“Well, it’s rare to see such pretty silver hair among commoners,” he explained. “They say that mana is infused within one’s hair and eyes, and among commoners—who rarely possess magic—brownish colors are what you see most of the time.”
Now that he pointed it out, most of the people she came across in the streets had brown hair and brown eyes. She’d barely ever looked at herself, so it had never crossed her mind that silver hair was rare.
That discovery blindsided her.
Taking her future business into consideration, on top of her circumstances, standing out like a sore thumb wasn’t a good idea. Amelia wanted everyone to pay attention to her strawberry daifuku, not herself.
She frowned before coming up with a solution. “In that case, I guess my only choice is to cut my hair and dye it blackish.”
Color drained from the boy’s face. “Y-You can’t do that!” he exclaimed.
“Why not?”
“I mean… Your hair is so beautiful. That would be such a shame. It shines as if someone has woven stars into it. Just looking at it makes me happy…”
Amelia couldn’t quite comprehend his words, but it seemed he cherished her hair. Is he praising it more than needed because he sees commercial value in it?
“Then, do you want me to give it to you after I cut it?” she ventured.
“No, don’t cut it,” he emphasized. “I’m begging you here.”
There was a desperate plea in his golden eyes, and somehow, feeling that she didn’t want to go against it, she relented and nodded.
At the same time, he dragged out a long sigh. “Okay, back to my first question. Why are you selling strawberry sweets?”
“Because I need money.”
He furrowed his brows, as if he couldn’t decipher her statement.
Amelia harrumphed and puffed out her chest proudly. “Strawberries are terrific. They’re sweet and tasty, and they even helped me pull through when I nearly starved to death one time. You can always count on them.”
She meant to boast about her wonderful companion, but the young man’s face clouded in the blink of an eye. “Wait… Starve to death? What?”
Hearing his solemn tone, she wavered about whether she should tell him. Then again, even if she didn’t look like a commoner, it wasn’t like he’d find out she was a princess. He likely assumed she was a humble member of a poverty-stricken noble household, so there probably wasn’t any point in trying too hard to cover up the truth.
“Well, the thing is… I’m a disgrace to the family, so they won’t let me go out in public. That’s fine and all, but I do wish they’d give me just a little more food, at least. Thanks to their treatment, though, I’ve gotten better at cooking, which is nice!”
Halfway into her explanation, the young man’s expression turned alarmingly gloomy, so she hurriedly ended things on a bright note, but it didn’t seem all that effective.
“Also, I think I’ve gotten skilled at working in the fields. Weeding’s a specialty of mine, too.”
Amelia meant it to be another cheerful statement to patch things up, but the creases between his brows were so deep that they carved into his forehead. “It…wasn’t because of a weak constitution?”
Faced with that sudden and puzzling question, Amelia stared at him quizzically and tilted her head. “Who’re you talking about?”
“You, Amelia.”
“No way. I’m the picture of health, and thanks to my work in the fields, I’m also pretty strong.” Amelia raised a fist to make a display of her muscles, but the boy’s expression was still clouded. She didn’t know why, but she could tell that he was in a sour mood. Wanting to somehow brighten the mood, she switched the topic. “Th-That aside, what’s your name?”
The boy’s shoulders jumped. “I-I’m…Luke.”
“Wow! You have the same name as my fiancé. What a coincidence!” Delighted, Amelia clapped her hands together.
Hearing that, Luke looked chagrined, as if he’d swallowed a lemon.
Cheerfully, she continued, “As a matter of fact, my fiancé also has golden eyes like you do. Now you don’t feel like much of a stranger. I’m so happy.”
“…You have a fiancé, huh?” For some reason, Luke seemed utterly drained.
Amelia nodded animatedly. “I do. Kind of. Technically.” She paused. “More importantly, I want to buy envelopes and writing paper for letters. Do you know any shops that sell them?”
His mood soured out of nowhere. “Oh. You’re going to write a letter.”
What’s up with him? Amelia wondered. “Yeah. I want to write to my fiancé.”
“…Now, after all this time?” he practically spat out those frosty words.
Amelia was taken aback. Her eyes widened.
Luke must have noticed, because he hung his head while looking somewhat put on the spot. “Ignore me, sorry. I didn’t choose my words properly. So you…decided to suddenly send letters to him?”
“It’s not sudden.” She shook her head. “I’ve been sending him letter after letter nonstop for four years, ever since our betrothal.”
Without a moment’s delay, he retorted, “That’s… You must be joking.”
Amelia sported a small smile. “Yep. I sound silly, don’t I? For four years, I haven’t received a single reply, and he’s dismissed all my requests for meetings. He probably couldn’t care less about me, but well… There’s still something I want to talk about with him in person.”
For a while, Luke was frozen in place. Eventually, he spoke up, as if he’d realized something. “Well then, why do you need to buy envelopes and paper?”
Amelia blinked. “I mean, I won’t have any if I don’t buy some.”
“Ah… I mean, if you’re a noble, can’t your servants fetch them for you?”