"Yes, yes. Please send this to the secondary palace as well. Just say it's a personal item for Master Ethan."

"Understood! I'll make sure it's well-packaged and sent right away!"

"Thank you, and I hope you have good sales!"

It had been about two hours since Lilith and Ethan began shopping for travel supplies at the market. Despite having purchased quite a few items, they were still wandering around empty-handed, save for the snacks they were carrying.

The reason they didn’t have to carry any heavy items was primarily because they were staying at the secondary palace. When they first visited the cheese shop, the shopkeeper, recognizing that Ethan was a noble of considerable standing, had confirmed where they were staying and immediately offered to have the items sent directly to the secondary palace.

It turned out that this market was frequented by maids from the palace or the secondary palace who came to purchase groceries. Transporting enough food for the three hundred or so nobles, royal family members, and servants residing within the palace was impossible for the maids alone, so the market had developed a system of transport wagons that delivered goods to the palace twice a day.

This meant that Lilith and Ethan could take advantage of this service without any issues, adding their supplies to the large shipment wouldn’t delay the delivery. The shopkeeper had mentioned that other nobles staying at the palace often used this service, so it was perfectly normal.

As a result, instead of being weighed down by baskets full of food as originally planned, their hands were completely free.

‘Phew… Phew… Phew…’

‘Hehe… Hehe… Hehe…’

Sei, who had come along to help, was now asleep on Lilith’s shoulder, while Sally, who had followed Sei, flitted about, seemingly enjoying watching her sleep.

Even the gold coins Lilith had brought for the trip remained untouched. This wasn’t surprising, considering Ethan’s presence.

‘Given Ethan’s personality, there’s no way he’d just watch me spend money.’

Lilith had tested this theory at the cheese shop, pretending to take out her wallet, only for Ethan to immediately stop her hand and pay for the cheese himself. The same thing happened at every other shop they visited afterward.

Although Lilith was currently pretending to be an ordinary noblewoman, in reality, her relationship with Ethan was that of a young master and his personal maid. It would have been a blow to Ethan’s pride as a noble to let his servant pay for anything, so this was only natural.

With no need to carry heavy items or spend any money, Lilith was able to leisurely enjoy shopping in the market. If she saw something they might need, she would buy it and have it sent to the secondary palace. If she spotted a snack, she would buy one to share with Ethan.

…At this point, it felt less like they were preparing for a trip and more like they were on a date. Of course, that wasn’t far from the truth, considering that Ethan had asked her out.

"Lily, say 'ah.'"

“…Ah.”

Even now, as Ethan fed her fruit skewers bought from a stall, it was unmistakably a date.

Lilith was glad she hadn’t brought Agnes along. If Agnes had seen this, she would have accused them of flirting in public, causing a scene both now and in the future.

As Lilith savored the sweet, sugar-coated strawberry skewer, Ethan asked about the rest of the day’s plans.

"It seems like we’ve bought almost everything. What’s left, Lily?"

"We’ve almost finished with the food and camping supplies; the only thing left is insect repellent."

"Insect repellent?"

"Yes. I’ve heard that the Witch’s Forest is home to some rather dangerous insects. I’m not sure if Lara will have any for us, so it’s better to be prepared."

The main reason was that Lilith hated bugs. Despite her years of experience as a maid, which had made her adept at killing even the most disgusting insects with her bare hands, they still grossed her out.

The idea of being hot, sweaty, and then swarmed by bugs was something she wanted to avoid at all costs.

"We could probably find some at a general store or a magic shop. But those kinds of places might be located outside the market, in a more remote part of town."

Considering the capital was a large city that could fit two castles, finding such a store immediately might be challenging.

When she played Luminor Academy, she rarely used insect repellent items, so she wasn’t even sure if they sold them in the capital. As a player, she hadn’t needed them since she wasn’t the one encountering the bugs.

Lilith was pondering whether she’d have to spend the afternoon circling the capital to find a store that sold insect repellent spray when someone suddenly blocked her and Ethan’s path.

"I saw a strange sign earlier; it might have been a general store…"

"Excuse me, miss…!"

"Eek?!"

"Kyaah?!"

