Riley’s eyes widened at the sudden mention of her name. She smiled brightly,
“Welcome, sir.”
Riley remembered Ren’s words. It was a strange promise to not say my name in front of others. Riley decided it was better to keep her identity a secret, as Ren had said.
“You called my name.”
The stranger said it, the name no one but Ren knew. The man she was looking at was someone she didn’t recognize at all,
“Does he know me?”
Curiosity overcame her and she stuck her head out. The golden-eyed man’s golden hair swayed in the wind.
Fortunately, to the eyes of others, he would appear to be a different person. He wore a disguise to protect himself.
She couldn’t help but wonder who this sad-eyed man was, and her mouth burned.
Reilly bowed his head to display the item, to avoid the gaze of a man staring at me without saying a word.
“Take a look around and let me know if you need anything.”
“Oh, okay.”
Carver doubted her eyes. he thought she was a woman who looked so much like Reilly.
“You look a lot like her.”
She looked and sounded so much like Riley that he couldn’t stop himself from saying her name. It couldn’t be.
She had black hair and green eyes. She looked nothing like Riley, but it was safe to say she had the same face.
Carver moved a little closer to get a better look. Against his will, his eyes kept following her.
“She can’t be in a place like this.”
Where Riley was, Ren was. They had always been together, and now that she was gone, they would be together.
“I’ll have this, please.”
“Are you giving it as a gift? Many people buy it as a set because the line is pretty. Do you want me to show you?”
It was a necklace of green gemstones, neatly arranged. The color was great, but the workmanship was so good that she had made earrings and bracelets to go with it, so Riley was careful with her words.
“If I sell these, I’m sure Ren will be pleased.
Riley glanced at Carver’s face. This was the kind of customer who would buy the goods if she said the right thing, and his well-dressed, well-groomed face made him look like a nobleman with a lot of money.
“Yes, show me.”
Carver gave a small nod at Riley’s words.
‘Looks like I’m getting lucky today, a big shot as soon as I open the door.’
Soon after, Reilly’s smiley face came into Carver’s eyes. Anyone could see that he was in a good mood. Carver couldn’t hold back his laughter at the sight of Reilly showing her emotions.
“Hmm, hmm.”
Riley turned his head to look at Carver.
“Ah……. When I buy a gift, I think of someone who will like it. I’m going to buy several, can you show me everything from there?”
Riley’s eyes twitched slightly at the casual but enormous statement. The corner of her mouth twitched upward.
Riley forced the muscles in her mouth to tense.
Ren had told her not to show it, not to show her emotions to the world.
Riley shook her head and fixed her gaze on the shelves. Calmly, she pulled items off the shelves one by one. They were expensive, but the quality was top-notch.
“If you’ll excuse me, may I know the tastes of the lady you’re gifting?”
“…….”
“Ah, is that too much to ask?”
Most of the men who came to buy gifts did not know the taste of the receiver. As a matter of honor, they didn’t exchange, but Riley wanted her jewelry to go to the right person.
“I know, it’s hard to know a lady’s taste. Hmm, well, how about I make a recommendation? How about those earrings and bracelets I mentioned earlier, and I assume the lady doesn’t have dark hair?”
Reilly hurriedly smiled awkwardly and waved her hand.
Because it was a green gem, I didn’t want to recommend it to anyone with black hair.
The reason was simple. It looked so pretty, and when she tried it on, it only made her look dull and neither she nor the necklace saw the light of day.
“The green color will look good on her, she has silver hair…….”
“Wow- that’s good to know because I actually tried it on because it was so pretty and it looked so bad on me, I didn’t want to recommend it for dark hair.”
Riley clapped her hands and breathed a sigh of relief.
He nodded satisfactorily as he imagined the silver-haired lady hanging a necklace in his head. Silver hair would look very good on her.
“As for the other sets…….”
“I like them all, I can picture them in my head without you having to describe them.”
Carver looked at Riley, who was eagerly describing them. If there were a Riley in front of him, she would have looked like her.
“You’re not going to buy all of this, are you?”
