Saena got out of the carriage that arrived at Rohaton Street and looked around. Though she had gotten out, she hadn’t yet decided where to start looking.

‘Where should I buy a gift for a man?’

Since she had never bought one before and hadn’t even decided what to buy, she couldn’t readily pick a direction.

“Where shall I take you, Miss?”

Moreover, looking at Rupert suddenly reminded her of something.

‘Come to think of it, he must have received his knighthood, but I haven’t congratulated him.’

Wasn’t he someone who had even postponed his knighthood ceremony to be her guard knight? She felt she had been a bit thoughtless.

‘While I’m out, I should buy a gift for Rupert too.’

“Let’s go to the general goods stores.”

“Yes. This way is faster.”

The area with general goods stores was on the opposite side of the boutique street, along the plaza. Saena slowly walked down the street examining the stores until she found one.

‘A leather workshop…’

It seemed to be a place that made and sold custom leather products, but unlike the rough image that came to mind when thinking of ‘leather’, there were many luxurious and delicate items.

When she spotted items made of white leather among the display pieces, something especially came to mind.

“Sir. I’ll go in here for a moment.”

“Yes. I’ll wait here.”

Since the structure allowed a clear view of the interior through large windows, Saena entered the shop with just one maid.

“Welcome.”

Ding. As she entered with the sound of the door bell, the distinctive smell of leather filled the air. Fortunately, it had been well-treated and wasn’t unpleasant.

“I saw some products made with white leather…”

“Ah, white leather? That color can only rarely be obtained from white beasts hunted in the north, so supply is limited.”

“Then what about now?”

“Fortunately, we have about half a hide left… though we can’t make large items.”

“What about gloves? Would that be possible?”

“Ah, gloves should be possible.”

As soon as she saw the white leather, that came to mind. It would suit the Duke perfectly.

“If I place an order, when could it be ready?”

“Since we don’t need to start from tanning… hmm, it would take about ten days to two weeks.”

“That’s quite long.”

“Actually, we have quite a few reserved orders right now.”

Hmm. She wanted to give it to him when they met next Wednesday, but would that not work?

“I’ll pay ten times the price if you can complete it by next Tuesday.”

“…Pardon?”

Having experienced it with Madame Charlize, she tried that approach again, and the owner’s pupils shook.

“Is it… not possible?”

She wondered if it was too rushed even with the money, but suddenly the owner nodded.

“…I’ll try!”

An enthusiastic voice.

The power of tenfold payment was indeed impressive.

“Boss– Is my order ready?”

Ding. Another customer entered with the bell sound.

When Saena unconsciously turned her head at the presence, she was startled.

“…Oh! It’s you, Miss!”

A familiar face, though not someone she knew well.

‘…It’s that man from Bellua Bookstore?’

A beautiful man with pink hair and a tear mole. It was definitely him.

“We’re meeting here again? Could this be fate?”

“……”

“Still won’t tell me your name today?”

Shouldn’t you introduce yourself first if you want to know someone’s name?

“I felt it before too, but Miss, why do you feel so familiar? Strange, isn’t it?”

The man grinned and threw another flirtatious line.

Saena didn’t want to tell him her name because she felt uncomfortable with how he kept giving her smiles and acting flirtatious like a playboy.

Well, with that face, it might be harder not to be a playboy.

“There’s something mysteriously friendly about your aura, you know? Like, comfortable and… hey? What could your identity be, Miss?”

“……”

“Why are you here? What are you shopping for?”

What else would someone be doing at a shop besides shopping?

“Why aren’t you answering?”

The man tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand.

“Then can I ask you on a date?”

“……”

“Is silence consent?”

Seeing Saena’s expression now looking at him as if he were truly crazy, the man instead showed a surprised expression.

“What, is it so strange that I asked for a date? I’m quite popular with women, you know?”

Saena decided she should deal with this appropriately and leave.

Though she was startled when the man suddenly leaned his upper body into her field of vision just as she turned her head toward the owner.

“…Would you please move aside?”

“Won’t tell me your name, won’t accept my date request. Then how can I leave?”

“Isn’t it wrong to ask someone on a date when you don’t even know their name?”

“…Is it?”

“……”

He’s really strange.

Wanting to get away quickly, Saena stepped aside and spoke to the owner.

“Um, for the item… I’ll send a servant to pick it up that day.”

“Ah, yes…”

If she revealed her family name and asked for delivery here, that pink-haired man would surely hear it.

“Please make sure it’s ready by then.”

“Yes. Understood.”

As she moved to leave the shop, the man blocked her path again.

