At Cheraan's response, Judith let out a kicking sound. She knew this well, but she also knew that she never bought sweets for Bartholomew just for that reason.
“Cheraan, I’ll look around and come back.”
“There are a lot of people, so you have to be careful.”
The inside of the store was not narrow at all, but there was no room to walk. Judith carefully held the hem of her dress, which was dragging around her ankles, and looked deeper into it.
On the inner shelves, snacks that were less sweet or had a lot of spices were mainly displayed. Compared to those near the entrance, there were no eye-catching sugar decorations, and there was less colorful use of jam or puree, but the unique scents that lingered in the air were nice.
Judith walked slowly between the shelves lined with glass jars of sweets. Occasionally, people passing by would glance at her face, but she didn't care. The other person seemed to have not thought that the Princess would be wandering around a place like this alone without an escort, so they only looked at her out of the corner of their eye and passed by without saying a word.
Judith was a little hesitant when Cheraan asked her to go here, but now she thinks it was a good idea to come out. Next time, she thought, she might try walking around in lighter, more mobile clothes.
Lost in pleasant imagination, she looked at the snacks lined up again. She found it easy to figure out what was in the glass bottle because there was a label on the bottom that simply stated the name, type, and ingredients of the snack.
A shelf decorated with apple-patterned decorative tiles caught her eye. Judith stopped and slowly looked at the things displayed on the shelves. There were also cookies filled with caraway and poppy seeds, crackers shaped into shapes topped with herb jam, and roasted vanilla seeds sprinkled with sugar and hardened into round shapes.
Judith, who was putting the strange-looking items little by little into the basket, looked higher. She saw a cookie made by smoking and grinding nuts and applying maple syrup to harden them. Although it was often eaten in the royal palace, it was unique in that each piece was wrapped in dandelion leaves.
Judith tried to look down at the glass bottle, but she was barely able to reach it. There must be a stepping stone somewhere, she thought, and turned around, but couldn't see it. There were traces of stepping stones, so it looked like someone had taken them and not put them back.
Judith had no choice but to put down the basket she was holding and turn on her heel. She tried to place her fingertips over the glass bottle, but she must have applied too much force and ended up going a little further inside.
"A little bit... Oh, indeed.”
Her toes, which were upright, were trembling. After being pushed inside, she couldn't even touch her fingertips anymore. Judith, delirious that it would be quicker to call Cherean, gave up and lowered her arms. It was then.
“Let me help you.”
Even though it was very low, it was not dry and it was a very nice sounding voice. Before the lingering emotion at the end of the sentence could go away, Judith was startled by an arm suddenly stretched out next to her face. He had his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, which made the bluish veins stand out from the back of his hands to his forearms.
"Here you go."
The man picked up the glass bottle without much effort and brought it down to where Judith could reach it.
There was a refreshing mint scent. She couldn't tell if it was coming from his hand or from his body that was so close to her back that it almost touched her. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, the tips of Judith's ears turned red and she turned to say thank you.
“Thank you for your help...”
“No, of course, I have to help...”
The moment Judith looked up, she saw the face of the man standing in front of her and the inside of the store shaking. It wasn't just inside the store. It felt like the whole world was shaking. A large hand reflexively grabbed Judith's staggering arm.
Only then did Judith realize that it was her own eyes that were shaking violently, not the world. Her own face, reflected in the other person's eyes, was also shaking very violently.
His eyes seemed to have been cut out of handfuls of the sun's light. Judith didn't know many people with eyes that color. No, she only knew one.
“Judith..?”
Judith's lips slowly moved at the startlingly elegant voice.
“...Your Highness."
It was Franz.
Even though they recognized each other's faces, their mouths could hardly be opened. Judith, who was motionless and blinking as if frozen, lowered her head to one side. Judith said.
“Your Highness, please let go of your arms. It hurts a little.”
Only then did Franz let go of Judith's arm as if he had been touched by fire. He felt a light amount of sweat seeping into his palms. Franz, who had been unconsciously trying to put his hand on the hem of his shirt, hurriedly turned his face away and covered his mouth.
“What the hell is this place... What brings you here."
“That’s what I’m telling you, Your Highness. I, this right now... How can I know you are here...”
