I’m sure she must be eager to greet him!
I took her hand and pulled her toward the coliseum. “Let’s go look for him! It’s all right if we can’t find him, but we won’t be able to relax until we try.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Mio said, turning me down. “In fact, I’d rather not stick my neck into trouble intentionally.”
“Should we ask at the reception desk, then? Someone must know where the commander is.”
“Our lord has ordered me to make sure you spend the most pleasant, peaceful time possible in his absence. I’d much rather you enjoyed the festival instead.”
“But you seem very bothered by it, Mio.”
Mio’s head dropped and she remained silent. She seemed to be thinking about it. Eventually, she lifted her head, glared at the coliseum, and let out a deep sigh.
“You’re right, I am,” she finally admitted. “I can’t plan for war without knowing my enemy’s position. I do need to check on him.”
“Plan for…war?”
“However, I’ll go alone. Please stay here and peel as many apples as you like. Don’t go anywhere until I’m back.”
“Wh-why?”
“Because this might be a diversion. He might have put a wig on one of his subordinates and told him to stand where I could see him on purpose,” Mio whispered to me.
What?
“This has trap written all over it, I can feel it. That’s why I can’t bring you along. And I ask that you do not follow anyone while I’m away either—no matter what you’re told. If anyone comes to you, pretend you can’t hear them,” she warned.
“Do you think…I might get kidnapped?”
“No. We’re in a military fortress and there are guards. I don’t believe anything dangerous could happen to you, but still, we must remain cautious. His Highness is not to be underestimated.”
“I’m not sure I’m following…but okay! I’ll do as you say and stay put!” I declared.
Mio seemed satisfied with that answer, and she left after promising to be back as quickly as possible.
Why is she so worked up? Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. I turned back toward the shopkeeper and said, “I apologize for making you wait! I’m ready to begin.”
He seemed surprised. “Oh? You’ll be doing the challenge, miss? Not that maid who was with you?”
“Oh my, do I look like I’ve never held a knife before?” I asked.
“You sure do. Have you seen your dress? You look like you’re the daughter of some big-shot noble,” he said in a bemused tone.
I looked down at my clothes—he had a point. I’d thought I was being called to the royal palace, so I’d traded the chemises I often wore for a luxurious party dress. My hair had also been styled in an updo and I had on makeup. All in all, I was dolled up like a princess.
“You seem like an odd one, though. Ladies like you usually don’t want to talk to regular folks like me.”
Ah…
My chest started aching, and I clutched at it with my hand. Hanna, Ilsa, or my mother would never have taken interest in a stall like this one, yet here I was, so motivated I’d even rolled up my sleeves. They’d have laughed at me… Ridiculed me…
I don’t mind being mocked, but…
“Do you think…people would laugh at a noble lady’s husband if his wife peeled an apple?” I asked nervously.
The shopkeeper seemed confused. “Why would they? You’ve gotta peel the apple if you want to eat it, right? Besides, our apples are first-rate. The knights all love ’em.” He winked at me, and I laughed reflexively.
There was no point in thinking negatively. This was a festival, and I ought to enjoy it!
“You can eat the apple you’re working on even if you fail. If you do manage to peel it in one go without the strip breaking once and without going over the time limit, I’ll give you this entire basket of apples. Get your knife ready, but wait for my signal to start.”
I was excitedly waiting for the man to tell me to start when someone suddenly grabbed my apple. I hadn’t even noticed him approaching, but the young man next to me smiled at me, my apple in hand. Then, he took a bite out of it.
“Huh?! That’s my apple!” I protested, louder than I’d been meaning to.
“It’s good,” he said with a smile. He didn’t even seem to mind the skin was still on the apple. “This is a great year for apples.”
“Wh-what…?”
The shopkeeper frowned and scratched his head. “You’re putting us in a difficult situation. She was about to take on our apple peeling challenge.”
“I prefer unpeeled apples, though,” the young man replied.
What in the world?
This was such an astounding development that I was frozen in place with my mouth agape. What was wrong with this man?
“Sorry, sorry,” he said. “It just looked so delicious that I couldn’t stop myself from taking it for myself. Here, take this.” He took out a gold coin and gave it to the shopkeeper.
Phew. He might be a glutton, but he doesn’t seem to be a bad person.
The shopkeeper handed me another apple, and I accepted it with a sigh of relief.
All right. Time to focus and—
Once again, the young man took the apple from my hands. This time, I didn’t hold back when yelling at him. “G-give it back!”
“Ha ha ha! Catch them if you can!”
He started juggling with my two apples—and believe it or not, he was terribly good at it! I tried to snatch my apples back, but they were always so high up that I struggled.
He’s tall!
I was as tall as the average man, but I still had to look up at him. He seemed to be slightly shorter than Lord Kyros, and roughly the same age as him. He looked nothing like my fiancé, though. His silver hair was short, and his skin was so pale that it looked almost translucent. He had icy blue eyes, and a pleasant smile I was sure people loved. But under all that beauty, he had a mean streak. All in all, he was the polar opposite of Lord Kyros! He could see I was distressed, yet he continued to smile happily.
I wasn’t sure what to do. If I jumped at him, I could probably reach my apples, but I was afraid his mood would sour and the situation would get worse.
But more than that…could this man be…?
He saw me looking at the ground and snorted.
“Pfft. You’ve given up already? How boring.”
Well, what do you want me to say to that…?
I was struggling to come up with something to say when, unexpectedly, the shopkeeper came to my defense. He put his hands on his hips and sighed. “Will you please cut it out, Your Highness? You wanted this festival to happen, didn’t you? And yet here you are, bullying my customer!”
✦ ✦ ✦
The young man shrugged. He stopped juggling and started fiddling with the apples instead.
“Oh, don’t exaggerate. This is friendly banter with my best friend’s fiancée.”
“‘Your Highness’? ‘My best friend’s fiancée’?” In other words, that’s really…
I’d just realized who I was dealing with when Mio came running back. She was dragging a middle-aged man by the collar with a wig half falling from his head.
“Your Highness! What are you doing here?!” she screamed.
I pushed my hand against my forehead with a groan. “I see what sort of person he is, now…”