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Chapter 18
The next day, Maybel set out to tour the Grand Duke’s estate with Ella.
“Now then~ are you all ready~?”
“Yes!”
Grabbing the strap of her bunny-shaped bag that Ella had tied for her, Maybel answered with an excited face.
For ease of movement, she wore puffy bloomers under her skirt, making her look like an adorable doll.
With her twin braids tied low, she resembled a lop-eared rabbit.
“Eek~ I dressed you up myself, but you’re just too cute~!”
Squealing in delight, Ella bounced up and down before quickly regaining her composure.
“Now~ what did I say~? First, be careful of people. Second, be careful of people. And third~?”
“Be careful of people! And if I see anyone suspicious, I should call you right away!”
Having heard it repeatedly since yesterday, Maybel answered immediately.
But Ella still couldn’t stop her worried nagging.
Maybel understood her concern—but she really wanted to get going already.
But it’s my first time seeing a market!
As if fate had aligned perfectly, a market was being held in the inner city today.
After hearing about it yesterday, Maybel had been too excited to sleep properly.
After all, this was her first time experiencing something like this.
There’s nothing like this in my memories!
Memories…
Ever since realizing this world was actually from a novel, Maybel had vaguely thought she might be a reincarnator.
But something about that didn’t quite add up.
I don’t know who I was in my past life.
Strangely, while the concept of a “modern world” came to her clearly, she had no memory of herself.
So perhaps it wasn’t a typical reincarnation after all.
Though, what even counts as “typical” in cases like this?
In any case, only after enduring a long round of Ella’s nagging did Maybel finally get to head toward the inner city.
“We’ve arrived. This is where today’s market is being held.”
The coachman opened the door and explained kindly.
“Come on~ step down, young lady~”
Ella got off first and offered her hand.
“Thank you!”
With her heart pounding, Maybel stepped down from the carriage.
The moment she looked around, her chest swelled with excitement.
“Hahaha! Opportunities like this don’t come every day!”
“That’s too expensive—give me a discount!”
“This carpet here comes all the way from the southern lands—”
The lively voices of the bustling crowd filled the marketplace.
It was chaotic—but in an exhilarating way.
“Waaah…!”
Looking at the rows of stalls and the goods spread out everywhere, Maybel gasped in admiration.
Her cheeks were flushed with excitement.
“Hehe~ what do you think~? Amazing, right~?”
“Yes!”
Holding Ella’s hand tightly, Maybel’s eyes sparkled.
Last time, when she entered the Grand Duke’s estate, she had come straight through the main road and hadn’t noticed.
She hadn’t realized it was such a wide place that a market like this could be held.
“The market inside the walls is smaller than the one in the lower city, but it’s full of good things~ Lots of foreign goods come in too~”
Maybel nodded eagerly as she listened.
She was itching to run around and explore everything.
Even though they had come here with a purpose, she was already completely absorbed in the market.
Because of that, she didn’t notice—
“Isn’t that Lady Ella from the Grand Duke’s estate?”
“Yeah, I think so. Then who’s that child next to her?”
“Come to think of it, Josette said the Grand Duke bought things for a little girl.”
“Ah, I heard that too. The maids have been talking about a ‘young lady’ all day.”
“Right! No wonder the knights have been buying little girl accessories!”
“I’ve never seen her before… Wait. Why are her eyes like that?”
The chatter gradually quieted.
The attention of those buying and selling slowly shifted toward Maybel.
They lowered their voices and whispered.
“They’re red… her eyes are red!”
“Red? Then could she be…?”
Ah, so that’s why!
The murmurs grew louder—loud enough that Maybel couldn’t ignore them.
Startled, she realized that everyone was staring at her.
Huh? M-me? Why?
Now that she noticed, people had stopped what they were doing and gathered around, watching her with curiosity.
W-Wow, they’ve been staring this whole time!
Once she became aware of it, the pressure of their gazes was overwhelming.
Thinking about why, Maybel suddenly realized—
Ah… is it because they know I’m from the Ashilonia family?
It was a reasonable guess.
The bad relationship between Esclide and Ashilonia was widely known.
Even if the exact reasons weren’t, there were often small conflicts among the people.
The people in the estate didn’t care—but others might not be the same.
She should have been more careful—but she had let her guard down in the warmth of the Grand Duke’s household.
The sparkle in her eyes dimmed with fear.
Being stared at from all sides without a moment to breathe—it was only natural.
Seeing this, Ella crouched down to meet her gaze and spoke gently:
“Hmm~ it looks like the escort knight is running a bit late~ Your legs must be tired—shall we wait in the carriage~?”
In truth, Ella had already noticed the shift in the crowd.
She had hoped it would settle before Maybel realized—but she had misjudged.
“Let’s get into the carriage~ It might take a little while for the escort knight to arrive~”
Moving closer, she playfully squeezed Maybel’s hand.
Thanks to that, Maybel could hide from the crowd’s gaze and focus only on Ella.
But both of them knew—
getting into the carriage was only a temporary solution.
They might have to give up on exploring the market today.
“…Okay.”
Maybel nodded gloomily.
Just then—
Thud!
Someone stomped hard against the dry ground.
Startled, people turned toward the sound.
There stood a massive man, easily over two meters tall.
Maybel stared at him in shock.
Wearing light armor only where necessary—on his arms and shoulders—the man swept a cold gaze across the crowd.
The lively heat of the marketplace seemed to freeze instantly.
As he began to walk, the people surrounding Maybel hurriedly parted to make way.
Ella slowly stood up from in front of Maybel.
Positioning herself protectively, she faced the towering man.
Tension filled the space between them.
And then—
“My apologies for being late.”
The man dropped to one knee in front of Ella.
What in the world was happening?
As Maybel blinked in confusion, Ella replied in an unusually cold voice:
“Because you were late, our young lady had to go through quite an ordeal~ How do you intend to make up for it~?”
Her tone still sounded sing-song—but it was clear she was furious.
The man, who had been silently bowing his head, stood and spoke:
“Please excuse me.”
“Go ahead~”
The moment Ella answered, she immediately covered Maybel’s ears.
And then—
“What are you all staring at?! Never seen a cute kid before?! Don’t you have work to do?! Damn it—want me to shake down every stall here?! Nobody’s clean if I start digging! Stop gawking and get back to work!”
The man bellowed at the top of his lungs.
His roar was so loud and fierce that even with her ears covered, Maybel could still hear it clearly.
Still, it was a relief her ears weren’t fully exposed—
some people were already clutching their ears, wincing from the ringing.
