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CHAPTER 16
“Oops!”
In an instant, the coachman was slammed into a wall. Dazed, he stared at the man holding Ladian. Ladian also looked at the man in front of her, startled.
“Michael?”
In the dark metal workshop filled with humid heat, his cold silver hair shimmered like a well-polished knight’s blade. How on earth had he found her here?
“How dare you be so rude to the lady.”
“N-no! I just… I didn’t have change….”
All servants of the ducal household wore uniforms. In particular, the first-ranked attendant’s attire was so luxurious and refined it could put nobles to shame, and the coachman stammered in panic.
Michael looked at Ladian to confirm the situation. She nodded confidently.
“He said he didn’t have small change, so I was on my way to exchange it.”
“I-I do have change! I do!”
The coachman pulled money from his pocket and, without even accepting the 1 silver coin, handed over 30 bronze coins. Seeing his weak-to-strong attitude toward power, Ladian clicked her tongue.
As soon as he carefully took the 1 silver coin, the coachman fled in a hurry.
Michael let out a small sigh as he watched him run off.
“Well done.”
“For what?”
“He must have thought you were an easy target because you were a noble lady wanting change. Still, you should not go around like this without an attendant. It’s dangerous.”
Ladian smiled faintly at his unexpected response. She had thought he would scold her for nearly getting into trouble over 30 bronze coins or silently judge her for it.
“Alright, I understand. Thanks to you, I avoided trouble.”
“It’s nothing. But what brings you here?”
“That’s what I should be asking. Were you following me?”
“…Of course not. It’s my day off, I just came out to take care of some errands.”
After a brief silence, Michael replied. Ladian narrowed her eyes slightly, then smiled brightly.
“Then go do your errands. Thanks.”
“If you go around like that without a servant and in such clothing, something bad could happen.”
As if unwilling to let her leave, Michael grabbed her. Ladian looked at him with wide eyes.
“Aren’t you busy? You don’t get many days off, do you?”
“I’ve finished my work and was just about to head back. And these streets are quite winding, so it’s not easy to find your way.”
“So?”
“…I mean I’ll guide you.”
Satisfied with the answer she wanted, Ladian smiled with gently curved eyes.
“Please do.”
Michael cleared his throat awkwardly, as if unused to such words. Finding him a little cute, Ladian bit her lower lip to hide her smile.
“Where are we going?”
“Hmm… Metal Workshop No. 64.”
Michael stopped walking abruptly.
“Metal Workshop No. 64… Isn’t that the place with dwarves?”
“That’s right. You know it well.”
Of course he did. Metal Workshop No. 64 was very famous—for both craftsmanship and notoriety.
Dwarves. A race that smelled of heated iron. They cut and forged metals others couldn’t handle as if they were their own, creating masterpieces of the century. Everyone wanted dwarf-made goods, but they only crafted things that interested them.
They didn’t particularly like humans either; there were even rumors that they sometimes ate humans they disliked with their huge mouths. Of course, nothing was confirmed.
“Is there something you want made?”
“Yes. I need to commission it from someone skilled.”
More precisely, not a person—but Michael didn’t ask further and simply walked ahead.
“I’ll guide you.”
Michael strode forward with his long legs, occasionally turning back to check on Ladian. Each time, she met his gaze.
The weather was cloudy. Michael’s eyes shimmered gray. His blue-gray irises sometimes turned sapphire like lapis lazuli depending on the weather, or a pale, chalky white.
Only then did Ladian realize the sky was so white it looked like it might rain any moment.
“Michael.”
“Yes.”
“Do you have someone you’re seeing?”
Suddenly, his long stride faltered. Michael turned back, looking at her in disbelief.
“Why are you asking that?”
“If you had someone, you couldn’t exactly go through an arranged marriage.”
Such a purely practical answer made Michael fall silent. Then he resumed walking briskly. Ladian quickened her steps to keep up.
She couldn’t read his expression well enough to ask again. So she turned her gaze elsewhere.
The street was hot. Blacksmiths with bare upper bodies hammered massive anvils with heavy arms. Despite the unfamiliar guest, they continued their work as if used to it.
After counting thirty-six steady hammer strikes, Michael stopped.
There, a sign with crooked lettering read: “Metal Workshop No. 64.”
