“It’s okay! Mom, let’s go!”

“Mom can’t go out.”

“Then, Eve will go with Aunt Grita!”

Eve’s bright eyes turned towards Grita, who was standing to one side.

“……”

“Auntie!”

Eve personally grabbed Grita’s hand, who was standing silently.

Grita, who had been quietly silent, finally nodded her head.

“Yay! Going with Auntie!”

Eve hugged Grita excitedly.

Lea looked at her with round eyes at the unexpected agreement.

Then Grita slowly blinked her eyes as if it was okay and lightly pointed towards the corridor with her finger.

‘I’ll go get permission from the young master.’

It seemed that Grita also thought that Eve had endured enough.

Lea also had a hard time taking care of Eve for five days.

It wouldn’t work for Lea, but it would be okay for Eve to go outside.

After all, she was a child that Sched Lester had already discovered.

“They asked for more money from the temple?”

Eclas, who was doing work as usual, frowned with his legs crossed.

“Yes, they said they need construction funds.”

Everywhere there are people who stick around asking for money.

“Leaving a decent temple alone?”

“They say they want to build a prayer room to pray for the safe return of the ships, but……”

Eclas let out a ridiculous laugh.

So, they’ll build one more building where they can collect more donations under the pretext of fear of the sea?

‘I guess it’s not enough for the castle now?’

Eclas recalled the priest of Sislone.

Perhaps knowing that Sislone is a wealthy city, the priests who come here always have their eyes on money and only think about ripping open wallets.

However, the new priest who came this time was worse than that.

Spreading ominous stories to the sailors that the ship will sink in order to receive more donations?

To that extent, he’s a worse scammer than a merchant.

If it were up to him, he would like to drive that priest out of Sislone right away, but temple matters were not under the lord’s jurisdiction.

“Reject it for now.”

Eclas replied irritably.

There were many other troubles besides the temple right now.

For example, like Sched Lester who visits this place every day for days……

“That child, was it Eve?”

“…Why are you asking about that?”

“I’m surprised you have a daughter. Where was that child’s mother from?”

The look in his eyes as he thought of Eve was unusual.

Like a beast that had caught the scent of prey.

At that moment, Grita called out to him with a tapping sound.

Eclas, who had been thinking about Sched, reacted sensitively to Grita’s sudden visit.

“What is it?”

‘I was hoping you could give permission for Eve to go out.’

Grita said in sign language.

When Eclas frowned conservatively, Grita added.

‘She’s been stuck in the room for five days and feeling frustrated. Lea also seems to be having a hard time looking after Eve. At this rate, Eve might attempt to escape on her own again.’

Grita recalled the image of Eve grabbing the doorknob as if threatening, even lifting her heels.

Eclas pressed his temples and frowned.

He also knew well that Eve was more lively than other children.

She was a child who always loved running around outside.

‘…She’ll definitely like sightseeing in Sislone.’

It had been on his mind as the period of keeping her in the room got longer.

Thinking of Eve’s excited and joyful appearance at seeing the market, harbor, or splendid temple made his heart waver.

“Let me try to persuade Eve first.”

Eclas turned his steps and went up to the room where Lea and Eve were.

Then Eve, who had been sulking at Egon’s visit, ran out as if she had been waiting.

“Dad!”

“Eve.”

“Go outside with me!”

Eve tightly hugged Eclas’ legs and looked up at him with her head raised.

The jade-green eyes that looked exactly like her mother’s sparkled and shone round and pleadingly.

‘Oh dear…..’

With one look from Eve’s eyes, his resolve to say no melted like butter on a pan.

“Do you want to go outside that much?”

“Yep!”

The small head nodded.

How do I overcome this?

Actually, Eclas had wanted to show Eve many things for a long time.

Letting her ride camels brought from far away in the desert, showing her ship-sized sailboats, and picking out colorful flower gifts that Lea would like together would be nice.

“Okay, Eve. Then go out and look around.”

In the end, Eclas couldn’t resist Eve’s gaze and surrendered.

As soon as permission was granted, Eve smiled brightly and bounced around.

“Wow! Dad is the best! Mom and Dad go together?”

“Sorry, but Mom and Dad can’t. Is it okay to go with Aunt Grita?”

Eclas stroked Eve’s hair.

Although Eve became a little sullen, she nodded her head at the fact that she could go out.

When Lea looked at Eclas with anxious eyes, Eclas nodded as if it was alright.

In this large and crowded Sislone, the probability of Eve and Sched meeting was slim.

Besides, even if they met, Sched already knew of Eve’s existence.

“But there are many dangerous things outside, so you must stay next to Aunt Grita. Understand, Eve?”

“Okay!”

Eve then quickly ran to Grita’s side and tightly held her hand.

