion, and Nadir turned away. Huh. Why did it feel like something like this had happened before?
“I’ll just marry you myself, then,” came a memory from the recesses of my brain.
“Oh. Oh!” I exclaimed.
Startled by my sudden yelping, Nadir flinched.
“Oh. Oh no. Oh nooo,” I lamented. This couldn’t be happening! Not again! “The boy I had my first-ever crush on saw my undergarments too!”
My loud bawling echoed through the playground.