I thought it couldn’t be, but to think it really stopped because of me.

Flustered, Irene waved her hands.

“No, it’s fine.”

“Why? Is there nothing you like?”

“Well, that’s not it… I just don’t particularly want anything.”

Kalos’ eyebrows slanted diagonally.

His expression showed he didn’t understand Irene’s words at all.

“There are many finer crafts in the castle, so I don’t think I need to buy anything.”

Irene explained more specifically, but Kalos still replied with a face that showed he didn’t understand.

“There shouldn’t be any seashell crafts.”

And he glanced towards Jessie. To check if there were any seashell crafts he didn’t know about.

Jessie answered immediately.

“There are no seashell crafts in Castle Esper.”

Kalos looked back at Irene as if to say ‘See?’

That’s not what I meant.

Irene smiled awkwardly and looked down at the stand.

The seashell crafts were still pretty upon second look, and she did want to have one.

But while relying on Kalos for everything – clothes, food, shelter – asking for this too felt too shameless.

It was the same even if Kalos offered to buy it first.

However, it was embarrassing and a bit hurtful to her pride to honestly express this feeling.

It’s a bit ridiculous to care about pride at a time like this… but I don’t want to say it as it is.

Then I should make another excuse, but nothing suitable came to mind.

“Then… Your Excellency should choose whatever you like.”

After contemplating, Irene completely handed over the choice to Kalos.

“Since it will decorate Castle Esper, it’s right for Your Excellency to choose.”

She also subtly hinted that she had no intention of accepting the craft he chose.

“…”

Kalos looked at Irene with a strange gaze, then scanned the stand.

His eyes, which had been rolling indifferently, stopped at a certain point.

“This seems good.”

What Kalos picked up was a hairpin made with mother-of-pearl flowers and densely studded with pearls around it.

It was clearly chosen to give to Irene, as anyone could see.

‘My thoughts weren’t conveyed.’

He catches on to other things like a ghost, but doesn’t catch the important thing.

Irene said with a deep sigh inwardly.

“I really don’t need it. The hairpins I have now are enough.”

Kalos chuckled.

“I didn’t say I was giving it to you.”

“…”

In other words, it meant she had gotten excited on her own, so Irene’s earlobes turned bright red.

Irene stammered.

“Th-then why did you choose a hairpin? S-surely… you’re not going to wear it yourself?”

Kalos replied as if it was absurd.

“Of course I’m not going to wear something like this.”

“Then… are you going to give it to someone else?”

“That’s right.”

“…”

Irene looked down at the hairpin Kalos was holding.

She didn’t know who he was planning to give that hairpin to, but the recipient was clearly a woman.

There’s no way he would give such a hairpin as a gift to a man.

“I think it’s better if you keep this.”

Will he put the hairpin directly in that woman’s hair like he did to me?

Maybe… he might even kiss her.

Kalos was surprisingly good at getting swept up in the mood after all.

That’s why he kissed me twice.

As memories of the past and delusions mixed, it caused even greater confusion.

“…”

Irene’s eyes became moist as she imagined Kalos gently putting the hairpin in another woman’s hair and kissing her.

When Irene suddenly started crying, Kalos grabbed her shoulders, slightly flustered.

“What’s wrong?”

“…”

I don’t like you giving it to another woman.

The words she absolutely couldn’t say but desperately wanted to say lingered in her mouth.

Lest she accidentally blurt out those words, Irene covered her face with both hands and lowered her head deeply.

If I had known it would hurt this much, I should have just thrown away my pride.

Belated regret washed over her like the ebbing tide.

Jessie, who had been quietly waiting behind them, tried to intervene when the atmosphere between the two became strange.

“…”

No, she was about to intervene, but Kalos stopped her with his eyes.

Kalos looked down at Irene, who was still hanging her head low and shaking her small shoulders.

It was frustrating that she wouldn’t say why she was crying or what she didn’t like, and just kept her head down without saying anything.

“…”

He wanted to urge her to speak her mind if she had something to say, but.

Thinking it might backfire, he waited patiently for her to calm down on her own.

“…”

Thanks to that, Irene soon stopped crying, but she still didn’t raise her head.

More precisely, she couldn’t raise it.

After the petty emotions of sorrow, jealousy, and regret sank below the surface, all that remained was embarrassing shame.

It was fortunate that she didn’t spill her true feelings out of her childish heart, stained with belated regret.

“…”

The longer the silence dragged on, the more frustrated he felt.

Finally, as Kalos’ patience ran out and he was about to say something, he noticed Jessie behind him, frantically waving her hands and giving hand signals.

When their eyes met, Jessie pointed at the hairpin in his hand and then at Irene.

It seemed to mean he should give the mother-of-pearl flower hairpin to Irene.

“…”

Originally, Kalos had intended to give this hairpin to Irene.

He had just played a little joke because she was being stubbornly strange when it was obvious what she wanted.

…Could she be crying because of this?

Kalos thought it might be possible, but he was puzzled.