Riley laughed at her own question. If he bought all of this, the amount would be huge. A big shot was a lot of money to buy.
“But I suppose it’s possible…….”
Judging from what the man was wearing, he thought it would be easy to do. However, Reilly asked the man every day when Ren nagged her, saying, “You can’t judge on the outside,” and that you should always take good care of the other person.
“It doesn’t matter.”
He was looking like a rich man with a lot of money.
Riley thought of himself as a big spender. She nodded her head at the capitalist smile that came out naturally. She started to pack diligently, thinking hard about ribbons and boxes to make it look pretty.
“If you don’t mind my asking, may I ask your name?”
Carver wanted to confirm, hoping that the person in front of her was Riley and not someone else.
It had been over a month since he’d traveled everywhere looking for her.
“What?”
“No. You look like the person I’m looking for…….”
A wry smile crossed his face, then faded. His shoulders slumped a little wearily as the look in his eyes from earlier returned.
“My…….”
Riley almost answered without realizing it.
A click.
” Cetria.”
“……Ren?”
Ren, who had come in just in time, called Riley’s name.
Cetria.
“Hey.”
“……Are you a guest?”
Ren pushed past Carver and stood at Riley’s side. She tied her long, black hair loosely in a ponytail and looked at Carver.
“Hey, how’d you know I was here? I hid all the signs.
Though he didn’t show it, Ren knew Carver; he was a longtime contractor to the Empire, a member of House Trailla.
Ren. The sword of House Trailla, and the one who, along with his contractor, moved for the Emperor.
He was the one that Riley had rejected. Of course, she still hadn’t made a contract with him, but then again, However, she couldn’t make it happen, so it was just a spoken agreement.
Carver’s brow creased at the sight of Ren.
A sinking feeling came over him, and he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Ha…….”
At Ren’s smirk, Carver chewed his lip.
“Me, you snake. How dare you trick me?
As for Cetria!
As far as Ren was concerned, she was clearly Riley.
He hadn’t told him on purpose. It was something he hadn’t been able to find until now because Ren had kept her and him hidden.
“You.”
Carver’s sharp voice turned to Ren, and at the same time, Ren raised his index finger to his lips.
“Shhh, you don’t want to reveal your identity here right.”
Hostility was the only emotion Riley felt for the imperial family. That was it.
At Ren’s words, Carver cleared his throat. Sensing a change in the air, he turned his head to look at Ren.
“What is it, Ren, you’re being rude to a guest.”
“……?”
She kept poking and prodding Ren’s waist like it was a scolding. Ren looked a bit embarrassed and raised his eyebrows.
“You should apologize, you’re offending the customer by staring like that.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Ren.”
Riley tugged on Ren’s shoulder and whispered in his ear.
“Our half-yearly living expenses depend on it, and if you cooperate. We can make him a regular!”
She was treating him entirely as a guest.
And a big one at that.
“I apologize, sir. My eyes are naturally displeased, so please forgive me.”
Ren said, bowing to Carver. Riley didn’t like Ren’s apology, but she couldn’t argue in front of her customer.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll have it wrapped up in a moment.”
“You can take your time. I’ll understand if it takes a day.”
“Yeah……?”
That asshole. Why don’t you just say it out loud?
Ren made a sign with his eyes at Carver’s behavior. Shrugging it off, Carver took a seat at a table in the shop.
“‘Cetria, do you think you’ve seen him before?”
Ren asked Riley. Carer spoke loud enough to be heard and stared at him for a response. He didn’t like that he’d found himself and Riley.
Ren tapped his fingers on the display case and glared at Carver.
“When we get back to the imperial court, Riley will be…….
It won’t be a smooth ride. There were still plenty of mountains to climb.
Ren, too, had lived for the Empire for countless years. he’d killed and killed and killed, traveled endless roads.
Her refusal to gain power was puzzling, but in a way, it makes sense. Ren was no different than her.
“Huh? Do you mean that guy? He looks familiar…….”
Riley kept thinking about one person.
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