A Few Things Before the Holidays

The gentle summer breeze swept over the shimmering lake, carrying the contented laughter of the girls by the shore.

Ever since the final exams ended, everyone had grown lazy and listless, leaving the stuffy castle to spend their last leisurely days before summer break outdoors.

In the shade of the beech tree by the lake, Albert and Isabelle sat together, whispering to each other.

"How does graduation feel?" Albert asked with a smile, looking at the slightly distracted girl beside him.

"A little sad. A little lost." Isabelle tilted her head toward the older boy beside her. "And a little reluctant to let go."

"Because of me?" Albert asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Well, I do regret not being able to graduate with you." Isabelle gazed at the girls in the distance, who had taken off their shoes and socks and were cooling their feet in the lake. "When people leave school and face real life, many of them change. They become unfamiliar, more practical, and gradually drift away from who they used to be."

"I should be the one worrying. Maybe once you get out there and see all the wonders of the outside world, you'll dump me." Albert brushed aside Isabelle's hair and leaned close to whisper in her ear. "Maybe I should..."

A blush spread across Isabelle's cheeks, and she could not help rolling her eyes at Albert. "Why is your mind full of this stuff now?"

"I'm almost an adult." Albert blinked. "As long as you have money and don't need to worry about life, a lot of things really don't matter. You don't need to be bound by so many rules either."

"No." Isabelle shook her head. "That's far too ridiculous. Can't you be serious?"

"I'm not joking. As far as I know,