The bottle was about half full of round pills.

Arasila, who instinctively realized it was the old man’s medicine bottle, quickly picked it up. Then she held it out close so the old man could see it clearly.

“Sir, is this yours?”

The old man, who had been gasping for breath, checked the medicine bottle and nodded weakly.

“Two, two…”

“Two? You need to take two?”

Arasila took out two pills and put them in the old man’s mouth. While he barely moved his throat to swallow the medicine, she firmly massaged his arms and legs.

Just then, a group of priests could be seen approaching from the end of the hallway. Arasila raised her hand to ask them for help.

“Over here, someone has collapsed!”

“What? Just a moment! We’ll be right there!”

Startled by her call, the priests hurriedly ran over. After handing the old man over to them, Arasila dusted herself off and stood up.

“Please take care of him. I’m busy and need to go now.”

“Yes, understood.”

Arasila gave a slight nod to the old man who still couldn’t properly support himself, then quickly left to find Taylor.

The old man, barely standing with the support of the priest, stared at her rapidly retreating back with an indecipherable look.

“Sir, what is your name? We’ll contact your family.”

When a young priest politely asked, he answered in a low, subdued voice.

“Howard Londrane.”

Recognizing him, some of the priests’ eyes widened. The old man, whose breathing had already eased due to the quick effect of the medicine, spoke again.

“No need to contact family, just call my attendant waiting outside.”

And he added in a low voice,

“I don’t want rumors spreading that I collapsed while making a fuss about coming to mourn my daughter.”

After getting a promise from Taylor to cooperate in creating a composite sketch, Arasila returned home.

Demian, who had arrived home ahead of her, greeted her.

“You’re quite late. Did you have a lot to do?”

“No, rather, I happened to meet the priest at the temple who notarized our contract…”

When she relayed exactly what she had heard from Taylor, Demian’s expression also turned serious.

He stroked his chin and furrowed his brow.

“So someone other than the Duke Vandermir family is suspicious of our marriage.”

“Yes, some perceptive person must have caught on.”

Arasila clicked her tongue lightly. Demian was lost in thought with a serious look.

His eyes were tinged with an even brighter light than usual in the sunlight pouring through the window.

Looking at his face inadvertently, Arasila suddenly had this thought.

His eyes are exactly the same color as the old man I met earlier.

She only now realized this fact that she hadn’t noticed at the time, probably because she was in such a hurry to help.

It was fascinating anew, as it’s not common to see people with golden eyes. Other than the eyes, he didn’t resemble that old man at all.

As Arasila stared blankly without realizing it, Demian, feeling her gaze, opened his mouth with a slightly flustered expression.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”

“No, it’s not that. Just… your eyes look pretty today.”

Not feeling the need to bring up the old man story in detail, she blurted out the words that came to mind.

It was an honest appreciation, as Demian’s eyes, shining softly in the sunlight, were truly pretty.

Demian’s ears slowly reddened. Though it might seem like an insignificant compliment, it felt special and embarrassing coming from Arasila.

He covered his mouth with his hand and let out a series of fake coughs.

“Ahem, hem! Anyway, I’ll look into those who threatened the priest in detail. Don’t worry, my lady.”

“I’m going to look into it too. Don’t try to do everything alone.”

Feeling stung by those words, Demian flinched slightly. He was already investigating Frederick’s background without telling Arasila.

But judging it wasn’t yet time to be honest, he made an effort to change the subject once again.

“By the way, perhaps because of the Founding Day Festival, there were really a lot of people on the streets today. There wasn’t even room to set foot.”

“It’s the largest festival in the empire. Of course there will always be many people since visitors come from other countries too.”

“Is that so? I’ve never participated in the Founding Day Festival before, so this was my first time seeing such a crowd.”

Arasila’s eyes widened round. There’s no other event enjoyed by all imperial citizens as much as the Founding Day Festival.

Even the refined and noble imperial family would have memories of going out to enjoy the festival at least once.

Although Arasila didn’t particularly like noisy things, she used to go to parties or go out to play with her family to celebrate the Founding Day Festival since childhood.

The Founding Day Festival was a traditional festival that every imperial citizen should have at least one related memory of, but Demian had never participated even once.

Arasila’s expression became more serious than ever.

“This won’t do.”

“Pardon? What won’t do…”

She grabbed Demian’s hand firmly with a solemn face.

“Let’s participate in this Founding Day Festival together.”

Having a vague idea of why he had no memories of enjoying the Founding Day Festival, she solemnly declared instead of asking for details.

“Come to think of it, it’s unfair that we’re the only ones working while others are playing.”

Even the emperor takes a break from work during the Founding Day Festival period.

Yet Arasila and Demian had been running around since morning without rest due to airship and lamp inspections.

