The blue sky and the sparkling sunlight.
And the bridge built over the river that clearly reflected such a sky.
“Hahaha.”
rilyn, who had arrived there, jumped up from her spot and began hopping around the railing with her arms wide open.
“Hehehe~ Ahaha~”
“rilyn, I understand you’re in a good mood, but if you fall, it will be a big problem.”
“Don’t worry~ Before playing an instrunt, I first– Oh?!”
I knew it, and just as I tried to catch her wobbling body for a mont.
Soon, rilyn, who was tilting, regained her balance and began to straighten her falling body.
“Hehe~”
“…rilyn.”
“Oh my~ What’s the matter? Are you angry by any chance? If I provoke you too much, you might kick later~?”
Ah, right. Co to think of it, she said her main job was a jester.
Given her unique skills, worrying might be strange. Thinking that, I burst into a light laugh and followed rilyn into the city.
“Are you that happy?”
“Of course~ It’s been two whole months. If you don’t drink water for that long, you’ll die!”
Was I more important to her than water? With that simple thought, I smiled, and rilyn, smiling as well, began to link arms with .
“So look forward to tonight~ I’ll squeeze out as much as I haven’t so far, and as much as I won’t be able to in the future.”
“…Haha.”
Right, she has a lot built up, so she’s going to release it all energetically.
Hinting at such a future made unable to be entirely happy, but just being pushed like this didn’t suit my temper.
I grabbed rilyn’s chin, which was linked to my arm, and pulled her towards .
“…Can you handle that?”
rilyn’s body flinched and trembled.
“H-handle?”
“I’ve also been quite busy lately, so I’ve built up quite a lot.”
It wasn’t a lie.
I’d also been physically and ntally exhausted from running around everywhere for the past two months.
I might not know it now, but when the ti cos, I might not be able to restrain myself.
“I hope you can handle going wild, rilyn.”
“…Haha! That’s what I hope for too!”
She was full of confidence, yet her face was still red and her body, linked to my arm, was still trembling violently.
Finding that sight cute, I moved to the restaurant we had found for our al.
After finishing the planned al, we headed to the center of the city.
While looking around the city to kill ti before nightfall, I suddenly noticed a clothing store in the middle of the street.
It seed to mainly deal in luxury items, given its sophisticated and fancy atmosphere.
During my days as a porter, I wouldn’t have dared to look at such places for fear of being asked for compensation, but now it was different.
“Shall we take a look? If you see sothing you like, I’ll buy it for you.”
“Clothes, you an?”
rilyn stood there blankly, looking up at the clothing store.
She was looking at the dresses displayed beyond the glass window, then soon stepped into the store as if enchanted.
“Yes, well, just browsing…”
Did she find sothing she liked?
Whatever it was, as long as rilyn liked it, that was enough.
Still, worried that she might buy sothing expensive, I asked for her understanding for a mont and hurried to the nearby bank.
To borrow a credit note that could be used lightly with just proof of identity instead of heavy coins.
“Th-this is the imperial silver badge…!”
“I think I’ll be spending a lot of money, so could you issue a credit note?”
“Ah, yes! Of course, I’ll give it to you! If you’re with the Imperial Family, of course!”
As soon as I showed the badge proving my affiliation with the Imperial Family, the banker imdiately issued the credit note.
Seeing that there wasn’t even a limit written on it, I imdiately understood how valuable it was to be trusted by the Imperial Family.
In modern terms… Well, it’s practically the sa as an unlimited credit card.
“…Is this the taste of power?”
Of course, considering it was also the price of my life, I couldn’t just see it positively.
Still, thinking that saving it would be wasteful, I decided to spend the day luxuriously and returned to the clothing store.
“Ah, your companion is changing in the fitting room. You can look around the store in the anti~”
It seed rilyn already picked out clothes.
Fortunately, the store was large, and there was plenty to see around.
As I wandered around killing ti, a clerk standing nearby called over and started smiling like a painting.
“Welco, custor~ Would you like to see these items? Your partner will love them as a gift~”
“What do you sell here?”
“We mainly sell won’s underwear~”
“…I’ll take sothing in the dress category.”
“Yes, understood~ How about here? This way?”
The clerk led , guiding around the store energetically.
The reason her eyes seed filled with greed was probably because she saw get the credit note earlier.
To put it badly, it was materialistic, but… it wasn’t sothing to be very unpleasant about.
Desperation is felt only if there’s desire, and only with desperation can one grow.
As long as it wasn’t blatantly obvious that she was trying to take advantage of , this attitude could actually lead to introducing better products.
“How about this dress here?”
