Chapter 7

Kiaros fumbled once, then scolded himself to focus before successfully fastening the clasp.

As expected, the bracelet suited Letina well.

“Do you like this one best?”

Letina asked, and he nodded.

“I’ll take this one.”

“Yes, understood.”

The clerk bowed politely and packaged the new item for Letina.

“Thank you. Have a good day.”

With the clerk’s farewell, they left the store.

“Now that I think about it, I should buy a scarf before going back to the mansion.”

“Okay.”

It was a day off, so they could take their time. So they stopped by a scarf shop not far away.

‘This place….’

The shop displayed scarves with designs familiar to Kiaros. He didn’t wear scarves often himself.

‘Am I imagining things?’

“Ah. Welcome, Lady Letina!”

The clerk greeted her warmly.

Of course, Letina was a regular here.

“The new arrivals are over here!”

Seeing Letina happily browse, Kiaros suddenly realized. Most of the scarves Liri had received as gifts were from here, so the designs were familiar.

‘So she’s browsing here to buy something for Liri….’

To give Liri a present….

“…….”

Jealousy and irritation tangled inside Kiaros.

“All the new arrivals are nice. I’ll buy them all.”

“Thank you as always, Lady Letina!”

***

After buying the scarves and leaving, Kiaros seemed oddly subdued.

‘Did I drag him around too long?’

Letina felt a little sorry, so she spoke up.

“This is actually a present for you.”

“…I know.”

‘He knows, but he still looks tired?’

‘If he knows it’s for him, maybe he’ll forgive me for dragging him around….’

Their outing ended in an awkward, quiet mood.

Back at the mansion, they had a late lunch, then set out for their promised walk.

Yesterday, Letina had contacted the Gatiel family’s villa in Bilmate. The servants would have prepared everything for the owners’ stay.

“The carriage is waiting outside, so you can transform now.”

Letina, who had caught Kiaros’s gloom, suddenly brightened.

“We’re going to walk around the villa, so I can transform when we get there.”

“What are you talking about? The walk starts the moment you leave the house.”

Letina insisted firmly, looking incredulous.

“…….”

Kiaros couldn’t win against Letina and transformed into a duck.

Letina’s eyes immediately sparkled.

“Liri! I missed you!”

She hugged the small, round creature standing at her feet. She seemed to forget he was also Kiaros, treating him as just Liri.

Quack.

Kiaros, annoyed, urged her to hurry outside. But Letina didn’t seem to care.

“Wait. I need to put on what I bought earlier.”

Rustle.

Letina placed him on the sofa and took out the packaged scarves.

“Which of the three do you want to wear?”

‘Anything!’

Kiaros turned his head away indifferently.

“Don’t be like that, point with your beak.”

‘No.’

He stomped on the scarves with his feet.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Let’s go with the bright yellow scarf today.”

He could have run away, but in the end, Kiaros obediently wore the scarf.

‘Letina looks at me with such expectant eyes, how could I refuse….’

Sigh.

Once he had the scarf on, soft shoes made of cloth were put on his webbed feet.

He thought he was ready and started to leave the room.

“Wait! There’s still more.”

‘More? What is it?’

Kiaros turned around in confusion.

‘?!’

Clink.

On top of the scarf, the heart bracelet they’d bought at the jewelry store was fastened.

“Yeah, I thought this bracelet would look great on your white neck, Liri…!”

Letina clasped her hands and her eyes sparkled even brighter.

“I couldn’t try it on yourself, Liri, so I just imagined it and picked it out. It’s a total success. You said you liked it best too, so that’s lucky!”

‘Even this was a present for Liri…?’

“I wanted your opinion since it’s yours. I chose the scarf on my own, though.”

She explained excitedly.

“I thought the bracelet size would be just right for a duck’s neck, and it was a good choice.”

She poured out praise for Liri, saying that wearing the scarf and bracelet together wasn’t too much after all.

‘Sigh….’

Kiaros slumped down in despair.

Thud.

His white, fluffy belly touched the floor.

‘If I were human right now, I probably couldn’t hide my feelings.’

Being a duck, at least his expression didn’t show.

…Or so he thought, but Letina quickly noticed his mood.

“Do you not like it…?”

Letina picked Kiaros up and carefully met his eyes.

“I asked your opinion before buying it because I was worried you wouldn’t like it…. But now that you’re wearing it, you don’t like it?”

She only noticed his mood, not the reason. She hadn’t figured out why he was so gloomy.

D*mn. His own rival was himself.

‘…But Liri is also me.’

She’d gone around and bought it for him.

‘Well, so what.’

Kiaros tried hard to rationalize and shake off his feelings.

“If I put a hat on you too, you’d look even cuter….”

If he let her keep going, there’d be no end to it. Sensing danger, Kiaros flapped his wings and escaped Letina’s palm.

“Hey, wa, wait for me!”

Letina hurried after Kiaros, who flew ahead.

***

‘So much for noble dignity, I just ran off.’

Letina, catching Liri, tidied her wind-blown hair and went outside.

“Weren’t you going with Lord Kiaros?”

The butler waiting at the carriage asked, seeing Letina holding only a duck.

“Ahem. He had something come up at the Imperial Palace, so he stepped out. He said he’d follow later.”

“Really? Is that so?”

The butler broke into a cold sweat, saying he hadn’t noticed.

“It’s fine.”

She felt a bit guilty for lying, and hurried into the carriage.

On the way to the villa, Letina sat Liri on her lap. Liri seemed to be thinking, then finally relaxed and sat down to rest.

Letina’s lips curled up.

She gently stroked his feathers, and they arrived at their destination in no time.

After getting out of the carriage, Letina went to the villa and packed sandwiches and orange juice in a basket.

“Alright, finally time for a walk!”

Quack!

The duck trotted after Letina.

The servants covered their mouths and whispered about how cute the scene was.