Just because Darius realized my love was false didn’t mean there was a big change in our relationship.

In public, I casually linked arms with him, and Darius still joked to those around us that I liked him too much.

Ah, I think I heard him quietly complain that Anette had no conscience.

I whispered softly in his ear.

“Considering how generously I treated you when we fought over Lady Egritte, you shouldn’t treat me like this.”

“I wish you had cursed at me then, pushed me, and made me out to be a real villain.”

Oh my. He even noticed that I was able to forgive so easily because I had no expectations of him from the start.

“Shall I do that now? Would it make you feel better if I hit you? How frightening.”

“Just as I don’t have the peculiar taste of growing love with each blow I receive, you don’t grow in love with each strike you give, do you?”

Seeing Darius sulking around the castle as if to show off, Apple said to me.

“This time, my lady was in the wrong.”

“Last time you said the Grand Duke was wrong.”

“That time, the Grand Duke was in the wrong.”

I vividly remember Apple taking the croquet mallet from Darius, yet here she is betraying me like this.

“Didn’t you once say you’d be loyal to me since you’re a maid receiving wages from me?”

“It’s because I’m loyal that I don’t spare you honest advice! This is all faithful counsel!”

One might think Apple knew everything about what happened between Darius and me, but in fact, she knew nothing. She was just saying that after seeing Darius’s different moods outside and inside the castle.

“I just have a feeling. This time, my lady was wrong.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Of course not. What could I possibly have done wrong?

I held my head high in front of the maids who were looking at me as if they had whispered something among themselves and come to a consensus.

When I showed no reaction, Darius soon stopped his whining.

“They say pampering men and children only spoils them.”

Children aside, adults should grow up strong, right?

“No matter how I look at it, it seems my lady was in the wrong this time…”

Apple shook her head.

“Look, Cinnamon is passing by.”

“Eep!”

Apple looked for a place to hide at the mere mention of Cinnamon, who hadn’t even appeared. How dare you criticize me when you can’t even take care of yourself and are always picked on by Cinnamon, hmph!

* * *

The outing that someone had been eagerly anticipating was a textbook date.

By textbook, I mean the standard of romance novels.

Darius and I were dressed as slightly affluent commoners might, and the place we chose for our date was similar.

Around us, young couples who weren’t nobles were enjoying their meals in high spirits.

“I hear the skewers sold in the alley are delicious.”

I nodded at Darius’s words. I’m sure they are. Romance novel dates always include street food stalls. I bet the finale will be fireworks.

“Excuse me for interrupting your meal.”

The kindly-looking owner set down a jiggly pudding as a service.

“You two look like a lovely couple. I hope you enjoy your time at our establishment.”

With so many couples around, why just us two?

“Excuse me, aren’t you the granddaughter of Tax Inspector Nicola? Please put in a good word with your grandfather for us.”

The restaurant owner whispered in my ear as if he knew everything.

I had once observed Nicola conducting a tax inspection, which seemed to have led to this misunderstanding.

Anyway, that old man complained about elder abuse, but he would have been miserable if I hadn’t let him return to work.

He seems to be working with such enthusiasm.

“Yes, I’ll be sure to mention it to my grandfather.”

I looked at the pudding without bothering to correct the misunderstanding, and this time Darius was staring at the pudding intently without eating it, as if it were something strange.

You’ve eaten pudding before, haven’t you?

Ting.

Ting.

He tested the elasticity of the pudding with a spoon, then looked back and forth between it and me, lost in thought.

“If you like that pudding, shall I order another?”

If the owner still believed I was Tax Inspector Nicola’s granddaughter, he would have piled up a mountain of pudding before I could even ask.

Darius spoke with a rather serious face.

“I can’t eat it because the pudding resembles Anette.”

What?

“The pudding what?”

“It looks just like you.”

“In what way?”

“The way it bounces?”

Is he… is he taking a jab at me now because I rejected him last time?

I was dumbfounded, hearing for the first time in my life that I resembled pudding, but Darius said with quite a serious face.

“I really can’t eat it.”

“Eat it. The pudding will feel hurt if you don’t eat it.”

“But it looks like Anette…”

In place of the hesitating Darius, I picked up the spoon and split the pudding in half. Darius looked shocked.

“Anette has… Anette!”

“Stop talking nonsense. I’ve never had a pudding sister.”

“You have no dreams or romance.”

This grumbling Darius seemed like a different person from the Darius I knew.

