“It seemed as if Sebastian had anticipated my question, as he handed me a small booklet he prepared.

The cover’s description of plants from various countries on display piqued my interest.

“Lily, shall we go together?”

I asked while casually flipping through the pages, to which Lily responded with a smile.

“If you want to make it obvious that you came alone among all the couples, by all means.”

Where did she learn the skill of refusing with a smile?

As I looked at the grinning Lily with a pouty expression, Sebastian chimed in.

“Why don’t you suggest going together?”

Though he didn’t point to anyone specific, everyone had one person in mind.

“If I get rejected, will you go with me instead, Sebastian?”

“Well, you see, work has been piling up lately…”

Sebastian suddenly remembered something to do and quietly left the room, while Lily continued to smile brightly at me.

I know I shouldn’t be tormenting those around me like this. But the reason I’m just fiddling with this innocent booklet is because of Ilion’s attitude.

I said I felt neglected, but it’s not like he’s avoiding me or treating me coldly. Ilion still greets me warmly when he sees me.

But that’s the problem. He only asks about my well-being, but somehow keeps his distance. There’s been no physical contact since that morning.

Worried that he might be deliberately distancing himself from me, I found myself hesitating without realizing it.

Of course, I think there’s a 90% chance Ilion won’t reject me… Am I being too confident? Should I lower it to 80%?

As my confidence dropped the more I thought about it, I stood up abruptly.

It’s not like I haven’t been rejected by Ilion once or twice before. It’s ridiculous to worry about it now.

Ilion’s office, which I visited after a long time, was emptier than I expected. It wasn’t luxurious, but I thought there were quite a few things here and there…

Small items like the lamp on the desk or the vase on one side of the table had disappeared.

“I was just about to go for dinner. Is there something specific you wanted to talk about?”

He seemed curious why I came to see him at this time when we could talk during dinner if I had something to say.

It was for the utterly useless reason that it would be less embarrassing if fewer people saw me get rejected, but I couldn’t say that.

“I was wondering if you might have some time.”

“Time?”

“Sebastian mentioned there’s a greenhouse garden near the capital. I thought we could go together if you’re free.”

Ilion silently looked at me.

“Only if you have time, of course. When you’re done with work and free…”

I hastily added, but somehow felt my words getting tangled.

“I-If you don’t want to, it’s fine. I’ll go with Lily or Sir Lucas.”

Feeling like I shouldn’t have asked, I tried to end the conversation quickly, but Ilion hurriedly reached out and grabbed me.

“Let’s go together. I have plenty of time.”

“Really?”

Just as a smile was about to spread across my face at his unexpected answer,

“Ravenne, don’t get too close.”

Spinel, who was nearby, interjected.

“…Pardon?”

“There won’t be anything left in the room.”

As soon as she finished speaking, three or four books fell from the bookshelf with a thud.

While I was looking strangely at the books that had suddenly fallen despite being fine moments ago, Ilion and Spinel seemed used to it.

“I’m tired of cleaning up after you. Clean it up yourself.”

Spinel waved her hand, looking bothered.

This would usually be the moment for Ilion to say something in response to Spinel’s provocation, but he just sighed and got up to pick up the fallen books without a word.

“What date would be good?”

“Hmm, how about this weekend?”

I asked, following him to help pick up the books.

“Alright. I’ll keep my schedule clear.”

Spinel, who had been quietly listening to Ilion’s response, snorted.

“Looks like you’re planning to turn the garden into a wasteland.”

Despite Spinel’s sarcasm, Ilion silently picked up the books. He looked like he wanted to say something but was holding back.

“Ravenne, you should reconsider too. You might not come back alive if you go with that guy.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, because that guy…”

When I asked why out of curiosity, a book flew towards Spinel.

Spinel caught the book lightly and looked at Ilion.

“Don’t say unnecessary things.”

“Seems like you still want to maintain your pride in all this.”

It appeared that Ilion wasn’t entirely successful in persuading Spinel after all.

