Chapter 83
'You really don't have any meat on you at all, do you? I don't know what kind of life you've lived up until now, but you can rest easy—our establishment makes sure its girls get proper meals. And even with a meager body like yours, if you know how to use it, you can still make a man very happy! Listen, our job is to please our customers, but men get excited watching a woman feel good and moan under their own hands, so you have to enjoy yourself too. Here, around here... and you can feel good if you're touched here too...'
Monica's memory cuts off around the time Doris shoved a hand beneath her clothes and groped her body.
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A soft, squishy sensation against her cheek brought Monica back to her senses.
"Paw pads...!"
She assumed it must have been Nero's soft paw pad giving her cheek a little poke.
However, when Monica looked around, she found herself in a room decorated in red and gold so garish it hurt the eyes—not in a mountain cabin or an attic room.
When she turned toward her left cheek, where the supposed paw pad had touched, she found Felix looking at her with an indescribable expression.
"Have you come to your senses?"
"Y-Your, Your, Your..."
As Monica began to say Your Highness, Felix pressed his index finger firmly against her lips.
Monica let cold sweat run down her face as she moved only her eyes to survey her surroundings.
She was currently sitting on a luxurious sofa, leaning against Felix, while Madame Cassandra sat across from them and Doris stood nearby.
When Monica met her eyes, Doris wryly smiled and twirled a finger through her cherry-blonde hair.
"Oh, sorry about that. I thought you'd been sold to our establishment."
"...Uh... yes."
Only then did Monica realize what she was wearing.
It was a flimsy, underwear-like burgundy dress. Doris had forced Monica to put it on after dragging her away earlier.
When Monica let out a small sneeze, Felix took off his coat and draped it over her.
"Doris."
When Felix looked at Doris reproachfully, she gave him a sheepish smile.
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry. I'll lend her a nice, warm fur coat. She could use some gloves, too."
"Um... if I could just have my own clothes back... that would be enough..."
Monica hurriedly stood and tried to hand the coat draped over her shoulders back to Felix.
"Um, here, I'll give this ba—achoo!"
As she sneezed, the dress, whose shoulder straps had slipped out of place, slid all the way to the floor.
Since she wasn't wearing anything like a corset today, once the dress fell off, her upper body was completely bare.
Monica crouched down, picked up the dress, and said, "There we go," as she put the straps back over her shoulders. Then she carefully checked whether the hem had gotten dirty.
Felix and Doris stared at her in stunned silence.
"..."
"..."
Monica did not seem bothered by having her dress fall off in front of everyone. Instead, she was worrying about whether it had gotten dirty, which made Madame Cassandra frown.
"What a strange girl."
"...? Um... what about my clothes...?"
"Doris, give them back to her."
When Madame Cassandra jerked her chin, Doris said, "Sure thing," and beckoned Monica over.
When Monica hesitated, Doris scratched her cheek awkwardly.
"I'm only giving your clothes back. Come on, get over here."
"Y-yes..."
"If you want me to teach you how to please your man, I can give you a private lesson."
When Monica shook her head so hard it looked as though it might come off, Doris broke into a delighted cackle.
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After Doris returned her clothes, Monica also borrowed a warm fur coat and gloves. She had never worn fur before, and was initially surprised by its considerable weight, but once she put it on, she understood: it kept the wind out and was wonderfully warm.
As Monica secretly savored the thought that, with this, she might not have to write while wrapped in a thin blanket on cold nights, Felix looked at her and smiled.
"Yes, it suits you. When you're wearing fur, you look like some kind of little animal."
"Don't call me a baby squirrel..."
"I won't, Monica. Now, let's go."
With that, Felix extended his left arm slightly in front of Monica.
She supposed the correct thing to do was link arms, just as Doris had taught her earlier. However, there was simply too much difference in height between petite Monica and the fairly tall Felix.
After agonizing over it, Monica pinched the cuff of Felix's sleeve between her fingertips. This way, she would not have to worry about getting separated.
Felix did not chide her for it.
"Well, there's a place I want to go, but before that, shall we walk around a little? Looking at the food stalls and street vendors can be surprisingly fun."
With that, Felix set off along a street lined with food stalls and vendors.
When one hears "food stalls," one tends to think of skewered meat and fruit drinks, but the stalls in the pleasure district at night mostly sold accessories. Apparently, the owners of stalls that served food and drink during the day rented them out to accessory sellers at night.
"Hey there, sir. Come have a look at my shop. We've got accessories women love. Give one of these as a souvenir, and the girls at the brothel will be overjoyed. And how about a cute bracelet for the young miss over there? We've got earrings, too."
"I'll take a look."
Felix stopped and turned his attention to the accessories lined up on the stall, prompting the shopkeeper to rub his hands together eagerly.
"The accessories at my shop are truly something special. They're blessed by a famous mage, after all."
"Oh? Are they magic devices?"
"Yes, something like that."
Apparently, young people were more receptive to words like "charm" and "blessing" than "magic device."
The shopkeeper began describing how this necklace had a charm that increased one's attractiveness, while that ring had the power to ward off misfortune, all in a thoroughly convincing tone.
