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Chapter 6
“Anna! This time, let’s go over there!”
In the bustling district at the center of the duchy, I had just left the hat shop and hurriedly grabbed Anna’s hand.
“Eh, Lady Eleanor! Wait! Go slowly!”
Anna, adjusting the bonnet I had bought her while checking her reflection in the glass, hurried to keep up. The pale yellow bonnet, the same as mine, wobbled atop her head.
Catching up to me at last, she lifted the brim slightly and whispered,
“I’m not sure I should be receiving something like this, Your Highness.”
From my perspective, carrying a fat emergency fund, it wasn’t much, but for Anna—who had given up her noble status due to financial hardship—it must have been an astonishingly expensive hat.
I waved my hand generously.
“Just take it. Consider it alimony.”
“Eh? Alimony?”
“No, never mind. But aren’t you a little hungry? Your legs must be tired.”
“Hmm. A little, yes.”
After three hours of shopping on an empty stomach, it was normal for her legs to ache. I pointed to a dessert shop across the street and turned to look back.
“Shall we rest there for a bit? What do you think, Sir Randel?”
“…Agreed.”
Randel nodded, his hands full of the shopping bags I had bought. There were so many that even his thick, muscular arms seemed strained.
“See, I told you I was just going out for some fresh air—why did you follow me?”
“I didn’t just get some fresh air, did I?”
Randel pouted slightly.
I chuckled. I had made him carry quite a lot.
“If that’s the case, why not just have it delivered…”
“And then what? Why would I dress up like this if I had it delivered?”
I ran my eyes teasingly from my shoulder to my knees.
The shirt with puffed sleeves and the dark green skirt were from the first store I had visited. They were far more refined than my outdated casual wear, though still unusual for a noblewoman.
“If you buy so much, I doubt your disguise will hold.”
“Not at all. I’ll just look like a rich girl who likes to show off, that’s all.”
We had visited all sorts of stores, from tailors to jewelers and magical item shops, but the limits of my emergency fund meant we couldn’t touch the really expensive items.
Anyone with a keen eye could tell from the labels of the bags Randel was carrying. Plenty of quantity, but the quality was lacking.
“If you’d come alone, how would you have carried all this?”
“Oh, I only planned to buy a little. But since I finally have a pack mule, I got a little carried away.”
Randel, suddenly turned pack mule, made a baffled face.
“Then, shall we head over there next?”
I led them to the dessert shop I had noticed earlier.
Despite the shop’s spacious interior, it was packed with people, leaving hardly any room to step. In the end, we had to pay extra to get a corner table by the window.
I insisted that the two of them, who couldn’t sit at the same table because of their roles as bodyguard and maid, sit opposite me, and soon drinks and cute cakes were placed in front of each of us.
“What are you waiting for? Don’t just sit there—eat.”
I drank half of my drink first and then cut a piece of cake to taste.
“Ahh… it melts, melts! I knew my choice was perfect.”
Anna and Randel both froze for a moment, surprised by my casual manners, so far removed from noble etiquette. But they seemed to agree that the dessert was delicious.
They eagerly ate their cakes.
Watching them while rolling my tired ankles, I let my gaze linger on Randel with soft eyes.
“Sorry for treating you like a pack mule. I got excited because it’s been a while since I’ve been outside. I’ve mostly stayed in the castle because of my health.”
Randel’s eyes widened slightly at my subdued voice. He asked carefully,
“Were you very ill? Your employer seemed to be overprotective of you, Lady Eleanor.”
“Hm?”
I understood why he used “employer” instead of Kilian in front of others… but overprotective? Kilian… of me?
‘Do the others really see the guards as overprotection?’
I tilted my head in thought before replying,
“I don’t have any special illness—I’ve always been frail.”
Though I didn’t have memories before age ten, so I wasn’t sure if I could say “always.”
“Anyway, now that you’re my bodyguard, let’s get along well.”
I smiled and extended my hand; Randel willingly took it.
“Please take care of me.”
I smiled back at him a little more warmly.
“But how did you end up as my bodyguard? From what Kilian says, you don’t seem like someone meant to be stuck in a place like this.”
As a mercenary, he would have been a commoner. But if he joined the capital’s knight order, which evaluated skill over status, he could earn a minor title.
Randel, as if guessing what I was thinking, quietly whispered,
“Earning more as a mercenary is better than getting a low title. Especially the fee I got this time was substantial.”
