Chapter 39
As a result, the tea party was hastily brought to an end.
Of course, it wasn’t because I fought with that fox bitch.
[C-Clary? Your nosebleed won’t stop. Are you all right?]
[Y-yes. Of course. It’s only a nosebleed. So please continue… Whuh?]
[Lady Clary!]
Clary, who had suddenly begun bleeding from the nose, lost consciousness from anemia.
Since the hostess of the tea party had collapsed, everyone decided that the gathering could no longer continue.
“By the way, why did she suddenly get a nosebleed? Surely she didn’t overexert herself preparing the tea party?”
“Wouldn’t it be because I kissed Lady Fortune’s hand?”
“Oh, come on. No way.”
Even if Clary was a young lady of a noble family, it made no sense for her to get so excited over nothing more than a kiss on the back of her hand that she bled enough to become anemic and lose consciousness.
Unless she had never met a man in her life, that is.
“I saw her mingling with other young masters at her debutante ball.”
“Hmm… Then why would that be?”
“How should I know?”
“Excuse me. Here are the two coffees you ordered, along with cold water, ice, and plum tarts.”
“Oh!”
I let out an exclamation when I saw the coffee, water, and ice placed in front of me.
Then, with familiar movements, I poured the coffee and cold water into a large glass filled with ice.
‘This completes my iced Americano!’
How long had it been since I’d had coffee?
Since there wasn’t even a shop that sold coffee in Mugwort, I had half given up on drinking coffee in the North.
“Mmm…! This is it!”
“Isn’t this your first time drinking coffee, my lady?”
Heter, who was sipping espresso—the drink they called coffee—looked at me with bewildered eyes as I drank my iced Americano.
“Hmm? Isn’t it?”
“But how did you know that this teahouse specialized in coffee, and what on earth is that strange combination of coffee, water, and ice…?”
“Hmm, well…”
There may be one thing you’re wondering about.
Why was I drinking coffee at a café with Heter?
That was all thanks to Ruby’s suggestion after the tea party.
***
After the tea party, when we left the residence,
“Since it ended earlier than expected, how about you look around the territory with Sir Heter?”
Ruby said this while pointing at the sun, which was slowly setting.
“Right now?”
“Yes!”
Ruby nodded as though it were obvious.
At the time, I wasn’t very keen on Ruby’s suggestion.
I had attended the tea party immediately after arriving in the territory, so I was beginning to feel tired.
But Ruby had a good reason for making that suggestion.
“Because… ta-da!”
Eventually, Ruby pulled two pieces of paper about the length of her palm from her pocket.
“What’s that?”
“They’re tickets to Lil’s puppet show tonight!”
“What?”
I couldn’t believe what Ruby was saying, but the papers in her hand certainly looked like genuine puppet-show tickets.
“When did you get those?”
That was physically impossible.
Ruby had stuck by my side ever since we arrived in Cornet territory.
So I was certain she hadn’t had any time to go and get tickets like these.
“Hehe, someone of my stature can somehow get even things like this.”
“Indeed…”
Seeing Ruby’s confident attitude, I began to think that it might actually be possible.
Because wasn’t the person in question Ruby, after all?
‘With her talents, perhaps it isn’t entirely impossible….’
Just as I was once again admiring Ruby’s abilities,
“No, I was just joking! Why are you taking me so seriously?!”
Ruby shouted as though she found it utterly absurd.
“Because of everything you’ve shown me so far, obviously. Right, Heter?”
“I agree.”
When I looked at Heter, he nodded in agreement with me.
“Good grief… I didn’t actually get these myself; I got them from Lady Clary.”
“Huh?”
Why had Clary given Ruby tickets?
“Lady Clary recommended some tourist attractions worth visiting in the territory to you, didn’t she?”
“That’s right?”
When I looked puzzled, Ruby continued explaining.
“At the time, she must have noticed that you seemed interested in the puppet theater, so she told an attendant to obtain tickets in advance so they could be given to you as a gift after the tea party.”
“Really?”
The attendant had obtained the tickets, but, as you could see, Clary had lost consciousness.
In the end, the maid had no choice but to hand the tickets she had obtained to Ruby, my attendant.
“Goodness…”
She had noticed that I was interested in the puppet theater in such a short time and had even obtained tickets for me.
No matter what happened, I would have to invite her to my territory someday and treat her to something.
“The tickets say that the performance starts at ten. Wouldn’t it be perfect for the two of you to look around until then?”
“That… I suppose so.”
Judging by the setting sun, it was probably somewhere between four and five o’clock.
