Raymond was the groom Dorothea had marked out for herself early on.

And now Charlotte, who had appeared so late, was going to snatch him away?

That could not happen!

Dorothea wanted to rush at Charlotte at once and shout at her to wait her turn, but she could not behave disgracefully while Raymond was watching.

I haven’t lost him yet.

Comforting herself, Dorothea forced a smile and said,

“In any case, since the two of you already have plans… It’s a shame, but I should take my leave for today. I’ll see you next time.”

Dorothea forced herself to smile as she bid them farewell, then left.

Even after Dorothea was gone, Charlotte seemed stunned, staring into the air with her eyes slightly wide.

Raymond watched her carefully.

Perhaps I should have stopped her after all.

He knew Dorothea was being rude to Charlotte. Rude enough that even Raymond found it unpleasant.

Yet the reason he had remained still was because, in any case, Charlotte had continued the conversation.

Calmly, at that.

“…”

Just as Raymond was about to call Charlotte’s name, she opened her mouth.

“…Since even someone with such wide connections doesn’t know about it, most people probably don’t know about that incident, right?”

The eyes that had been round with confusion only moments ago curved beautifully.

Raymond held his breath for a moment and stared at her face.

He did not know why he had stopped breathing.

It simply happened.

“I suppose I really was worrying for nothing.”

“…Oh dear. There goes four hundred gold.”

Having found his breath again, Raymond lifted both brows and smiled teasingly.

“I suppose so. There it goes.”

Far from looking disappointed, Charlotte’s face looked at ease.

After that, Raymond felt satisfied as he glanced at Charlotte, who was following him with a much happier expression than before.

* * *

After they had walked for about twenty minutes, Charlotte’s steps came to an abrupt stop.

“Are you tired?”

Raymond asked, turning back to her.

“No. Not at all.”

“Hmm. For someone who has been staying indoors all this time, you have good stamina.”

Charlotte flinched and smiled awkwardly.

Is he teasing me, or mocking me…?

Just then, Raymond asked,

“Then why did you stop?”

If she had stopped in front of a shop window, he would have been pleased, thinking she had found something she liked.

But this was in front of an alley.

“Well, I was wondering what was happening over there.”

“Hmm.”

In the place Charlotte pointed to, numerous laborers had gathered. Even in the cool weather, they were sweating as they put up buildings, and the sight had made her stop.

If they had been building one or two structures, she would have thought nothing of it, but the laborers were working on the entire alley.

“It is a shopping district I am building. It seems to be nearly complete.”

Raymond said it in an ordinary tone.

Charlotte asked, looking flustered.

“You’re joking, aren’t you?”

“Why would I make such an unamusing joke?”

“…”

Charlotte already knew very well how wealthy Raymond was. But a shopping district was different, was it not?

This was something that belonged to city business, so it could not proceed without discussions with the family that held administrative authority. And she had never heard of a foreigner involving himself in a city project before.

…Glasko’s territory belongs to the Earlister ducal family, didn’t they say?

The administrative authority was also held by Duke Earlister.

Perhaps he was able to build the shopping district because of his friendship with Duke Earlister.

No, surely not.

He must have won it through ability.

Duke Earlister was the wealthiest man in Belpatsha, a giant who held power, honor, and everything else in his hands.

Rather than the fact that Raymond was a great man of wealth, the duke must have valued the power he possessed to accumulate such immense wealth.

He must have been attractive enough that his being a foreigner did not matter.

But something feels a little strange…

Charlotte asked cautiously,

“Mr. Bayen, you are a foreigner, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

Raymond answered indifferently.

Yes. There had been that troublesome setting.

No matter how vast Belpatsha’s lands were, there was no way someone with that degree of wealth would not have become known. And if he were a foreigner, he could appear more easily and disappear just as simply.

“But you speak Belpatshan incredibly well. Like a native speaker.”

Raymond flinched and studied Charlotte’s face.

He wondered if she suspected him, but…

Charlotte’s eyes were simply sparkling.

You should be suspicious. Why are you impressed?

Raymond let out a hollow laugh.

“I have studied it diligently since I was young.”

That was not a lie. After all, even his mother tongue was something he had learned by studying, which was why he could speak it this way.

“Then what country are you from, Mr. Bayen?”

“Hmm. Why do you ask? Are you perhaps suspicious of whether I am truly a foreigner and planning to investigate my background?”

