A Secret Shared by the Lake
I closed my eyes and fell into a sleep so deep it felt like passing out. When I woke the next morning, my body had apparently grown used to this routine. I didn’t wake up in the middle of the night at all. Realizing I’d once again curled up in the corner of the bed, I let out a soft chuckle at how ridiculous I must look.
“Still… it’s nice seeing you sleep so soundly.”
But then I noticed Lene had once again claimed the entire middle of the bed and was sleeping comfortably. Shaking my head, I pushed myself up, stretched, and started my morning.
[Good morning, little lady.]
“Undine….”
As soon as I stepped into the bathroom, Undine greeted me with a bright smile and a wave. She started teasing me, saying that if she just watched quietly, she’d mistake me for the older sister. When I shot her a cold glare, she wisely vanished. She reappeared right as I was leaving the bathroom.
[Good night… Wait, should I say good morning?]
“It doesn’t matter what you say.”
When I tried to return her greeting but got lost in thought, Undine simply replied that as long as the intention was clear, anything worked. I gestured that I wanted to talk, and she let out a playful laugh before floating over to a spot near the curtained window. I followed quietly and sat in a chair. She smiled as if to say, Go ahead, speak freely.
Reading her invitation, I calmly voiced the question that had been floating in my mind.
“I couldn’t ask properly yesterday because of the circumstances… but who exactly is Liana?”
I explained that when I studied the family’s history with the head butler, there had been no one with that name among those who had contracted with spirits. Undine gave a bitter smile. After a long pause, she let out a silent sigh and finally answered.
[Not everyone announces their special nature to the world.]
She told me there were quite a few people who had deliberately hidden their abilities so thoroughly that they were never recorded in history. Her own contractor and friend, Liana, had been one of them. When she murmured that Liana had been frail from birth, constantly ill, and had withered away before she could truly bloom, I felt like I had accidentally touched on a painful memory. Even though it hadn’t been intentional, I lowered my head and apologized.
[No, it’s fine. A child might say something like that.]
Undine accepted my apology lightly and asked if that was all I was curious about. She added that I could ask her anything else.
“No. I’ve still got a long way to go.”
I told her I could talk all day and adjusted my sitting position. Undine laughed and asked me to take it easy on her.
“By the way, yesterday you said it had been a long time since you could talk to someone.”
[Mm, that’s right?]
“There were plenty of people before us who could see spirits and talk to them. Why didn’t you approach any of them?”
I pointed out that she didn’t even have to look far—the previous head of the family had been one. Undine made a strange face and hesitated before answering.
[Well… I just don’t really like talking with men…]
“…That’s the only reason?”
[Hey now, ‘only’ reason? This is very important to me.]
When I looked dumbfounded at how trivial the reason was, Undine put on a surprisingly serious face. She raised her hand and created a sphere of clear water in the air, as if to say she wouldn’t let it slide if I said anything more. I thought to myself, I should’ve sprinkled salt on her yesterday before she introduced herself as a spirit, but I kept a straight face and changed the subject.
When I asked exactly what a spirit was, Undine tilted her head and thought for a long time before giving a vague answer that even she didn’t know. Seeing her genuine expression, I let that one pass. Then I asked if being able to see and talk to spirits was enough to form a contract. She nodded.
[Being able to see us and communicate is the basic condition.]
She explained that a contract could only be formed if their hearts were in sync. Remembering the original story, I casually asked about Lene. Undine glanced at the peacefully sleeping girl and gave a faint smile.
[The feeling is good… but not yet.]
“Huh? What do you mean, not yet?”
I was startled, wondering if my presence had somehow messed things up. Undine chuckled and told me not to worry so much. She explained that Lene was simply still too young. Even with a spirit’s cooperation, forming a contract wasn’t easy. When I looked confused and asked for more details, she just smiled and refused to explain further.
Through our various conversations, I learned that it was generally best to wait until the person was at least in their teens before forming a contract with a spirit. Around that time, the maid knocked on the door.
“Young miss, may I come in?”
At the voice from beyond the door, Undine said she’d see me later and vanished without a trace. As if on cue, the maid entered only after she had disappeared. Seeing that I was already awake, she smiled and greeted me.
“Good morning.”
