9. A New Relationship (2)
It was a day with beautiful sunshine.
It was also the day of the tea party at the Ackroyd residence.
Martha, the nanny who perfectly remembered that an outing was scheduled, barged in from the morning.
“Miss! Let’s start getting you ready!”
“…Nanny.”
Saena lay in bed and pulled the covers over her head, but soon had to face the sunlight.
“It’s! The Ackroyds’! Tea party! We can’t! Have you going dressed carelessly!”
“It’s just a women’s gathering, why…”
“You don’t understand! When it’s just women! You need to! Dress even more! Perfectly!”
Still half-asleep and mumbling excuses, Saena was forced to wake up due to Martha’s passionate insistence.
‘Sister Kiki isn’t that kind of person…’
Though excuses would be useless, Saena tried mumbling them anyway, albeit reluctantly. Fortunately, she could at least take short naps during the three-hour full-course massage.
Thanks to Martha’s efforts, Saena, now gleaming from head to toe like a freshly boiled egg, got into the carriage wearing a new dress sent by Madame Charlize.
It had been a while since she’d received Rupert’s escort.
She planned to take care of several errands at once while moving to the townhouse in the Imperial City.
Saena, who had left about two hours before the tea party appointment time, directed the carriage to the bookstore row on the outskirts of Rohaton Street. After traveling for a while, the carriage reached its destination.
It was the Bellua Antiquarian Bookstore.
“Sir Rupert. I’ll go in alone.”
“But Miss–.”
“It’s just a bookstore. There’s only one entrance. If you’re worried, you can check on me periodically to see if I’m okay.”
Rupert didn’t seem particularly pleased, but after scanning the interior, he somewhat agreed.
The already not-so-large store interior had books piled high even in the passageways. With his build, entering might cause the piles of books to collapse.
“It might be more dangerous if you come in, right?”
“Well… that’s true. It looks more like a warehouse than a bookstore.”
“I think it’s because there are too many books.”
Saena smiled briefly and entered. As her vision narrowed, she opened what seemed to be a deliberately placed paper door, which jingled to announce a customer’s arrival.
“Grandpa?”
The owner of the Bellua Antiquarian Bookstore was an elderly man with graying hair, who had somehow come to be called ‘Grandpa.’
Saena carefully made her way inside, being careful not to bump the stacked books with her shoulders or get her dress caught.
There was a desk that served as a counter inside where the old man usually sat.
“Grand…”
But instead of the old man, an unfamiliar man was sitting there. Not to mention, he was uncommonly handsome.
Their eyes met. For some reason, the man made a strange expression when he saw Saena.
“Um… where is the old gentleman who used to be the owner here?”
She had come right after receiving the letter, surely the owner hadn’t changed?
“Looking for Grandpa? He stepped out saying he had an errand, but he’ll be back soon. Look around the store while you wait.”
It felt slightly awkward and uncomfortable to be with this stranger she’d never met before, making her hesitant.
Besides, why was this person speaking informally from their first meeting?
‘Should I come back later?’
Though he said the owner would return soon, how could he be so sure?
When she was about to slip away, the man suddenly spoke.
“It’s true. He’ll be back within 10 minutes. He just went to the store next door.”
“…Okay.”
After such insistence, it felt awkward to leave. Instead, she moved toward the passage where Rupert could see her and browsed through nearby books.
As she turned her gaze, wondering if there was anything worth looking at, an interesting title caught her eye.
[Unknown Facts About Erenhorn]
Hmm, could it be true? Had this author seen Erenhorn in person before writing this? What could be written in it?
It might contain truth or cleverly written lies, but she was curious about what was written.
Saena reached for the book that was placed quite high relative to her height. Her fingers could touch it, but the book was so tightly wedged among others that it wouldn’t budge with just a gentle pull.
“This one?”
At that moment, the man reached out and pulled the book out for her.
“…Erenhorn? Do you like Erenhorn?”
The man asked while reading the title, not handing her the book.
“Please give it to me.”
“No one knows facts about Erenhorn better than I do, you know?”
The man said with a slight smile, apparently joking.
“Ah, I see.”
Saena responded lifelessly, assuming it was typical male bravado.
“You think I’m lying. It’s true, really.”
Saena looked up at the man carefully. Come to think of it, the man’s hair was pink.
The Aberdeen family had this hair color, right? Maybe he was from a branch family? If so, it might not be complete nonsense.
“By the way, Miss, have we met before? Why do I feel such a familiar and comfortable feeling?”
“……”
Just when she was starting to believe him, hearing such a typical pickup line made Saena lose interest again. Putting up her characteristic wall, she said,
“Since you know so much about Erenhorn, you surely don’t need this book. Give it to me.”
When she responded with an expression showing absolutely no interest, the man looked somewhat shocked.
“No, Miss. You’re quite unusual, huh? This isn’t the normal reaction, how strange.”
The man tilted his head while bringing his face closer to Saena’s.
His face, which suddenly came close, was, how to put it, smooth like a marble doll. The way he smiled, crinkling his eyes with that smooth face, suggested he knew very well what effect his smile had.
With a beauty mark under his left eye, his smile was highly eye-catching and even gave off a decadent feeling.
‘…What’s this. Is he hitting on me?’
Though she wasn’t exactly sure why he was acting this way, it was clear that this man knew how to use his looks.
While his smile was provocative, it was equally artificial.
“Oh my, Miss, you’re here?”
“—Grandpa.”
Grandpa returned at just the right moment. Thinking this was fortunate, Saena immediately distanced herself from the man and moved toward Grandpa.
“You came for that book, right?”
“Yes.”
“Come this way.”
Grandpa led her to the counter. As he did so, he said something to the man.
“Don’t mess with this young lady if you know what’s good for you.”
“Huh? Me?”
The man tilted his head with a puzzled expression.
“No, what do you mean by messing? Me?”
“This young lady is my precious customer. Treat her with respect.”
“I was giving her my precious attention, wasn’t I?”
What’s with this man?
Though his aura didn’t seem like that of a commoner, something oddly frivolous about him made Saena suspicious.
“Boss, you seem to know who this young lady is? Who is she? Come on, why won’t she introduce herself?”
“How can I speak of what she hasn’t chosen to reveal herself? Just remain ignorant.”
“Don’t be like that, Boss.”
Though the man continued to whisper something, Grandpa ignored him and brought out a wooden box from behind the counter. When he opened the wooden box, there was an old-looking book inside.
‘Is this it….’
Grandpa carefully took out the book and opened it.
“They say this was found while demolishing an abandoned mansion up north. It was discovered in a corner of the basement. Though it’s not in great condition from being neglected, I thought it was worth examining, so I contacted you.”
“You did well.”
Saena carefully turned the pages of the book that looked like it might crumble if she applied too much force, examining the text. Though many parts were smudged, there were still many readable sections.
And there were definitely quite a few characters she hadn’t seen before.
“I’ll buy it.”
This was an unexpected find. Regardless of whether she could study it immediately, it would surely be helpful to have.
“But the book’s condition is quite poor, will that be okay?”
“Would you like to have it restored? It will definitely be in better condition than if you leave it as is.”
“I think that would be better.”
Since she wasn’t in a situation to study it right away anyway.
“I understand. Then I’ll contact you again.”
“Yes. And please give me that book too.”
Saena pointed to the book still in the man’s hands.
“That… Oh. Alright.”
Grandpa took the book from the man’s hands, examined it, and handed it to Saena.
“No, Erenhorn…. Rather than that book’s content, I….”
Saena ignored the man’s muttering, told them to bill her as usual, and left the bookstore.
* * *
