Chapter 62
A bright, sunny day after the rain stopped and the sun emerged.
“Hmm… The weather's nice….”
“If the weather's so nice, why do you look so depressed?”
Today, Ruby, who was walking around the capital's streets with me as a friend rather than a maid, looked up at the clear sky with regret.
“I mean, we can occasionally see weather like this in Fortune, but we can't see rain, right?”
“It's not as though rain is particularly nice.”
“How would you know that?”
Anyone who had to go outside on a rainy day would probably think the same.
I hadn't liked rain in my previous life either, except when morning assembly could be held indoors.
But even if I said that, Ruby wouldn't understand.
“Rain and snow both fall from the sky, so they should be similar, but Ruby, do you like it when it snows?”
“No, it's the absolute worst. Your clothes get wet, and you even have to sweep in front of the mansion….”
“That's more or less what I mean.”
As Ruby and I walked around, making such pointless small talk—
“Oh, Alice. Shouldn't we eat that?”
“Hm?”
Ruby pointed at something.
Following her finger, I shifted my gaze and spotted a standing sign advertising an afternoon tea set.
“Sure, why not?”
We were thirsty from walking for so long, and it was nearly lunchtime too.
We entered the teahouse and ordered the tea set listed on the sign. Before long, a staff member brought us refreshments and tea.
“Oh, that looks delicious.”
“It does, doesn't it?”
Desserts substantial enough to serve as a light meal, such as sandwiches and scones, along with fragrant tea.
Just as I smacked my lips and took my first sip of tea—
“So, how was yesterday?”
Trickle.
The tea that had spilled from my mouth flowed back into my teacup.
“Ruby… What are you talking about?”
“I'm just curious. Since I deliberately gave you some privacy yesterday, don't I deserve to hear at least this much?”
“Deliberately?”
Ruby grinned and nodded.
‘I had really believed Ruby went out just to watch the rain.’
Apparently, Ruby had been considerate of Heter and me in her own way.
“I was going to let it go if it seemed that nothing had happened. But when I woke up this morning, Sir Heter looked like he was dying from a hangover, didn't he?”
“…He did, didn't he?”
“What on earth did our lady do after getting Sir Heter drunk?”
How could someone my age grin so slyly, like a middle-aged man?
“Hm? Tell me. What did you do?”
“What do you mean, what did I do…? I didn't do anything.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
I nodded confidently.
And for good reason: all I had done was give him a little alcohol and ask him a few questions.
I hadn't actually done anything to him, after all.
“Hmm….”
I did my best to ignore Ruby's suspicious gaze and kept eating the snacks and drinking tea.
“For someone who did nothing, you looked awfully excited this morning.”
“…I looked excited?”
“Yeah. Your face looked brighter than usual, and you were even humming while making the tomato soup.”
“What?”
It was true that I had been in a good mood after hearing Heter's secret, but I hadn't realized it had shown enough for Ruby to notice.
“Don't hide it; tell me just between us. Hmm? I absolutely won't tell anyone else.”
“…Really?”
“Of course!”
I had no choice but to briefly tell her what had happened yesterday.
If I couldn't trust Ruby, who had been with me ever since we were born, there would be no one in the world I could trust.
Of course, I didn't tell her Heter's real name.
Heter had told me that only because he thought he could trust me.
“So that's what you had in mind.”
“Wow….”
Ruby listened intently to my story, oblivious to the tea growing cold.
“I knew it, but Sir Heter really does like you.”
“It seems that way.”
Apparently, other people had thought the same thing I had.
“Hmm, so you got Sir Heter drunk because you wanted to hear that from him?”
“Yeah.”
“…I'm going to ask one more time, just in case.”
Ruby gave me a serious look and pointed at me with the fork she had been using to eat her scone.
“How do you feel about Sir Heter now?”
“Now?”
“Yeah. Before, when I said I thought you liked Sir Heter, you freaked out and denied it.”
“I definitely did.”
Back then, I never thought the day would come when I would fall for a man.
To be honest, I was still a little confused.
‘Has my current self become completely a woman, even in personality?’
It was a difficult question to answer.
Because I still found my eyes drifting toward pretty women or women with large breasts without realizing it.
Besides, I didn't feel anything toward any man other than Heter.
Judging by that, it didn't seem as though my personality from my previous life had disappeared yet.
“But… I don't think that's true anymore.”
“!”
After hearing my answer, Ruby gobbled down the refreshments as if she were eating popcorn.
“I knew it! So when did you start liking him?”
“I can't pinpoint it exactly. I think it just became this way at some point.”
I think it was when I got angry because of Cecile that I truly became aware of these feelings.
“You realized you were in love because you were jealous. Alice… You really are a woman.”
Ruby looked at me with a wistful gaze.
