Chapter 3 (Part 4)

“Hah…”  

A deep sigh escaped from Reinis as she sat on her bed. Recently, she had felt awkward being alone with Rio, so she had been avoiding him as best she could. Meanwhile, Chloe had come and taken a pile of invitations, and now there were heaps of gift boxes stacking up before her eyes.  

The sheer amount of extravagant gifts made her wonder what the lives of true nobles, whom she didn’t fully understand, were really like.  

After the task of moving the gift boxes was done, Emma approached her, as if she had been waiting, and handed her a note.  

> I had an urgent matter, so I left you this memo. These are items for you to use until the specially ordered goods arrive. If there’s anything missing, please let me know, and I’ll prepare it immediately.

Dresses, items, and more.  

‘It’s such an overwhelming amount that I couldn’t possibly use it all in a lifetime… And yet, these are just temporary items? If this extravagance continues, won’t the Duke’s manor end up selling its very pillars? Even the Earl never indulged in this much luxury all at once…’  

Of course, the finances of the Duke’s manor were so solid that giving Reinis such gifts hundreds of times over wouldn’t even make a dent. However, having witnessed firsthand the ultimate consequences of luxury and greed in her previous life, she couldn’t help but worry.  

“Emma, would it be possible to meet with the Commander today?”  

“I believe he’ll be at the training grounds all day.”  

“Oh… Then it seems it’ll be difficult to see him.”  

Reinis responded with a disheartened voice to Emma’s words.  

‘I need to tell them that if I keep indulging in such luxuries, I might fall out of His Majesty’s favor and be purged. I don’t need gifts like these…’  

As she was lost in such thoughts, a voice broke through.  

“What’s so difficult about that? You can just go see him yourself, Lady!”  

Standing in the middle of the open doorway—left ajar after the gifts had been brought in—was Rio, speaking in a playful tone.  

“What’s all this? Oh, are these gifts from Theo?”  

Startled by Rio’s question, Reinis frantically waved her hands.  

“I-I’m not going to use all of them! I’ll send everything back except for what’s absolutely necessary!”  

Reinis, worried that Rio, who was undeniably a high-ranking noble, might misunderstand the situation, raised her voice in panic. Her reaction only made Rio burst into laughter.

“Pfft! This is what you call luxury? My lady, this is on the modest side! Where in the empire did you live? Sometimes, you really seem like someone from another world across the sea!”  

Hearing this, Reinis tilted her head slowly, her expression blank.  

“Modest… you say?”  

“You know that Lady Teyshire who visited yesterday? If it were her, she would’ve been furious, saying it was far too little!”  

“That’s absurd…”  

Muttering to herself, Reinis looked over at the pile of gift boxes. They were stacked precariously high, almost reaching the ceiling.  

“Then… the Duke’s manor isn’t about to sell its pillars just yet…?”  

Hearing her muttering, Rio could no longer laugh. He could sense that she was genuinely worried about the Duke’s finances.  

‘Even if she doesn’t understand the extent of nobles’ extravagance, worrying about the Duke’s manor selling its pillars… I can’t wait to see Theo’s reaction when he hears about this.’  

Feeling a surge of mischief, Rio shouted,  

“If you’re that worried, why not ask him directly? I’ll guide you to the training grounds, so just trust me and follow!”  

The thought of Theodore’s reaction filled him with delight. With noticeably lighter steps, Rio took the lead.  

The path to the training grounds wasn’t too far, but it wasn’t exactly close either. For Reinis, whose leg hadn’t fully healed yet, it was a distance that might be a bit too much. However, Rio, already excited about Theodore’s potential reaction, didn’t have the time to consider such things.  

“Um… Ri… Rio, could you… slow down a little?”  

Reinis, struggling to keep up, called out to him while catching her breath. Only then did Rio realize how fast he had been walking and how much Reinis was struggling to keep up.  

Letting out a sigh of frustration at himself, Rio frowned. Seeing his expression, Reinis misunderstood, thinking she had done something wrong, and immediately bowed her head.  

“I’m sorry. My leg hasn’t fully healed yet…”  

“Oh! It’s not your fault, my lady! It’s because I wasn’t considerate enough, so don’t worry about it.”  

