– 15 –
Huh?
Why for the left hand?
You’re left-handed!
People don’t know, but I do.
It’s because I made you left-handed.
And you killed me with your left hand.
So I had to give you a left wrist guard.
And you, pretending to be officially right-handed, haven’t been able to wear a wrist guard on your left wrist.
But I couldn’t tell him that I knew this.
If I said I knew something only he knew, he would definitely find it strange.
“I thought you might already have a wrist guard for your right hand, so I made one for your left.”
I’ll pretend not to know you’re left-handed.
His tense expression relaxed a bit at my explanation, but he didn’t say anything more.
“Well then, I will really take my leave now.”
I bowed again and left the Crown Prince’s office.
*****
Calix stared at the left wrist brace on his desk after Kailyn Brockburg had left the room.
‘Left hand… left hand…’
She says she brought it for the left hand because she thought there might be one for the right hand, but giving a left wrist guard as a gift wasn’t customary.
Considering the superstition around left-handedness, it wouldn’t make sense to give a gift specifically for a left-handed person.
Nevertheless, she brought one for the left hand….
Even his closest allies like Rajiv and Rell didn’t know he was left-handed.
Let alone her, who hardly knew him.
He stared at the wrist guard for a while, then finally reached out to pick it up.
There were embroidered letters on the guard.
<Don’t Forget – Kailyn Brockburg>.
‘Don’t forget?’
It was truly a strange embroidery.
Usually, there were words of blessing or admiration.
But ‘Don’t forget’?
Don’t forget…. what?
Could it be… Kailyn Brockberg?
As the difficult words she had spoken to him until now, ones that were hard to grasp the meaning of, came to mind, his left hand holding the guard involuntarily tensed.
“Ah!”
Suddenly, his head buzzed, and everything became chaotic and tangled.
He remembered her words from earlier.
‘Your Highness has saved my life twice.’
She had spoken as if it were a matter of course, so she must have been telling the truth.
Which meant he had saved Kailyn Brockburg before as well.
Since he had no memory of it, it must have happened during the time when his memories were lost…..
The thoughts that had plagued him for days resurfaced.
A girl falling into water, a girl unconscious in the water.
An unconscious woman, an unconscious girl.
A beautiful woman, a cute and pretty girl….
A child….
‘Who is that child? Then that child is Kailyn Brockburg!’
Calix’s eyes widened in shock and surprise as he looked at the door through which Kailyn Brockburg had left.
‘That strange woman who says she likes obsessive love is that girl?’
The thought that the girl in his memories could be Kailyn Brockburg, who had just given him a left wrist guard, struck him.
Suddenly, the unfamiliar emotion that had surged when she previously said she liked him welled up again, making his heart flutter and pound.
*****
The full moon had come around again.
I was still troubled by the issue with my father’s close ties to the Empress’s faction, but I decided I needed to clear my head and indulge in some cultural activities.
Visiting the night market’s book cart would be the best form of cultural engagement.
I asked Abby to come with me, but she had other plans, so I had no choice but to go alone.
I found my way to the alley with the book carts without any trouble and quickly located the same cart from last time.
Since the jousting tournament, I hadn’t seen Eden, and I had heard that he had returned to the Darkus Empire.
There was no chance of an unlucky encounter with him.
I started by looking for the book I couldn’t buy last time and tucked it under my arm, then began diligently searching for other books.
The one under my arm was a risqué novel popular among the nobles, so I thought it would be good to find something similar from the commoners perspective.
Call it an exploration of sexual culture across various social classes?
For once, not worrying about my life and instead building my knowledge of 19+ literature felt truly refreshing.
Kyaah…!
Indeed, the commoners risqué literature was impressively good.
The hallmark of the commoners 19+ literature was that it didn’t care much for the time or place.
So, the book was even more explicit than the last one.
Surely not here? it was indeed there.
Surely not now? was indeed now.
From what I saw with Abby from the Marquess’s household, the sexual customs of nobles and commoners didn’t seem to reflect reality accurately, but judging by these books… I definitely had commoner tastes.
There was no way Calix and I were going to end up together anyway, since he has been a separate woman from the beginning.
Leon was pretty, but I never felt drawn to him, probably because I thought it would be a disaster to get involved with him.
Someday, when I got out of this uneasy state between Calix and Leon, I wanted to find a man, whether a commoner or a noble, with a kind face, body, and heart, and live a sweet life practicing spontaneous 19+ moments comfortably.
Of course, this was all assuming I survived.
Kya-ha!
This guy in this picture, ‘Hans’, is perfect.
With his kind face, body, and heart, he was exactly my type.
And Hans was kind day and night. How wonderful!
I hadn’t even had a relationship, let alone married, in my past life, but in this life, I hoped to survive, meet a good man, and live happily. With these hopeful thoughts, I eagerly turned page after page.
Eventually, I decided to buy the book I was reading and took out money to pay for it along with the book I had picked last time, tucking both books under my arm.
