Suddenly, I’d managed to escape.
It’d been so easy! What a letdown. But I’d taken the chance, and now I was at the town outside the palace.
It was my first time exploring it. There were so many stalls. So many shops. So many people!
Excited by this new experience, I wandered around. The streets were so lively! Just looking at them made me happy.
“I’d like this one, please, sir!”
“Here ya go!”
I purchased some candy art from a stall. This was my first time shopping, but I had a basic idea of how to go about it. I paid what the merchant asked, and I got my candy.
It was so sparkly and glittery, yet so cheap. He should’ve been charging more, I thought.
Despite feeling like it was a waste, I licked the candy. It was so sweet! Commoner treats were so sweet! The sweetness was so different from the kind of thing I was used to eating.
“Miss,” came a voice from behind me as I enjoyed my candy. “Would you care for some tea?”
A hand was held out to me.
This had to be one of those infamous pick-up artists I’d heard so much about!
I looked up at my suitor’s face, intending to glare, but my expression quickly turned to shock instead.
“Lord Clarke?”
“Correct.”
Well, yeah. Of course I could recognize him. He might’ve been dressed like a commoner, but I saw his face every day.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked.
“I thought you might get bored of me just catching you the same old way all the time.”
You know, I’d been wondering why he seemed to do these weird things, thinking I’d grow bored of him. It wasn’t like escaping was a hobby of mine. I actually wanted to run away.
“You don’t need to role-play like that,” I told him.
“I see.” He looked dejected.
His outfit was so different from usual. He looked like a nice, working-class young man out and about in town. In these new clothes, the air around him was different, and I couldn’t help but stare. Handsome men looked good in anything! What a great deal.
“Lettie.”
Crap. I’d stared too long!
I gasped, averting my gaze. Nope. Nope. I’d nearly made him happy again for no reason.
After a moment, I stole a glance up at him, and he offered me a soft smile.
“Since we’re already here, how about a date?” he asked.
“A date?”
“That’s what I was hoping for when I let you escape today, actually.”
Oh. So it had been on purpose.
It made sense. I’d managed to get away far too easily. Why else would the soldiers have intentionally looked the other way?
“By ‘date,’ do you mean, like, when you go out with someone of the opposite sex and do all sorts of things together? That kind of date?”
“You’re well-informed.”
“A date...”
I thought back on the dates described in the romance novels I’d been sneakily reading lately. A man and a woman would frolic about the city, hand in hand, and at the end...they’d kiss.
“W-We must not be indecent in a public place!” I exclaimed, turning beet red.
“What?” Lord Clarke replied, puzzled.
“I mean, dates are major plot points in the stories!”
“Leticia, what have you been reading?”
“I can’t do it!”
“Calm down.”
I fussed and flailed about as Lord Clarke calmly explained things to me.
“Listen,” he said. “Those are only stories. Things like that hardly ever happen in reality.”
“But the kissing!”
“That’s for the sake of storytelling. If real life were the same way, everyone around us would be kissing, no?”
“True...”
“Those are stories. This is reality.”
“Right.”
“So let’s have a walk around town and have some fun.”
“Okay!”
Well, that was fine, then! I wanted to see the sights! How exciting!
At my sudden change in mood, Lord Clarke smiled.
“Oh, by the way, Lettie...”
“Yes?”
“Why were you reading that kind of story?”
I froze. My mouth opened and closed.
Lord Clarke continued to press for answers. “I thought you said you hated reading that sort of thing. Are you suddenly interested in romance?”
“N-N-N-No? No!” I stammered, denying it in a hurry. “I-I-I-I-I just had some free time, and the books were there in my room, I thought, you know, I’d read some! But that doesn’t mean I’m interested in romance or anything!”
Lord Clarke petted my head as I desperately tried to come up with an excuse.
“Good,” he said. “I’m glad.”
“Were you listening to me?”
“You’ve finally taken an interest in romance.”
“You weren’t!”
How frustrating! I was over here, trying to explain yet again that he had the wrong idea, and he’d just brushed me aside!
“Now, my cute Lettie...”
“Please stop it with the sap.”
“My lovely wife.”
“Seriously, just stop.”
I knew I was getting redder and redder. And I knew he was having fun seeing me in this state. One day I was going to be thick-skinned enough that I could take anything he said to me. One day!
“Let’s have ourselves a fun date,” he said.
I could agree with that at least, and so I took his hand.