“Is it delicious?”

Karina chewed and swallowed diligently.

“… It is.”

Mikhail smiled with satisfaction at Karina’s answer.

Fortunately, the donut shop he had chosen as the next destination was open for business.

“Is this your first time eating this?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“I told you so.”

Karina’s words were true.

When she first saw the donut, she didn’t expect much.

It looked like nothing special, just bread fried in oil with a rough appearance like a thick twisted rope.

She untwisted the donut and tore open the inside.

As expected, it was just a piece of bread with nothing inside.

However, Karina’s eyes widened when she took a bite of the donut.

The freshly fried outer surface was crispy, while the inside had a chewy texture that stimulated her salivary glands.

Karina quickly ate one donut and picked up another.

‘Strange? I usually couldn’t eat this much food.’

Karina normally couldn’t eat much because she would feel bloated or nauseous after eating just a little.

Even if she forced herself to eat, she would often end up vomiting in her room.

‘Why am I fine eating this?’

She was surprised at her own body’s condition, which remained fine even after eating.

Karina chewed and swallowed the donut in her mouth diligently.

“I guess street food suits me better than I thought.”

Karina muttered with a serious expression.

“Pardon?”

“What’s this called?”

Karina’s eyes sparkled with life.

Seeing her like this, Mikhail held back his laughter and answered.

“It’s a donut. Among donuts, it’s called a twisted donut.”

“Twisted donut. Twisted donut.”

Karina repeated the name of the donut.

Memorizing the name ‘twisted donut’, she promised herself to buy and eat it again later.

Watching Karina eagerly devour the twisted donut in her hand, Mikhail finally couldn’t hold back his laughter.

“Why… why are you laughing? Is there something on my face?”

Karina felt embarrassed, wondering if she had eaten too hastily.

“No, it’s not that. It’s just nice to see you enjoying your food. I was thinking I should take you around and let you eat lots of delicious things.”

Mikhail smiled brightly at Karina.

“…”

Karina stared at him blankly.

She felt a strange feeling, but couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

“Grand Duchess.”

Karina snapped back to reality at Mikhail’s call.

“Hmm…?”

“Shall we go try something else?”

“What else?”

A hint of undisguised anticipation was subtly evident in Karina’s voice.

“Jam hard.”

“Jam hard? What’s that?”

“It’s made by mixing jam thickly with flower water, then freezing it on a stick.”

“Is that delicious too?”

“Yes, it’s delicious. And there are various flavors.”

Hearing it was delicious, Karina answered without hesitation.

“Let’s go try it.”

Mikhail chuckled at Karina’s behavior, which was like a child who had received a new toy.

“We can go slowly.”

Karina had been unconsciously pulling Mikhail along, urging him.

“Ah.”

Feeling embarrassed, Karina glanced at Mikhail and continued.

“By the way, when the night market opens later, can we go back to that chicken skewer place we went to earlier?”

Mikhail smiled broadly and replied.

“Of course.”

As Karina and Mikhail were on their way to buy jam hard.

“Huh?”

A stall selling curious miscellaneous goods caught her eye on one side.

“Come and see! We have many new items that just arrived!”

On the merchant’s stall, which was shouting like that, there were strange items that Karina had never seen before.

Accessories made by weaving colorful threads in multiple layers, hair ornaments with flower and butterfly shapes, animal sculptures carved from wood, mother-of-pearl that showed different colors depending on how light hit it, and so on.

“Wow.”

Karina looked over the stall as if enchanted.

“It seems they’re selling items brought from foreign countries.”

Mikhail said, examining the stall following Karina’s gaze.

“Is there anything you like?”

Mikhail asked.

“No, I’m just looking.”

As soon as Karina answered, something caught her eye.

It was a stick about the length of a hand with a pale jade-colored flower ornament attached.

At first glance, it looked like an extremely large needle, but the end of the stick was too blunt to be a needle.

“This isn’t a needle… is it?”

As Karina showed interest and spoke, the merchant quickly explained.

“Ah, that’s called a binyeo. It’s an item used by women in eastern countries to fix their long hair when they roll it up.”

It was interesting, not too flashy, and subtly pretty, so she liked it.

“Do you like that?”

Mikhail asked again, as if he had read Karina’s mind.

Karina chuckled and answered again.

“Yes. It seems unique, so I’m interested.”

Hearing Karina’s answer, Mikhail immediately said to the merchant, pointing at the binyeo.

“I’ll take this one.”

“Huh?”

While Karina turned to him in surprise, the merchant answered heartily.

“Yes! Please wait a moment. I’ll wrap it up for you right away.”

While the merchant was looking for a cloth pouch to put the binyeo in, Karina whispered.

“I wasn’t planning to buy it.”

“I want to buy it for you. I think it would suit you well, Grand Duchess.”

“Then I’ll buy it myself.”

Mikhail was just a poor wandering magician, wasn’t he?

She thought she shouldn’t take money from him when she couldn’t even give him a raise.

As Karina took out her money pouch, Mikhail stopped her.

“I told you I want to buy it for you, didn’t I? If you’re really concerned, think of it as a return for the twisted donuts you bought earlier. And you’re going to buy the jam hard we’re about to eat, right?”

“That’s that and this is this.”

“And we’re going to eat chicken skewers too. I’m going to eat a lot of chicken skewers.”

Mikhail said jokingly.

