3.

Idiot, fool. Worrying about nothing, she said.

Alisa took back everything she had thought a few minutes ago the moment the rain stopped. She stood there soaking wet, holding a box that was just as soaked.

Not long after the rain stopped, people began to notice her. Unlike everyone else who had rushed to take cover, Alisa was drenched to the bone and drew stares from all directions.

“Oh……”

Through the wet dress clinging to her body, the outline of her undergarments was faintly visible. It wasn’t sheer enough to be truly exposed, but for a thirteen-year-old girl it was more than enough to be mortifying.

Alisa stood there clutching the box, at a complete loss. She was wondering whether she should hide in some bushes until her clothes dried when she heard a voice.

“Hello?”

“Who’s……. oh?”

Alisa’s eyes went wide. Her mouth fell open so far she actually dropped the box onto the ground.

The person who had approached silently from behind was none other than the gentleman in the black top hat — the very one she had been searching for desperately for two weeks.

“Sir!”

Alisa was so overjoyed that she jumped up and waved both hands. The man waved back, then bent down to meet her eyes.

“The young lady seems to be wet every time we meet.”

“That’s……”

“It’s still cold for spring. What will you do if you catch a cold.”

The man wrapped what he was carrying around Alisa. Only then did she realize he had been holding a yellow blanket — completely at odds with his all-black outfit.

He swathed Alisa in the large blanket, then looked down at the ground. He tilted his head at the dress poking out from the box.

“What’s this?”

“Clothes. The ones you bought me when we first met three years ago. You remember, don’t you?”

He nodded readily. Then he looked at Alisa, bundled up like a chick, and asked:

“Have you left home for good?”

“Not exactly, but……”

When Alisa trailed off, the man asked nothing more and picked up the box from the ground. The box she had struggled to carry in both arms came up easily in one of his.

“I won’t ask any more for now — let’s get you into dry clothes first. If you stay like that, you’ll catch a cold straight away. If you don’t mind, shall we stop by the clothing shop?”

The place he pointed to was Madame Marigold, the clothing shop that was already familiar to Alisa.

She looked back and forth between the shop and the man.

‘When I first met him three years ago, the situation was much like this.’

A strong sense of déjà vu washed over her as she looked between the man and the black top hat he wore.

He really hadn’t changed at all from when they first met.

His age was still impossible to guess, and everything above his jaw was hidden by the brim of his hat. If not for the box in his hand, she could almost believe time had turned back to the day they first met.

Alisa hesitated, then asked:

“Um, Sir.”

“Yes?”

“Why are you so kind to me?”

“Hmm……”

“Is it just out of boredom? Because I happened to be there?”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because you have money, and there’s nothing lacking about you.”

“Hmm?”

“You could meet anyone you wanted and spend time with them, or find a sweetheart, or if you didn’t want that you could just go to a social club……”

The more she said, the less confident she felt.

She felt so small — no money, too young, and not the kind of person who could hold a stimulating conversation with dazzling knowledge.

Alisa’s voice grew smaller and smaller.

“So there’s really no reason at all to spend time sitting under a tree chatting with me……”

“I am not the sort of scoundrel who walks past a young lady he knows when she’s in trouble.”

“But you know, Sir. A gentleman who buys clothes for a young lady he knows and keeps her company — that’s not common.”

“Well…… We’ve known each other this long. Wouldn’t it be all right to call each other friends by now?”

“Friends?”

The corner of his mouth, visible beneath the hat brim, curved upward. He reached into his bag and placed a towel on top of her head with a light tap.

“Oh!”

“Dry your hair. You’ll catch a cold.”

Alisa felt herself being swept along again and quickly opened her mouth.

“But, as friends go — I don’t even know your name, Sir. Or your age, or, um, your occupation……”

The more she said, the lower her mood sank. The hands drying her hair slowed, then stopped completely. Alisa raised her head and looked quietly at the man.

All this time they had known each other, and he had never told her anything properly. It felt like he might leave at any moment — like he was simply passing time with a child as a diversion.

Should she be grateful for even this much? Should she thank him for calling her a friend, even just in words, and not press any further? If she made a nuisance of herself and he really did leave, she would never forgive herself for it.

Alisa looked down at the ground and patted her soaking hair dry without reason.

That was when the man spoke.

“I’m the one who falls short.”

“Pardon?”

“It isn’t that I’m kind to you. You’re the one who’s generous to me.”

Alisa tilted her head at those words.

No matter how she thought about it, he had given her far more. Even if there was something she had given him without realizing, it still didn’t add up.

The man was more than capable of drawing people to him. There was no reason at all for him to rely on the generosity of a child.

“I don’t understand that at all.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. But you don’t have to explain. Just promise me one thing.”

“Go ahead.”

Alisa whispered in a small voice.

“……Don’t leave me behind.”

“……”

“Don’t disappear one day without warning, without even saying goodbye. Don’t leave me alone. That’s all I need. Just that.”

Her fingers tightened around the folds of her skirt. Even she found it hard to understand what she was saying.

The one thing she was certain of was that she was ready to accept whatever promise he made, no matter how hollow.

Thud, thud. Silence drifted in between the beats of her heart.

Alisa looked at him with anxious eyes.

“Sir?”

The man’s hand reached up and took hold of the towel on her head. He began to pat her disheveled silver hair dry. The silence felt like it might swallow her whole, and Alisa forced herself to breathe.

He spoke only after he had dried her hair completely.

“Alisa.”

“……Yes.”

“You will be happy, without fail.”

It was a strange thing to say. It sounded like a vow, and also like regret over a past that had already gone wrong.

But it was never, not for a moment, a yes to Alisa’s question.

Alisa bowed her head. She was afraid that if she met his eyes, she would burst into tears.

She was parting her lips, about to say she should be going, when a quiet voice brushed past her ear.

“……My name is Roben. I’m a great deal older than you, and I have no particular occupation. But I’m not short of money to live on, so don’t worry.”

The man raised his hand and pointed somewhere. He was pointing at Madame Marigold.

“I bought the land this building sits on long ago, and when they said they wanted to open a clothing shop, I rented out the lower floors. The clothing shop takes up to the second floor, and the third floor and attic above it are my home. You already knew that.”

Roben, he said to call him. It was obviously a pseudonym taken from Westroben, plain as day. But the man’s expression was so serious that Alisa decided not to pick at it.

There were more than enough other things she wanted to ask.

“Then, Mr. Roben — where have you been for the past two weeks?”

“……”

“How did you know I was caught in the rain and bring a blanket? I came here every day and waited, so why didn’t you come down even once?”

“Well. How do you suppose?”

“You…… are human…… aren’t you?”

She asked this and quietly drew her shoulders in. She shifted her weight onto one heel, ready to bolt if things went wrong.

There was no telling. She might be so lonely that she was conjuring a phantom all on her own.

The man looked at her and burst out laughing. The faint smile on his lips opened fully, and a bright, genuine laugh rang out. His voice, which had always been impossible to place an age to, sounded different this time.