Embarrassing doubts, anxiety, joy, surprise, all these emotions were mixed together without waiting for their turn. Franz glanced to his left and right, realized that the gazes of passers-by were increasingly gathering, and grabbed Judith's wrist. Judith almost fainted because of this, but she was so shocked that her face was not visible.
“I can’t talk at length here, so let’s go somewhere to sit...”
“Something happened, right? I heard that you still have a few days left until your arrival.”
“There is nothing for you to worry about. There's a reason I came early...”
“Can you tell me why?”
Franz, who was hurriedly trying to move while holding Judith's wrist, turned his head again. His lips were trembling slightly, but it seemed to be from surprise and not anxiety. Judith was quietly relieved.
Judith would never move from this position unless the reason was explained, even briefly. Franz let out a small sigh and used his fingertips to ruffle his bangs that lightly covered his forehead.
“I had company.”
“Is someone accompanying you? Is there anyone from Delacca with you?”
Franz nodded.
“This is the person who came with the delegation. He wants to look around the capital before arriving at the palace... We left a day and a half ahead of the delegation. I was planning to stay nearby and wait for the delegation to arrive and then go back together...”
“So this is how you met me.”
"Yes. So, you don’t have to worry.”
Judith finally felt a little relieved, but this time she became curious about who the companion was. She tried to ask him about it, but just then a line of five or six people passed by them, leaving Judith speechless. Franz was looking down at Judith's face, and then he asked her a question.
“Why are you here... You probably didn’t come alone.”
"No. Cheraan... I came out with the daughter of the Marquis of Ebelta. She was probably somewhere out there... There will be..."
As Judith answered, the ends of her words became blurred and her voice became increasingly quiet. She moved her eyes slowly, maintaining an awkward posture as if she had frozen in place again. Franz's hand was on her right cheek.
“My, my, my hand...”
Only then did Judith realize that the mint scent she had smelled a moment ago was coming from his wrist. When she realized that fact, she felt her forehead and the back of her neck heating up for some reason. She could feel her cheek getting flushed with heat as it touched her slightly cool palm. An inexplicable tingling sensation arose from underneath the thin skin.
“Franz! I've been looking for you for a while. What are you doing here!”
That was the moment when she was about to call him. Franz's body, which seemed to be getting closer, moved away like a lightning bolt, and the hand that was touching her cheek also fell away as if it were a lie. Just then, a strange man suddenly came between the two.
Judith immediately took a couple of steps back. And she looked at the man she had met for the first time with a puzzled look on her face. The first thing that caught her eye was the strange hair that seemed to be a mixture of dark green and white. He was a little short, but still a little taller than Judith. His eyes were round, but with long hair, he looked somewhat mischievous.
The man who was staring blankly at Judith turned to Franz. Then, he was said to be clumsily imitating a voice that did not match his appearance.
“How can you do this, you shameful bastard?”
Franz looked bewildered. What did he do?
Judith was equally embarrassed. She wondered if there was any other word in the world that didn't fit Franz, such as 'disgraceful bastard'. It was only later that she realized that these words were too bold to dare throw at a Prince of a country.
“Why do I have to listen to people say I’m mean?”
“I wondered where you had disappeared to after leaving me alone, but you were seducing a beautiful woman all alone in such a dark place!”
Judith quickly did not understand what she was hearing. While Franz was in a similar state of dumbfoundedness, the man this time turned towards Judith. His movements were as agile as those of a circus clown.
“Nice to meet you, beautiful person. My name is Rogero. If you don’t mind, may I ask for your name?”
It was like clearing water as if they had been preparing in advance. Judith, who had been listening blankly, realized that the accent of this man named Rogero was a bit unique. The accent that bounced from behind was similar to the dialect of the eastern Rotair region, but the feeling of breathing slightly mixing between words was strange and unfamiliar.
Judith, who was wondering whether to answer or not, glanced at Franz as if asking him to do something.
Franz must have sensed those gazes and sighed and pulled Rogero's shoulder.
“Stop it, it’s rude.”
"What? Why? I didn't say anything strange. Ah, Franz. Is she by any chance a girl you know? Who is she? How did you get to know such a pretty person?”
Franz narrowed his eyes and glanced at Rogero.
“She is my wife.”
"She is my wife" in novel always kill me 🙈
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