Chapter 17
Four days had passed since Simaril gave birth.
Although elves were being kidnapped at regular intervals, the Empire remained quiet and peaceful as ever.
That was only fitting for the Empire, the victor of the war.
Vieta was no different.
The occasional commission and a handful of coins trickling in—her life was not much different from usual.
But if there was one thing troubling Vieta, it was Blanc.
Blanc had been waiting outside the office since before Vieta opened it the day before yesterday, and since then, he had refused to leave her side.
“Blanc, why are you hanging around here?”
At Vieta’s question, the prince silently picked up the book he had been reading and headed outside.
There was hardly anywhere to flee in the cramped office, yet he dutifully escaped every time Vieta asked him about it.
“Are you really just here to hang out? Or is there some other reason?”
It was not just one or two days; it was already the third day. Vieta was beginning to get a little irritated.
If Blanc had not had enough tact to make himself scarce whenever a customer came in or helped with minor chores like cleaning and preparing tea, she might have kicked him out long ago.
“Fine, fine. I won’t ask anymore. Come in.”
At Vieta’s declaration of surrender, Blanc reentered the consultation room.
Then he settled into the guest chair and opened his book with a serious expression.
“Is that book interesting?”
[On the Structure of Mana]
Just looking at the title, which was enough to make her sleepy, made Vieta frown unconsciously.
“It’s a decent read.”
Blanc answered while adjusting his glasses.
According to him, he did not wear them because his eyesight was poor; they were magnifying glasses because the book’s print was too small.
A dull title, a formidable thickness of more than a handspan, and tiny print to boot.
Vieta couldn’t help admiring Blanc for reading the book since morning without so much as a sigh.
“By the way, shouldn’t you be studying things like politics or military science rather than magic if you’re going to become Crown Prince?”
“I’ve been learning those since I was young.”
“What did you learn?”
“Just the basics? Etiquette, military science, and politics. I also studied history and philosophy. I remember studying art as well, though only the theory. I learned a little ancient script, too.”
With a soft flutter, a thin page turned.
Blanc did not stop reading even as he talked with Vieta.
“But you never learned swordsmanship or anything like that?”
….”
Vieta had found it fascinating that he had lived in a world so different from hers and kept bombarding him with questions, but she was suddenly flustered. For the first time, the prince set down the book he had been reading and looked at her.
“Ah, I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable.”
Embarrassed, Vieta darted her eyes around and scratched her cheek with her index finger.
Come to think of it, it had been a rather personal question.
Even she would have been annoyed if an acquaintance she had only just gotten to know back in childhood had asked when she had mastered her multiplication tables, when she had learned quadratic functions, or why she had never learned calculus.
“It’s not uncomfortable. I was only flustered because people don’t usually ask me things like that. As for your question, I simply had no need to learn them. I was physically weak to begin with, and learning such things would have been more dangerous for me back then.”
When Blanc finished speaking, he picked up his book again.
Vieta had many things she wanted to ask, but she did not want to interrupt his reading, so she picked up the file lying on one side of the desk.
It was the report on the missing elf cases that Fulcare had sent that morning at Vieta’s request.
‘Does a three-line summary report not exist in this world?”
Vieta sighed as she looked at the report, which was well over thirty pages long.
[Case Summary: Elf Disappearances in the Empire]
[Reference: Number of Reported Elf Disappearances Over the Past Six Months]
Though she had only read the titles, her eyes were already reeling. She picked up a pencil and began marking the important sections.
Vieta usually used the politics and society sections of newspapers as scrap paper, but this case seemed to be connected to Iseria, so she was paying it some attention as well.
[Of the six rescued elves, four wish to return to the World Tree, while two have decided to remain in the Empire.]
[Both will be sheltered at the residence of Iseria, the chieftain’s daughter….]
‘So Iseria is looking after Simaril.’
Vieta recalled the baby she had seen that night.
Though her hands had been dirty, she had barely managed to see the wrinkled face wrapped in a swaddling cloth, and she could only scream the instant she saw the baby.
The baby was so cute.
Perhaps because the child was half-elf and half-human, it had inherited the elves’ beauty in full. Looking at it had truly felt like seeing a living doll.
