“With this scale, any rumor would spread quickly.”

“It’s the perfect opportunity for the duke’s debut.”

“Debut?”

“Yes! Since you’re showing a new side of Alois, it’s a kind of debut!”

Alois let out a chuckle at the mention of a social debut, something he might have heard about only in his distant childhood. If he considered being reborn from the curse thanks to Olivia, her words weren’t wrong. But a social debut at his age—the expression embarrassed him, so he deliberately changed the subject.

“That word suits you better than me.”

“What? Me?”

“Never mind. I just want you to know that I’m looking forward to this more than you are.”

Alois moved through the crowd, taking Olivia with him as she wore a puzzled expression.

Throughout their journey to the lodging, people were chaotically bustling and noisy, but strangely, he didn’t feel irritated. All because of this light and warm presence clinging to his arm. A small change that might seem trivial to others. But sometimes Alois found her existence so extraordinary that reality seemed unbelievable.

“What is it?”

“No, sometimes when I look at you, it’s as if……”

Whenever he looked at Olivia, a certain scenery came to mind. A miracle-like existence that shines brightly in the dark night sky, granting people’s wishes. Alois, who was about to say something, suppressed the swelling feeling that tickled his heart and held back his words.

The lodging they reached through the crowd was different from other luxury hotels. Olivia looked at Alois’s face several times as if to confirm, seeing that the accommodation resembled more a vacation villa built by a wealthy noble. Meanwhile, he entered confidently and nonchalantly.

“Aren’t there other people?”

“I asked them to leave only the minimum staff needed to manage the place, so we won’t see them, but there should be servants. They told me to call if needed.”

Alois spoke casually as he placed a small bell from the bedroom into her hand.

Do all important people think this way? It was a bold choice not easy for ordinary people to comprehend. Olivia carefully placed the bell back on the table, afraid it might ring in her hands.

“During festival times, even the finest hotels are just annoying with too many people.”

“That’s certainly true.”

Olivia nodded readily, recalling her travels with Lime. Come to think of it, both then and now, her travel experiences were rare enough to count on one hand, and it felt strange that Alois had been with her for all of them.

“……? What’s with the suddenly moved look?”

“Since meeting you, I’ve experienced many things I couldn’t imagine before. It’s like you’re a shooting star that suddenly appeared in my life.”

Olivia’s face, looking up at him lovingly while embracing his waist, showed not a trace of falsehood. Alois’s eyes widened. His slightly wavering gaze settled straight on her face.

“You have a surprising way of thinking exactly what’s in my heart.”

His gently curved eyes revealed the duke’s fresh excitement that he couldn’t hide. As Alois’s shadow drew closer, a sweet warmth touched her lips. Olivia closed her eyes familiarly and embraced him.

This heat never became familiar no matter how many times she experienced it. The intense throbbing that shook her anew each time spread fully through Olivia’s heart again today.

* * *

The party that Olivia called “Alois’s social debut” was scheduled for the last day of the exposition, so they had a few days to spare. Though he used the count’s excuse, it was a vacation-slash-trip since they had come so far. The exposition itself was the type of event he detested, but Olivia didn’t seem to mind this lively bustle, which alone made Alois satisfied with his choice to come here.

The two of them were looking around the exposition when they entered an exhibition by a rising new artist from the continent.

“Hmm…… Art is truly profound.”

After standing in front of a painting for a while with a puzzled expression, Olivia murmured with difficulty. Meanwhile, Alois wasn’t looking at the paintings at all but only at Olivia’s face, thinking things like ‘She looks like a squirrel lost in thought.’

The exhibition theme was “Another World Beyond Memory,” featuring mostly works inspired by myths and legends. She thought these stories would be easy to understand since everyone was familiar with them, but the works mixed with the artist’s interpretation made it difficult to grasp their proper form no matter how much she looked.

“That seems to be a work inspired by the 200-Year War.”

“The 200-Year War, that story? The war between humans and other races. War must have been cruel, but with such bright colors—I wonder if I could understand it if I looked at it more often?”

“No need to rack your brain over it. Art’s value comes from thousands of different interpretations colliding anyway. And which interpretation becomes mainstream often follows whoever spends the most money.”