I returned the greeting. She glanced toward the bed and sighed at the sight of Lene still occupying it all by herself.
“Mmm… she really slept well again today.”
“Yeah. Let’s eat breakfast quickly and go out to play.”
“Aah, Un—mmph.”
Lene, who had woken up with the maid’s help, almost said Undine on the way to breakfast but quickly clapped a hand over her mouth and nodded instead.
“Then we’ll be back later!”
“Don’t go too far, and don’t cause any trouble like yesterday.”
“Okay!”
We sisters finished breakfast so quickly we barely avoided a scolding, changed into our outdoor clothes, and left the villa.
[You could have come out a little more leisurely.]
Undine appeared as soon as we stepped outside the villa. Even though she said that, her bright smile showed she was pleased we had come out early to play with her. We smiled back and followed her, carefully avoiding the maids’ watchful eyes, heading toward the secret spot she had hidden so well.
“Whoa…”
When we arrived, both Lene and I let out the same gasp of awe. A flower field bursting with every color imaginable stretched before us, with butterflies of matching hues fluttering above it. The scene looked like something straight out of a dream. We couldn’t close our mouths. Undine looked incredibly proud.
[Oh, and there are delicious berries over there. Try some. They smell really sweet.]
“Hah, we already fell for that yesterday, remember?”
“You think we’ll fall for it again?”
[Sigh, I got my plan stolen again.]
When we frowned at her attempt to prank us again with her lying wild strawberries, Undine laughed sheepishly and brought us real strawberries as an apology. We snacked on them as we wandered all over the island. Before we knew it, it was already lunchtime, so we hurried back to the villa.
“You shouldn’t go too far.”
“Hehe, sorry.”
“Still, you weren’t late, so I’ll let it slide.”
We had arrived just in the nick of time. Undine proudly gave us a thumbs-up for telling her about the shortcut. We returned the gesture. The maid, noticing us looking at empty air, tilted her head in confusion. Then she scooped up both of us—our clothes dirty from running around—and quickly carried us back to our room to change.
“Thank you for the meal!”
“We’ll be back later!”
“Lene, René. You mustn’t go to dangerous places.”
“Yes!”
After finishing lunch, we dashed out of the villa again. While playing with Undine, we got hungry, so we tried the pale yellow fruit she brought us. The sour outer layer made us shiver, but the inside was sweet and delicious. We filled our stomachs and even picked a few to bring back for Mom, Dad, Arlan, and Aran.
“My, these are fruits that animals love, so they’re usually hard to find… Where on earth did you get them?”
“Umm, it’s a secret!”
“We can’t tell you that.”
The chef looked very interested in the rare fruit, but we kept our mouths firmly shut, saying it was a secret. After that, we continued roaming around the island with Undine, the three of us having a wonderful time.
We spent our days like that, enjoying every moment, until the day we had to return to the main estate arrived. We expressed our reluctance to part with Undine, whom we had grown so fond of.
[There’s no need to feel sad.]
She told us she would always be here, so we should come visit again next time. With a smile, she reassured us. When Lene promised to come back next year without fail, Undine said she would look forward to it.
Watching them, I reflected on everything that had happened during our stay. I began to guess why, in the original story, Lene had come to this island after experiencing heartbreak. Undine gave me a gentle smile and raised a finger to her lips. I immediately understood she was asking me to keep our conversation a secret. I responded with a zipping-my-lips gesture to show I wouldn’t breathe a word.
“Are you two really planning to take those with you?”
“Um… can’t we?”
“Fishing just isn’t the same without these guys…”
“Tsk, you’re not children… Hurry up and leave them behind.”
There was a small argument between Arlan and Aran, who had grown attached to the fishing rods we used during our vacation. But when Mother put on a stern face, they both whimpered and obediently handed the rods over to the servants.
After that, we double-checked that we hadn’t forgotten anything. While watching the clear water from the boat heading back to shore, a green fish that gave me a strange sense of déjà vu flickered into view and then vanished.
“What was that…”
“René, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
I blinked and looked around, trying to find what I had just seen. When Lene asked if something was wrong, I waved it off as no big deal. I convinced myself I must have imagined it and let the matter go. Soon after, I heard the sound of water splashing, but a fish leaping out of the water right in front of us made a similar noise, so I brushed it off.