* * *

They were able to reach a rather noisy street just a little away from the location of the hotel.

Despite the late hour, the place was bustling with street vendors and customers.

Could it be that they had to pass through here? Antes looked down at her for a moment and opened his mouth with a deep smile.

“I thought you would like this place.”

“What do you mean?”

Suddenly, liking something or not, what did it matter? Luna’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Antes casually glanced at her and explained.

“In fact, I called the lady to come here. I thought you’d like it.”

“…I beg your pardon?”

Going out at this late hour, making people come to a night market—was it all because he thought Luna would like it?

Hello? I wanted to rest, you know? Luna’s eyes turned fierce.

Of course, she could rest in the carriage until they arrived in the capital tomorrow, but right now, she wanted to rest right here.

As Luna grabbed his arm tightly, puzzled by his sudden outing at this hour, Antes pointed to a stall with a deep smile.

“Have you tried that? It’s a specialty of this city, they say.”

At his mention of a specialty, Luna’s hostile gaze followed Antes’s hand and landed on a stall selling small pieces of wood.

“Oh, really? Then why don’t the young lord try it first?”

Luna smiled brightly and said, ‘Let me see how delicious it is.’ There were so many street vendors.

Antes, who wasn’t embarrassed at all and laughed out loud, opened his mouth while stroking his hair needlessly.

“Can’t you just take a look around with me? Actually, I’ve been waiting all day since this morning to go for a night walk with the lady.”

While begging with soft eyes. In fact, not even this morning, but ever since he left the capital, he had been considering when to go for a walk with Luna.

But unfortunately, Luna moved in a very hurry, and after the first break, she moved in the carriage separately, so there was no chance to make such a suggestion.

“Moreover, since we’re already out, it would be nice to have a change of mood and take a short stroll.”

As Luna didn’t readily agree, Antes decided to playfully attack her mood.

You know as well as I do that we haven’t had a particularly pleasant conversation in the past few days, he mentioned.

Luna responded as if she were asking when she had given him a menacing look. Perhaps there was no one in this world who would bow their head so much in response to a request.

“Fine, then. Let’s take a short walk. I’m a bit tired and would like to rest.”

“Okay, I understand. We shouldn’t push ourselves too hard.”

Since they needed to venture into the crowd, Luna held onto Antes’s arm a bit more firmly. Holding onto his arm almost as if she were hanging onto it, she watched people with an attentive gaze as they slowly walked.

No, but why was her vigilance so strict? Luna wondered, puzzled by why her guard was so rigid as she walked with Antes through the market.

After a while, Luna, as if she had been watching all around while hanging onto Antes’s arm, started looking around here and there with a glint in her eye.

“What’s this? Is it for eating?”

Luna asked, pointing to the leaves strung together on a string.

“It’s for eating. It’s sweet. Want to try it?”

Before Luna could respond, Antes paid for the leaves without waiting to hear her answer. He then handed them to Luna with a compassionate smile, as if urging her to eat.

“Hmm? It’s sweet, but it also tastes a bit bitter…”

So Luna chewed on the leaves slowly, and the vendor, who was surprised to see her eating the leaves raw, stammered.

“No, customer! You’re supposed to boil them before you drink them like that!”

“Pfft!”

No wonder it didn’t taste good! Luna spat out the leaves and glared at Antes.

“Ah, it’s actually tea leaves that are supposed to be boiled.”

Such a cute explanation came from Antes, who chuckled lightly as if he had no guilt and then added an explanation as if it were an afterthought.

“You did it on purpose!”

“No, I never dreamed that the lady wouldn’t know its purpose.”

Half of it was a joke, but it wasn’t a lie.

With her personality, she might have sneaked out of the mansion at night and roamed the night market, and unexpectedly, Luna seemed to be watching everything with her eyes wide open as if everything were new to her.

“Well, I’ve hardly been to a night market before.”

“Why?”

So Luna explained the reason.

“There are too many people, it’s dangerous, and… it’s too far from home.”

You should go somewhere close. Night markets were usually held in busy areas. Living a million light-years away from such places, Luna couldn’t go even if she wanted to.

“Besides, when you go to a place like that, you always end up wanting to buy something.”

Ultimately, she didn’t have money. Of course, most of the things sold at night markets were affordable, so she could have bought them if she wanted to, but she didn’t want to waste money.

After answering that, Luna’s gaze turned to a street vendor selling cheap trinkets.

Following her gaze, Antes, with Luna still clinging to his arm, moved with her.

“Do you like trinkets?”

“You know I don’t have money, right?”

“I’ll buy it for you.”

“Can I buy everything here?”

