Chapter 22

“Uh, Sir.”

She stopped Sir Costance. He halted his steps stiffly in front of her.

“Please, speak.”

“No, I’m sorry for stopping you when you’re in a hurry.”

“I’m not in a hurry. It’s just that…”

Sir Costance seemed uneasy. Both his actions and his words.

“Actually, I have prepared clothes for you to wear during the photo shoot. Julia said she prepared bright clothes suitable for spring, so I’ll bring them to you.”

“Bright clothes, you say?”

“I’m sorry for picking out clothes without asking. If you’re comfortable in your uniform, you can wear that.”

Sir Costance glanced at her dress and cleared his throat.

“The uniform is comfortable, but…”

“Then I’ll change it to a photo shoot with the uniform.”

“Standing next to you, I think brighter clothes would be more suitable than the uniform.”

His straightforwardness took her breath away.

“You look as beautiful as a flower.”

Sir Costance’s gray eyes grew darker than usual. Her face was reflected in those sincere eyes.

“Actually, I’ve wanted to say this for a while. Your light brown hair, your deep ocean-like blue eyes, all of it.”

“……”

“You are beautiful, Vivi.”

Vivi… That voice penetrated to her bones. It was strange and dense. She couldn’t control her emotions as she saw a more assertive side of him than before.

“Th-thank you.”

Her face also heated up.

“I-I need to go to the restroom for a moment too!”

And she moved in the direction Sir Costance had initially gone. 

Oh, that wasn’t the way to the restroom…

Realizing it belatedly, she gritted her teeth and turned around, only for Sir Costance to burst into a pure, childlike laugh. His eyes and lips curved like a crescent moon, and she felt her strength leave her body.

“The restroom is that way, Vivi.”

“I-I know.”

The fact that she made the same mistake as Sir Costance just made her laugh.

Facing each other by the window where the sunlight streamed in, they watched the sparrows beyond the window chirping brightly. The blue hues settled there.

* * *

“I’m sorry. I’m too late, aren’t I?”

It was about 10 minutes past the departure time. Julia, who hadn’t shown up despite the wait, appeared with an awkward smile.

“Julia?”

“Ha ha.”

Julia, who she thought would come in a pink dress, was in her neat work clothes. She seemed to have made up for not wearing the dress with heavy makeup.

When she gestured to ask why Julia wasn’t wearing the dress, Julia poked her in the waist. Judging by her troubled expression, Julia had tried her best, but the dress just didn’t suit her.

“Shall we go now?”

Julia led Sir Costance and her outside the library. The reservation time for the photo studio was tight. She and Sir Costance walked quickly across the street.

“Julia.”

However, Julia kept falling behind. Noticing this, she turned her head to look at Julia’s dark complexion.

“Are you okay? You’re not sick, are you?”

“Go ahead. I’m, uh, fine.”

“You look pale.”

“No, it’s just that I’m naturally a slow walker, right? So go ahead. Okay? We’re going to be late.”

Julia pushed her back.

“Is something wrong?”

Sir Costance approached them.

“Oh! Just in time, Sir. We can’t be late for the reservation, so please go ahead with Vivi.”

“But Julia.”

“I’m fine, Vivi!”

Julia forcibly pushed her back. She moved with difficulty, heading towards the photo studio, but kept glancing back at Julia, who was left alone on the street.

Upon closer inspection, Julia’s shoes looked uncomfortable.

* * *

“I think it’s here.”

She looked at the wooden sign Sir Costance pointed to. As soon as they entered the photo studio with the sound of a bell, a girl who was an employee smiled at them.

“Hello. Welcome to Baton Street Photo Studio.”

“Hello.”

“Are you here to take wedding photos?”

“What?”

She was startled by the girl’s words. The girl realized the meaning of her expression and stopped smiling.

“Oh, I apologize. I thought you were a married couple…”

Unlike her surprise, Sir Costance found something amusing and chuckled softly. The girl, momentarily distracted by his smile, exclaimed.

Could it be that she recognized who Sir Costance was?

“I’m sorry! You’re not a couple, but lovers, right?”

“……”

“Oh dear. Did I make another mistake?”

“Not at all.”

Sir Costance seemed pleased.

It wasn’t strange for them to be together. They could be seen as a couple or lovers.