At that moment, the book cart owner, who had just looked up to take my money, suddenly glanced somewhere else. Without even taking the money I was offering, he jumped off the cart and started running.
Why is he acting like that?
Did he see a ghost or something?
“Hey! You need to take the money!”
I shouted loudly at him, who was fleeing like a madman.
But then my heart sank with a thud.
Almost simultaneously with my shout, loud, approaching noises were coming closer at a relentless pace.
‘Thud thud thud thud thud’
The heavy footsteps of multiple people were approaching rapidly, like an ominous drumbeat.
Overcome with an inexplicable sense of dread, I instinctively turned my head towards the direction of the sound.
Gasp!
Who are those people?
No, no!!!
Why is that person here!!!!!
The first thing that caught my eye was a group of knights.
And the next moment, what I saw was the largest man, both in height and build, leading the charge at the front of the group of knights.
No way, why!!!
Why are you here!
My eyes widened to the point of almost popping out, and I was completely frozen in place.
The man was, of course, Calix.
But he wasn’t looking at me.
His eyes were fixed on the fleeing cart owner.
“Don’t let a single one escape!”
He shouted as he passed me, continuing to chase the cart owner.
What on earth is going on here!
In an instant, the alley filled with book carts was swarming with knights.
With the exception of Calix and a few knights following the fleeing cart owner, the rest of the knights began to examine the carts.
What are they doing here!
I was so shocked that I felt like my feet were glued to the ground, and I could only stare blankly at the knights.
After a few minutes of this daze, my consciousness suddenly snapped back to reality.
The knights seemed to be searching for something.
Searching?
What… are they looking for?
Ah!
Could it be that the books from this cart were illegal and unauthorized?
The knights were examining the books on the carts and began to arrest some of the cart owners.
Knights are doing this? Seriously?
Are they so peaceful in this empire that knights have to check for illegal books?
No, no, this isn’t the time to be thinking about that.
After staring in disbelief at the strange scene, I finally came to my senses.
Let’s get out of this mess while Calix is still there!
I briefly pondered what to do with the books tucked under my arm.
The knights were inspecting each cart’s books with intense scrutiny.
In the end, I decided to keep the books and make my escape.
In a situation where the knights were scrutinizing the books on the carts, putting down the ones in my hands would likely draw more attention.
Besides, these were my two most precious books.
I carefully tucked the payment for the books among the other books on the cart and prepared to leave the alley with the two chosen books tucked under my arm, all the while reassuring myself.
‘I’m just a consumer who’s paying for the books I bought.’
But before I could take even a dozen steps, my two legs came to a sudden halt as someone blocked my path.
Ugh…
You again?
Rajiv.
He was the deputy leader of the Crown Prince’s Knights.
As I looked up at him standing tall in front of me, I understood my situation perfectly.
It was all over.
And it was over in a big way.
But I had to do what I could.
Summoning whatever courage I had left, I spoke as firmly as I could.
“Move aside.”
I’m the daughter of the house with the power to see.
You’ve seen it before, Calix just letting me go.
But my background didn’t seem to frighten Rajiv at all.
Well, at least it’s not making things worse.
“Please stop. You cannot take those books with you.”
Did you see?
Ah… you saw it.
You actually looked at the books by my side.
Oh, why does the path of my cultural life always have to be so rough!
Now that it’s come to the point where Rajiv is asking for the books, I feel burdened by the fact that he knows I’m Kailyn Brockburg, young lady of the Duke of Brockburg.
The books are “The Unforgettable Night of the Duchess” and “The Endless Days and Nights of Mary the Florist and Hans the Baker”!!!!!
I can’t give them up!
I tightened my grip on the books held against my side even more.
“I don’t want to take it from you by force, Lady Brockburg.”
Ah, my back.
He really remembers me well.
Well, he’s the one in charge of surveillance at our house, so he can’t not know me.
Could it be that he’s been watching me from the beginning?
But I absolutely couldn’t give him the books.
“Rajiv… right?”
My confidence was gone, and I was left with a slightly polite version of myself.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
As he bluntly replied, I started to speak even more politely to him.
“Mr. Rajiv, I just came to the night market for a stroll and picked out books for my hobby. I paid for the books and bought them. I don’t understand what the fuss is about now, but please step aside.”
“You can’t take those books. Please hand them over.”
Why is he like this, really!!!!!!!
Even if it’s just two books!
Seizing the whole cart like this!
Even if the cart is illegal, these books were bought with my money, I bought them, they’re my books!
I glared at Rajiv, who was staring down at me expressionlessly, and brought the books at my side to the front of my chest and hugged them tightly.
As if the books were my babies.
But then, the sound of footsteps that broke my courage, which was standing firmly in front of Rajiv.
And then followed by a familiar voice.
“Lady Kailyn Brockburg. Let go of the books.”
I widened my eyes and turned around.
Sure enough, it was him.
Calix.
