Chapter 220
* * *
“It would be nice if I could be the first one to bless lody when the first firework goes off.”
Loretta mumbled regretfully while lying in bed.
“I’m sad that I’m not an adult.”
“Then…”
lody lay by her side and gently closed her eyes.
“Shall I also put off watching the fireworks until Loretta becos an adult, and we can go see them together later?”
“Does that an you won’t go to the promise tonight?”
“Yes. Sohow it feels nice to just sleep with Loretta like this.”
That wasn’t simply to comfort her.
Sohow it felt like she could have a sweet dream if she stayed like this.
“No, I won’t allow that, lody.”
“But just a mont ago, you said you wanted to bless
first, Loretta.”
Loretta smiled mischievously and wriggled her body to give a short kiss on lody’s forehead.
“Actually, I’ll always bless lody first even without fireworks. I won’t let anyone take that away.”
Loretta, who had removed her lips from her forehead, comfortably rested her head on the pillow again.
“So go with peace of mind. Just don’t forget to tell
everything that happened.”
“Sohow… Loretta feels generous.”
“This is a secret, but actually children have more generosity than adults.”
Her slightly boastful look was so cute that lody couldn’t resist kissing her forehead three tis in a row.
“Eek, it tickles, lody!”
“Since I have narrow generosity, I’ll take all of Loretta’s blessings from first to third!”
Even at the words expressing great greed, Loretta hugged lody tightly and replied.
“Those were lody’s possessions from the beginning.”
That’s right, they’re mine. lody also gently embraced Loretta, saying that.
“Hehe.”
Loretta sohow wanted to stick her tongue out slightly at lody’s Records Keeper. As if to say, “Are you jealous?” Just like how she had been so jealous of the Records Keeper before that she didn’t know what to do.
* * *
lody stayed by Loretta’s side until she fell completely asleep.
No, actually, lody didn’t want to move from this comfortable spot.
Her body was lting into the bed, and her eyelids were getting heavy very quickly.
“Ah…!”
Then she opened her eyes with a startled scream. Covering her mouth that had unintentionally made a loud noise, she looked down at her arms and Loretta was mumbling with her lips, fast asleep.
“I almost… fell deeply asleep.”
lody carefully untangled Loretta’s body that was curled around her own and quietly slipped out of her room.
She asked a maid to check the ti, and fortunately it wasn’t past the promised ti, but she would have to hurry a bit.
In the carriage going to the eting place, lody fidgeted with the hem of the dark-colored robe she had draped over her dress.
The departure was already late, and it was getting even later due to the carriages filling the road.
At first she urged the coachman to hurry, but now she knew it wasn’t of much use.
What was the point of rushing when there were other carriages lined up in front and behind?
lody checked the ti. The promised hour was approaching more and more urgently.
‘What should I do?’
Looking out the window, there were quite a few people giving up on the carriage and walking to the city.
Even though things had turned out this way, none of them were frowning or expressing dissatisfaction.
They seed to be enjoying being with their loved ones in any way.
“I’m sorry, Miss. At this rate, it seems we’ll hear the fireworks from inside the carriage.”
At the coachman’s apologetic words, lody shook her head.
“I’m sorry for being late… Then turn the carriage around and go back now.”
“Go back?! What about your promise?”
“I’m also planning to walk among the people.”
“You can’t do that. You’re going to walk on the pitch-black night road alone, Miss?!”
lody laughed and pointed to the road where people were lining up.
“It’s not pitch-black at all. Absolutely not.”
The coachman was at a loss for words.
People were carrying lamps one by one, so the road leading to the city was shining as brightly as daylight.
“I’ll follow the light of the people. Don’t worry.”
“I understand. But you must be very careful.”
“I will.”
“I’ll follow you to the city like this. At least when you return, you’ll be able to reach the carriage waiting area. It will be very difficult to catch a rental carriage on a day like today.”
“Thank you for thinking of .”
lody got out of the carriage, firmly holding the robe pulled deep over her head.
As she mixed into the crowd, voices of anticipation for the last night could be heard from everywhere.
Soon, a rchant rushed out to the outskirts and opened a stall. Thanks to that, people could imrse themselves in the festival atmosphere even before arriving in the city.
lody also bought a mask.
It was one with cat ear decorations on both sides, and she liked that it could cover more than half of her face.
With this robe and now this mask, perhaps Hatfield and Carver wouldn’t recognize lody.
‘That might be fun.’
lody quickened her pace a bit.