“That’s a relief.”  

Muttering softly to herself, Reinis suddenly sank to the ground, as if she couldn’t walk any further.  

“Are you okay?!”  

Startled, Rio rushed to her side and crouched down.  

“Ah… I didn’t consider your injury. Should we head back? No… the training grounds are closer than going back… But if you keep walking like this, it might worsen your injury…”  

After mumbling to himself for a while, Rio suddenly nodded as if he had made up his mind.  

“Get on my back. I’ll carry you to the training grounds.”  

Rio turned his back toward Reinis and offered her a piggyback ride. At that moment, he heard her clear laughter by his ear. Turning his head with a puzzled expression, Rio looked at Reinis.  

For the first time in a long while, he saw her laughing so freely, without a trace of worry. Her smile was so infectious that Rio couldn’t help but smile along with her.  

“You don’t have to go to such lengths. I was just tired because we were walking too fast. If we go slowly, I can walk on my own.”  

It was then that a thought crossed Rio’s mind.  

‘If it had been Theodore offering her a ride… she would’ve let him carry her, wouldn’t she?’  

Unaware of what he was thinking, Reinis got up, brushed off her clothes, and clenched her fists with determination.  

“I think I’ve rested enough now. It’s okay to start moving again. Thank you for being considerate.”  

Perhaps it was because they had shared a laugh earlier. The awkward atmosphere that had lingered until recently had mostly dissipated.  

Whether he was happy about this or not, Rio kept teasing Reinis, just as he had when they first met.  

The mood between the two seemed quite cheerful. Reinis kept laughing, and Rio, with a bright smile on his face, continued to chat with her. Even after they arrived at the training grounds, the pleasant atmosphere between them persisted.  

Hearing the sound of her cheerful laughter, Theodore, who had been dealing with issues with the knights, instantly recognized her presence.  

Worried about her coming all the way to the training grounds with her injured leg, Theodore immediately dropped what he was doing and rushed outside. His gaze landed on Reinis, who was laughing happily with Rio.  

At that moment, his heart sank.  

He wanted to separate the two immediately, but seeing Reinis’s joyful expression, he found himself unable to do anything.  

Her laughter, so genuinely happy, was somehow different from the smiles she had shown when she was with him.  

To suppress the emotions welling up inside him, Theodore clenched his fists tightly and could only stand there, watching the two of them.  

“There are too many gifts. I really want to return everything except for what I actually need.”  

“Is there something among them that displeases you?”  

“No, it’s not that… They’re just so expensive. I don’t need so many of them.”  

At Reinis’s earnest expression, Theodore gazed at her intently. Her troubled look made her seem as though she had committed some sort of crime.  

Seeing her like that pained him, but he knew that if he backed down this time, she would continue to feel burdened by receiving gifts—not only from him but from anyone.  

‘I suppose it’s best to address this properly now.’  

With that thought, Theodore nodded and rested his chin on his hand as he sat.  

“Well, there’s nothing else to be done. Since the items were gifts for you, and you say you don’t need them, I’ll have them all disposed of.”  

Reinis, her eyes wide open in shock at Theodore’s words, gaped in disbelief.  

“Di… Dispose of them? Are you saying you’re just going to throw away all those things?!”  

“They are now your belongings. Since you say you don’t need them, they must be discarded.”  

He thought that saying this would lead her to accept the gifts, but instead, Reinis’s expression hardened seriously upon hearing those words.  

Reinis, who had been opening and closing her lips as if trying to speak, bit her lower lip and glared at Theodore. It was the first time he had seen such a dissatisfied look in her eyes.  

Reinis, who had been glaring at him with what she thought was a fierce expression, suddenly stood up and said,  

“How can you say such things so nonchalantly, Commander?!”

‘Such things?’

He had only spoken the truth.  

Theodore, who looked at Reinis with a confused expression, saw her overlapping with a timid herbivore, puffing up its fur in fear of an unfamiliar predator.  

Though she had much to say, Reinis, unable to articulate her thoughts, began tearing up before shouting,

“If you indulge in such extravagance… you could end up dead!”

With that, she bolted out of the room in an instant.