“We’re here.”
“Thank you.”
The workshop doors were open to release the furnace heat. The two entered.
CLANG—CLANG.
Metal struck metal with intense force. Even in the suffocating heat, three or four dwarves did not stop hammering.
Ladian did not call out immediately, waiting quietly.
“You planning to wait here?”
“Yeah. I’m the one asking for something, so I should wait.”
“Then I’ll step out for a moment.”
“Where are you going?”
“Something came up. I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
With that, Michael disappeared instantly. Still not used to someone vanishing like that, Ladian pressed a hand to her racing heart and leaned against the wall, watching the dwarves.
They were about 150 cm tall, four-headed proportions, with deep green skin—clearly not human.
Their thick, crocodile-like skin looked impenetrable even to heat. Even their eyelids seemed so thick she worried they might struggle to open them.
One dwarf wiped sweat with a thick hand, went to drink water, and noticed Ladian.
“What’s this?”
At his gruff voice, Ladian looked at him steadily.
“Hello. My name is Ladian. I’ve come to request a commission.”
The dwarf, half-listening while drinking water, frowned.
“This isn’t a place for strangers. Your egg-white skin might get burned to a crisp.”
“Thank you for your concern. I’ll be fine.”
The dwarf clicked his tongue and turned away. Ladian almost called after him, but stopped when she saw him return to hammering.
Time was on her side, after all.
She leaned against the wall again, slightly uneasy.
Then—
THUD.
With a heavy sound, Michael reappeared.
He was carrying a wooden box filled with chilled beer bottles, cold enough to steam. With a snap of his fingers, he opened one.
POP!
The loud sound echoed through the forge like champagne popping. A noise-amplifying spell, perhaps. The dwarves all stopped and looked at him at once.
Michael smiled.
“It’s hot, isn’t it? How about taking a short break with a cold drink?”
Ladian was dumbfounded. Since when could he smile like that?
But what surprised her even more came next.
The dwarves—who should have ignored him—approached as if enchanted. The one who had been rude earlier snatched a bottle from him.
In less than five seconds, the beer disappeared.
Michael kept smiling and continued opening bottles.
“Wait. If you open it, you can’t not drink it. We’re still working.”
“Yeah. Well… uh… thank you.”
Despite their hesitation, they kept drinking everything he handed them. In under five minutes, four dwarves finished an entire box.
With loud burps, they tried to return to work.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
At that moment, three more boxes of beer appeared before Michael.
Their bodies were in the forge, but their eyes were already on the beer.
After some hesitation, the leader finally shouted:
“…Fine! Short break!”
Only then did they sit down comfortably and start opening bottles.
Ladian watched everything without missing a single detail.
To get what you want, you must know what the other person likes—but she had forgotten that in her rush. Or even if she had known, it wouldn’t have been easy to bring something like this. The beer Michael brought came from a region at least two days away by carriage.
“Incredible,” she murmured.
Michael smirked slightly.
“Say what you want to say.”
“Thank you.”
Ladian swallowed hard and stepped toward the dwarves, who were drinking like sponges.
“How is something like this possible?”
“No, this is impossible.”
“No, but if we structure it like this…”
In a place piled with empty beer bottles, a discussion more heated than the forge itself continued.
Sitting on beer crates, the dwarves argued intensely while studying the blueprint Ladian had given them.
Though their tone sounded aggressive, the discussion surprisingly moved in a positive direction.
One raised his hand.
“Ahem. I’ll take this one.”
“What nonsense! I received the blueprint first!”
“I was the first to notice that human!”
“I know the best about the metal used here!”
They all argued, then suddenly looked at Ladian.
Startled, she stepped back slightly as they leaned in, eyes burning with curiosity and desire.
“So who will you choose?”
“Pick me. I know this best.”
“No, me!”
“Enough. I’ll answer.”
Their enormous eyes sparkled as they waited.
“This cannot be made by one person alone. I will cover the cost. Please work together.”
She placed a heavy purse of coins in front of them.
“When can it be completed?”
“One month! No—two weeks!”
“Two weeks? Ten days!”
“Three days! I’ll finish it in three days!”
Seeing their fiery enthusiasm, Ladian smiled in satisfaction.
“Once it’s complete, please deliver it to the address inside the pouch.”
