As we entered the clothing room the boy told us about, a clerk greeted us kindly. As we sat down under her guidance, tea and desserts began to be served one by one. Not long after I finished my cup of tea, a woman came running in. She gasped, caught her breath, and opened her mouth.
“Welcome. Princess, my name is Madame Reese.”
Even though I didn’t introduce myself, she knew who I was. She felt like she was somehow famous. She was embarrassed, but she didn’t feel bad.
“Nice to meet you. This is Fiora Tiane de Damon.”
After I finished the introduction, Madame Reese muttered, ‘As expected.’
“What are you visiting for?”
After hearing her words, I finally remembered the purpose of my visit and opened my mouth.
“I want to see the banquet dresses and suits the children will wear. Can I see them?”
“What are the children’s sizes?”
I thought, Oops. Come to think of it, I didn’t know the children’s sizes. The kids were about 9, 8, 6, and 3 years old, and most of them seem to be a little bigger than average. If it wasn’t the correct size, it would be difficult to wear it on the day of the banquet. However, Madame Reece was a person who was quick-witted and had better business skills than I thought. Additionally, she was a student of a fairly famous designer in the capital. Thanks to that, she once made a lot of money, but now things are not so good. It wasn’t even prom season, and even the most guests had been lost to the newly opened costume room. In the midst of all this, Madame Liss felt the energy of a great success from Fiora, who visited her dressing room. She had no intention of missing this great opportunity.
“Even if I don’t know the exact size, I think I can get the size.”
She added that a designer she knows made clothes for the Prince and Princess of Childe a few days ago. It was good news to hear.
“Then can you do that?”
After giving my permission, Madame Reese smiled brightly. She brought out a notebook with various designs and spread it out in front of me. They were all pretty designs, but not the style I wanted.
“What style of clothes do you want?”
After thinking of the design of my dress, I drew a picture of it and told Reese.
“I’m running out of time to make it, but I hope it looks like a set with this outfit.”
But at my words, Rhys waved her hand and shouted.
“Three days is enough!”
The banquet was held in four days, so three days meant that I knew why I was ordering the dress.
‘Hey, do you even know why I’m ordering a dress? This woman… This is someone who will become really big. I know how to make money.’
“Then please do me a favor.”
“Are you saying you want it to feel as similar to that outfit as possible?”
I nodded at her and she smiled and continued her story.
“How much price would you like me to match?”
What will the price be like? Her egg, without her chin, I held out to her her pocket full of gold coins. Reese’s eyes widened as he confirmed the identity of the bag.
“Is this enough?”
Her cheeks were stained red and her eyes were already focused on the money. She shouted as she took her money bag from my hand with both hands.
“Yes, just leave it to me!!”
As soon as I left the salon, Chantz got angry at me. It was the first time he had shouted something at me, so I was momentarily startled.
“Isn’t that too much given to you?”
For Chantz to say this, I must have paid them a lot of money. Embarrassed, I opened my mouth.
“… okay? I don’t know the market price of Crescent yet.”
Chantz sighed at my words.
“The coins are of similar value and the market price is not much different. It was just too much.”
I probably should have studied a little before coming, but time was running out for that.
“Well, the money has already been spent. I can’t help it.”
Chantz nodded his head at my words and we started walking slowly through the city again. At that time, a restaurant caught my eye. ‘Richule’ I knew of that restaurant that seemed to have been named after a restaurant in Korea. It was a restaurant introduced in the original as being very delicious. It was still a little early for dinner, but the store was open. There weren’t many customers. Since I had skipped lunch and was hungry, I opened the restaurant without hesitation. Then a familiar voice was heard.
“Princess?”
‘Hey, tutor.’
I almost said it out loud for a moment. I immediately closed my mouth and greeted him in a slightly slower tempo.
“…hello, Duke.”
Now that I thought about it, from what I know from a cursory reading of the original work, it’s mentioned quite often, and that means the female and male leads came often… ?
‘Ha, I came here for no reason.’
I cried inside.
“It’s early. Are you already here for dinner?”
Then why are you here at this early hour? I wanted to say that, but there was no way I could say what was in my heart. I responded by nodding my head, and then Baridas held out his hand to me.
“We met like this, would you like to join us?”
It was also not polite to decline here. I held his hand in affirmation. Since there weren’t many people there anyway, I was thinking of eating quickly and heading back. But the problem started after the food came out. As expected from a popular restaurant, the number of people began to increase one by one and the restaurant was already filling up. They seemed to have recognized Baridas and were whispering about him and me.
“Oh my, that’s him…”
“Aren’t you Duke Chilan and the princess of the Damon Empire?”
I was suffocating. It was my first time eating with such concentration. I looked at Baridas, who was cutting steak, not paying attention to the people around us talking about us. After all, I have to have a thick face to play the male lead. He seemed unconcerned, perhaps already accustomed to such gazes.
“Why are you doing that?”
