I knew silk was a high-quality fabric, but I truly felt its value when I bought it myself.
The last time I roughly calculated, a platinum coin was worth about 1 million won.
Did I just spend 25 million won?
I never imagined I’d spend what would have been a year’s worth of medical expenses in one go.
“Shall we head back now?” I asked.
“Yes, young master,” Alex replied.
After Alex handed the neatly wrapped silk to the shopkeeper, I turned to leave.
“Wait a moment, Young Master Ike!” the shop owner called out, stopping me in my tracks.
“Hmm?” I responded, curious.
“Could it be that the young lady with you is Reina of the Duchy of Rorelia?”
“…How do you know that?” I asked, surprised.
Reina was waiting outside the shop. How did the shop owner know about her when she hadn’t even stepped inside?
“Lady Nia has a request for Reina,” the shop owner explained.
“A request? From my mother?” I wondered aloud.
“Please, could you relay the message? I’d prefer not to call her in myself.”
“The Lady said, T-Tell Reina no matter what…” the shop owner stammered.
What could her mother possibly want?
“…Alright,” I agreed reluctantly.
I opened the door and called out to Reina.
“Reina.”
“Yes, Ike?”
“There’s a request for you. What should we do?”
“I’m not familiar with this shop. What’s going on?”
“It seems my mother has asked for something.”
“Uh,” Reina frowned.
Lately, it felt like I was seeing that expression far too often.
“Let’s hear what it is first,” she said with a sigh.
“Thank you,” I replied.
Reina entered the shop, and I followed.
“You wanted to see me?” Reina asked the shop owner.
“Oh, yes! You’re Reina from the Roselia duchy, correct?”
“I am,” Reina confirmed.
The shop owner hesitated, glancing at me nervously.
“Young master Ike, could you please wait outside for a moment?” Reina asked, noticing the shop owner’s discomfort.
“Of course. Alex, stay here just in case,” I instructed.
“Yes, young master,” Alex replied.
I stepped outside, feeling a bit excluded.
“What’s the request about?” I muttered to myself.
“I’m not sure. It seemed like something private,” Alex said.
As I closed the door, someone approached me. It was a young man with jet-black hair, dressed in a sleek black suit similar to Alex’s. If Alex was the image of an old gentleman, this person was the epitome of a young nobleman.
“Is it alright that I didn’t go in with Anna?” the young man asked.
It was Anna, disguised as a man.
“Alex is inside, so there shouldn’t be any issues,” I assured her.
“Understood,” Anna replied.
Whenever Reina left the mansion, Anna would dress like this. She had explained it to me before: [The young lady prefers not to have too many escorts, and there are complications when women travel together.]
It was a simple yet undeniable reason.
“By the way, Anna,” I began, “how did you come to serve the Duchy of Roselia?”
When I first met Anna, I had used honorifics, as was customary. But she had insisted I drop them, arguing that as Reina’s friend, I shouldn’t address her maid so formally.
While there was no strict rule about it, Anna seemed to have her own principles.
“I’m not from a family that has served the Roselia duchy for generations. I’m actually from a commoner background,” Anna explained.
Maids were typically personal assistants to high-ranking nobles, often from aristocratic families. For Anna, a commoner, to serve as Reina’s exclusive maid was highly unusual.
“Why are you asking about this now, Young Master Ike?” Anna questioned.
“Just curious,” I replied casually.
Of course, that wasn’t the full truth.
Anna never appeared in the original story. If she had been Reina’s maid, she would have been mentioned at least once. But she wasn’t.
In a world where even the smallest details could matter, I couldn’t help but obsess over such gaps in information.
“I have my own circumstances,” Anna said cryptically.
“Oh?” I pressed.
“If you want to know more, you should ask Lady Reina directly,” Anna deflected.
“Don’t say that…” I groaned.
Just as I was about to probe further, Alex opened the door.
“Young master, everything is settled,” he announced.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. I swallowed my questions and turned to Reina as she stepped out of the shop.
“Shall we head back?” I asked.
Reina nodded. “Yes, let’s go.”
“What was the request about?” I inquired.
“It was something your mother asked for. Anna, take this,” Reina said, handing Anna a box from the shop.
I was curious about the contents, but Reina seemed unwilling to elaborate.
“Then, shall we return?” I suggested.
“Let’s,” Reina agreed.
Although my mother had allowed us to explore the market freely, time was running short. Reina needed to return by 12:30, and it was already past 11:30.
We had plans to visit the lake later, and with lunch in between, the schedule was tight.
As I walked, lost in calculations, I suddenly bumped into someone running from the opposite direction.
“Oh!”
“Watch out!”