Page 21 of Viktor at Sea

With a plan in mind, I skipped breakfast–and running into Chara again. Instead, I returned to the Skau hut.

I grabbed a small pebble and stared up at the window on the right: Astrid’s bedroom window. This wasn’t the first time I had thrown a pebble at her window, but it was the first time I had thrown a pebble at it and not run away. On the days that we butted heads a little bit too much, and it started bleeding into my feelings, I sometimes dropped by her window the next day, early in the morning when I knew she would still be asleep,and threw a few pebbles at her window shutters. I knew she was a light sleeper, and I took great pleasure in seeing her tired, exasperated face later that day.

Today, I had no plans of going anywhere after throwing the pebbles.

The first pebble was a bust as I missed her shutter, and it ended up hitting closer to her parents’ window than Astrid’s. I held my breath and waited a few moments before attempting again. This time, it landed square on the target, but I doubted it would take only one pebble for Astrid to wake up and open her shutters.

My thinking was correct, and it took another three pebbles. I was just about to throw another when I heard the window shutters clanging and creaking before they were finally pushed open.

Her dark hair was in complete disarray despite the plait she had tied it into. The straps of her nightdress had fallen down her arms, and I could make out the indent of the pillow on the right side of her face. Her eyes were foggy with sleep, and she squinted down at me, trying to figure out who was throwing pebbles at her windows this early in the morning.

As sleepy and tired as she looked, I found her so beautiful. My heart ached painfully, and I wished to see her like that every morning for the rest of my life.

“Viktor?” Astrid groaned my name, but not in the way I wanted her to.

“Can you come down here?” I whispered harshly, not wanting to wake her parents. Just because they liked me and were rooting for me didn’t mean that Daewon wouldn’t give me an ass-whooping for coming to his daughter’s window this early in the morning.

“What are you doing here, Viktor?” Astrid groaned, not bothering to keep her voice down.

“You need to whisper. I don’t want to wake up your parents.”

“Well, then you should leave and come back later,” she snorted and moved to close the shutters.

“Please, Astrid,” I called out to her in my normal voice, holding my breath the entire time. And not just because I was concerned with waking up her parents. “Can you please come down here? I really need to speak to you about something.”

“Can’t you just speak to me from here?” She asked, and I shook my head frantically.

“Please, Astrid,” I all but begged.

Astrid pursed her lips and stared down at me for a long moment. When she closed the shutters without warning, my shoulders slumped in defeat. My hope deflated and I turned around to leave with my head hanging low when the backdoor finally opened. I turned around swiftly, my heart beating so hard that it felt like it was going to leap out of my chest and lay at her feet, desperately begging for her to give me a chance.

I greeted her with a warm, nervous smile, but she didn’t return it.

Astrid had changed out of her nightdress for a dark brown one, and I was slightly disappointed. But that had nothing to do with the dress. It had a modest sweetheart neckline, full-length sleeves which hugged her arms, cinched in tightly at the waist and flowed freely to the ground, grazing the top of her feet.

“Do you know what time it is, Viktor?” Astrid groaned and rubbed a tired hand over her eyes. Luckily, she had been too preoccupied to notice how I was openly gawking at her.

“I know it’s early,” I chuckled nervously. “I would have asked if I had woken you, but it’s pretty obvious I just did.”

“Did you come all the way over here just to wake me and talk nonsense?”

“No, I’m not that horrible. I wanted to speak to you about something.”

“And this couldn’t wait until a more acceptable hour of the day?” Astrid groaned, crossing her arms over her chest.

“It could have, but I couldn’t,” I grinned cheekily, my mood lifting as she scowled harshly at me. “I wanted to apologise for what happened last night with Kis. I didn’t know that carrots make her sick, and I’m sorry that she threw up on your new dress. I can wash it for you if you want. I have a lot of experience washing my own clothes.”

Astrid seemed surprised, and she narrowed her eyes at me. When I merely shrugged, she looked even more suspicious.

“Thank you for apologising, but there’s no need,” she said, her lips still pinched at the corners. “Mother said she’ll wash it for me today.”

“I’m glad to hear that, but that wasn’t the only thing I wanted to speak to you about. I actually have something to show you,” I told her and reached down to lift the right sleeve of my tunic, revealing my wrist to her.

“For me?” Astrid asked, surprised.

“I was supposed to give it to you earlier, but we didn’t have a great encounter the day I got back,” I chuckled, thinking back to the warm memory at the fountain. Once again, I regretted sleeping with Chara and Erlene that night. Not only would it have saved me the hassle of having Chara attempt to talk me into inviting her back into my bed every time she saw me, but it also could have increased my chances with Astrid.

“You’re giving me your bracelet?” Astrid asked, quirking a surprised brow as I slipped the bracelet off my wrist.

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