Chapter 27.3

“Are you really sure?”

“I said I am. What part of me looks sick?”

Elia pulled out a mirror from her small bag and checked her face.

‘Eyes are normal. Nose is normal. My face is a little red, but that’s just embarrassment. Lips… oops.’

The balm Daisy gave her had worn off. She hurriedly took out the bottle and clumsily applied it.

“See, Eddie? My eyes are fine, no broken blood vessels. My nose isn’t stuffy. My lips—spring is dry, so I use this. And my face, it’s just warm because the weather is nice. Daisy bundled me up, even though it looks thin, I’m wearing a lot. See? Not a single sick spot on my face.”

Edmund carefully checked every part of Elia’s face as she pointed, then opened the small window at the front of the carriage.

“Hans, head to the original destination.”

Elia gave a wry smile at Edmund’s order.

‘Oh my, he was planning to send me home from the start?’

To keep him from changing his mind, Elia quickly picked a topic.

“Want to see the books I bought today? Hold on. Here they are. They’re both novels. I don’t like novels, but I bought them anyway today. I don’t know what they’re about. I just pick books by title or cover art.”

Edmund’s gaze lingered on the two books next to Elia. Seeing this, Elia held them up for him to see.

“This one has a strange cover and title, but I picked it because it’s the thickest novel in the store! Look. If you hit someone with this, it’d be over in one shot.”

Elia bent her wrist as she showed Edmund the book. Holding the thick book in both hands looked precarious.

Fortunately, before Edmund could offer to hold it for her, Elia set it down and picked up the second book, which was so thin she could hold it with one hand.

“On the other hand, I picked this because it was the thinnest novel in the store. Isn’t it funny? They’re all about loving during war, loving while protecting the family, loving while running a merchant group—just love stories. Why does one end so abruptly and another go on forever? I bought it because I was curious.”

Her book talk quickly lost focus. Excited to talk about books for the first time in a while, Elia rambled on about the titles and thickness, and Edmund listened to her made-up stories.

Her healthy appearance. Her expectant voice. Her eyes shining as she got lost in her own story. Her expressions as she checked Edmund’s reactions.

Those innocent images gradually accumulated in Edmund’s memory. The anxious heart found balance as those memories piled up.

Even if the image of her crying or walking away threatened to shake him, he could hold firm.

“I once called some scholars from the Academy to talk about bookbinding. I learned that binding with a cord at the top, like this book, is a southwestern style. Have you seen anything like it?”

“Southwestern nobles’ reports are bound like that.”

“Oh, reports! That makes sense. Are there southwestern nobles in the capital?”

Elia’s voice helped Edmund settle down, and he gradually responded more. Elia noticed his change.

He stopped just matching her gaze in silence and started giving appropriate answers, even showing a gentle smile.

It wasn’t the bright smile he forced to show her, but a soft one like the surface of a calm lake.

‘I started talking just to distract Edmund.’

Elia liked how Edmund listened and made eye contact, so she kept talking. The way he nodded or moved his eyebrows seemed to ask, ‘So?’ or ‘Do you think so?’

She found it cute, thinking it was his unique way of conversing, since he didn’t enjoy chatting with others.

‘Cute. I never thought I’d find such a big man cute.’

Even after finishing her book talk, Elia wanted to see more of Edmund’s reactions, so she searched for another topic.

“And you know, I’ll tell you something I heard from Hans in the carriage today. It’s about a really famous tailor shop on Second Avenue. The employee there…”

The story of the tailor shop employee running away was already well known among nobles who’d suffered losses in the Imperial City.

But Edmund didn’t show it and listened to Elia. After all, the fact that Earl Lefebvre paid 400 gold upfront—70% of the price—wasn’t important.

Elia’s excited voice filled the carriage like a lively musical performance.

He regretted knowing the music would eventually end.

“What do you think, Eddie? The employee who pretended to be the owner and ran off with the deposit. Where do you think they went?”

“With that much money, I doubt they fled far from the capital.”

“Right! I think the employee is still in the city. How could they carry 5,000 gold coins? Maybe if they changed it to jewels, but then rumors would have spread. And there are other odd things.”

Elia tapped her fingers on the book in her lap as she continued her deductions.

“If I were that employee, I’d just sneak off with the money in the shop, but to scam six noble families out of 5,000 gold is too much.”

“Unless they had to split it with accomplices, there’d be no need to take such a risk for 5,000 gold.”

“Exactly!”

Edmund’s agreement made Elia’s voice rise in excitement. After talking with the same people every day, discussing things with Edmund made even ordinary stories exciting.

“It’s weird they paid so much upfront. Maybe it was an inside job?”

“If the butler who paid the deposit was in on it, they could have split the stolen money.”

“Right. Or, the six families who lost money—imagine this. Six people from different families rack up gambling debts, worry about their futures together, and think, ‘Isn’t there a way to siphon money from our wealthy master families?’ ‘What if someone scams them and takes the money?’ ‘And if we could get that money?’”

“They could have pinned all the blame on one tailor shop employee and pocketed the money behind the scenes.”

Elia smiled at Edmund, who smoothly continued her reasoning.

“Isn’t it fun? I do this all the time. I read a single line in a newspaper article and imagine what might have happened. It’s all just my own wild speculation.”

“You like it. Talking about books, making guesses.”

“Yes, I like it, Eddie.”

As Edmund mulled over the things Elia liked, she stamped her words down again so they wouldn’t fade.

“I like it. Sitting face to face and talking like this. Talking with someone who listens well to my stories. That’s why today is really nice. I’m happy.”

There was no embarrassment in her sweet confession. Only joy and certainty remained, imprinting her feelings on Edmund so they wouldn’t be erased.

Why was it? Edmund had never begged for love. He’d never forced her to love him.

Why did she keep pushing love onto him, who was weighed down by guilt?

“…I like it too. Listening to you, spending time looking at you. So much.”

The words Edmund finally managed to say were only an echo of Elia’s, but his heart was sincere. For all the wanting, for all the overflowing love, his feelings were genuine.

He wanted to let her know. How much he loved her. How much he wanted her.

He also wanted to know more—things he’d never known before.

For example, what Elia liked, why she smiled at him, what words to say and what gifts to give to win more of her heart.

He wished he could know.

‘If I could know, I’d try. I’d try harder than anyone else to make you happy. I’d try to earn your love.’