What I encountered at the end of her introduction was a luxurious dress made of white fabric.
With its ample skirt and embroidery everywhere, it was called a ‘wedding dress’ in my world.
“Uh, I did say a dress, but…”
“Your partner will love it if you give it as a gift~”
No, giving a wedding dress as a gift to a partner was a bit much, wasn’t it?
Sure, Airi was pregnant, but since it was an unexpected child, I couldn’t just go ahead with sothing like this…
“…Hmm.”
The reason I couldn’t completely lose interest in the dress was that I was sowhat considering proposing to Airi.
Until now, we had both been in difficult situations and delayed it, but now it was too late to turn back, so I should consider just going for it in a fit of rage.
So when the ti would co, I should consider marrying her.
Airi wearing a wedding dress like the one in front of , receiving everyone’s blessings as we get married…
The woman wearing clothes solely for one person, in front of .
“…Hyo-sung.”
When I realized that, she looked up at from that spot.
In her gradually revealed amber eyes, only my figure was clearly reflected.
“So, how do I look?”
The shy question that followed taught that her current appearance could not be pure temptation.
Because it was the first ti she looked like this, she was scared, and because she was scared, she was anxious…
“rilyn, that outfit…”
“When we first t.”
When I vaguely read those feelings, she soon lowered her gaze with her hand on her chest.
“Do you rember when we first t and stopped by a street stall?”
“…”
“…I rembered wearing sothing like this back then, so I tried it on.”
Swish, rilyn covered her face with the veil on her head.
From that action, mories of when I first t her began to surface.
eting her at the spot according to the prophecy, and the scene where she covered her face with a veil at the stall where I stopped by to buy a mask…
“Does… does it look okay?”
And the person I thought I would never see again was whispering to in the sa appearance at this mont.
This current appearance.
Asking if the future of getting married with was truly allowed for her.
“…Yes.”
In response to the question with such a aning, I cald my pounding heart and spoke quietly.
“It really suits you.”
Feeling connected to such a beautiful woman who did so much for .
Feeling regret that I couldn’t consider her as the first.
After exploring the city for a while, it was ti for the sunset to co.
To have an after-party, I sat on a bench near the fountain with rilyn and shared a snack.
“Did you only buy one?”
“Because the quantity is large.”
“Uh-huh~ Then it can’t be helped. Here, ah~”
rilyn was about to give a piece of bread.
I casually accepted the bread, then pulled it out halfway and brought it to her mouth.
“Uh, there—hmmpf!”
A bit of hesitation only created an opening.
As soon as I put the piece of bread in her open mouth and kissed her, her body lightly trembled and her cheeks started to redden.
“…Th-that’s sneaky. This kind of thing.”
“If you’re upset, you can get revenge.”
“H-ha! Who says I can’t?! Just wait a bit. When we get to bed later…!”
rilyn, boasting, stuffed the bread into her mouth. Seeing her swallow it whole, it seed she couldn’t even think of getting revenge on imdiately.
With this, she couldn’t even dream of revenge in bed.
I let out a chuckle and leaned back against the bench, looking up at the sky.
It was truly a leisurely and peaceful day.
Beyond that, it was a day that was rich and joyful… It was ironic that the Empire was the only place where you could enjoy such things even with money.
I hope these days continue in the future.
“I hope these days continue in the future.”
rilyn, who voiced the sa thought, began to hum a tune while giving the remaining bread pieces to the birds gathered at the fountain.
That carefree appearance looked very pleasing.
Her innocent appearance and her naive actions.
“…You’ve changed a lot.”
She, who couldn’t be considered a demon, showed an endlessly human-like appearance in front of .
“…Changed, you say?”
“Well, how should I put it? When I first saw you, I thought you were very mysterious and dignified, but now you feel very familiar, should I say?”
“What is that? That evaluation. So, now you an I’m a tomboy with no seriousness?”
“No, I didn’t an it that way…”
Thinking about it again, it didn’t seem entirely wrong, but still, wasn’t it rude to say it out loud?
“…Well, it’s not a wrong evaluation.”
In front of , trying to gloss over it, she nonchalantly brushed off her previous words and began to scatter the remaining pieces of bread.
With an extrely relaxed and sowhat relieved attitude, as if expressing her feelings.
“Not wrong, what do you an by that?”
“Well, now there’s no need to act like a loyal retainer anymore.”
-Flap.
The pigeons, having eaten all the bread pieces, flew away.
rilyn, staring at the empty spot, grasped her hand on her chest and spoke in a bitter voice.
“It must have been like this, back when I was just serving my old lord.”
“…”
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