He hunched close to the table and, in a tiny voice, revealed how much Kilian had paid him.
“What? H-how much?”
Had Kilian gone mad? That was nearly the capital’s entire annual ducal budget.
Anna and I gaped, and Randel smirked.
“So, whatever you need, just tell me. As long as it doesn’t violate the contract, I’ll do it. Even carrying your bags.”
It was only then that I noticed Anna’s cake plate was completely empty.
“Shall I buy you more?”
“Oh, no!”
Anna shook her head, blushing.
“Don’t refuse. I want to buy it for you.”
When I looked at her bandaged hand while speaking, she jumped slightly. The words about alimony for the bonnet must have come back to her.
“I’m really fine! I’ve already received more than enough!”
I gave a deliberately apologetic smile.
“This is the only way I’ll feel at ease…”
As Anna hesitated, a clear chime rang.
Ding!
“Strawberry shortcake!”
A pastry chef in a white hat laid cakes in the display case.
“Finally! The specialty of this shop!”
“I’ve been waiting for this exact time every day!”
People buzzed and rushed to the display case.
“This is going to be late…”
Anna, flustered, saw the nearly empty display case and finally raised her hand.
“Then… just one, please…”
“One is enough? Pick more, you choose. Randel, hold the bags!”
Before Randel could answer, I grabbed Anna’s hand and stood. Then we pushed through the crowd.
“Don’t push!”
“Hey, no cutting in line!”
“Ah! My foot!”
It was complete chaos.
I staggered with the crowd, pushing and pulling, but never let go of Anna’s hand.
“Lady Eleanor! Go back to your seat! I’ll get the cake!”
“No, I… gah! I’ll buy it!”
“You can barely stand, what are you saying?”
Unable to bear it, Anna scolded me in a firm voice.
I surrendered, handing my nearly empty wallet to her and letting go of her hand.
“Will you line up? I must have had too much to drink…”
I glanced toward the restroom; Anna nodded.
“Don’t worry! I’ll make sure to get the cake!”
Anna clenched her fist determinedly.
Lowering myself, I met her eyes. The brims of our identical bonnets touched. From afar, it would be impossible to tell which was mine.
“I’ll be back.”
Choosing this shop wasn’t an accident.
The dessert shop Lupin, famous for its “divine touch” strawberry shortcakes that came out exactly at 2 PM, had risen to fame quickly.
Now, at the peak of the crowd, everyone was at the display for the strawberry cake—so the restroom was empty.
“I’ve wanted to come here someday… and here I am.”
I sighed, quickly undoing my messy braid, and swallowed the potions I had secretly added while filling out the order at the magic shop.
Drawing a small dagger, I cut the string securing my bonnet and lifted my head. In the mirror, a stranger stared back: bright blonde hair and vivid blue eyes sparkling.
“So it randomly changes, and of course…”
I had imagined long ago—if I looked like this, could I have integrated more easily into the Ramirez household? Would the marchioness or her brothers have hated me less?
I knew the answer: no. My mouth tasted bitter.
Shaking off the unpleasant gaze, I tied my hair high with the cut string and wrapped a neatly folded tablecloth around my shoulders like a shawl, taking advantage of the distraction caused by customers lining up.
The tablecloth, hanging to my waist, concealed my clothes perfectly.
Now, I looked like a completely different person.
I left the shop quickly before the cake sold out and the crowd returned to their seats. Glancing back, I saw Randel unaware, eating cake by the window.
“Stay alert, Sir Randel.”
I had attempted countless escapes from the Ramirez castle. While I couldn’t fight a sword master, I had mastered evading pursuit.
I smiled with satisfaction and quickened my pace.
My true destination was the most famous wizard guild in the duchy. Kilian had occasionally requested reinforcements from them when marching to the Black Lands.
The wizards, weak in close combat, often refused due to fear of monsters.
‘But if he keeps requesting support, he must be fairly skilled.’
I glanced at the luxurious building, then pushed open the glass doors energetically. A large clock hung on the wall behind the counter.
Fifteen minutes had passed since leaving the dessert shop. I had thirty minutes to complete the request, and fifteen minutes to return—Kilian must not learn I had left amidst the commotion.
A clerk at the counter greeted me with a professional smile.
“Welcome, customer. How may I help you?”
“I came to request a handwriting appraisal.”
