Today, Lady Olivia’s room was calm as usual.

Having read an article about an unprecedented cold wave, I was getting ready to go out after a long time in order to spend the cold winter warmly.

I needed to buy some snacks for the lady, order firewood, and purchase cotton quilts and fur clothing.

Dressed in my black butler uniform, I looked up at the lady who was stretching out her white feet.

The lady had a sullen expression.

She was pouting her lips and glaring at the socks in my hand.

“I don’t like it.”

The lady turned her head away haughtily, like a teenage girl who’d refuse to go to school if it wasn’t in a North Face puffer jacket.

“I hate red socks. They’re so unfashionable.”
“Fashion has a way of coming full circle.”
“You’ve got no taste in clothes, Ricardo.”
“What’s wrong with my fashion sense?”

The lady, who insists on my wearing the butler’s uniform every single day of the year, gave me a once-over and sighed deeply.

“You always dress so drably.”
“But today I’m wearing a different outfit.”
“It’s the same…”
“How can you say it’s the same? The pattern on this shirt is different from usual. I chose it with much effort, and it’s disappointing that you can’t see it.”
“That’s basically the same!”

Why, what’s wrong with my butler’s uniform?

When I first wore the butler’s uniform, she praised me, saying I seemed like I would do a good job, but now I was facing a lady with far more complaints.

Was that praise not sincere…?

Anyway, the lady showed no signs of giving in to the cold weather or to the butler’s will to prevent her feet from getting cold by wearing warm fur socks.

“If they’re not black socks, I’m not going outside,” the lady declared. Her stubbornness only made me more eager to challenge her will.

It was the mentality of ‘If I can’t wear it, then I want to wear it even more.’

Traditionally, the color red has been a symbol of good fortune… I had such high regard for the color red that people in my past life would buy red underwear with their first paycheck.

The lady shook her head.

“Aaaaah! I hate red socks. Give me black ones.”
“Please don’t be so capricious. You’re too cute, making me want to switch to black.”
“Waaah! Black socks!”

The lady was trying to win over me with cuteness, appealing in a pitiful way. I wanted to show that I could pull off a tantrum too, but I refrained, considering that the lady had just finished her breakfast and thinking of her stomach health.

‘I’ll have to show her next time.’

While promising myself to lie on the floor tomorrow and throw a fit, I replied with a serious face.

“It’s too bothersome to fetch them.”
“What’s so bothersome! Just get them from your wardrobe.”
“That’s what I find bothersome.”
“Eeek…!”

The lady threw a pillow at me.

*

A brief clash of opinions ensued.

While we did have some friction over the rather trivial subject of socks, we managed to reach a settlement with the help of a single chocolate.

That small expense I was willing to tolerate.

The lady, sitting on the bed, looked at her feet now covered in red socks with a sullen expression. Even though we’d come to a smooth agreement, she did not seem pleased.

After straightening up, I pulled on the lady’s cheeks, which were set in a pout.

“Eeeee… it’s tearing!”

Lady Olivia’s cheeks were chewy today.
Perhaps because it was winter, they seemed a bit dry.

‘I need to buy moisturizer, too.’

The change of seasons was always a painful time for one’s wallet. Monsters would be hiding from the cold, and there would be fewer chances for money to be spent.

Having received a purse full of money from Malik, I thought that some spending would be tolerable and began to carefully organize the list of things I needed to buy today in my head.

“Ugh… You look like a rich miser, Ricardo.”
“I am indeed a miser.”
“… You admit it quickly.”

I turned my back to the lady as I spoke.

“Let’s go. It’s been a while, let me treat you.”

The lady replied with a serious expression.

“But you always buy things every day, Ricardo.”
“…”

The lady was merely stating the obvious.

***

The streets of Hamel were chilly.

“Huff…”

The lady on my back was blowing warm breaths, her eyes gleaming with curiosity.

She was so reluctant earlier, but now that we were out, she was full of wonder, puffing warm breaths. I thought it was a good decision to have come out.

The lady was snugly wrapped in a blanket.

Wrapped up like a swaddled baby to fend off the cold, the lady attracted the attention of passersby. Yet even against the formidable adversary of the cold, the lady did not say much.

“It’s because of the red socks.”

But surely, there were other reasons.

Lady Olivia, who had been blowing on her cold breaths, widened her eyes when she saw a street vendor selling skewered chicken.

The sweet scent of meat had captivated her. Struggling to pull her hand from the tightly-rolled blanket, she pointed towards the vendor.

“Ricardo, skewers!”
“That’s not okay. Impulsive spending just hurts the wallet.”
“The wallet can handle a little pain.”
“But then our mansion will get cold too.”
“We can’t have that.”

The lady gulped down her saliva, looking at the vendor stand with a longing gaze.

“Sku…ewers.”

“Ugh… I really want it.”

Responding to the lady’s soft gesture and the sigh that uttered ‘we can’t just walk past them’, I smiled softly and walked towards the vendor selling the skewers.

“One spicy and one mild flavor, please.”

The lady wriggled with joy from within the blanket, bustling about.

As I was about to pay, the lady hurriedly spoke to me.