“The art world has quite a cold side to it.”

Olivia’s gaze turned to a figure of another race impaled by a spear. The figure with unusual horns was still swinging a sword despite being impaled, and from the gap where the spear penetrated, flowers rather than blood gushed out. Judging by colors and form alone, “beautiful” would be an appropriate description, but the grotesque form that beautifully depicted a tragic situation wasn’t to Olivia’s taste.

“Where did all those other races go?”

“After humans won that war, there was a period of persecution, so they probably disappeared a lot. Even if they exist, they must all be hiding somewhere.”

“Somehow I feel a sense of responsibility. It makes my heart ache.”

“It’s karma from the distant past. If a human were to meet another race alone today, surviving wouldn’t be easy. In terms of pure physical ability, they far surpass humans. Thinking about it again, I don’t know how we won the war.”

Having made a rather cynical assessment despite being human himself, Alois quickly led her to another painting before Olivia could become more depressed. Not all paintings were gloomy, and she soon became captivated by paintings depicting cute and lovely beast-people and beautiful mermaids.

While checking Olivia’s condition, Alois’s sharp gaze surveyed the surroundings without her noticing.

‘Someone is watching us.’

It was a very faint presence that even the sensitive Alois could barely feel if he concentrated, but there had been a gaze following them for some time. Not being able to confirm whether the gaze was directed at himself or Olivia made it even more irritating.

By the time they were leaving the exhibition hall, even Olivia had noticed Alois’s heightened sensitivity.

“Alois? Is something wrong?”

“No, I just wondered if there was someone I knew.”

But there was no familiar face within a distance where gazes could reach. The unknown gaze gnawing at his nerves wasn’t pleasant, but it didn’t feel like persistent malice either, making it difficult to take any decisive action.

In the end, unable to identify the gaze he had lost, Alois inwardly swallowed a sigh and turned his attention to Olivia’s words.

“Come to think of it, we only have a few days left to walk around cozily like this with you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The purpose of our visit is to make your appearance known to everyone, right? After the party, everyone will know your identity, so won’t it be difficult to walk around freely like this?”

Currently, except for a few nobles who had met him directly and the emperor’s closest confidants, hardly anyone knew the duke’s face properly. So even while traversing various parts of this crowded event, people just thought of him as one of many nobles, with no one recognizing him as the Duke of Schraien.

Olivia found this obvious fact somehow felt new, and she paused while leaving the exhibition hall to look up at his face.

“It feels strange. I thought I wanted everyone to know about you……”

“But?”

“I don’t know. Just as I think about that day getting closer, it feels strange.”

Olivia turned her gaze away, finding it difficult to express the subtle feeling precisely. It wasn’t an unpleasant or hateful emotion.

She still wanted Alois to escape from bad rumors and for everyone to recognize his good sides, and she wanted him to be loved by many people. But when she thought that ordinary times like walking alone with him would become rare, it wasn’t entirely pleasant either.

‘Can a person’s heart be so fickle? I think I’m having some bad thoughts.’

The unfamiliar wave of emotions surged. Inwardly reproaching herself, Olivia tried hard to shake off the strange feeling and looked around.

“Ah, they’re selling something fun!”

It was a street vendor, not an official seller at the exhibition hall. Compared to professionally prepared and formally sold items, the details were crude, but the prices were also cheaper, making it reasonably practical. Though Alois seemed to wonder why anyone would buy such toy-like items, Olivia was excited as they reminded her of her childhood.

“When I was young, sometimes people like this would visit our village, and all the neighborhood children would come running out.”

Thinking about it now, it was just a visit from merchants. Vendors following festivals would set up stalls and visit villages away from cities during their downtime, hoping to make money. But in childhood, she perceived it as a major event, as if it were a special day.

“Oh, this actually has some functions too?”

Perhaps made for children, the design itself was childish, which reminded her more of the old days. It had colorful colors mixed with large flower, star, and heart-shaped beads. Despite its appearance, it was somewhat expensive because each necklace had its own special function. Some would sound a self-defense siren, or activate a one-time defensive magic.