A Few Things Before the Holidays

A warm summer breeze swept across the sparkling lake, carrying the carefree laughter of the girls by the shore.

Since the Final Exams had ended, everyone had grown lazy, leaving the stuffy castle to spend the last leisurely days before summer vacation outdoors.

In the shade of the Beech Tree by the lake, Albert and Isobel sat together, whispering to each other.

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

"A little sad. A little lost." Isobel tilted her head toward the older boy beside her. "And a little reluctant to leave."

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

"Well, it does make me regret that I couldn't graduate with you." Isobel gazed at the group of girls in the distance who had taken off their shoes and socks and dipped their feet into the lake to cool off. "When people leave school and face real life, many of them change. They become strangers, more practical, and gradually drift away from who they used to be."

"I'm the one who should be worried. Maybe once you get out there and see all the dazzling things in the world, you'll dump me." Albert brushed aside Isobel's hair, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, "Maybe I should..."

A blush spread across Isobel's cheeks. She could not help rolling her eyes at Albert. "Why is your mind always full of that stuff now?"

"I'm almost an adult." Albert blinked. "As long as you have money and no worries about making a living, there are lots of things you don't really need to care about or be constrained by."

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

"I'm not joking. As far as