Fortunately, it didn’t take too long to reach the city. But the problem occurred after arriving.
In the outskirts, the crowd was moving in the sa direction, so she didn’t feel any discomfort, but the situation changed in the city square.
As people were going in different directions, they bumped into each other, and there were also those who stood in place enjoying the festival, making the square even more complicated.
With rchants starting to join in selling goods while moving, it was very difficult for lody to take even one step forward.
That wasn’t the only problem.
Due to the people filling the surroundings, the geography of the city that she was sowhat familiar with didn’t co into view at all.
Thanks to that, lody had to raise her tiptoes several tis to reconfirm where this place was.
As more ti passed, people’s cheers started to get louder. It seed news had arrived that firework preparations were completed on the city wall.
‘What should I do, I can’t be late.’
lody repeated “I’m sorry” over and over again as she squeezed through the crowd.
Fortunately, the area near the wish bridge, the promised place, wasn’t as crowded as the square. lody raised her head high and looked up at the bridge.
She saw Hatfield, Carver, and the nobles who accompanied them, all wearing masks.
When Hatfield’s gaze turned below the bridge, lody quickly raised one hand and waved.
“Miss Hatfield! Sir Carver!”
She called out to let them know she had arrived safely, but it seed it didn’t reach their ears. Hatfield’s head turned back towards the city wall.
‘If I don’t hurry…’
lody tried to advance towards them again while catching her slightly rough breath.
But as her gaze t a blond man standing alone a few steps away from the group, she stopped walking again.
Actually, the fact that their eyes t might have been lody’s imagination. The other person was wearing a mask, so not only his pupils but even his face couldn’t be seen properly.
…lody even had the thought that the masked man might be ‘that person’.
‘It can’t be…’
lody lowered her gaze in confusion.
At that mont, she bumped into a passerby walking behind her, and her body swayed briefly. The passerby seed to be in a great hurry and ran on without properly apologizing.
lody fixed her crooked mask and raised her head again.
She saw the man she had made eye contact with a mont ago being surprised and trying to approach her.
Seeing that, lody arbitrarily beca convinced of the man’s identity.
“No… don’t. Young Master.”
A whisper flowed from her lips.
It was a small sound that wouldn’t reach far, but he really stopped in place.
“…You always do as you please.”
He seed to want to beco kind in his own way again today. Considering how he diligently followed her words not to approach.
How much more did he have to twist lody around to be satisfied?
He didn’t even reply to that letter, and ca all the way here without notice.
lody didn’t like him who always acted as he pleased, nor herself who secretly harbored expectations for it.
Feeling a bit heated, she climbed the steep bridge with quick steps. Her heartbeat started to get faster and faster. She soon began to pant for breath.
But lody never stopped walking.
When there was about five steps of distance left, he reached out his hand.
lody didn’t take his hand.
Even if her breathing was so heavy that she couldn’t close her lips, she arrived in front of him with her own strength alone.
Sir Carver and Hatfield were talking right nearby, but none of it reached lody’s ears right now.
“…Young Master.”
When she called out cautiously, he slowly lowered the hand he had stretched out towards lody and bowed his head.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
lody asked back in a blunt voice that was unfamiliar even to herself.
“For not keeping the promise. That… was sothing you had asked for with everything on the line.”
As she had already thought, Claude seed to have been keeping that promise in his heart all along.
The usual lody would have answered such an apology with “It’s not your fault, Young Master.” She actually thought so too.
But now, for so reason… she couldn’t answer kindly.
“And?”
“I’m also sorry for not properly talking to you in the capital. Including about the Records Keeper.”
“…”
Perhaps because lody had no particular answer, he bent his waist to lower his gaze a little.
“I an it.”
“…Is that all?”
“Well… there is more.”
As he couldn’t properly continue his words, lody raised her head high while tightly grasping the hem of her robe.
“You didn’t reply to !”
He seed to not have expected that topic to co up, and his lips parted.
“…I waited.”
lody mumbled softly as she turned her head.
“I’m sorry for the late reply.”
At the cautiously returning answer, lody shouted again in anger.
“It’s not late, you didn’t reply at all!”
If the letter lody had sent him was a normal greeting, she might not have sulked this much.
“How much… I risked embarrassnt!”
“I know.”
“Liar!”
“Then, won’t you look at ?”
Even at the words seeking her gaze, lody still bit her lip with her head turned away.
“Look at . Please?”
He found the back of lody’s hand and gently covered it.
“…I ca to reply, didn’t I?”
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