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Chapter 20
Yeah. What else really matters?
Erkis looked slightly excited, apparently pleased with the statues lined up before them, while LeBlanc gazed at him with nothing but tender affection.
“Erkis.”
“Yes?”
“From now on, let’s travel around together a lot. Eat lots of good food, try things we’ve never done before. Meet new people, too… Let’s do that.”
Without realizing it, LeBlanc’s throat tightened. She turned her head away, trying to hide it. Unaware of her feelings—or perhaps simply pretending not to notice—Erkis replied calmly, a faint smile on his lips.
“That sounds nice. We have plenty of time ahead of us.”
At that moment, she made her vow again, over and over: in this life, she would make sure to do everything she hadn’t been able to do with him before.
As befitting the most famous festival in the North, the Snowflower Festival was full of sights to see and things to enjoy. The two of them watched children riding sleds, bought apple candy shaped like ice, and observed people drilling holes in the lake to fish.
After wandering the festival for quite some time, their gazes stopped at a certain stall. It was a shop selling plush dolls of various kinds. With a suddenly mischievous smile, LeBlanc approached it.
“Look at that. They’re selling dolls.”
She picked up the smallest, roundest doll on the stall. It was modeled after a magical beast, with fluffy white fur and little horns sticking out, giving it a slightly prickly look.
Still, to LeBlanc, the small, soft, lovable doll somehow reminded her of Erkis.
“This looks like you, Erkis.”
“…This one?”
Erkis stared at the doll with a bewildered expression. Unlike LeBlanc’s intentions, all he saw was a small, rather ill-tempered-looking doll.
Do I really look that mean?
Frowning, Erkis glanced around, then let out a small laugh. Soon, he picked up another doll—a girl with red hair. Her face bore no smile, giving her a blank, chilly impression.
If he showed this to LeBlanc, she would probably pout and ask if she really looked that cold. Imagining her reaction, Erkis spoke with a hint of playfulness.
“This one looks like you, my lady.”
“Huh?”
LeBlanc blinked blankly at the doll. Among all the beast-shaped dolls, it was the only one in human form, with vivid red hair and striking features. No matter how many times she looked, it was clearly the prettiest doll on the stall.
Curling her lips slightly, LeBlanc leaned close and whispered by his ear,
“So this is how pretty I look through your eyes?”
“W–What?”
Caught completely off guard, Erkis’s face flushed bright red. While he stood there, flustered and unsure of what to do, LeBlanc, who had been smiling at his reaction, suddenly noticed something and pointed.
“What’s that? There’s a crowd over there—let’s go see!”
She grabbed his hand and hurried toward the stall. It was a game where players shot corks from an air gun to hit snowballs. The distance between the gun and the snowballs was fairly long, making it look far from easy to win a prize.
The onlookers merely watched with curious expressions, none of them stepping forward readily. At that moment, the vendor spotted the two hovering nearby and quickly began his sales pitch.
“Step right up! For just ten silver, you get a chance to win a rare magical-beast scarf! Fifteen shots, twelve snowballs! Break them all and the scarf is yours! We’ve got prizes depending on how many you hit, so give it a try!”
“Wow…”
LeBlanc’s eyes sparkled with excitement. She could easily buy a magical-beast scarf if she wanted, but since this was her first time truly experiencing a festival, the prize game felt fresh and novel.
“Erkis, do you want that?”
“Huh? No, not really. I’m not that interested.”
“Alright. I’ll win it for you.”
Although Erkis clearly said he was fine, his answer didn’t seem to matter much to LeBlanc. She had already paid and was loading a cork into the air gun, taking her stance. Stepping closer, Erkis asked cautiously,
“My lady, do you know how to shoot a gun?”
“Mm, no. It’s my first time with an air gun. But it’s probably similar to a bow, right?”
Within the Empire, guns weren’t very useful weapons. Though it had been more than five years since their invention, their firing power was weak and their range short, so they were more often used for entertainment or as toys for children, like this.
Having tried an air gun a few times, Erkis felt he could clearly predict the outcome of the game. A bow and a gun were fundamentally different.
Just then, as LeBlanc took hold of the gun, she glanced at him as if she had read his thoughts and spoke with easy confidence.
“Don’t worry. I’m good at anything that uses the body.”
“Ah…”
She gave him a light wink as if to reassure him. Whether it was her teasing tone or the oddly suggestive way it sounded, Erkis’s face instantly turned red, and he covered it with the back of his hand.
What am I even thinking right now…
Startled by the strange thoughts that had filled his head, Erkis shook it vigorously, trying to clear his mind.
Click—bang. Click—bang. Click—bang.
The sharp sounds rang out in succession, forcing Erkis to look again. Every time LeBlanc pulled the trigger, a snowball burst apart as if by appointment. The rare sight drew the attention of everyone nearby in an instant.
“S–She hit all of them.”
The vendor stared, mouth agape, blinking in disbelief. Occasionally someone did manage to hit all the snowballs, but they were usually former knights or burly men. In all his years of running the stall, a slender woman like LeBlanc had never won the prize.
Yet LeBlanc didn’t look particularly surprised. She even had the leisure to return the two remaining corks to the vendor.
“Too bad I missed the very first one.”
Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind. It would be several more years before guns with proper killing power circulated within the Empire.
Such weapons wouldn’t appear overnight; somewhere on the continent, there might already be someone researching the development of firearms beyond air guns. LeBlanc pondered this with a serious expression.
“Here’s your prize. Thank you for playing!”
Finally snapping out of his daze, the vendor handed her a fluffy-furred scarf along with his thanks. The silvery magical-beast scarf was beautiful to look at and excellent at keeping one warm.
After draping it around her own neck briefly, LeBlanc took it off and held it out to Erkis.
“Here. It’s a gift.”
“You’re really giving it to me?”
“Of course. I don’t make empty promises.”
She nodded lightly and wrapped the scarf around his neck. With the air already a bit chilly, its warmth was all the more noticeable.
What’s more, even though LeBlanc had only worn it for a moment, it seemed to carry a faint trace of her scent.
“I thought it would suit you. And you’ve looked cold for a while now—I couldn’t help worrying.”
Smiling gently, LeBlanc adjusted the ends of the scarf with a tender touch. At that moment, the faint smile on Erkis’s lips slowly faded.
Before long, he let out a few short, uneasy breaths, then loosened the scarf and held it in his hand, muttering,
“I, um… I’m going to get some fresh air for a moment. I’m not feeling too well.”
“Erkis?”
He hurried away as soon as he finished speaking. Just as LeBlanc was about to follow him, worried, a man’s voice stopped her.
“LeBlanc?”
The man was tall and lanky, with a slick, polished face. Turning around to look at him, LeBlanc frowned slightly.
“Who are you?”
“Hah, even if it’s been a while, don’t you think it’s a bit much to pretend you don’t know me when we were once even engaged?”
At the word engaged, LeBlanc’s expression twisted further. After rifling through her memories, she called out a name that came to mind.
“Viscount Lelten?”
The engagement had been brief and long ago, so she didn’t remember it well, but the only person she’d ever been engaged to was Viscount Lelten.
Even that memory had only resurfaced because her father, Gatte, had mentioned him recently at the Arnetio ducal house. Otherwise, she was certain she wouldn’t have remembered him at all. Her face hardened instantly as she asked in a cold voice,
“What brings you here?”
“What do you think? I came to see the festival and happened to run into a familiar face, so I said hello. When did you learn to shoot? I didn’t realize it was you—I was surprised.”
“Are we really on terms where we should be greeting each other warmly?”
“You’re not still holding a grudge over what happened back then, are you? I told you—it was a mistake.”
