The place Ian took me to was the downtown area of Kahiten territory.
In a city district ten times more complex and bustling than what we called downtown at the northern edge, I grabbed his sleeve.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm afraid I'll get lost."
"...How old are you?"
"Twenty-seven?"
"Don't act like you're seven."
"Ah, yes..."
Feeling embarrassed, I quietly let go of his sleeve. The habit I'd developed when going around with Chait often popped out like this.
'Did he treat me like a seven-year-old child then?'
I thought I was overprotective of Chait, but looking back, it seems like I was the one being overprotected.
The day he revealed his romantic feelings to me - from that day on, many things looked different.
The daily life I thought was natural.
The relationship I thought was ordinary.
The place I thought was safe.
Such things never existed around me from the beginning. Not the daily life, not the relationship, not the place. They were nothing but mirages created by my optimism and his consideration.
We were playing house.
Each holding a pair of family dolls in our hands and shaking them. It was a game I hosted and he participated in.
'We're strangers, Leticia.'
His voice seemed to come from somewhere.
Our dolls have been broken for a long time, but I often have the illusion that he and I are still connected.
The illusion that he's still close to me.
"Don't just stand there blankly."
Ian stopped walking and looked back at me.
Quite a distance had opened up between us. I approached his side with quick steps. We were close again soon.
"Where are we going?"
"Madame Rosina's salon."
"Huh? Is that a shop name?"
He nodded.
"It's my mother's regular shop."
The mother he's referring to here would be his stepmother Belinda, not his birth mother.
And if it's a regular shop, then as expected...
"I told you. I'd buy you as many clothes as you want."
As soon as Madame Rosina saw Ian, she covered her mouth and jumped around.
"Oh my, oh my! For His Grace the Grand Duke to come in person like this! This is the first time!"
She was someone with very active reactions.
As soon as Ian saw her reaction, he closed his eyes as if tired. Oh dear, he's taking DOT damage.
"Your Grace, please give me an autograph!"
"I refuse."
"I'll just hang it up!"
"I refuse that too."
Unable to stand it, he pushed me forward.
"Bring clothes that would suit this woman."
The madame looked at me with narrowed eyes.
"Who is this?"
"My fiancée."
"Gasp...! Your Grace, finally a new marriage...!"
The engagement period has been excessively long, but this person is still unmarried.
As if too lazy to explain, he sat on the velvet sofa prepared for waiting and crossed his legs.
"Bring them."
"Yessss!"
The madame brought an entire clothing rack.
"With such a fair face, everything would look good on you!"
Professionally, she didn't forget her service comments.
Perhaps because it's the busiest area in the north, there were many excellent designs that were thorough in warmth while showing style.
As I looked at the dresses with interest, the madame approached and showed them one by one while chattering.
"How about this red dress? The lining uses warm material, but it's finished with silk and satin so it won't look stuffy."
"Isn't this forsythia-colored dress pretty too? Since it's an off-shoulder design, wouldn't it be perfect for someone with beautiful shoulder lines like you, Miss? Considering the chilly weather, I've also included a shawl to wear outdoors as a set."
Considering my hair color is light pink, the red dress would probably clash, and the yellow looked quite pretty.
"That's nice. Your Grace, this yellow one..."
Ian turned his eyes to the madame and asked.
"Don't you have pink?"
"Ah, of course we do. Come to think of it, it matches the young lady's hair color perfectly!"
"..."
Was my opinion meaningless from the start?
It's disappointing, but since he's buying it, let's quietly accept it.
The madame excitedly struggled to carry all kinds of pink dresses in her arms.
Without even examining the designs, Ian said.
"Give me all of them. And."
He pointed with his chin at the clothes hanging on the rack.
"Purchase all of those too."
"...Oh."
The day has come when I hear "everything from here to there" in this world.
I looked at him with a bit of respect.
The madame's face lit up with joy as she scribbled something on her palm with her finger.
She's probably calculating how many times this month's sales will be compared to last month's sales. I know that feeling.
Having finished her private calculations, she excitedly pulled my hand.
"Great, let's try them on right away!"
"What? No, there's no need to go that far."
"Then are you planning to just wear that?"
Ian said.
"I don't know about other parts, but the waist will be very loose."
How do you know that? You have eagle eyes.
I have a small frame, so when I buy ready-made clothes, the upper body always fits separately.
"Then are all those for custom tailoring?"
"Of course!"
The madame shouted with pride.
"That must be expensive..."
Ian's expression becomes listless. His eyes are saying not to act poor.