The original Darius, who had his heart closed off by many hardships after experiencing Egritte’s betrayal and before meeting Evangeline.

‘No, how has Darius changed?’

“Eat it.”

I suddenly scooped up a large spoonful of pudding and held it out.

Darius gently turned his head away with an uncomfortable expression.

“Huh?”

Finding his reaction quite cute, I giggled and insisted he eat the pudding, pushing the spoon towards him.

“Come on, eat it and find the differences between the pudding and me.”

Finding it amusing himself, Darius finally ate the pudding from my relentless spoon-feeding.

“Is it delicious?”

He nodded with a smile.

“It’s sweet.”

After the meal, Darius showed enthusiasm for a street vendor date, so I agreed.

We stopped at a skewer stall, placed an order, and handed over some coins. The vendor offered flattery along with the chicken skewers.

“Such a handsome young man, treating his girlfriend to a meal. With that strong build, I’m sure you won’t let her go hungry anywhere.”

“Oh, she’s not my girlfriend.”

“Hmm? Then what’s your relationship?”

Is there a law that says a man and woman of similar age walking together must be lovers?

“We’re married. I’m the husband, and this is my wife. I have no intention of letting her go hungry.”

“I knew it. I’ve been doing business here for 20 years, and I could tell right away you were either married or lovers. You young folks got married early, didn’t you?”

The vendor, convinced his judgment couldn’t be wrong, clapped his hands and burst into laughter, adding one more comment.

“But young man, why do you speak like that? Are you some kind of noble lord? Tsk, tsk. Miss, looks aren’t everything. If you keep a husband with such poor manners, you’ll suffer later on.”

Even with a change of clothes, the ingrained lord mode wasn’t easily shed. Darius, suddenly turned into an ill-mannered young man, stammered.

“You’re right, he seems quite hopeless. Should I divorce him now?”

“What are you saying? It might be different if you weren’t married yet. But you’ve already chosen him, so you need to teach him well. That’s why you should have chosen carefully in the first place. There are no returns in marriage!”

“That’s right.”

Satisfied with the vendor’s words, Darius placed a silver coin on the stall counter.

“I apologize. Let money be my apology.”

What are you satisfied about? More importantly, you still haven’t fixed your manner of speaking, you know?

* * *

“There’s a market on this side, so it’s good for buying snacks and goods, as Rose… I mean, someone recommended.”

Eating skewers, buying dolls, chancing upon rare items at stalls, and finally watching fireworks. That’s how all romance novel dates go, right?

‘Oh? Then is this an opportunity to obtain a new item?’

My wandering soul returned. I focused all my energy on the goods laid out on the stall.

“See anything you like?”

Beep beep beep beep.

Wait a moment. I’m currently in communication with the entire universe. According to the laws of romance novels, there should be something here that strongly attracts me, something that looks crude to others but appears extraordinary and endearing to my eyes, something I absolutely must buy?

Candidates for such items include pretty dolls, accessories that the medicine peddler claims are historic (which you’d think were fake but turn out to be genuinely ancient), or suspicious dusty talismans.

‘Something that only looks precious to my eyes, or something that looks crude at first glance but I want to possess even at an absurd price!’

“Choose, choose, choose anything you like! Just one coin for anything! There might be something here that will change your destiny!”

Even the stall vendor’s lines struck a chord. Isn’t this exactly the kind of thing you hear when there’s really something special?

“Anette, do you really like that?”

Darius asked suspiciously.

A shadow fell over me as I had my head practically buried in the stall. Darius was standing right behind me, leaning forward with his head next to mine.

“No.”

“Hmm.”

He picked up some random earrings from the stall and held them up to my ear.

“They don’t seem that great. You’re looking pretty intently though.”

“Since when did you become an expert on women’s earrings?”

“Since Lucian said red doesn’t suit him because he’s in the Black Knights?”

When I turned around out of annoyance, Darius’s firm chest was right in front of my nose.

“Hm?”

Darius remained nonchalant. I was the one who was flustered.

What’s with this positioning? I request social distancing.

Is the free item the problem? My life seems to be in danger here.

To maintain the flow of the original story, it was important to keep enough physical distance so that when Evangeline later learns of Darius and my brief marriage, she could generously overlook it.

‘Whatever the important item was, if I don’t get it, Evangeline will probably take it and use it to defeat the Demon King.’

With tears in my eyes, I retreated from the stall. I object to any more romantic events today.