Just then, the merchant found a cloth pouch, put the binyeo in it, and handed it to them.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you.”

Clink.

Mikhail paid the merchant as soon as he received the item.

He shrugged his shoulders with an expression that said it was already done.

“Thank you! Use it well.”

The merchant next to them bowed his head after receiving the money.

Everything fit together as if it had been planned in advance.

Karina blinked a few times and then chuckled.

“Alright. I like it. Since you’ve already bought it, I’ll accept it gratefully.”

Karina’s eyes curved gently.

Seeing that, Mikhail also smiled brightly.

“Try it on now.”

Karina nodded and asked the merchant how to use the binyeo.

“Ah, you divide your hair in half like this, then…”

After learning how to use the binyeo from the merchant, Karina rolled up her red hair in a half-up style and inserted the binyeo.

“How is it? Does it look okay?”

Feeling awkward with the unfamiliar item, Karina touched her hair and asked.

Mikhail’s expression softened as he stared at Karina.

“Ah, as I thought.”

“Hm?”

Saying that, Mikhail reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

“It suits you really well.”

Mikhail’s gaze as he looked at her was very warm.

‘Ah…’

Meeting that gaze, Karina realized the reason for the strange feeling she had been having.

It had been a really long time since someone had taken care of her like this.

Long enough that her heart swelled greatly even at such small kindnesses and attention.

Somehow, her heart felt even more touched than before.

‘I’m really enjoying this right now.’

The moment she realized this fact.

His hair, reflecting the sunlight, sparkled like silver threads.

Below that, she could see his smooth skin that looked as if it had been coated with honey, and his straight features.

His upturned lips expressing delight, gently curved eyes, and even teeth.

His glossy lips and eyes were red and clear like bitten red berries.

All of these elements blended well to accentuate his handsome face.

Karina couldn’t take her eyes off his face.

‘It’s not new, but he’s really handsome.’

Although she had felt this when she first saw Mikhail, Karina felt it again.

But Karina’s thoughts didn’t continue for long.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

“…!?”

Suddenly, screams of people were heard nearby.

Startled, Karina and Mikhail looked in the direction of the screams.

People started fleeing urgently from that direction.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Mikhail grabbed a passing man and asked.

“Monster! It’s a monster!”

“Monster?”

“Run away quickly!”

The man shook off Mikhail’s hand and fled in a hurry.

“Grand Duchess, we should evacuate quickly?”

Mikhail turned his head to look at Karina, but she was nowhere to be seen.

“Grand Duchess?!”

Startled, Mikhail quickly scanned the surroundings.

He could see Karina’s figure pushed far away by the fleeing people.

“Oh no!”

Mikhail made a troubled expression and pushed through the crowd towards Karina’s direction.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Ah!”

Karina, pushed away from Mikhail by the people.

Karina looked around for Mikhail, but he was nowhere to be seen.

She moved to the corner to avoid colliding with more people.

Something seemed to have caused a commotion, though she didn’t know what.

She thought it wouldn’t be good if there were eyewitness accounts of the Grand Duchess being around the scene of the disturbance.

‘If it’s Mikhail, he’ll return to the Grand Duke’s residence even if he can’t find me.’

Karina decided to first move to a place with fewer people.

She came out to the outskirts of the village, bordering the northern forest.

“Phew.”

Karina sighed, thinking she had escaped from the commotion.

“Kiiiiiiing.”

Just then, a strange sound was heard from the forest behind.

‘What’s that?’

It sounded like a wild animal dying in a hunter’s trap.

Along with it, there was a faint, chilling sound like scratching an iron plate, but Karina didn’t notice it.

Karina cautiously approached the direction of the groaning sound.

Something seemed to be wriggling and moving inside.

‘A deer?’

But her view was obstructed by a large rock and bushes, so she couldn’t see well.

Karina raised her hand to clear away the bushes blocking her view.

As she cleared the bushes, she saw the back of a huge black beast.

“…!”

Karina’s eyes widened in surprise.

‘What is that?’

Startled by the house-sized beast, Karina stepped back.

Crack.

Unfortunately, she stepped on a fallen branch on the ground, making a sound.

At that sound, the house-sized beast perked up its ears and quickly turned its head to look at Karina.

“Gasp…!”

Karina froze in place as her eyes met the beast’s.

It wasn’t a beast.

It was a monster.

Its long snout was covered in dark red blood.

Drops of blood dripped from between its sharp teeth onto the ground.

Its jet-black eyes gleamed brightly, showing a blood-like red madness that was chilling.

‘Ah…!’

Karina swallowed a gasp, unable to even scream.

The beast turned its body towards Karina.

Out of fear and terror, Karina stood rooted to the spot, unable to move.

“Grrrrrr.”

The monster made a threatening sound as it approached Karina closer and closer.

The chilling cry heard right in front of her sent shivers down her spine.

‘I’m scared…!’

Karina’s whole body trembled.

In that fleeting moment, there was one person who unconsciously came to Karina’s mind.

But he wasn’t here.

Hoping for him to appear was a vain expectation in itself.

A faint resignation settled on Karina’s face.

Before she could even realize this fact, the monster threateningly opened its mouth wide.

She could see sharp teeth densely packed inside like saw blades.

‘…!’

Karina squeezed her eyes shut.

She thought it was the end now.

At that moment.

“Karina!!”

She heard someone urgently calling her name.