Why would she cry to the point of tears just because he didn’t give her the hairpin?

It was beyond his common sense to understand, but.

If it would make her stop crying, he could buy her a few, no, dozens of hairpins like this.

“Here.”

“…”

When the mother-of-pearl hairpin was held out in front of her, Irene raised her head.

“Sorry.”

The moment he met her moist golden eyes, Kalos apologized without realizing it.

“It was a joke that I was giving it to someone else.”

“…”

“I intended to give it to you from the beginning.”

“…Why?”

Irene asked in a subdued voice.

“Why… are you giving this to me?”

Does giving a hairpin need a reason?

Kalos felt a bit dumbfounded, but since there was a definite reason why he chose a hairpin among many crafts, he answered without hesitation.

“Because I broke your hairpin.”

“What… Oh.”

Belatedly remembering that Kalos had broken the hairpin that Abel had fixed, Irene let out a short exclamation.

Kalos added.

“That hairpin was thrown away in the trash can in my bedroom.”

…Come to think of it, that’s right.

Feeling like she had unintentionally protested about why he broke her hairpin, Irene hurriedly made excuses.

“I-I absolutely didn’t intend to protest or anything. It’s just that hairpin… I couldn’t use it anymore, and it seemed difficult to fix again… So I just threw it away.”

Kalos smiled softly at her disorganized excuses.

“I see.”

And he held out the hairpin to her again.

“Still, I’d like you to accept it since it broke because of me.”

“…”

If Kalos had told her to take the hairpin without reason, she would have felt reluctant.

But when he gave a reason she couldn’t help but agree with, she thought it would be okay to accept it.

No, I want to accept it.

“…Thank you.”

As Irene reached for the hairpin, Kalos withdrew his hand again.

What…?

Irene looked at Kalos in confusion.

“I’ll do it for you.”

“Pardon?”

“The hairpin. It’s hard to do it alone without a mirror, right?”

Ah, that’s true.

Finally understanding, Irene gently closed her eyes.

She had closed her eyes because she thought it would be embarrassing if their eyes met at close distance, but.

“…”

To Kalos, it looked like she was asking for a kiss.

Because of that thought, he could only see her slightly pursed lips.

Because he knew how sweet those lips were.

So, so…

“…I think it would be better if Jessie did it instead of me.”

Kalos couldn’t bring himself to touch Irene and handed the hairpin over to Jessie.

*

“…”

After putting the mother-of-pearl flower hairpin in Irene’s hair and paying for the item, Jessie glanced at the mirror set up on the stand.

The mirror, larger than a person’s face, was impossible not to see even if you tried not to look.

If you had scanned the stand to choose an item, you would have definitely seen that mirror.

So it was perplexing that she said there was no mirror, but it was also bewildering that he handed the hairpin over to her.

Of course, Jessie’s skills are better than Kalos’, but it didn’t seem like that was the only reason he handed over the hairpin.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have helped.’

I should have just left the misunderstanding to build up, why did I have to step in…

Jessie messed up her hair in belated regret.

But even if I could turn back time and go back to that moment, I would probably interfere again.

It’s partly because Kalos was frustrating, unable to grasp why Irene was crying when the reason was so obvious.

But more than that, I couldn’t help but help because Irene, who couldn’t bring herself to reveal her feelings and was suffering inside, seemed so pitiful and heartbreaking.

*

Perhaps because they had wasted some time buying the hairpin, Kalos rode faster than before.

The cold wind brushed past Irene’s robe, which she had pulled down tightly.

Irene worried about getting motion sickness again, but fortunately she was fine.

‘I’m so glad.’

As Irene was deeply relieved, she opened her eyes wide when she saw the emerald-colored sea sparkling not too far away.

“Wow, the sea!”

A satisfied smile spread on Kalos’ lips at her pure exclamation.

“Is this your first time seeing the sea?”

“Yes, it’s my first time!”

She had been trapped at home all her life, after all.

Even if that wasn’t the case, there was no way she, living inland, would have had a chance to see the sea.

Irene couldn’t take her eyes off the sea the entire way to their destination, seemingly finding it very fascinating.

“…”

We had to come here because Saren was said to be here.

Seeing Irene so happy, Kalos smiled even more warmly, thinking it was good that they came.

A moment later, when they arrived at Cream Beach, Irene’s mouth fell open wide.

“So this is why it’s called Cream Beach!”

The wide-spread beach was snow-white, befitting its name of cream.

The sand I know is brown, but why is the sand here white?

Irene grabbed a handful of sand curiously.

The small, fine sand trickled down, tickling her palm.

That wasn’t the only fascinating thing.

“I read in a book that seawater contains salt, so it’s salty. Is that true?”

Kalos answered Irene’s question.

“Try tasting it if you’re curious.”

“Can I taste it?”

“There’s no reason you can’t.”

Then I’ll try tasting it.

As Irene was about to go towards the sea, Kalos suddenly grabbed her arm.