Startled by the sudden appearance of a small girl who barely reached half her height, Lilith stumbled backward, only to be caught by Ethan, who had been quietly following behind her.

"Are you okay, Lily?"

“…Yes, thank you, Ed."

Thankfully, she hadn’t fallen and embarrassed herself. Ethan had caught her before she could hit the ground.

The girl, on the other hand, had fallen over, startled by Lilith’s scream. Lilith quickly reached out a hand to help her up.

"I’m sorry for yelling like that. Are you hurt?"

"N-no…"

The girl, wearing a red hood, cautiously took Lilith’s hand and stood up, brushing off her clothes.

She looked about six or seven years old, but in this world, appearances could be deceiving. Malnutrition was common, so she might be older than she looked.

"You called out to me earlier. Is there something you need?"

"W-well…"

"Did you lose your parents? Or are you lost and can’t find your way home?"

"Are you… are you an adventurer, miss?"

“…What?"

Lilith was taken aback by the unexpected question, but she quickly regained her composure and shook her head.

"No, I’m not an adventurer."

"T-then…"

"I’m just a normal maid… no, a noblewoman… or rather, I’m just an ordinary person, not an adventurer or a noble."

"……."

Given that she wasn’t currently a maid, introducing herself as such felt awkward, and she wasn’t sure if this girl, who seemed to be a commoner, would even know what a maid was. She also didn’t want to alarm the girl by revealing herself as a noble, so she simply described herself as an ordinary person.

…Though in truth, a truly ordinary person probably wouldn’t introduce themselves like that.

"T-that’s a lie…"

"Pardon?"

"A normal person wouldn’t be able to fight so well. I-I saw you earlier in that alley, dodging that bad man’s knife like this and that!"

"Uh, um…"

"I-I saw it all! That strange man was swinging a knife at you, and then your brother chopped off his hand with a quick slash!"

"……."

It seemed the girl had witnessed the incident with the pickpocket (who was actually a robber) earlier in the alley.

Lilith recalled that it wasn’t exactly a scene suitable for a child to witness.

Then again, this was a medieval fantasy world. Maybe things like that were more common. After all, in a bustling capital like this, it wouldn’t be unusual for crimes involving knives and killings to happen daily.

"In that case, let’s just say I’m a slightly better fighter than most ordinary people."

"……."

"So, where are your parents? If you’ve lost them, I can help you find them…"

"They’re… not here."

Lilith hadn’t meant to say anything wrong. It was just normal to assume that a child in a crowded market would be with their parents.

Not that she thought this girl was abnormal or anything.

"I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way…"

"My mom and dad are lying down right now. Even if I asked them to come to the market with me, they wouldn’t have come."

"Oh, you startled me. When you said they weren’t here, I thought I had said something really wrong…"

"It’s been about a year since they’ve been lying down. I don’t think they’ll get up anytime soon."

"……."

"I’m kidding. Actually, if you go that way, you’ll find where they are."

"S-so it was a joke… You really scared me…"

"That’s where my mom and dad are buried. They actually passed away about three years ago."

"……."

"……."

"…So that wasn’t a joke?"

"No. So I don’t have a mom or dad anymore."

…In the end, it didn’t change the fact that Lilith had misspoken from the start.

She could have just said her parents had passed away. Why go through all that roundabout way and make things even more awkward?

Of course, she couldn’t get angry at the child. If she did, she’d come off as a really bad person, so she managed to suppress her emotions.

"…Then, do you have any other family you live with?"

"My grandmother. I live with my grandmother."

"…Your grandmother isn’t…?"

"No, she’s still alive. Just yesterday morning, she made carrot and potato soup for me. I asked her to leave out the carrots, but…"

…Thankfully, the grandmother wasn’t part of the tragic backstory.

With a sigh of relief, Lilith realized she had found the opening she needed to shift the conversation and understand the girl’s situation better.

"Would you like me to help you find your grandmother?"

"Yes!"

"Great. Where did you last see her? If you think back carefully…"

"Last night, at our house!"

"…What?"

"The night before last, a big, bad wolf suddenly appeared at our house and took my grandmother away!"

"……."

…What? Is this girl really Little Red Riding Hood?