‘If only I could touch those chubby cheeks just once…’
The report had been pushed aside before she knew it, and Vieta began daydreaming with her chin propped on her hand.
What had they named the child? When would it be best to visit? In Korea, there was a custom called samchil-il, so people could not see a baby for twenty-one days—did the Empire have a similar custom? What would make a good gift?
‘A gift?!”
Vieta, lost in thought, slammed both hands onto the desk and rose from her seat.
Blanc looked at Vieta in surprise at her sudden, violent movement.
“Blanc, I’m going to buy a gift. Will you come with me?”
She had plans to meet Iseria that night to sort out the elf disappearance case.
Since Iseria was looking after Simaril, there was a good chance Vieta would be able to see Simaril and the baby as well.
If so, a gift was essential.
“…A gift?”
Though Blanc wore an expression of complete bewilderment, he busily began tidying up the area around him.
***
“Vieta, do we really have to go inside this place?”
“Of course. We came to buy a gift. How else are we supposed to buy one without going inside?”
Blanc looked at the shop standing before him.
The pink sign reading ‘Baby Baby’ was particularly striking.
As if that were not enough, the adorable sun, moon, and star decorations hanging here and there, along with the lace, seemed designed to bar men like him from entering altogether.
Blanc knew Vieta had plans to meet someone, but he couldn’t help fretting over who she could be meeting that she was going so far as to prepare a gift.
At least this made one thing certain: the person meeting Vieta that afternoon was not a man. But the thought of entering this pink-filled shop made him feel strangely embarrassed.
“Let’s go in!”
Blanc looked at Vieta with a troubled expression, but she did not hesitate.
He had no choice but to step into the pink shop.
*
Despite its unassuming appearance from outside, ‘Baby Baby’ was quite a large store.
Various baby goods were neatly arranged beneath the bright lights.
Around four or five groups of customers were choosing items in front of the glass display cases.
Some customers had come alone, but most were couples expecting a child or already with a baby.
“Welcome.”
An approachable-looking employee with her hair tied up greeted them.
Blanc suddenly felt pressured, as though he were supposed to answer, and hesitated.
“What are you looking for?”
“It’s for a newborn baby girl. What would be best?”
“Then would you come this way? I’ll show you to the newborn supplies section.”
Ignoring Blanc, Vieta’s eyes lit up as she began enthusiastically choosing baby supplies.
“How about this gauze towel?”
“It’s not bad, but isn’t it a little small?”
“Then I recommend this product. It’s made from natural fabric, so it’s good for babies, too.”
When Vieta fidgeted with the sample gauze towel, seemingly dissatisfied, the employee turned to Blanc.
“Would your husband like to take a look?”
Husband.
Those three words sent Blanc’s thoughts off in a strange direction.
So they look like a married couple. But we’re not married. I should deny being her husband, shouldn’t I?
Then how should I deny it? Should I immediately say no?
But then Vieta might think he disliked her and be offended…. Perhaps it would be better to wait a little before saying anything.
No, perhaps it would not be so bad if they simply looked like a married couple.
“He’s not my husband.”
While Blanc was agonizing over all this, Vieta answered for him.
The answer came without even a moment’s hesitation, and Blanc felt a little disappointed.
“Oh my, I made a mistake. Then what is your relationship?”
“We’re friends.”
“Ah, I see. So the two of you came to buy a gift for another friend. What a lovely friendship you have.”
Vieta and the employee both focused on the baby supplies before them as though nothing had happened.
‘Friends?’
On the other hand, Blanc’s thoughts became complicated all over again at that one word.
Blanc had never once thought of Vieta as a friend.
Strictly speaking, they were client and employee, but seeing it that way made their relationship sound too stiff and bleak.
Besides, they had even shared meals, so they were not complete strangers, either.
But Blanc’s latest dilemma came to an end quickly.
“Aren’t you going to choose something, Blanc?”
Because Vieta called out to him.
“No, of course I am. It’s a gift for a friend.”
He had never met the elf named Simaril, but as a prince of the Empire, he could certainly give her a gift like that.
‘Well, being friends isn’t so bad for now.’
With both hands full of gifts for an elf whose face he had never even seen, Blanc left the shop with Vieta.