Chapter 22: Princess Mia and the Correct Way to Do Artificial Respiration

There was another brief moment of weightlessness. Then, the sting of cold water. Having gone in head first, the river's depth proved life-saving... only for it to turn life-threatening a second later.

"Blub blub blub...."

Mia, you see, couldn't swim to save her life. Which was a problem, because she definitely needed to swim to save her life right now. Having almost never been in water too deep to stand in, she had no idea how to handle herself. Swimming was not part of the Tearmoon culture, and although Mia's love of bathing meant she was no stranger to large pools of water, it did not confer upon her the ability to stay afloat. Now, the pedantic might point out that it's technically not possible to conclude with absolute certainty that someone can't swim when they've never tried before. Who knows? They might possess some innate gift. This possibility, however, was quickly ruled out by what she did next.

"Ablub... Ablublublub..."

She did nothing except flail around helplessly, a string of air bubbles rising from her mouth. Round and round she spun as the powerful current took hold of her and dragged her ever deeper. She couldn't breathe. Her chest hurt. Lights began to flash in her vision.

Urrrghh... This is bad... Also... I feel terribly sick... Bleurgh...

She lost track of up and down as she went, sinking and tumbling at the same time. The world spun. Her head spun. Her eyes spun too. Already fatigued from the ordeal on the wagon, her vestibular system finally threw in the towel, and she belched out her final breath of air.

Ahh... I see. So this is it. I'm going to die here. I suppose... it beats dying on the guillotine... Urgh...

A little of the weight lifted from her chest as she thought that, and she felt a little better. All that remained was a sad, bittersweet ache that followed her fading consciousness down into the all-consuming darkness.

"—ess Mia! Hey! Come on, wake up! Princess Mia!"

She heard a voice calling her name. It sounded distant. Then she felt her body being shaken, followed by a few slaps on her cheek. There was a faint sourness in her mouth. It was unpleasant. But it all felt so far away, as though her senses were being dulled by a thick blanket.

Urrrghh... What is... I'm... Where?

She willed her eyes open. It wasn't easy, but she managed. There, mere inches away from her face, she saw Prince Sion's dashing visage.

Prince Sion? I wonder what he's doing...

Reaching through the fog in her mind, she produced a memory from long ago of something Anne had told her.

Ah, that reminds me... Anne said she learned about it from Elise's novel. Something about saving people who'd drowned... by breathing air into them through a kiss...

Progress was slow, but she slowly began to piece thoughts together.

I remember telling her that's so indecent... but even then, I actually thought it was quite romantic... and...

Then it occurred to her.

D-Does that mean Prince Sion is going to kiss me? B-But... this is my first kiss! And I was going to save it for Prince Abel!

Faced with something she'd never experienced in her life — both this and the last — her mind went into meltdown mode. Never did she imagine she'd be in a situation like this. And with her archnemesis Sion to boot.

Ahhh, Prince Abel, forgive me. My heart is pounding... But, I mean, this is pretty dreamy. Anyone's heart would be pounding in a situation like this, so it's not really my fault. That's right. This is beyond my control... definitely beyond my control...

With her conscience cleared, she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable, but not before spitting out some water that had been sloshing around in her mouth. It was rather bitter, and it also seemed a tad inappropriate to have her mouth full for the impending event.

The next thing she knew, her face had been turned to the side.

Hm? My, how odd. Why sideways?

Before she could manage another thought, something touched her lips.

Eeep!

Her mind squeaked in surprise, flustered to almost an embarrassing degree by the sensation... Which, on second thought, wasn't exactly what she was expecting. It — the source of the sensation — parted her lips, pushed past her teeth, and wriggled its way into her mouth, its texture coarser than she'd imagined.

Wh-What is this?

Then, without warning, it prodded the back of her throat.

"Bleeech!"

She made a decidedly unromantic sound and woke up with a start.

Sunkland-Style Artificial Respiration: Frequently Asked Questions

(3) What if the victim vomits?

If the victim vomits, immediately turn the head to the side. Then, clean the inside of the mouth by scooping out any physical matter with your finger before resuming artificial respiration.

...So, as a result of Sion's slightly clumsy but perfectly appropriate treatment, Mia managed to hold on to her first kiss. Good for her!

Hunched on all fours with tears in her eyes, Mia threw up many mouthfuls of water before her coughing fit subsided and she glanced up, pallid and hollow-eyed.

"Oh thank the sun you're breathing again," Sion said with a look of relief.

"I... I thought I was going to die."

"Yes, that was indeed a dangerous current we got swept up in."

Not the current! I meant you! You and the finger you stuck all the way down my throat! And that embarrassing sound you made me make! Ugh, just terrible...

The knowledge that her mind had been in the gutter the whole time made it that much more embarrassing. Still, he had saved her life. The least she could do was to put aside her chagrin.

"Thank you very much for saving me, Prince Sion."

Her polite words of appreciation, to her surprise, were met with a troubled frown.

"It's a little early to be thanking me..." he said as he surveyed their surroundings.

She did the same.

"Where... are we?" she asked.

"Downstream from where we fell in. Based on the map I saw before, my guess would be we're in the northwestern area of Remno."

"I see. We managed to get into the kingdom then."

"True. We did get in... but we're in a bad location. First, I'm pretty sure the royal capital is a good distance away. Second, the border is over there now." He grimaced and glanced to the side. "Now, if we need to get out of Remno, we'll have to cross both this river and..."

Mia followed the direction of his gaze. Looming in the distance was the jagged contour of a mountain that now blocked their way to the border.