Right, this much probably isn't even money to that man.
"Why are you hesitating? Should we go in together?"
"No!"
I decided to be shameless.
But when I came out exhausted after taking measurements, I became a bowing rice plant again after seeing the deposit he paid.
Wow, the clothing cost is more expensive than the money I saved for ten years.
"It's been a while, so I'm not adjusting well."
"You'll get used to it soon. You were originally a noble."
"What are you saying? I was talking about going out."
We were riding in a carriage back to Kahiten territory.
Seeing the markets spread out along the way, I wanted to get off and walk around with some snacks, but I didn't have the courage to make such a suggestion to Ian.
I licked my lips while eating with my eyes the chicken skewers, lamb skewers, and fruit skewers sold at shops beside the carriage.
"Are you hungry?"
Ah, I got caught.
I awkwardly scratched the back of my head.
"No, it just looked delicious."
"Your food preferences."
"..."
Right, I thought this would happen.
But contrary to his cold words, he stopped the carriage and ordered the coachman.
"Go buy that."
"Yes, Your Grace."
A moment later, I had a chicken skewer and lamb skewer, one in each hand.
"Is this okay?"
"What?"
"I thought you'd hate this kind of smell."
"I do hate it."
"..."
"So eat it quickly and get rid of it."
If it's that kind of thing, I'm an expert.
I quickly said thank you and bit into the skewer.
'This commercial sauce taste is the best!'
As expected, market skewers are perfect for my taste.
"You seem to like this more than when choosing dresses."
"No, I'm grateful for the dresses too. ...Um, more grateful."
Ian smiled slightly through his nose.
I pushed the finished skewer slightly into a corner of the carriage and glanced at him sitting across from me.
The transparent sunlight of the north leaked through the carriage window, illuminating his delicate features all around.
'He really is incredibly handsome.'
He had been looking out the window with his chin resting on his hand when he suddenly turned to look at me.
"Rather than secretly looking like that, just look openly."
As always, it was self-praise, but this time it wasn't a misunderstanding - I really was glancing at him, so my pride was hurt.
"You're looking elsewhere, so what am I supposed to look at openly? You're not even giving me a proper angle."
When I grumbled jokingly, his face turned to face forward. We were now in a position of completely facing each other.
"Is this good?"
"...The side profile seemed better."
"That can't be right."
No, it's burdensome.
"Are you done eating that?"
"Ah, yes. Thanks to you, I ate well."
"Good."
He crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side.
"Then let's get to the main point now."
"Main point...?"
Suspicion piled up in his expression.
"I have some things to ask you."
...I should have been suspicious from the start when someone who wasn't usually kind became friendly.
"About the Arkidne Archbishop."
"Chait?"
I was a little surprised because the name I thought about twelve times a day suddenly popped out of his mouth.
"You said you met him by chance eight years ago."
"Yes, really by chance."
"Where and how did you meet?"
"Hmm..."
If you ask where we met, it was near our café, and if you ask how we met...
"Well...?"
"I was wearing a sword."
"I found him collapsed in front of the café and brought him in. That's really the answer."
I answered rapidly.
"He was badly injured."
"You brought in something you'd never seen before without any caution."
"Yes, it would be a bit much to ignore a patient."
"Even thinking about it again, your vigilance was terrible."
No, but if an underdeveloped teenager was lying like that on cold ground, wouldn't it be stranger to just leave saying 'please ascend peacefully'?
Of course, it was also true that I lacked vigilance, so I decided not to argue.
"Do you know why he was injured?"
"Miss Yoanna said it was wounds from being attacked by demons."
The fact that Chait had holy power was now publicly known. Ian didn't seem to doubt that point.
"You're saying you were complete strangers before that."
"Yes. I really saw him for the first time then."
Ian tapped his knee with his gloved hand.
"First time, first time."
I shrank at Ian's muttering voice.
Is this another continuation of that conversation from last night?
'No, I feel like I should be the one asking questions, but why am I always being interrogated?'
I also need to obtain information that could be connected to sorcery.
This moment when he was throwing questions at me was the right time.
"I'm curious about something too."
If there's something going, there should be something coming too.
I moistened my dry lips once and asked.
"I want to know about your birth mother."
"Why her?"
I could feel Ian being wary.
"Grand Duchess Kahiten said before that I resembled your birth mother."
Ian's eyebrow shot up diagonally.
"You?"
"Yes. So I was wondering where the resemblance was..."
"You don't resemble her."
Ian said.
"Not a single thing about you resembles her."