But she felt strange. Her fingertips tingled, and she unknowingly fidgeted with her fingers. Just then, the bell rang again. Turning around, she saw Julia standing there.

“Hello. Welcome to Baton Street Photo Studio. You must be here for an interview photo.”

“What? Oh, no.”

“Could you wait a moment? We just had a couple—no, guests arrive. You can remove your eye makeup in the meantime.”

The girl tried hard to do her job, but everything was off. She could tell from Julia’s hardened expression that she was upset.

“Sylvia, do we have guests?”

“Teacher!”

The photographer came out from the back.

“Welcome. You’re the ones who made a reservation last time, right? You said you were making a promotional flyer for the National Library event?”

“Yes. Sir Costance here is our model. The two of us are librarians.”

At her explanation, the girl’s face turned to shock.

“Oh! I was so rude without realizing!”

“Oh dear. What mistake did you make this time, Sylvia?”

“Well, I thought they were a couple.”

“We’re librarians.”

Julia interjected between her and Sir Costance.

“And this is Sir Costance, our model. He’s an operations officer at the Fleet Command Headquarters. To think someone like him would be a lover with librarians like us…! That would be disrespectful to him!”

“I-I’m sorry.”

Julia spoke excitedly. As a result, the girl’s face turned pale with fear.

“No need to apologize. As I said, I wasn’t offended at all.”

“Sir?”

“Julia, please don’t be too harsh. I’m not someone worthy of such admiration. And it’s not that a woman with the profession of a librarian doesn’t suit me.”

“……”

“On the contrary, I like it.”

As he spoke, Sir Costance glanced at Vivi.

“Then, shall we go inside?”

The photographer guided them inside. As they followed, Julia grabbed her arm.

“Vivi. Did you hear?”

“Yes. It seems the camera is ready inside.”

“No, not that! Sir Costance seems to like librarians.”

Julia, who had been angry just moments ago, was now excited with joy.

“He couldn’t have said he disliked librarians in that situation.”

“But there was no need for him to specifically say he liked it, right? It’s clear Sir Costance likes someone who is a librarian.”

“Hmm. Are your feet okay, Julia?”

“My feet? They hurt earlier, but they’re better now. Ha ha.”

She deftly changed the subject and, with Julia, surveyed the interior. It was time to get to work.

Before the shoot, they discussed what poses and compositions to use. Since it was for a promotional flyer, they avoided flashy poses as much as possible. They also excluded dull poses that wouldn’t draw much attention.

The flyer needed to lead the illustration section. What poses would match the text on the flyer well? They came up with several ideas.

Poses like sitting at a desk drawing a picture, or seriously appreciating a drawn picture, etc. They decided to take photos from various angles first.

“Please look here.”

The first composition was looking at a drawing letter while sitting at a desk. They prepared the props they brought and Sir Costance struck a pose.

“Smile a little more.”

An unexpected problem arose there.

“A bit more!”

“……Like this?”

“Oh, is that a smile?”

Sir Costance’s expression in front of the camera was awkward. He usually smiled well, but now even lifting the corners of his mouth seemed difficult.

“A bit more! Smile a bit more!”

“……Like this?”

The photographer sighed deeply and looked at Vivi. She hadn’t anticipated this situation either.

“What should we do? Sir Costance’s smile doesn’t look natural.”

“Th-that’s true.”

“He’s handsome, but a handsome face isn’t enough for an actor on stage.”

Indeed…

How to solve this? 

Sir Costance stared at Vivi, perhaps reading her distress. Feeling a pang of guilt, she hid behind Julia.

“I’ll try again.”

Sir Costance said to the photographer.

He seemed more motivated than before. But the result wouldn’t change in just a few seconds. The awkward smile remained, and the photographer spoke to him.

“Um, Sir. How about thinking of something happy? Like imagining a woman you like.”

“……”

As soon as the words were spoken, Sir Costance looked at VIvi. Hiding behind Julia was pointless. Meeting her eyes, he naturally lifted the corners of his mouth.

“Oh, that’s good. I’ll take the shot with that expression!”

Finally, they were taking the photo. She stared blankly at the scene.

“Julia, it’s a relief Sir Costance is smiling, right?”

“……”

“Julia?”

Julia didn’t respond.

She, like her earlier, was staring blankly at Sir Costance in front of her.