Every item gleamed beautifully in the lantern light. The shopkeeper probably knew that customers had a harder time telling cheap goods from expensive ones when shopping at night than during the day.
(None of them seem to have any effect as magic devices.)
The settings of the rings and the clasps were engraved with magical script that looked the part, but every inscription was nothing more than gibberish.
Felix had probably realized that too. He was pretending to be interested, but there was no warmth in his eyes as he examined the merchandise. He was simply browsing.
As Monica casually looked over the accessories, one brooch suddenly caught her eye. Its design was distinctly different from the others.
Simply put, the craftsmanship of the brooch's setting was exceptionally intricate. Compared to the other cute accessories, the precision of its decoration was on an entirely different level.
The stone used was topaz. The magical formula engraved inside it was genuine, without a doubt.
(A simple defensive barrier. The precision doesn't seem very high, though...)
When Monica stared intently at the brooch, the shopkeeper raised his voice eagerly.
"Well, young miss, you have a good eye. This brooch is a special piece, unlike the others."
The shopkeeper paused, then leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice as though sharing a secret.
"This brooch is secondhand, but... get this! It was made by one of the Seven Sages, 〈Jewel Magician〉-sama!"
"Huh...?"
The words Seven Sages made Monica's heart skip a beat.
Beside her, Felix rested a finger against his chin and murmured,
"〈Jewel Magician〉 Emmanuel Darwin... I've heard he's a genius at making magic devices."
"Well, sir, you're a knowledgeable one. That's exactly right! A magic device made by the 〈Jewel Magician〉 would cost enough to buy a house in the royal capital if you bought it through legitimate channels. But here, I'm offering it at a special price... What do you say?"
"May I see the brooch?"
At Felix's request, the shopkeeper cheerfully wrapped the brooch in cloth and held it out to him.
Felix took the brooch and held the topaz up to the lamplight. He was probably checking whether the magical formula inside was visible.
Deep within the magical formula, the name Emmanuel Darwin was engraved in minuscule letters.
By any ordinary reckoning, it was a fake. The formula's precision was poor, and in any case, a magic device made by one of the Seven Sages would never be sold at a street stall like this.
However, something about the brooch's decoration caught Monica's attention. She had seen a brooch strikingly similar to it before.
(It looks like Cyril-sama's brooch...)
Cyril Ashley, whose constitution made him prone to storing up magic power, always wore a magic-device brooch that absorbed and released the magic power in his body.
Monica had held that brooch herself, so there was no way she could mistake it.
(The name of 〈Jewel Magician〉-sama should have been engraved on Cyril-sama's brooch too...)
Cyril's brooch, which had not been treated with a formula to prevent deterioration over time.
And now, this brooch Felix was holding, fitted with nothing more than a crude defensive barrier.
The two were strikingly similar—in both the brooch's decoration and the quirks of its magical formula.
"I like it. I'll take this brooch."
"Heh-heh, you're a generous one, sir. Thank you kindly."
Felix paid an exorbitant sum, far beyond what one would pay at a street stall, and accepted the brooch.
Monica watched Felix tuck it away, feeling unsettled.
(Does His Highness realize that this brooch resembles Cyril-sama's?)
There was no way to read Felix's intentions from his beautiful profile. Even so, as Monica gazed up at him for no particular reason, Felix turned his blue eyes toward her.
"Hey, Monica. Is there any accessory you'd like? If you see something you like, I'll buy you anything."
"...No. I'm all right."
When Monica slowly shook her head, Felix bent down a little and peered into her face.
"You wore makeup on the day of the chess tournament, didn't you? It suited you very well."
"Oh..."
"Would you let me give you an accessory to match how you looked that day?"
If Felix whispered in a honeyed voice, most noblewomen would probably blush and gaze at him dreamily.
But Monica's heart did not stir.
Monica thought about why in her own way, then awkwardly put it into words.
"Um... do you remember when I first met, uh... Ike?"
"The old garden. You were dropping nuts."
"Back then, you picked up the nut for me... I was so... so happy."
Having just arrived at the academy with no close acquaintances and no idea which way was up or down, Monica had thought Lana's ribbon and the nut Felix picked up for her were treasures. She had even felt it would be a shame to eat the nut.
"Um, I don't know how to put this... but even if you bought me an accessory here and now, I don't think I could be as happy as I was about that nut back then..."
At Monica's halting words, Felix lowered his brows slightly and smiled sadly.
"I see..."
That sad expression made Monica feel terribly guilty. Whatever the reason, she had still rejected Felix's kindness.
So Monica hurriedly continued.
"Um, and also, I only recently became interested in fashion, so I'm a complete beginner, and, well... accessories are still a bit beyond me, or rather... yes! Accessories are for advanced users, so I think it's still too soon for me!"
When Monica said this desperately, Felix blinked in surprise, then burst into an amused chuckle the very next moment.
"I see... Ha-ha. In that case, let's say that's how it is."
Monica nodded repeatedly while inwardly sighing in relief.