The man’s eyebrows drooped in a sad expression.

“It feels too disappointing to let you go like this… I couldn’t even sleep at that time because I was so curious about you.”

Hey, whether that’s true or not, what does it have to do with me!

“Miss, should I call the knight?”

The maid asked, sensing the confrontation becoming uncomfortable.

“No.”

That shouldn’t be necessary. The man just seemed strange but didn’t appear likely to cause harm.

“Sigh…. Ah! You know that saying? If coincidences overlap three times, it’s destiny?”

…I might have heard that?

Seeing Saena tilt her head, the man grinned and added.

“If we happen to meet by chance one more time, it’ll be the third time, so we’re destined to be soulmates.”

…This goes beyond strange. Is he delusional?

“So next time, you must accept my date request! How about it?”

“…I told you it’s wrong to ask someone on a date when you don’t even know their name.”

“Ah, right.”

“……”

“Well, but I’m in a hurry because of my feelings. So couldn’t you tell me your name during the date?”

“……”

Though he didn’t seem likely to cause harm, he was persistent. She needed to brush him off appropriately and leave quickly.

“…If we happen to meet by chance again, let’s exchange names then.”

“Not a date?”

“Let me emphasize again that dating someone whose name you don’t know…”

“Okay, okay. I get it.”

As Saena tried to move away again, the man thr*st his handsome face in front of her again and repeated like he’s trying to brainwash her.

“After we exchange names, you’ll definitely accept my date request, right?”

He even gave an alluring eye-smile, trying very hard. Well, seeing that smile, most people probably couldn’t refuse.

However, for Saena, who had deeply learned the lesson that an attractive exterior had nothing to do with personality, she felt no interest at all.

“That… I’ll think about it when the time comes.”

She gave a vague answer, worried that too firm a response would prolong the conversation. Though she found it a bit strange when the man’s mouth fell open at her response.

“Wow. Miss, you’re really putting up an iron wall.”

“……”

“But why is my heart pounding?”

…He’s crazy. He’s absolutely crazy.

Saena tried to maintain her expression as she felt her face might go pale, slowly backing away.

“…I’ll be going now.”

“Let’s meet again!”

Fortunately, he didn’t block her way anymore.

Saena left the shop at the fastest speed possible while still appearing not to be running away, trying not to make it obvious.

“Miss?”

“Ah, Sir.”

Rupert, who had been looking somewhere from a spot slightly away from the front of the shop, hurriedly approached when he spotted Saena and asked.

“Did something happen inside?”

He seemed to notice her urgent demeanor.

“No. It’s not that…”

“Then what?”

“Another customer came in, so I left. I felt a bit uncomfortable.”

“…Another customer?”

Rupert peered into the shop and ran his hand through his hair.

“Ah, I apologize. I got distracted.”

Usually, Rupert would have entered the moment the pink-haired man blocked Saena’s path, but something must have happened…

“A beautiful white horse suddenly bit my behind and ran away…”

“…Pardon?”

“Hard to believe, right? I can’t believe it either…”

A white horse… bit his behind?

“Getting sexually harassed by a horse… failing to properly guard… what a day.”

“……”

“Should I write an incident report?”

“…Nothing happened to me either. An incident report… seems unnecessary.”

“……”

A moment of silence fell between them.

“…Does it hurt?”

“…Yes. It bit… really hard.”

“……”

Should she… not laugh? But it was too funny.

Saena covered her mouth with her hand while pretending to move.

“…Pff.”

She thought she could hold it in, but seeing his gait now somewhat wobbling unlike before, laughter started leaking out to the point her body almost shook.

“…You can just laugh.”

“…Pff…hah!”

Though he sighed long at Saena who ended up laughing loudly, even Rupert eventually cracked a smile, finding it ridiculous himself.

After laughing for a while, Saena visited another general store.

She looked around several places and bought a few more items. Unlike before, she needed to write many letters now, so she picked out various pretty stationery that caught her eye.

But she wandered for a while, unable to find just the right gift for Rupert until she found something she liked at one store.

It was a fibula that knights use to fasten their cloaks, with beautifully engraved delicate patterns in silver metal. She considered having gems added for decoration but decided against it thinking it might reduce its practicality.

Instead, she added several small items to her purchase. She bought a high-quality whetstone said to be good for maintaining a sword and a pretty sword tassel decoration, and especially…

‘Good for bruises? Hooh.’

She bought an ointment too. For applying to his behind.

“Pff.”

Laughter crossed Saena’s lips again as she requested the items be delivered to House Debov.