TFLB 08

Chapter 8

 The Male and Female Leads Have Broken Up

I didn’t say anything more and sat down at the table.

“My Lady, apparently the village festival starts today.”

“Really?”

“Yes. That’s why the road we passed through earlier was so noisy. It was because of the festival.”

A festival…

It didn’t seem like Mary had mentioned the festival for no reason, so I narrowed my eyes and looked at her.

“Do you want to go see the festival?”

“Huh? No. We have a long way to go, and you don’t have time to waste here.”

“That’s not necessarily true.”

At my words, her expression immediately brightened.

Seeing the hopeful look on Mary’s face, I thought for a moment before speaking.

“Should we stay here for another couple of days?”

“Are we really allowed to?”

“I don’t think enjoying the festival for a few days would be so bad.”

“Wow! That’s wonderful! Thank you, My Lady!”

Seeing how happy Mary was made me happy as well.

Come to think of it, I had plenty of time ahead of me.

My parents hadn’t given me a deadline for when I had to return, so staying here for a few days to enjoy the festival wouldn’t interfere with my plans.

“Then I’ll tell Sir William!”

“All right.”

After saying that, Mary waited until she saw me pick up my spoon, then immediately left the room.

I watched her back for a moment before turning my attention to my meal. I was quite hungry, so I started eating.

The food wasn’t bad.

It wasn’t as good as the food I ate at home, but it wasn’t bad enough to be inedible either. Since hunger was the best seasoning, I cleaned my plate.

After finishing my meal, I felt tired and was about to go straight to bed.

But for some reason, so many thoughts were running through my mind at once that I couldn’t fall asleep easily.

So, partly to help digest my food, I left my room for a little while to look around outside.

I retraced the route I’d taken earlier and went down the stairs alone.

At the bottom was a restaurant and tavern operated by the inn.

People were eating there.

And among them were two familiar faces.

Mary and William.

They were eating together.

Although I was watching them from a little distance away, there was something strange about the atmosphere between the two of them.

Ah-ha.

So that’s what it was.

Earlier, I’d asked Mary to have dinner with me, but she’d vehemently refused, giving all sorts of reasons, such as how nobles and commoners shouldn’t eat at the same table.

Apparently, she was interested in Sir William and wanted to have a meal with him.

It seemed she’d also taken the opportunity to tell him that we would be staying here for a few days, which was probably why they were eating together now.

At first, I’d considered asking Mary to come outside with me, but there was no need to interrupt them in this situation.

It was actually more convenient to go alone.

So I carefully slipped out of the inn without disturbing the two of them.

The area in front of the inn was extremely quiet.

It seemed to be quite far from the busy part of town.

As I walked through the alleys toward the bustling streets, the farther I went, the louder the voices of the people became.

For the past six months, I’d done nothing but travel back and forth between the Hatz Ducal Residence and the Maxius Ducal Residence for the sake of my goal.

I hadn’t had any opportunity to see what the world outside was actually like.

I slowed my steps for a moment and touched the inner pocket of my clothes.

I was checking whether I had enough money.

My fingers felt the thick bundle of gold coins inside.

This should be enough, right?

After confirming how much money I had, I plunged into the crowd.

The shopping district was dazzling because of the festival.

Even though it was already late in the evening, countless people had come out into the streets to enjoy the festivities.

I looked around, wondering where I should go first, when suddenly something delicious teased my sense of smell.

I hurried toward the source of the aroma.

Soon, a large brazier appeared before me, with all kinds of skewers roasting over it and filling the air with a mouthwatering smell.

Wow, that looks delicious.

Even though I had only recently finished dinner, the incredible smell immediately made my mouth water.

I first approached the brazier and looked over the various foods one by one.

Meat, potatoes, corn, sausages…?

There were more varieties, but those were the only ones I could identify.

“What would you like?”

The vendor asked me as I stood there deciding what to eat.

“Uh… I’ll have one sausage, please.”

“Yes, certainly. Here you go.”

The vendor handed me a sausage threaded onto a thin wooden skewer.

I took it and rummaged through the pouch containing my money with one hand.

“How much is it?”

“Everything is being given out for free during the festival.”

“Free?”

Such delicious-looking food was free…?

At the word free, I glanced around.

Come to think of it, no one else was paying either. Everyone was simply taking the food as though it were perfectly normal.

“Porta Dvia.”

“Huh?”

As I was looking around, I suddenly heard an unfamiliar phrase.

Confused, I looked at the vendor and asked him what he meant.

“Since you don’t know that expression, you must be from out of town.”

The vendor smiled kindly before explaining.

“Yes, I am.”

“‘Porta Dvia’ is an expression passed down only in our village. It means, ‘Today is the happiest day of your life.’”

“Porta… Dvia?”

“Yes, that’s right. Porta Dvia. People here say those words constantly throughout the festival.”

“Oh, really?”

“Well, I’m busy, so I’ll be going now. Porta Dvia.”

“Porta… Dvia.”

As soon as I repeated the words back to him, the vendor gave me another warm smile.

Then, apparently because he really was busy, he turned around and quickly went to serve someone else.

I stood there blankly for a moment before eventually turning around to continue exploring.

The sausage was every bit as delicious as it smelled.

I had no idea what ingredients were inside, but the filling and seasoning blended together perfectly.

After filling my stomach with the sausage, I continued wandering around the streets.

There were far more different kinds of things being sold than I’d expected.

They sold everything from clothes and food to flowers and jewelry, and simply looking at all the things around me filled me with joy.

As I walked around, I was surprised and relieved to find that the streets weren’t all that different from the places I knew.

While wandering around various parts of the festival, I noticed a large crowd gathered in one corner.

Judging by the way everyone was standing in a circle around something, there had to be some kind of performance going on inside.

Curious about what kind of show it was, I carefully squeezed my way through the crowd.

Once my view opened up, I realized that the people attracting everyone’s attention were a circus troupe.

Several performers were displaying various tricks inside the circle, while others were collecting payment from the spectators.

But among them, there was one person who drew the most attention.

A young boy.

The child was precariously walking along a tightrope, and even at a glance, he looked terribly unstable.

More than anything, they had built a pit of blazing fire underneath him, presumably to create a dramatic sense of tension.

If he so much as misplaced one foot, he could fall straight into the flames.

This is too dangerous.

When I looked up at the boy, his face was filled with fear.

He was clearly inexperienced, as though he had either barely practiced tightrope walking or had never done it before at all.

Without realizing it, I frowned deeply with anxiety and displeasure as I watched the boy.

And then, suddenly, the boy actually lost his footing.

“Ooooooh!”

“Oh my!”

Fortunately, perhaps because his reflexes weren’t bad, the boy immediately grabbed onto the rope and hung from it.

I let out a sigh of relief and focused my attention on him again.

But perhaps nearly falling had frightened him.

His entire body was visibly trembling.

“What is this? This is boring.”

“Hurry up and get back up!”

“Does this circus troupe not even train their performers properly?”

“Geez! This is pathetic.”

At first, the spectators had apparently thought the boy losing his footing was simply part of the performance, intended to make it more exciting.

But when the boy failed to regain his position for several minutes, the crowd’s reaction quickly turned negative, and murmurs began spreading throughout the area.

“Hey, you little bastard! Aren’t you getting back up?!”

Then, a man standing near me—apparently one of the circus troupe members—shouted angrily at the boy, hurling insults at him.

Despite the man’s furious yelling, the boy seemed unable to make his body move as he wanted.

He simply clung desperately to the rope, doing everything he could to avoid falling.