Ch. 21:
The cigarette smoke created a dreamy haze around Illyd.
He certainly was an aesthetically pleasing man, Natasha thought to herself.
His bone structure was beautiful, but so were all his other features. His golden hair looked like it had been stolen from the sun, and his eyes were like jewels. It wasn’t just their color, but the look they gave off. His rebellious, boyish gaze somehow had a way of making women want to tame him.
‘Ha, tame him? You’ll be lucky if he remembers your name.’
Natasha couldn’t help but sneer at the thought. Noticing her gaze, Illyd glanced down, the corners of his mouth turning upwards into a grin.
“What is it?”
“It’s nothing.”
‘He’ll never have to hang his head for the rest of his life.’ A little annoyed, Natasha prayed to herself. ‘Please, someone come along who will make him feel the pain of lacking something. So he, too, may suffer the pain of not being able to have what he most desperately wants.’
Unaware that the woman in front of him was cursing him, Illyd calmly asked, “did you come alone?”
“No, I came with my maid. The one from before, in the carriage.”
Illyd nodded his head seriously and said, “then shall we dine together? It’s the first time we’ve met in the commercial district.”
“Not today. I have another appointment.”
“You’re busy?” The corners of his mouth twitched, as if he hadn’t expected the rejection.
Heady with the satisfaction of having turned down the arrogant prince’s request, Natasha blurted out the words she had meant to keep to herself. “My family will be ruined. Shouldn’t I find a way to live?”
Locking eyes with Illyd in the mirror, Natasha smiled charmingly and shamelessly added, “I’m going to meet with a banker to get some money squared away.”
Illyd smirked at her- she had an overly confident expression for someone who had just confessed to a crime.
***
Liana watched the midday bustle of the busy street with trepidation.
The lady seemed to be secretly plotting something regarding her marriage and had wanted to keep her accompaniment to a minimum. Because of this, Liana found herself alone and with some unexpected free time.
‘What should I do…?’
Deborah would have had all sorts of ideas for how to spend the day, but since she wasn’t there, Liana was totally clueless.
Clutching the book she had promised to buy for Annie, Liana wandered around like a lost child.
Every inch of the well-maintained commercial district was bright and colorful. Vibrant clothing stores, cute cafes serving delicious sweets, jewelry vendors selling their sparkling wares… All of these were places most young maids would run to, their eyes shining. But to Liana, they felt a world away.
She hesitantly walked along the streets for a while before stopping to look in the window of a shop. On the shelves were colorful bows of all sizes.
‘These would look great on Phoebe…’
Her niece wore the ribbon Matthew had given her every single day. Thinking of the young girl, Liana quickly did some calculations in her head.
The lady had said she would give her maid a bonus this month, so maybe a few ribbons wouldn’t hurt. After all, she could die any day.
Her past experiences had made Liana quite impulsive. After staring for a little longer, she entered the shop and picked out some of the prettiest looking ribbons.
“Oh, I see you’re planning to make a purchase! You have excellent taste, Miss.” The clerk at the store, who had been watching, gushed with praise as if he’d been waiting for her.
Liana smiled shyly. “I’m buying these for my niece. How much are they?”
“They’re normally two silvers each, but for you, I’ll give a special discount for only one silver.”
“One silver?!” Liana’s mouth dropped open at the outrageous price. One silver was enough to stay in a nice inn for two nights! Liana scowled at the clerk trying to rip her off and said, “I’ll have to look elsewhere.”
“Wait a minute. That’s too much? I’ll knock it down to 800 bronze!” The clerk caught her quickly, but it was still a ridiculously high price. “That’s the cheapest price in town- I’m giving you a really, really special deal.”
The shameless clerk seemed to have greatly misunderstood Liana. After all, she could be seen as a clueless tourist since she was shopping during the day on the weekday.
But Liana, who knew the value of money better than anyone else, turned her back with a determined face.
“500 bronze, then…!” Leaving the clerk shouting in frustration, she left the store.
She’d heard that with the recent influx of out-of-towners and foreigners, there were more and more shops with bogus prices trying to rip people off, but she hadn’t expected it to be this bad. She clicked her tongue and tapped her foot.
“How much?”
“400 bronze!”