Because it’s uncomfortable there. I couldn’t answer. In the end, I answered that it was nothing, smiled awkwardly, cut up the steak, and put it in my mouth. It’s definitely delicious. It was delicious, but I couldn’t laugh at ease. I started eating the steak, trying to control my facial expression as best as I could so as not to show that I was uncomfortable. But the steak seemed uncomfortable in his eyes.
“Doesn’t it fit your taste?”
So don’t ask this question. Not the steak, that one. Steak tastes good. That doesn’t suit me. It is impossible to answer that question.
“No, it’s delicious.”
“Thank goodness.”
Thank goodness, I was uncomfortable.
But that thought disappeared from my mind as soon as I ate the next dessert. The dessert was a tart made with oranges, and the taste was so fantastic that it is difficult to describe it in words. Crispy pies, sweet pickled jam. And the lightly sprinkled chocolate on the outside created a fantastic harmony.
‘Wow, wow, wow.’
I continued to exclaim inwardly. In fact, wasn’t he dropped into this world just to eat this pie? It was so delicious that I thought it was.
“I guess you like it.”
It seemed like everything was clear. I covered my mouth and smiled shyly.
“The taste… There is…”
I thought kids would like it too. When it comes to desserts, I thought of Chantz who couldn’t help himself. hould I order it separately and have it packaged? After hesitating, I opened my mouth.
“Can you possibly pack this for me? I think kids will like it.”
At my words, Baridas rang his bell without hesitation. I was expecting him to pack the children’s items separately, but I was surprised by his next words.
“Who is the pastry chef who made this dessert?”
Hearing his words, the restaurant manager came running out and the two started talking. At that moment, I heard the word salary and thought.
‘No way… Are you trying to make money?’
Well, my fiancee likes it, so I’m taking the pastry chef who made this tart to the Duke’s house. Was this something like this? Of course, it didn’t seem like they were taking me because of me. But I wouldn’t stop him. I liked watching other people spend their money. Who didn’t like this? Bring him to the Duke’s house and make him make a hundred of these pies a day! After all, watching other people spend their money was the best! I overheard the conversation between him and the branch manager with interest. As if he had already completed the salary negotiation, he greeted Baridas and said that he would go to work as an operative starting tomorrow. Was this the third generation of a chaebol? The male protagonist was the best. When would I ever see this kind of money in my life? Of course, I also paid a bit more money for the dress earlier. That’s just shopping and it’s a lot of money. I applauded Baridas in my heart.
After finishing our meal, Baridas and I went outside and waited for the carriage. After a while, Baridas’ carriage arrived. It seemed like the carriage I rode in with the children had already returned to the Duke’s house. I boarded the carriage, carefully holding in my arms the chocolate madeleines I had packed to give to Chantz, who returned first. After I got on, Baridas also got into the carriage and the carriage started with the sound of horses’ hooves. Only then did Baridas open his mouth, as if he had discovered the madeleine I had bought.
“What is that?”
I opened the box slightly and showed him inside.
“Madeleine.”
“I guess you bought it to give to your children.”
“No, I’m giving it to the Children.”
His expression became a little subtle at my words. Did I say something wrong? I wanted to, but I couldn’t think of any mistakes I made. When I thought about it, I thought I might hate it too. It was a fact that we had no feelings for each other, but he was still my fiancé. Even though he was a young man, I thought it would be offensive to openly give him a gift in front of him, so I added.
“Because I like taking care of children.”
‘My fiancé and children’s tutor. Do not worry. Chantz doesn’t look like a man to me. Yes, yes, yes. I won’t blow it. I will break off the engagement and meet legally. Understand?’
But Baridas’s expression became even harder at my words. What, why was he like this? As I was pondering the reason, I then remembered one fact. Right. He always had a dirty look. His raised eyebrows and strong eyes were enough to make his already dirty, or rather intense, look even scarier. And he loved sweets very much. A fierce impression and not so good taste. Was it that kind of feeling? Baridas wasn’t angry. He probably wanted to eat this chocolate madeleine.
“Would you like some?”
I held out the box to him. His eyes were shaking as if he wanted to eat.
“Didn’t you say you were going to give it as a gift?”
“Now that I think about it, it’s time for the kids to sleep.”
The time was now barely past 8 o’clock. Without hesitation, I opened the box of madeleines and put one in my mouth, then picked up another and handed it to Baridas.
“Please eat.”
Was he 23 years old in the story? He was still a kid. For reference, at age 23, he was two years younger than me in my previous life. Of course, I was younger than him here.
‘Omg. So, is it okay to call him my brother?’
But it seemed so conscienceless. I didn’t really want to call him my brother. As expected, the madeleine was delicious, but I was a little embarrassed that I had misunderstood and made a useless excuse to Baridas. Could it be that the meaning of his crumpled expression earlier was ‘what should I do?’ It was a very embarrassing moment.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on December, 15.
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