ISGJV 38

Chapter 38

“Hana! Look at this!”

“Uh… okay?”

With all the confidence, I had called him Eddie first and even taught him my real name.

But when Edmund called me by my real name, it made me strangely embarrassed.

My cheeks tingled so much I lightly tapped them with my fingertips.

I tried to speak cheerfully on purpose to hide my embarrassment.

“Why? Do you want this? Should I buy it for you?”

—But the item on the stall was something completely unexpected.

“This is a girl’s hair ribbon.”

Well, of course, Edmund is quite pretty-looking, so it would probably suit him too.

He must have noticed my expression because he frowned slightly at his own handsome face.

“I’m not going to wear it.”
“Well, yeah… but…”

Then why was he looking at a girl’s ribbon?

At that moment, Edmund picked up a ribbon and held it against my hair.

Then he smiled brightly.

“It looks good on you. The color is similar to your eyes.”
“Uh…”

My heart almost skipped a beat without me realizing it.

I laughed and lightly tapped the child on the shoulder.

“You should be picking your birthday present. Why are you picking mine?”

Then the stall vendor, cheerful and talkative, started speaking his mind.

“If you’re buying a gift for your girlfriend, you’ve chosen very well! The color matches her perfectly!”

Surprisingly, even though a commoner spoke to him informally, Edmund smiled a little.

He seems in a rather good mood.

“Must be excited since he hasn’t been out in so long.”

Still, I had to make sure he picked properly.

I stopped the vendor and said,

“No, he’s not my girlfriend.”
“No? Judging from his expression, it seems like he is.”

The clueless vendor chuckled at Edmund and kept rambling nonsense, trying to get him to buy something.

I stepped in, acting as Edmund’s guardian, and cut him off.

“No. You should pick what you want, something for yourself, Eddie. That way, I’ll feel it’s worth buying for you.”

The vendor next to us looked embarrassed.

“Oh… so you’re his older sister?”

Then Edmund exploded.

“I’m not your sister!”
“Eddie!”

Edmund pouted like a little duck and scolded me further.

“I’m not asking you to buy it!”
“Huh? Then…?”

He probably doesn’t have money right now.

Then, instead of me, Edmund called over Willes and gave him an order.

“You pay for it.”
“Eh?! M-me?!”

Willes’ face twisted humorously.

Edmund spoke in a low voice, commanding:

“You earn wages working as a servant, right? I’ll pay you back many times over later, so for now, you pay.”
“…”

Willes, looking like a flea getting squeezed dry, took out his wallet.

And as he started to protest, “You’ll have to pay me back tenfold later?” he got poked in the side.

In the end, the vendor handed the light green ribbon to Edmund with a smile.

I sighed, failing to stop this impulse purchase, yet I was puzzled.

“By the way, why is Edmund suddenly buying a girl’s ribbon? Who is he giving it to?”

I thought there was no way he was giving it to me—

Just then, Edmund placed the ribbon in my hand.

“Huh?”

I barely caught it before it slid to the floor.

“What’s this?”

Edmund didn’t forget to give an absurd explanation.

“I picked it up when it fell. You can have it.”

‘No, I just saw you make Willes pay for it!’

Before either Willes or I could say anything, Edmund, blushing, dashed off quickly.

“Eddie! Wait there!”

Chasing after him, I had no choice but to tuck the ribbon into my pocket.

We ended up having quite a fun time.

We bought some small items at the city’s little permanent market.

We also bought some simple snacks and shared them.

“See, this cinnamon taffy is as good as I said, right?”
“I’m not a kid, I don’t like sweets that much.”

Even while grumbling like that, Edmund took only the cinnamon-flavored pieces from the candy bag.

Willes asked, “Is it really that good?” and tried to taste one, but Edmund snatched it away.

‘If he liked it that much, he could’ve just said so.’

It was my taste, but cinnamon wasn’t exactly the most popular flavor.

There were plenty of other ordinary, more popular flavors like lemon or mint.

Yet he took all the cinnamon away from Willes and ate it himself—he must really like it.

‘Finding his own taste and preference… this really is what a thirteen-year-old kid is like.’

I looked at Edmund with a pleased expression and said,

“Don’t you really want anything? It’s your birthday, after all. I’ll buy you anything.”
“…I’m fine.”

What Edmund wanted as a gift was this little outing itself.

But I wanted to give him something tangible as a proper gift.

‘Something he can look at even after we part ways and think of me a little.’

There’s a fountain pen, but giving it on a special day like a birthday would be nicer!

If he doesn’t show at all what he wants, there’s no choice.

‘Well, the birthday gift is usually chosen by the giver anyway.’

I gave up on asking Edmund what he wanted and started looking for something I wanted to give him.

‘Where’s something suitable…’

Even though it’s a city, it’s not very large, so the market goods weren’t very diverse.

The fountain pen from before was specially ordered from a nearby artisan as the wife of the minor Duke of Cohen.

I couldn’t get such a thing now.

I had no choice but to pick something suitable as an ordinary girl, “Hana.”

It was then that I noticed some scruffy children begging in a corner of the market.

A brother and sister, about five or six years old, wearing almost tattered clothes.

The little sister was drooling while staring at the candy bag in my hand.

‘Poor things.’

They reminded me of the particularly hard times at the orphanage, making me feel even more concerned.

I slowly approached them, sat down, made eye contact, and asked,

“Are you hungry?”
“Uh-huh!”

The child had big, innocent eyes and held out a dirty little hand.

“Pretty sister, please give me just one candy.”

The little sister, still very young and missing teeth, pronounced it awkwardly.

The older brother begged alongside her.

“Please have mercy!”

I handed the entire candy bag to the little girl.

Her cheeks turned pink, which was adorable.

“Here. Eat it all.”
“Wow!”

The two children stuffed their cheeks with taffy. The girl, with a runny nose, smiled happily.

“Oh my, you like it that much?”

I wiped the child’s face with a handkerchief.

“Cleaned up, you look so much prettier.”

The nanny tried to stop me.

“Miss, your clothes will get dirty.”
“It’s okay.”

Then I thought to myself.

‘Actually, I’d like to give them money too, but that wouldn’t really improve their situation.’

Giving money to children here would definitely result in older kids or adults taking it from them.

‘Better not to interfere if I can’t handle everything properly.’

I couldn’t take responsibility for these children before leaving this place.

Whether the child knew my complicated feelings or not, she just smiled brightly.

She was happy simply because the candy she was eating was delicious.

The child snuggled deeply into my arms.

“I like you, sister!”

Scruffy as she was, the little child’s body was warm.

I unconsciously tried to hold her close, when suddenly someone interjected from the side.

“Where do you think you’re going! You little rats!”

Edmund grabbed the child by the wrist and yanked her backward.

Like this, with such a small child!

“Eddie!!!”

I called out scolding Edmund.

Something the child was holding dropped to the ground.

Clatter!

It was a money pouch.

The money I had asked the nanny and Willes to exchange at the pawnshop was inside.

“…!”

How did that end up there?