Liana glanced to the side upon hearing this, shocked. That was ridiculous! 400 bronze for such a common souvenir? It wasn’t worth more than 10 bronze, no matter the quality.
She looked worriedly at the two men fumbling for their wallets. At first glance, they looked like foreign aristocrats on a sightseeing trip.
“It’s too expensive, don’t buy it here.” She was rarely nosy, but she couldn’t stand by and let them get scammed. At her whisper, the two men turned to look at her.
“That’s not worth any more than 10 bronze… hm?” Liana’s eyes widened when she saw the man’s face. Silver hair, pale golden eyes, and copper skin…
She greeted him a little awkwardly. “It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Arcangelo.”
The surprised Arcangelo stared at her, not even bothering to return the greeting. His penetrating gaze was a little overwhelming, so she turned her attention to the man next to him.
He was staring at her as if he’d heard something peculiar, and said, “Mr. Arcangelo…?”
“Yes?”
“Mr. Arcangelo, you say?”
Puzzled by the stranger’s offhand remark, Liana quickly recalled that Arcangelo was the servant of an envoy from Etaila.
‘Then that must mean the man next to him is…!’
He had to be an aristocrat with a high position if he had come as an emissary. Liana, who had committed an act of rudeness by greeting a servant before a noble, bowed as politely as possible.
Thanks to that, she didn’t see the face of the man who received her greeting become even more confused or Arcangelo elbow the man’s side and whisper something to him. By the time she looked up again, everything had been sorted out.
‘Maybe he’s offended…?’ Liana was bothered by the red eyes of the precious guest from Etaila.
“Don’t worry, I was just confused to find someone in a faraway land who knows my servant.”
Liana looked bewildered at his fluency.
“What is it?”
“Ah… I didn’t realize you were fluent in the imperial language. I was just surprised at how well you spoke- even a native speaker would think it was your first language.”
At Liana’s compliment, the man straightened his posture and blushed. “Yes, my imperial is quite good. I served the fourth prince for many years in the kingdom of Etaila…” The man suddenly sucked in a breath and began to stare off into the distance. “Um, because I was in charge of… princes!”
Liana’s face paled at the words that came out after his long pause.
‘He’s a prince? I can’t believe I was rude to a man with such high status!’
Liana had no choice but to quickly bow again. “I greet you, Prince of Etaila. I apologize for my lack of etiquette…!”
“Enough, get up.”
“But I’ve been unforgivably rude…!”
“Rise.” The exhausted looking stranger stroked his chin and said, “it’s just as well, for I’m quite tired now. I want you to take my servant and show him around.”
“You mean… your attendant?”
“Yes. As you know, my attendant is not familiar with the imperial language, and in our haste to get here, he didn’t have time to learn much of it, so I’m hoping you’ll accompany him.”
“…I only have about two hours to spare right now. Would that be alright?”
The man muttered something to Arcangelo, who nodded crisply. Liana looked at them with a slightly puzzled expression.
“Yes, that’s good!”
“…Then if you don’t mind, I’d be happy to show you around.”
Arcangelo nodded with satisfaction at her cautious attitude.
“Alright. I appreciate your kind cooperation.” The other man then disappeared down the alley, glancing back at the pair as he went as if he were worried about something.
Liana was lost in thought for a moment until a low voice reached her ear.
“Liana.”
“Ah, Mr. Arcangelo.” Liana, who had come to her senses a little late, asked with a friendly face, “do you have anywhere you want to go? Something you want to see?” As she spoke, she gestured that they should look as they walked.
Arcangelo stared at her for a moment, then pointed a finger at Liana.
“You want me to decide?”
Arcangelo nodded, and Liana began to think with a serious expression on her face.
‘Hmm, where should I take you? You’re coming from the palace, so you’ve definitely been around there. You’ve probably seen most of the good places. Then…’
“I’ll bring you up to speed on the latest trends in the Kadogan Empire.” Gesturing towards the square, she added, “with food, of course.”
The corners of Arcangelo’s mouth turned up into a slight smile at her seemingly confident demeanor.
TL/N: well natasha someone’s gonna grant your wish and she’s closer than you think! and liana being like ‘well i almost died so i should definitely buy this’ is so me fdhfdsfhl i love her. now it’s time for some more 2nd ML… maybe if we’re lucky they’ll run into illyd while they’re shopping 👀