“Wait…! I’ll pay!”

She was fumbling in her chest pocket for a gold coin.

As the lady’s treasure hunting took time, I softly smiled and placed a silver coin on the table.

“I will buy it. Please, you can buy next time.”
“I found it now…!”

As she said she found it, she pulled out a chocolate instead. The lady then tilted her head and focused again on searching.

“I will pay.”
“I will pay next time, so, Ricardo, you shouldn’t interfere.”

I nodded in response to the lady’s words. I should keep paying. I did not like giving away the lady’s gold coins to others.

The vendor lady making the skewers watched the lady and me with curious eyes. It must have been the first time she saw a noble young lady using a quilt as a wrap.

I really hoped she wouldn’t ask any odd questions…

Even though the lady had become less sensitive to people’s stares since her first outing, if she were to hear an awkward question like ‘Is the lady heavy for you to carry?’ she might become flustered.

As I surreptitiously glanced at the lady, who was puffing in anticipation of eating skewers, I gave an awkward smile.

“Could you please hurry? It’s cold outside.”

The vendor lady, with a bright smile, quickly moved her hands.

“Yes~ But how long have the two of you students been dating?”
“Pardon?”
“How long have you been dating?”

She seemed like a nice person.
In my heart, I decided to become a regular customer.

“…We’re not a couple.”

From behind me, came the lady’s voice, speaking informally to a stranger for the first time.

I gently nudged Olivia whom I was carrying on my back to point out her mistake. Using informal language when meeting someone for the first time was not polite.

Realizing her fault, Olivia shook her head vehemently and spoke with a hint of apology to the lady.

“We’re not a couple… yo.”
“Is that so? Hehe…”

The vendor lady had a pleasantly good-natured smile.

“A handsome and pretty student like you two seemed well-matched. I was going to give you a service if you were a couple.”

Olivia’s eyes spun at the mention of ‘service.’

“What kind of service?”
“Why, would you start dating if I gave you a service?”
“No, that’s not what I mean…”

Olivia looked at me with eyes that said she was in a bind.

“Oh dear me, I’m being silly again. Forgive this old lady, huh?”

The vendor lady let out a hearty laugh and extended the skewers – spicy, medium, and mild – a three-flavor set.

“This is on the house!”
“Eeeek!”

Olivia’s eyes widened in surprise.

Taking hold of the skewers, Olivia gave a cheerful smile and thanked the vendor lady.

“Thank you.”
“Lady…”
“Thank you so much.”

She was a lady with manners.

Before leaving the vendor stand,

“Excuse me, young man!”

The vendor lady called out to me, throwing back the silver coin I had placed on the table with a tinging sound.

“Do your best.”

Vendors sure had quick wits. I bowed my head slightly to express my gratitude.

“I’ll do my best.”

My face felt flush.

*

My hand was full of receipts.

Having shopped while carrying Olivia, I had no free hand, so we opted for a bit of an expense to have the purchases delivered.

Olivia looked at the crumpled receipts with dazed eyes.

“One…Two…Three… Eeeeek!”

She was more frightened of money than ghosts.

Before the family’s support had been cut off, the amount spent would have been considered trivial, but now the weight of money felt heavy on Olivia’s shoulders.

“Ricardo, the rich man.”
“Yes, the rich man.”
“Really?”
“No…”

Olivia sighed and hugged me tightly.

“I’m sorry…”

It felt soft and comforting.
I felt as though I had become wealthy.
A natural smile appeared on my lips.

“It’s okay.”

Strolling through the downtown area, we chatted about various things – buying more chocolates, stocking up on insect repellent for the house, buying snacks for Gomtang.

During our discussion about opening our wallets for the first time in a while, Olivia stopped speaking abruptly as we passed a sparkling jewelry store.

“Wow… that’s beautiful.”

Olivia admired a diamond bracelet.

It was not something that high nobility ladies would typically wear, but it was an extravagantly expensive bracelet beyond what we could afford.

Olivia, who was stuffing the receipts into her pocket, clenched her fists tightly upon seeing the radiant bracelet through the glass.

I silently bowed my head and started counting the number of ‘0’s on the price tag in front of the bracelet.

“Three. Four. Five…”

The outrageous price made me smirk.

I took a quick look at the purse that contained the gold coins, but the sense of loss hurt even more.

The thought that I would only receive the payment for the recipes after the year made me feel even more downhearted.

‘The lady’s birthday is approaching too…’

Looking over my shoulder at Olivia whom I was carrying, I cautiously asked.

“Do you want it?”
“No… no…!”

Startled, Olivia shook her head.

“No, uh… no.”

She was not good at acting.

Olivia murmured softly, tickling the butler’s heart.

“Too… expensive…”

It was disheartening.

In so many ways.

With heavy steps that struggled to move forward, I turned my footsteps toward the mansion.

Plodding, plodding, the heavy steps led me back home as something cold and shaped touched my forehead, greeting me before melting away.

“Ricardo, look.”

Olivia said, gazing at the sky.

White snow was falling gently.

The first snowfall of the year.

“It’s winter.”
“Yeah… it’s winter.”

The first snow was falling.