This was unfair. Who knows when we’ll be able to spend the Founding Day Festival together like this again, so why should we only work?

The airship and lamp inspections were all finished anyway, so it should be fine to spend some private time now.

Arasila said,

“Let’s have an awesome time enjoying the Founding Day Festival together, just the two of us.”

Demian, who hadn’t intended to bring it up with the intention of begging to go to the Founding Day Festival like a child, was a bit taken aback.

Worried that he might have given her unnecessary pressure, he took a step back.

“My lady, there’s no need to do that just for my sake.”

“Why, don’t you want to have fun with me? Then I’ll find another friend to go with.”

Arasila retorted primly.

At the word ‘friend’, Demian instinctively thought of Frederick first and grabbed her hand tightly with his eyes flashing.

He had no intention of yielding Arasila to anyone else, let alone Frederick.

“No, I want to have fun together. So please don’t look for anyone other than me.”

He spoke emphatically, enunciating each word. At least while he was her husband, he wanted to monopolize Arasila.

“Alright, then shall we go play tomorrow?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

At his unhesitating answer, Arasila smiled brightly. And so, a festival date was unexpectedly set.

On the streets of the Founding Day Festival, nobles and commoners are mixed together.

So if famous people like Arasila or Demian appeared, there was a high possibility of attracting more attention than necessary.

Even if the commoners didn’t recognize them, most of the nobles would, that is.

It was detestable to draw attention and become bothersome by having guards in tow on the crowded streets. Then they wouldn’t be able to properly enjoy the Founding Day Festival either.

So Arasila deliberately dressed as modestly as possible, excluding fancy accessories.

She wore a dress with navy and white colors and tied her hair up high. In one hand, she carried a small handbag with an unremarkable design.

Then, as soon as she met Demian at the entrance of the central hall, she held out what she had prepared.

It was a white mask with a pink flower attached.

“What is this? Why are you giving it to me?”

“We already stand out, but together we’ll look even more conspicuous. I thought it might be good to cover our faces a bit to avoid troublesome situations.”

“In my opinion, wearing something like this would attract more attention.”

Demian showed a slightly disgruntled reaction. The thought of having to wear such a bright and frilly mask made him uncomfortable.

“That’s because you don’t know. Do you have any idea how many people wear unusual outfits at the Founding Day Festival?”

Meanwhile, Arasila casually put on a mask with a blue flower attached, cheerfully retorting. The black mask covered half of her small face.

“Rather, people like us whose faces themselves stand out are rare, so we attract more attention.”

“…I see.”

Demian reluctantly put on the mask. The pink flower mask looked strikingly good over his showy silver hair and golden eyes.

“And since people might recognize us if we use names, I’ll call you by a nickname.”

“What kind of nickname?”

Demian, who had never had anything like a nickname in his life, asked curiously. Arasila answered with a bright smile.

“Mimi. I’ll call you Mimi. Is that okay?”

“It’s not okay.”

A rejection immediately sprang from Demian’s mouth.

As if the cute mask wasn’t enough, he didn’t feel confident about handling an adorable nickname too.

No matter how he looked at it, neither the mask nor the nickname suited him.

“Why Mimi of all things?”

“Because it sounds cute.”

At the simple and clear answer, he was momentarily at a loss for words.

Seeing his displeased expression, Arasila sighed lightly as if there was no helping it and said,

“If you have another nickname you want, tell me. I’ll call you that instead. But you have to say it within 10 seconds.”

“No…”

Arasila spread her fingers and started counting down, folding one finger at a time.

Demian desperately racked his brain to think of another nickname, but nothing suitable came to mind.

In the end, 10 seconds passed without result, and Arasila said with a bright smile,

“Let’s go, Mimi.”

“…Yes.”

The two arrived at the entrance of the busy street and got off the carriage. It was impossible to go all the way in by carriage because it was so crowded with people.

As Arasila had said, their masked appearance was quite ordinary. There were many people on the street with even crazier outfits than theirs.

A man wearing a rainbow-colored dress, a woman with colorful paintings on her skin, a child dressed up as an animal, an old man in a floral suit, and so on.

People who were usually utterly ordinary were walking around in free-spirited appearances just for today.

“Really… we won’t stand out at all like this.”

Demian muttered, half shocked and half amazed. Wearing just a mask almost felt like being overly polite.

“No wonder people are so excited after setting the stage like this. Everyone is bringing out things they’ve prepared just for this occasion.”

Arasila, who was relatively familiar with the colorful Founding Day Festival street scene, shrugged her shoulders.

Demian’s eyes sparkled like a child seeing a circus for the first time.

Arasila laughed softly, finding his face somehow cute.

Soon she grabbed Demian’s arm and said,

“Now, let’s go have fun too. There’s so much to do at the Founding Day Festival.”