Chapter 10

"Melissa, tell me… when will he be back?"

Julia asked Melissa nonchalantly as she was working on her hair. Melissa was silent with a troubled look on her face.

“I guess he has a lot of work to do. He always returns late when he’s busy."

"…Is that so?"

Julia let out a small sigh. It's been almost two months since he left. No matter how much she thought about it, Julia couldn't get rid of the idea that the reason he hadn't come back for such a long time was because of her.

"Um…Your Grace, what's the schedule for today?"

“I think I'll read some books in the study.”

Julia replied grimly. After Bennett's quick rejection of the garden repair, she was unable to find anything more to do.

And there was no one to invite to tea parties and social gatherings.

This was because Julia never went to social gatherings before her marriage, and none of them were close to her.

Most of all, she felt that Fernan might not like it if she spent money to organize a social party without permission.

So all she could do was to read a book in the study or take a walk around the castle.

“Instead of doing that, why don't you go out with me to the city? You've never been around the territory before."

Melissa suggested carefully, and a small light appeared in Julia's eyes.

True to Melissa's word, Julia had never properly walked around the estate since they were married.

"I like it, but… Melissa, don't you have a lot of work to do?"

"Eh, serving the Grand Duchess is more important than anything else.”

Melissa finished grooming Julia’s hair with a bright smile. Her hair, loosely braided on both sides and gathered into a single bun, looked good on Julia.

"Then I'll call the carriage, I'll assume you're coming."

Julia gave a small smile as she watched Melissa leave the room. She was grateful to Melissa for trying to make her feel better.

It was the first time Julia had ever left the castle. The carriage was headed for the biggest shopping district in the territory.

Eventually, the carriage came to a stop. As she slowly stepped outside, the first thing she saw was the clock tower in the center.

A large fountain was placed around it, and the city was crowded with people sitting on benches and waves of moving people.

Julia took a deep breath. Just going out like this made her feel lighter.

"Your Grace, where do you want to go first?"

Julia pondered for a while, then pointed to a street lined with markets.

"Shall we go over there?"

“Okay!”

Melissa grabbed her hand. Julia's eyes filled with warmth as she stared at her linked hands. She had never gone out with a friend before, but this way she felt like she was hanging out with a friend. After walking around for a while, Julia saw a small flower shop. She paused for a moment. Then she stared at the neatly arranged flowers in front of the store.

She smiled a little as she kept looking at the lilies on one side.

Her biological mother was the daughter of a merchant who owned a flower shop. Perhaps that was why she was particularly fond of flowers from an early age.

She lived with her mother until she was about seven years old, but she could hardly remember anything from that time anymore. The one thing she did remember clearly was this lily flower.

"Someday, when you get married, I will make you a bouquet of lilies.”

All the other memories were dim, but the words whispered to her in a gentle voice remained clear even after a long time.

Melissa, who had been watching the pensive Julia, asked her carefully.

"Since we’re here, should we buy a bunch of flowers?"

"No, that's not necessary…"

“But I want to buy them. Come on, let's go in!"

Melissa's momentum pushed Julia into the flower shop, and Julia eventually came out with an armful of flowers.

It was a beautiful bouquet of white lilies mixed with pink roses.

"Wow! Let's go there too!"

Not stopping there, Melissa quickly led Julia to the other places. When she saw Melissa enjoying herself like a child, she naturally burst into laughter.

Every time she walked past a street vendor, the words of the merchants touting their goods were difficult to pass. After purchasing this and that under the influence of words, there were no hands left. Melissa, with her hands full of bags, sighed and complained.

"Huh…I should have brought one of the porters with me."

“Here. I'll carry more.”

"Oh, no, no!”

While she was struggling with Melissa, a wagon approached from the front.

They hastily ducked inside, but the merchant standing next to the wagon blatantly bumped Melissa, who was standing outside.

"Ah!" 

Dropping all of her bags, Melissa hugged her shoulder. She frowned as if she got hit hard.

“Melissa! Are you okay?"

"Yes, but the goods are ….."

Melissa whimpered as she saw the items on the floor. Julia carefully raised Melissa's arm.

"Don't worry about it. Are you hurt anywhere?"

She looked all over Melissa's body, and before she knew it, the merchant approached.

“Oh, what should I do? Everything is broken.”

The merchant laughed as he patted the back of his neck. A terrible smell of alcohol wafted from him.

The approaching merchant gave Julia and Melissa a creepy look.

While Julia, sensing resistance, retreated to the side, the merchant popped the wall that was placed behind her.

The merchant, who had forcibly blocked the way, continued deftly.

"I'll make it up to you, will you follow me? Just walk through this alley and you'll find our store."

“No, there is no need."

Just as Julia was about to run the other way, the merchant grabbed her wrist firmly with force.

"Don't say that, follow me. I think they're quite expensive."

The merchant, who scanned Julia up and down, laughed.

"Hey, let go of this."

Julia's face turned pale from the smell of alcohol, and she shook off the merchant's arm with all her strength, but to no avail.

Melissa, who had been scared even from a short distance away, gritted her teeth and grabbed the merchant's arm.

“Somebody help me here!”

A loud noise caused the people who finally noticed the coercive atmosphere and turned their attention to them with a buzz. The merchant, conscious of their gaze, carelessly threw out Julia’s hand. As a result, Julia fell to the floor.

"Is it wrong to ignore people when they are trying to show their sincerity with a good heart?"

The merchant clicked his tongue and staggered away, approaching the wagon.

And at that moment, a person of the security forces, who rushed to the scene after finding the commotion, stood in front of the merchant.

"What is it! What's going on!"

After confirming it was a knight, Julia's nerves were released and she gasped for breath, holding her shaking hands.

As she did so, someone kicked the merchant and made him kneel down. The merchant's head hit the floor as he moaned.

"Kuh-hah!" 

Julia's eyes gradually grew bigger as she saw an intimidating man with a sword pointed at the merchant's neck.

"Your Highness…?"

Fernan stared at Julia, his eyes narrowed.

He threw down the messed up merchant and strode towards Julia.

"What are you doing here?"

His second-in-command, Lloyd, hurried closer while Fernan looked down at Julia with narrowed eyes.

Lloyd, who was about to report something, opened his eyes wide when he saw the fallen Julia.

"Uh… Your Highness, I'll send him to the security."

Fernan didn't respond to Lloyd's words, but kept his eyes on Julia.

"I asked you what you were doing here…?”

"It was…I went out for a while…”

Julia answered honestly as she tried to sit up. Her ankle was sprained and she couldn’t stand up.

Fernan glared dryly at her.

"I thought I told you to stay in the bedroom quietly.”

His gaze swept through the objects that had fallen on the floor.

"Seeing you enjoyed shopping, I guess my words didn’t matter.”