***

“…Is this all?”

I was speechless at the lightness of the money in my hand.

“It’s something that we even earned this much. If we had done it wrong, it would have all withered away…”

While I agreed with that statement…

Lily and I left the mansion after a long time and were at the market.

We came to sell the crops we recently harvested from the vegetable garden, but contrary to expectations, what I held in my hand was barely 10 silver.

It wasn’t a small amount, of course, but it was disappointing to realize that the value of the labor we had put in for weeks was only this much. Considering how much we had suffered shivering in the cold.

Realizing anew how difficult it is to make money, I carefully put the 10 silver in my wallet.

“Is there anywhere else you’d like to go?”

There was still a lot of time left before we had to return to the mansion. Besides, there wasn’t much to do even if we went back.

“Since we’re out, shall we do some shopping before we go back?”

Thinking about how to spend the money we earned today meaningfully, I moved deeper into the market.

After roaming around the city for a while, we visited a bookstore as our last stop.

It wasn’t that we lacked books to read, so our purpose for visiting the bookstore was different.

“Alice, hello!”

“Hello, madam. It’s been a while.”

“You look in a good mood today.”

Alice, whom I was seeing for the first time since that gloomy day, seemed to have recovered a lot from the shock of Anton becoming the Emperor.

“I just decided not to think about it. If they wanted to accuse me of a crime, they would have come for me by now.”

It wasn’t that she had recovered, but rather that she had given up on it. Alice’s expression seemed as if she had let go of everything.

“More importantly, can you look here for a moment?”

“Where?”

Alice, who had been mumbling absentmindedly, looked at me with wide eyes.

Click.

“A photo?”

“Yes.”

I answered while looking into the camera, wondering if it came out well.

The device operated using magic stones looked similar to an old film camera. It was quite large, and like those kind of cameras, you couldn’t immediately check the captured image.

“Why the sudden photo?”

I refrained from mentioning that I had made a deal with Antias for some reason, as she would get angry.

I foolishly promised to send photos quarterly.

Even though the other party was just a child, it was a promise made to the Emperor, so it would be troublesome not to keep it.

“Well, let’s just say it’s to make memories. Come on, let’s take one more.”

Brushing it off like that, I handed the camera to Lily and stood next to Alice. Alice looked at me with a dubious expression.

“I’ll give you a copy when the photos are developed.”

“But why here of all places?”

“It’s nice, isn’t it? Look at the ambience.”

When Lily suggested to stand closer, I put my arm around Alice’s shoulder and moved closer.

“Oh, and if you have anything to say to Anton, I mean, His Majesty Antias, just write a short letter.”

“What?”

“Well, an apology letter for troubling him all this time would be good, or even a love confession letter…”

“Ahhh!”

Startled, Alice screamed and covered my mouth.

“Did you come here to torment me, Duchess?”

Trying to hold back my laughter while at her flustered appearance with a reddened face, I spoke with teasing solemnity.

“Torment you? I’m not that idle, Miss Alice.”

Alice pouted and grumbled that the joke was too much.

After taking a few more photos like that, we sat on a chair in a corner of the bookstore and looked around. Even though it was a weekday morning, it felt unusually empty.

“Is it because of the cold weather that there are so few people?”

“Well, that’s part of it, but the atmosphere is also a bit unsettling.”

“Why?”

Alice answered my question with a slightly troubled expression.

“Well, apparently a body was found floating in the river recently.”

“A body? Did a drunk person fall in?”

Thinking it might be another case of someone falling into the river while drunk, which was often heard of, I asked, but Alice shook her head saying it wasn’t like that.

“I heard the body’s appearance was very strange.”

“How so?”

“They say it had pitch-black skin, and was all shriveled up without any blood in the body…”

The story Alice told sounded like an ordinary ghost story at first glance.

“Even so, is that why there are so few people?”

It was hard to understand why people would be absent because of a ghost story. Alice answered with a slightly more serious expression.

“Everyone’s whispering that a witch might have appeared.”