Considering the time we would spend eating dinner, it was an awkward time to rest before going to see the performance.
“Heter, what do you think?”
“I’m fine with it.”
“Then… shall we do as Ruby says?”
At my question, Heter nodded with a smile in his eyes.
Though he had said it that way, Heter seemed to have been looking forward to it too.
“Let’s do as you wish. I’m yours, after all.”
“Hey, I told you not to say that.”
“Ooh, how sweet. Then I’ll head back to the inn first.”
Unconcerned about whether I hit Heter or not, Ruby handed us the tickets and tried to return to the inn alone.
“Wait, Ruby! It’s dangerous for you to walk around alone!”
This wasn’t a small rural place like Fortune, where everyone in town knew one another’s faces.
Something could happen to a woman wandering around alone.
But.
“Dangerous? Who?”
“Well… Ah.”
Ruby’s confident attitude suddenly reminded me of the barbarians who had been turned into mincemeat by her.
“Ah… never mind. Just don’t kill them if they pick a fight.”
As long as you didn’t kill them, I’d be able to cover for you somehow.
“Hehe, got it! Have a good time!”
Ruby waved with a bright smile and disappeared down the street.
***
When we began sightseeing around Cornet territory, the first place we stopped was this café, which had lured me in with the aroma of coffee beans.
“Mmm!”
The bitter iced Americano paired perfectly with the sweet-and-sour plum tart.
“This is the taste of heaven.”
A pleasant exclamation escaped my lips before I even realized it.
“You always complain about how cold it is, so why do you drink your coffee with cold water and ice added?”
“This is how it’s meant to be drunk.”
“?”
Heter looked utterly baffled.
Well, that was the natural reaction for someone from this world.
“Anyway, that’s just how it is.”
I alternated between sipping my iced Americano and eating pieces of plum tart, shivering with delight.
‘I thought they wouldn’t go together, but they match better than I expected.’
I’d have to ask Ruby later whether she could make something similar with plum syrup.
As I continued eating, only one slice of tart remained.
“Hmm? Now that I think about it, aren’t you going to eat?”
I realized that Heter had only been looking at the plum tart and hadn’t eaten a single bite.
“I don’t like sweet things, so I’m fine.”
“No, aren’t you refusing because I’m eating so happily? We can order another one.”
“I’m really fine.”
Heter shook his head and declined.
“Hmm…? Ah! You’re acting like that because you’re waiting for me to feed you again, aren’t you?”
“Pardon?”
I stared at him with a look that said I knew exactly what he was doing.
After all, I had once personally fed Heter breakfast when he pretended that he couldn’t use his left hand.
Even now, thinking about the paper roses in the study could still make my anger surface.
“No. I really don’t like sweet things.”
“Sigh… Fine. I’ll let it slide this time.”
I sighed and held the last piece of tart up to his mouth.
“Here, eat.”
“It’s really all right….”
“Come now?”
“….”
Heter, his cheeks faintly flushed, eventually accepted the tart.
“How is it?”
“It’s delicious.”
“I knew it.”
Chuckling, I drank my iced Americano, which had become diluted as the ice melted.
“Next time, just tell me honestly if you want me to feed you. I’ll do it sometimes, even if not every time.”
“Is that really true?”
He sounded surprised.
There was no reason for me to lie about something like this.
It wasn’t as though feeding him a little would cost me anything.
“At least being a little embarrassed is better than being fooled by your lies.”
“…From now on, I’ll make sure not to lie to you, my lady.”
“All right.”
After we finished the tart and coffee, we got up and began strolling around the streets in earnest.
“Heter! Look at that! He’s doing a 720-degree spinning kick on a tightrope!”
“…I can do that much too.”
“?”
We watched street acrobats perform.
“They say those are chicken skewers coated in a sauce passed down for three generations. Let’s try those too.”
“After you’ve already eaten bread topped with cheese and tree sap and potatoes fried in oil, you want to eat again? At this rate, you’ll gain wei….”
“…What?”
“Nothing.”
We also bought and ate food from the street vendors.
“Wow, look at the flowers blooming on that tree. Aren’t they pretty?”
“Indeed. It’s a sight that would be difficult to see in Fortune territory.”
We also admired a plum tree blooming despite the cold weather.
Before we knew it, it was almost time for the performance, and while we were on our way to the tent where the puppet show was being held,
“Hmm.”
“What’s wrong?”
Heter suddenly stopped walking, as though something on the street had caught his eye.
“There’s still some time left. How about we look at that too before we go?”
And the place Heter pointed to was… a jewelry shop that looked old and shabby compared with the other buildings.