A smile spread across Grita’s usually stoic face.

“Wooow!”

Held in Grita’s arms, Eve couldn’t stop exclaiming ceaselessly.

To Eve, who had only lived on a small island, the Sislone market was a museum where everything in the world gathered.

“Aunt Grita! Look at that! And that too! Is that edible?”

Eve pointed here and there in the market with a voice a hundred times more excited than usual.

Shiny golden mermaid statues, monkeys with colorful faces, tall and splendid hats that seemed to reach the ceiling, and a very long and large horn from who knows where.

Exotic scents mixed in the air, and the bustling sounds were lively.

There were so many new and amazing things that her eyes were spinning.

“Auntie, what’s this?”

‘A chatelaine that noble ladies carry around.’

“What about this?”

‘A decorative cabinet with a folding table attached.’

“That?”

‘A lucky doll for superstition.’

“What’s superstition?”

“……”

Grita tickled Eve’s palm and tried hard to satisfy her abundant curiosity.

Grita found the lack of a tongue frustrating for the first time in a long while.

But Eve didn’t dwell on Grita’s answers.

Even while listening to the answers, her eyes would be drawn to new things to look at.

“Auntie, is that a lime or a melon?”

Eve blinked, looking at the large fruits piled up at the fruit stall.

The jade-green glossy fruit looked like a lime or lemon, but the size was too big.

‘It’s a pomelo.’

“Po…melo? So it’s a melon?”

Grita laughed at Eve’s words.

When Grita made eye contact with the fruit store owner, the owner who knew her well personally peeled a pomelo and held out a piece to Eve.

“It’s a melon but tastes like an orange!”

Eve chewed the large pomelo piece with her small mouth.

Despite having orange-like flesh, the size was much larger, so the white and chewy seeds popped in her mouth.

Eve’s eyes widened at the sweet and sour taste that burst in between.

“Delicious! Auntie, try it too!”

It was so delicious that Eve shared the saliva-covered pomelo piece she had been eating with Grita.

Grita smiled and shook her head while stroking Eve’s hair.

‘Eve can eat it all by herself.’

“I want to take this home.”

Eve suddenly thought of her mother who would be alone in the room.

Mom likes lemons and oranges too.

She couldn’t eat something this delicious all by herself.

‘Let’s buy some when we go back home later.’

Eve nodded her head in satisfaction at Grita’s words.

Eve finished touring the market while nibbling on a piece of pomelo.

The end of the market led to Sislone Harbor.

The massive scale harbor had dozens of docks lined up.

A slightly more fishy and strong sea smell, different from Janna Island,

Cannons large enough for Eve to fit inside, ropes piled up like hills.

People scraping barnacles off ships, porters carrying large crates, donkeys pulling carts, and sailors with black hands and a salty smell.

There were also sailboats so large that you had to crane your neck to barely see the end of the mast.

“What kind of ship does my dad sail on?”

Eve asked Grita, looking at ships of various sizes.

She knew her father always left the island on a ship and returned on a ship, but she had never heard what kind of ship he sailed on.

Grita couldn’t say that most of the ships here received investment from your father.

So among the many ships, she pointed to a moderately sized merchant ship.

“Still, it’s big!”

Eve seemed satisfied with that size and nodded her head proudly.

Eve, who had diligently looked around Sislone, turned her gaze to a splendid white building across the distant bridge.

“Auntie, what’s over there?”

What Eve’s juice-stained finger pointed to was the temple of Sislone.

There were no priests or temples on the secret island owned by Eclas, so even temples were unfamiliar to Eve’s eyes.

Moreover, the Sislone temple was known as the most splendid temple, even if it was inferior in scale.

Of course, it only looked amazing to Eve’s eyes.

‘Want to go see?’

When Grita gave a slight nod, Eve nodded her head.

Grita carried Eve and headed towards the temple.

Crossing a small bridge revealed a wide plaza with a fountain, and the massive temple and bell tower faced the plaza.

The Sislone temple, built by stacking white, pink, and sky-blue marbled stones in all sorts of patterns, exuded a subtle and sacred light in itself.

An architectural structure that seemed to have been painted in a colorful sunset pink, white sunlight, and blue sky.

In the center of the plaza, a rainbow was draped over the fountain beautifully carved with gods and saints along with the sunlight.

“Let me down!”

When they reached the plaza, Grita put Eve down on the ground.

“Auntie, there are pigeons at the fountain!”

As soon as her feet touched the ground, Eve excitedly ran after the pigeons peacefully gathered in the plaza.

At that moment.

“Move aside!”

A carriage crossing the plaza turned direction and raced towards where Eve was.

“!”

Grita roughly pulled Eve, who had been running ahead, and grabbed her.

The sound of a horse neighing resounded through the plaza.