“No! Of course not. That isn’t why. I was just curious…”

Startled, Charlotte waved both hands, and Raymond let out a low chuckle.

“I’m joking. Of course you would be curious.”

Just then, a cool breeze swept in from behind them, tousling both their hair.

Raymond casually brushed back the hair blocking his vision and said,

“Grasian. It is a country quite far from here.”

For an instant, Charlotte’s face turned pale.

Grasian.

That was certainly the country where Fiona had lived.

“…?”

Seeing Charlotte’s expression, Raymond faintly furrowed his brow.

Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, Charlotte tucked the hair falling forward behind her ear and composed her expression along with it.

“What kind of country is Grasian?”

“…It is a country where industrialization is flourishing.”

Raymond swallowed the uncomfortable feeling and answered.

“But because status holds incomparable power there compared to Belpatsha, the country’s development has lagged behind its technological advancement. I find that quite regrettable.”

Though Raymond himself was, in truth, a noble…

In any case, that was his honest impression of Grasian.

“…Does that mean discrimination by status exists there?”

“Yes. They are even rather strongly hostile toward foreigners, so even nobles from other countries find it difficult to fully assimilate into society. Ah, of course, it depends on the noble…”

Charlotte was confused.

It was very different from what Fiona had said.

Fiona had certainly said that she was on familiar terms with the daughter of a count, that she had gotten along well with countless nobles, and that her father was a respected, successful businessman in Grasian.

There must be exceptions.

…But if that had been the case, would Fiona not have bragged about it?

That she had been special, unlike the others.

No. Enough. Stop thinking about it.

Whatever the truth was, it had nothing to do with Charlotte.

Truly, nothing at all…

“How does this look?”

At the sudden voice, a spark of light rose in Charlotte’s dimly clouded eyes.

Startled, Charlotte looked around.

The scenery around them had changed.

Good heavens. Since when had they started walking again?

No, now was not the time to retrace that.

“Yes? What does?”

Charlotte answered with an intentionally bright expression so he would not notice she had been lost in thought.

Raymond indifferently pointed toward the shop window.

After staring intently at the splendid, beautiful dresses and jewelry from earlier, only to pass them by with a displeased expression in the end, what could possibly have stopped him now?

Curious, Charlotte turned her gaze.

“…Dolls?”

Inside the shop window, plump teddy bears dressed in gorgeous gowns were enjoying a charming little picnic.

“Yes. What do you think?”

Perhaps because the dolls were cute, Charlotte found herself smiling naturally as she answered with ease.

“They’re very cute…”

At that, Raymond’s lips drew a brilliant arc.

“Then which one is the cutest among them?”

“…I’m not sure. I think they’re all pretty.”

Raymond seemed to think for a moment, then nodded.

“I see. A good choice.”

“…A good choice?”

“Let’s go in first.”

Raymond began walking again.

What exactly had been a good choice?

Charlotte was curious, but she did not bother asking again. He might simply have misspoken.

* * *

As soon as Charlotte returned, she saw Elena waiting anxiously in front of the entrance hall.

“Surely you weren’t waiting like this because of me, were you?”

When Charlotte asked in an apologetic tone, Elena spoke urgently.

“Of course it was because of you, Charlotte. How was it? Nothing strange happened?”

“Nothing much happened.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

All they had done was look around the shopping district.

Ah.

“And I was scolded.”

“What? By Mr. Bayen?”

Charlotte nodded and summarized the nagging Raymond had poured out at her.

Elena looked utterly dumbfounded.

“No… he really said all that?”

“Yes. I was truly startled.”

Now that she was fully grown, she had never expected to receive that kind of lecture—especially from that man.

“In any case, I don’t think we need to doubt Mr. Bayen’s intentions.”

And although he had told Charlotte that wandering around alone made him lazy and made it difficult for him to go out, after experiencing it today, she felt that was not the only inconvenience.

“There were a lot of people glancing at Mr. Bayen the entire time we were walking.”

The only person who had actually spoken to him had been Baron Ziave’s daughter, but if he had been alone, even more people would likely have approached him.

Looking at it that way, Charlotte felt almost like someone hired for the sake of Raymond’s private time.

Not that she had actually gone out to work.

“I’m glad I went out today. It was fun, and more than anything, I feel relieved now that I know I’ve been living in needless tension all this time.”

“Charlotte…”

Just then, as Elena smiled in relief with tears brimming in her eyes—

A man carrying a great many boxes arrived at the Spencer residence.