Well, Ruby had even worried about me because I showed absolutely no interest in men.
“Then is that contract useless now?”
“Hm?”
“You accepted that contract because you wanted to employ Sir Heter but didn't particularly want to date him, right?”
“I suppose…?”
“But now you like each other, so it has no meaning anymore.”
That… was persuasive!
Thinking it over carefully, Ruby was right.
Now that I had fallen for Heter, did I really need it?
“You've known each other for several months now, so shouldn't you two start making some progress?”
“For example?”
“A kiss… or spending the night together?”
“!”
It felt as though a bomb had exploded in my head.
A kiss?
Me, kissing Heter?
“Hmm….”
We already held hands and hugged each other, so the next step would presumably be kissing.
Judging by how often he kissed my hand, Heter clearly liked that sort of affectionate behavior too.
But a kiss?!
I hadn't even done it in my previous life, so I couldn't imagine it at all.
‘I think it would be better to keep the contract in place for now.’
Holding Heter's hand or hugging him still seemed sufficient for me.
After finishing our small talk, Ruby and I left the shop.
“Shall we head back soon?”
“Hm? Already?”
I was startled when I heard Ruby suggest that we return to the inn.
We had barely explored anything beyond the area around the inn, and Ruby liked seeing new places.
I had thought we'd keep sightseeing until evening, so I never expected her to suggest going back already.
“I guess I expected too much just because it's the capital. There are lots of carriages, but there aren't many people on the sidewalks.”
“What were you expecting?”
“For example… endless street stalls and performances so incredible they seemed unbelievable?”
I more or less understood what Ruby had been hoping for.
Egmund had arranged our lodging near his boutique.
In other words, the inn where we were staying was on Pleos Street too.
What Ruby wanted to see could probably only be found in the lower-class district.
‘If I ever visit the capital with Ruby again, I should find us lodging in the lower-class district next time.’
Just as we were about to return to the inn—
“Excuse me….”
“Hm?”
When someone called out to us and we turned around, two neat-looking young men were looking at us with smiles.
“I fell in love at first sight. Might I ask which family you belong to?”
What the hell? It was just a pickup attempt.
It wasn't particularly strange. If anything, it was almost surprising that this was the first time I'd ever been hit on.
“I'm sorry. I have somewhere urgent to be.”
“I'm sorry.”
Having grown accustomed to this while walking around with me, Ruby and I apologized politely and tried to continue on our way.
Usually, people backed off after that much.
But—
“Oh, don't be like that. Why don't you tell us?”
“Or… are you unable to answer because you're commoners?”
‘Damn… What a nuisance.’
These guys didn't seem ordinary.
That was clear from both the fact that they were walking around this street and the clothes they wore.
They looked like sons of fairly wealthy families, yet here they were pestering a woman who had clearly said no.
“I am Alice Fortune, head of House Fortune. I've answered your question, so why don't you let us go now?”
“Fortune? Have you heard of it?”
“No, that's the first I've heard of it.”
Before long, mocking smiles appeared in the eyes of the two men.
“Sounds like some rural family no one's ever heard of… How about you come have some fun with us?”
“Once you hear which family we belong to, you won't regret spending time with us.”
“…That sounds wonderful.”
“Don't be like that… Argh!”
The moment one of them grabbed my wrist—
Ruby kicked him in the shin.
“What do you think you're doing!”
The other one shouted angrily upon seeing his friend get hit.
“Our lady said she didn't like it, but you kept bothering her.”
“You little….”
“What are you going to do, glare at me like that?”
Ruby met the man's glare without backing down.
I carefully tugged at her clothes.
Judging by his reaction just now, it was obvious that he was confident in the family he belonged to.
‘If we get dragged into this for no reason, we'll be the ones inconvenienced.’
We could somehow smooth things over for now, but if we ended up in a serious fight, things would get complicated.
“Ow….”
While one of them clutched his shin in agony, we tried to flee to the inn, but—
“I think you owe me compensation for injuring my friend.”
“It's just a kick to the shin! What compensation are you talking about?”
“Shut up.”
Thud.
“Ruby?!”
No, had these lunatics just hit Ruby?
I had thought they were insane when I saw them cling to us even after being rejected, but I never imagined they would go this far.
“….”
“What's with that hostile look?”
Ruby, who had been slapped, glared at the man with a murderous look in her eyes.
The situation was on the verge of exploding.
“Is something going on?”
“Heter?”
“I heard some commotion, so I came out to see what was happening.”
Heter approached from the direction of the inn.
Good, then. Now that someone else had arrived, those guys wouldn't keep acting like this.
But then—
“…Arsenio?”
“Gregory, Randolph…?”
“Huh?”
What? You two know each other?
And…
‘That isn't Heter's real name, though…’