QOL 13

Chapter 13

Erin, who had opened her handbag to take out some money, stopped her hand.
The boy who had gone into the alley had vanished without a trace.

“He could’ve at least taken the money… Won’t he get scolded?”

She picked up the newspaper that had fallen to the ground.

Her gaze naturally drifted to the front page.

An article about an international tennis match occupied most of it, along with a story about the culprit behind the river pollution in the capital being caught. And—

“…Oh no.”

At the bottom of the front page, three faces were printed side by side.
The one in the middle was hers.

[The Arrival of a New Competitor? Seventy-Five-Year-Old Count Proposes a Deal to Eden Fletcher! The Future of the Cornu Young Lady Up in the Air Once Again?]

Erin’s hand trembled as she gripped the newspaper open.
The article itself was even worse than the title, stuffed full of ridiculous nonsense.

“He offered double the price? Why—why are they making it about me!”

One hurdle passed only for another to appear.
The wound she had barely managed to close was being torn open again.

“So that’s why… They’re saying I’ve been desperately trying to curry favor with Eden Fletcher lately? Because I don’t want to be abandoned?”

Breathing harshly, Erin folded the newspaper over and over before throwing it into a trash bin.

“…What did I just see?”

Staying at the hotel right beside the department store, Eden paused while rubbing his chin as he looked out the window.

Strangely enough, the feel of his jaw beneath his hand was as smooth as a baby’s skin.
Thanks to the barber he had summoned to the hotel that morning.

“Huh? The lady’s here.”

Meanwhile Jin, who had started growing a beard since the other day instead, pulled the blinds aside and looked down below.

A pale orange dress wrapped around her body, emphasizing her slender, straight figure.
She stood in front of the park—the Young Lady of House Cornu whom his boss had been waiting for since dawn.

“You should hurry down and meet her, boss.”

Eden stood motionless, staring as though deep in thought.

Far away, tiny as a fingertip from this distance, Erin suddenly threw something into a trash can.
The orange fabric shimmered under the light as she moved.

“Yeah. After I watch her go inside.”

Jin looked at Eden, surprised by his unexpected hesitation.

“You’re not escorting her?”

“Nope.”

Eden checked the watch on his wrist once before nodding.

“Why not?”

He rubbed his chin again out of habit.

Though his eyes never left Erin Cornu, half his thoughts were occupied with the realization that the razor he had used that morning had pretty decent commercial potential.

Meanwhile, Erin’s gaze stopped on LeFitte.
As if debating whether to enter or not, she stood there silently, like someone fighting an invisible battle.

“Boss?”

“Wait a little.”

“For what?”

“It’s her first time.”

“…What?”

“If I secretly tail her, I’ll get an honest reaction, won’t I? This is her very first visit, after all.”

Understanding what he meant, Jin frowned.
In so many ways, his boss really was something else.

“Haa…”

After biting her lip in hesitation, Erin finally crossed the street.

She couldn’t very well turn back now over a mere piece of paper.

Something was pushing her forward.

The silent pressure of her family name demanding that she put an end to these tiresome rumors.

“Welcome, milady.”

As she carefully climbed the steps across the street, two doormen opened the grand doors for her.

Their hats and coats were red, their shoes polished to a shine.
The formal smiles they directed at guests faintly resembled the bearing of royal attendants.

Even in the face of their warm hospitality, Erin maintained a certain distance as she stepped inside.

‘So this is LeFitte.’

Her slender legs took one cautious step after another across the beautifully patterned marble floor.
But the moment she entered, the atmosphere changed completely.

“Ah…”

The first thing to react was her nose.

The scent of women’s powder and perfume, and flowers.

Fresh flowers had been placed all throughout the store, to the left and right of the entrance and everywhere her eyes turned. Large trees brought in with their pots stretched high overhead, creating an oddly exotic impression.

‘So this is a department store.’

Then came the sounds that unraveled her caution.

The cheerful laughter of women.
Following the source of the noise, lavish display counters came into view.