“You can buy everything in all the stores here.”

As if he would even take the stars if she asked, the vendor of trinkets was bewildered by Antes’s response.

“Well… then this one!”

Luna, who seemed as if she were about to strip Antes naked, chose a wooden carved flower ring. It was quite delicate, with nicely painted colors, making it quite beautiful.

Luna, who had put it on her ring finger as if she were about to strip it off, clenched her hand without reason, checking the shape. Then, Antes, who had chosen another ring of the same design as if he were about to strip it off, paid for it.

“Why did you buy another one? Are you planning to give it to Rosemary or something?”

“No, why would I give her a gift?”

Even if the sky were to fall, he wouldn’t do that. Antes replied firmly.

Then why did he buy it?

Just as she was about to ask, Antes suddenly began to put the flower ring on his finger.

“What are you doing?”

“Put the ring on.”

Luna asked, looking at Antes with a slightly cloudy expression for a moment before she casually threw out a comment.

“Unless you plan to cut your finger, it doesn’t seem like it’ll fit.”

It seemed like he had the same thought because he soon gave up on trying to put the flower ring on his finger.

Instead, he purchased a separate necklace chain and put the ring on it. He even took the necklace out of his coat as if showing it off, and Luna couldn’t hide her confusion.

“Do you really like it that much?”

“Yeah.”

Whether Luna reacted to it or not, Antes seemed quite satisfied and was smiling nonchalantly.

Well, it doesn’t matter what others think. As long as she’s happy. Although the thought of them looking like a couple briefly crossed her mind, Antes’s actions were so unique that the idea quickly disappeared from her mind.

Afterward, Luna and Antes, each holding strangely flavored drinks, finished their night stroll and headed back to the hotel.

It was a sudden outing, but it was somewhat satisfying with unexpected gifts and a change of mood.

Luna walked, shaking Antes’s arm, perhaps for no reason, but she caught sight of a familiar figure in the distance.

“…Laura?”

It was indeed Laura and Royer. They were like Luna and Antes, each holding a drink in one hand and holding the other hand as they walked toward the hotel.

“What, what did I just see…?”

Stunned by the unexpected combination, Luna stammered, but Antes casually responded as if he already knew.

“They’re dating.”

“…What?!”

Startled by the loud voice, Laura and Royer turned around.

In response, the shocked Luna pushed Antes towards the alley and jumped in herself.

“They’re dating…?!”

Without me knowing? When did this happen? Luna, shocked, shook Antes violently and asked, and he replied, tilting his head.

“Royer isn’t the type to do that, but I only noticed because he was with Laura every time I saw him.”

He explained, occasionally exchanging strange glances. Luna was wide-eyed and couldn’t recover from the shock.

Although Laura and Luna had a relationship like that of a lady and a servant, she was practically an older sister who had been with her since childhood. For Laura to be in a romantic relationship, and even living together at the mansion, was a shock!

“Should we go after them?”

Antes asked if he should go and ask when they started dating, but Luna, who couldn’t strike first without knowing what kind of person Royer was, shook her head.

“…No. I’ll talk when the time comes.”

It was shocking indeed, but she couldn’t confront them without being told. If Royer turned out to be a bad person, she didn’t know, but he seemed like a decent guy in some ways.

Of course, that didn’t mean she would stop being concerned. She had already seen them with suspicious eyes and would continue to observe them closely.

“Shall we go now? If you want to keep talking here, it’s fine, but…”

Antes, who had practically pinned himself against the wall to continue the conversation, laughed and said to Luna while extending his arm.

No, when did he adopt such a posture? Luna, who was taken aback, moved away from him and awkwardly coughed before offering her hand.

“Let’s go since it’s cold. It’s been a bit of a shocking way to end the day, so I think I should rest.”

Antes reached out his arm to Luna. Luna hesitated before finally sighing deeply and walked with him to the hotel.

* * *

The butler, who had received orders from the Duke and was searching for a woman who resembled Luna, quickly found a suitable candidate not long after.

Her name was Deborah, and she was eighteen years old.

Like the usual story of poor commoners, she too was living a tough life, taking care of her bedridden mother.

“If you accompany me, I’ll pay for a month’s worth of medicine for your mother.”

Due to that, she had no choice but to nod her head at the suspicious proposal from the unfamiliar man.

In case, she asked for an advance payment, the butler handed her ten gold coins. That amount easily exceeded the cost of a month’s worth of medicine.

“…You’re not asking me to sell my body, are you?”

Without any change in his expression, the butler who was staring intently at her replied nonchalantly:

“No, today you just need to accompany me.”