A Sudden Plunge and a Campfire Confession

“I just remembered!” I gasped, barely breaking the surface. “I can’t swim! Gurgle, gurgle~”

I swallowed a mouthful of water and sank back down.

Maple seemed to struggle greatly, finally managing to drag me ashore.

I lay there like a drowned rat, pathetic and shivering, my limbs braced against the ground. The only saving grace was that I didn’t need anyone to perform CPR on me.

Once I had somewhat recovered, I glanced at Maple. He was sitting beside me, clutching his soaking wet chest, looking utterly bewildered.

“Are you hurt?” I asked, puzzled.

“N-no, not at all. Are you alright?”

I retorted, annoyed, “Do I look alright? I’m terrible! And soaked through!”

As a cross-dresser unwilling to expose my gender, my greatest fear was losing my virginity— no, my greatest fear was getting soaked!

“I’m soaked through too!” Maple said, water dripping from his hair. His wet clothes clung to him, making him look even more like a pathetic girl.

“So what if you’re soaked? You’re a boy anyway. No one would look at you if you stripped down to your underwear, but I’m…”

‘A girl?’ No, that’s not it. ‘I’m afraid my male identity will be exposed.’

“I don’t want to,” Maple declared decisively. “I’d rather stay wet.”

What was he being so reserved for? Fine, then. The two of us cross-dressers would freeze to death out of prudishness. End of story.

“I’ll go gather some dry branches.”

Upon hearing this, I had a sudden realization and instantly regained some strength. “Oh? So you want to build a bonfire?”

Once Maple had found dry branches and tinder,

“I know how to make fire by rubbing sticks together!” I volunteered, picking up a small stick and grinding it against another piece of wood.

Maple watched me silently for a long moment.

“Allow me.”

He placed his hand on the sword at his waist, concentrated for a moment, then, with a flash of lightning speed, drew his sword and struck a stone. The sparks that flew out instantly ignited the dry grass.

“See?” His tone exuded an air of ‘so easy’.

I was overcome with shame! “Why didn’t you say so earlier???”

I suspected he had been looking at me rubbing sticks together as if I were mentally challenged! It infuriated me!

The bonfire finally flickered to life. We sat facing each other around the fire, warming ourselves. The atmosphere felt a little strange, perhaps because we were both soaked, and there’s a natural wariness between men and women that creates awkwardness?

But it was normal for me to be wary of him. Why was he wary of me?

I met his gaze with a resentful look, breaking the silence. “Where’s your horse?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps it couldn’t stand me and swam back to Britannia in protest?”

“So we’ll have to walk back?”

“Hmm… I’m afraid we’ll have to camp out here tonight…”

“Oh my goodness~~~ A man and a woman alone like this, what will people say~~~”

Especially with the ‘dry wood and fierce fire’ burning right in front of us.

“I’m sorry, I caused you to take this risk.”

“It’s fine, I was the one holding you back.” I spread my hands. “Otherwise, you might have already dragged that unicorn to my imperial father for a reward.”

“You actually dared to jump off a cliff with me. I find you’re not as delicate as I imagined.”

“Did I have a choice? But since you’re praising me, this Princess will gladly accept~”

‘After all, I’m a boy at heart~’

He probed, “What about me? Has your opinion of me changed?”

“Since you’ve praised me, I’ll return the favor~ I originally thought you were frail and weak, but I didn’t expect you to be so skilled at fighting and riding horses.”

Maple’s expression suddenly turned melancholic.

“…What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, really. It’s just that my mother always taught me from a young age how a boy should be, so…” He said, hugging his knees.

I tilted my head, looking at him. “Is that why you often say, ‘I’m a boy’?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Actually, my mother also taught me from a young age how a girl should be… Haha, just kidding! I never had a mother growing up.”