Avoiding eye contact, Erin walked forward while looking over the rounded rows of merchandise extending on both sides.

The salesclerks, dressed in brown dresses as uniforms, guided customers with beautifully made-up faces no less elegant than the guests themselves.

The customers, all dressed with care, wore smiles as well.

The farther inside she went, the more people brushed past her.
Even so, aside from the customary glances people cast toward strangers sharing the same space, she felt none of the sticky curiosity usually directed solely at her.

Letting out a small breath of relief, Erin clenched her fists.
She had made it inside safely. Now she only had to wait a little.

‘Come around lunchtime. We’ll eat something together.’

‘Is your office inside the building?’

‘It is, but it’ll be complicated if you try finding it yourself. I’ll come down to the first floor around the right time, so don’t worry.’

It was about time now. Eden Fletcher would come.
Then they could go somewhere private—his office or somewhere enclosed—and discuss the matter.

As Erin walked slowly forward, she unintentionally arrived before a large structure in the center where people had gathered.

Receiving everyone’s attention was an iron cage more than three spans taller than a person.

The brass contraption that opened and closed sideways somehow looked neither threatening nor grotesque.
Instead, it inspired admiration and wonder in the customers.

‘…This is.’

She knew what it was from the newspapers.
An elevator, wasn’t it?

“Would you like to ride it?”

At the employee’s question, Erin shook her head and stepped back.
Even after seeing people board it without hesitation, her unease didn’t disappear.

Just approaching it made her feel endangered somehow, so she avoided the elevator and walked the other way.

Then, after passing through a corridor lined with display counters, she stopped.

‘Wait… If I keep wandering around like this, will that man even be able to find me?’

But the question didn’t linger long.

Bright light began pouring into the eyes hidden beneath her hat.

Her vision filled with brilliance.

The marble floor and iron railings reflected the light, dazzling her eyes.

Sensing something strange, she looked upward.

The floor above, and the one above that as well—every level was open in the center.

And at the very top, a gigantic glass ceiling unlike anything she had ever seen allowed sunlight to stream through.

‘…Ah.’

So that’s why it felt bright and glamorous.

Seeing the path of light pouring all the way down to the basement, she couldn’t help but let out a quiet gasp.

The head maid hadn’t described it as bright because of the lamps scattered throughout the building.
It was natural light itself, the sky’s light draped directly over the merchandise.

“What are you looking at, Miss Cornu?”

Right then, a man’s voice came from behind her.
Turning around, she saw Eden standing there with his hands clasped behind his back, wearing an unusually polite expression.

“Did you find something interesting?”

“No, just…”

“I see. It’s a pleasure meeting you again like this. It’s a great honor that you came in person.”

Erin slowly turned her head side to side.
Why did his neatly dressed appearance somehow look so ridiculous?

“Well, I was wondering what you’d do if you couldn’t find me.”

“If you’re wearing something that beautiful, I’d be able to find you no matter where you hid. You stand out far too much.”

“Today, I paid special attention to—”

“As if you wore it specifically for that.”

Erin, who had been lightly brushing the soft fabric of her dress with the back of her hand, paused before continuing.

“Thank you for viewing it… favorably, Mr. Fletcher.”

“Not at all.”

After finishing the greeting, Eden took a step toward her.

Undoing the clasp behind his back, he raised a hand above her head.
Without hesitation, he removed Erin’s hat.

“W-Wha…?”

The hat left its owner’s head and smoothly passed into the hands of an employee standing behind them.

Even as Erin’s mouth fell open in shock, Eden calmly brushed and straightened her hair as though it were nothing.
The surrounding murmurs grew loud enough to make her nerves sharpen.

“It’d be a waste for only me to see that face.”

It felt as though she could sense every gaze around them one by one.

“Smile a little, won’t you? That’s why I called you here.”

“My hat—!”

He took Erin’s hand and placed it on his arm.
Then, as naturally as though it had been planned all along, he led her forward.