Chapter 17

Chapter 17

“We’re here.”

The door opened after the driver spoke.

After Lucas got off, he reached out to me.

‘Shall we hold hands or not?’

I took the hand Lucas offered me. It was my first time getting off of a wagon, so it was better to get some help. Like that time in front of the maid… Uh, enough. Let’s forget the past.

His hands were big. Hard, with a lot of calluses. His hair was like elastin. It was surprising that the buffs of the male lead even included this much.

“Is there anything in particular you would like to see today?”

“…I don’t know. It’s good if it’s just a place worth seeing. To be honest, I don’t know anything.”

“Then we will guide you to famous places.”

I nodded at Lucas’s words and followed him. It’s a place I didn’t know anything about, so it was correct for me to carefully listen to the guide. If I follow him quietly today, I would be able to go out often.

And soon I regretted it. Come to think of it, I’ve never traveled in my previous life. I’ve never been on a school trip or a retreat. My little sibling was sick and couldn’t even go to school, so why would my parents have allowed me to go to any? In the past, it was a bit disappointing, but as I grew up, I accepted it. In that sense, this was like my first tour. But…

It seemed that tourism wasn’t in my constitution. Especially popular places. As soon as I passed through the crowded Plaza Market and saw the bustling customers of the most popular restaurant, I felt nauseous. There were too many people.

“Excuse me, Sir Lucas.”

“Yes, Selena.”

“Let’s eat elsewhere.”

As if surprised by my words, he turned his head and looked at me.

“Why? Is there something wrong? Oh, do you not like calf meat, by any chance?”

‘It’s not about the calf or whatever, that’s not the point!’

I shook my head. I guess my complexion looked pretty bad, since Lucas took a step closer, frowned, and looked at my face.

“It’s because there are too many people. I think I’m going to vomit.”

“Ah.”

Lucas looked around with a little astonishment and nodded. I guess it was logical in its own way. Once again, Lucas led me to a small restaurant located a bit far from the square. The interior was quite cozy in accordance with the wooden exterior. There were not many tables, and there were only a few people.

‘Phew, I think I’m going to live a little now.’

I guess my complexion looked bad earlier. As I entered the restaurant and caught my breath, Lucas’s expression towards me became softer.

As if he was really worried…

Eissh no way. I stopped thinking about unnecessary things and looked at the menu, tapping the table with my fingernails.

Tomato stew, pork roast, chicken leg meat… How long had it been since I read a menu like this and chose something to eat…? And eating, instead of alone, with other people like this…

I lifted my gaze fixed on the menu board and looked at Lucas. He was also looking at the menu quite seriously, pondering about what to choose. It was amusing to see his serious look over something so silly. He always pretended to be gentle among the nobles, pretending to be cool… but now he was sincerely choosing something from the menu at a small restaurant… All of those who knew him would have laughed.

“Why are you looking?”

Lucas glanced up, tilting his head. At the same time, our eyes met.

“I’m curious about what Sir Lucas is choosing so… earnestly.”

At my words, Lucas opened his mouth and blinked. I raised my eyebrows at the unresponsive expression, which was so unlike him.

‘I can’t even joke around? He jokes every day. Every day, he’s sticking to me and laughing at me…’

However, after a brief moment, Lucas’s lips curved up. It wasn’t the usual gentleman’s smile, as his eyes were folded and his lips were smiling… That villain mask he sometimes wears, no, that villain-like smile.

“It’s my favorite restaurant. I always have a hard time deciding what to eat because everything tastes so good.”

“Ah.”

Lucas’s regular restaurant was such a simple place.

‘Come to think of it, according to the book, in the past… didn’t it say he was a poor nobleman?’

Actually, I didn’t remember it well because it was only mentioned in a few lines.

“I’ll have tomato stew. What about you, Selena?”

Lucas closed the menu. The sound of the menu board closing in the quiet, calm, and cozy restaurant echoed.

“I’ll take the same.”

The tomato stew was excellent.

If the Duke’s food felt like a luxurious restaurant, this place felt like a home-style meal. The tomato stew felt like a home-cooked meal. It was so easy for a person to adapt to this place. In a short time, the tomato stew turned into Gomguk.*

“Ah, I’m full.”

I felt a strong sense of satiety. At my own words, Lucas glanced down at my plate and frowned. There was still some tomato stew left on the plate.

“You usually eat too little.”

“Because there’s no reason to move.”

“You have an accurate understanding of your own problems.”

“Some people can’t even do that, so it’s a good thing.”

‘And I’m talking about you.’

However, Lucas raised his eyebrows with a smile, as if he didn’t know what I meant.

‘See, see? Some people can’t even realize it.’

After dinner, we decided to take a walk along the quiet promenade behind the square. It was a quiet and sparsely populated promenade, so it was enjoyable. While walking on a bridge with a river flowing under the promenade, I stopped. Holding onto the railing, I held out my head and looked down at the flowing water. The water was so transparent that the ground was clearly visible. I could even see the fish swimming from above.

‘Is it high? Is that water deep? Will I die if I fall from here? But wouldn’t it be too painful if I drown? I don’t like painful things…’

“Selena, if you don’t enjoy danger, come this way.”

“I’m holding onto the railing.”

“I can’t even trust the strength of your grasp.”

‘…You have to do what you’re told.’

I was sure he would tell Selena’s parents how it went today…

‘If he delivers even the smallest odd words, I may never be able to go out again.’

I flashed my hands off the railing and took three steps away from the bridge. Lucas nodded as if satisfied.

“What is that over there?”

My finger was pointing at a big building with a large clock hanging on it.

“It’s the clock tower. For your information, you can’t go up, so don’t even think about going up.”

“…I didn’t.”

‘As a knight, he seems to have good eyesight. However… it must be a lie that people can go up there…’

In this era, a large watch device cannot be laid down where people cannot climb. Someone has to climb up and manage it for the clock to work properly…

‘Do you think I have become a fool because I lost my memory?’

I stared at the clock tower until the large minute hand ticked, then turned back. My eyes met Lucas, who was waiting for me a few steps away. He looked down at me with an expressionless face, then slowly approached me and held out his hand.

“Let’s stop, Selena.”

We walked back to the square. I didn’t feel the need to hold Lucas’s hand and walk, so we just walked side by side a little further apart. There wasn’t any conversation.

“I–I’m sorry!! Just once… Forgive me just once!!”

A desperate child’s voice echoed in my ears. The screams were so mournful that they could be heard clearly even through a wall of people. The eyes of the crowd were focused on one place. Wondering what was going on, I approached there with Lucas.

The owner of the voice sat down on the dirt floor. Seeing that there was a lot of dirt all over his face and body, it looked like he had rolled all over the floor. A man stood opposite the muddy little child. The man, who was wearing a colorful costume that couldn’t find harmony in the colors, had a deep frown and held a cane in one hand. Rather than using it because of old age, it seemed to be a popular trend in noble society these days. For some reason, that old geezer reminded me of our attention seeker, Mia.

“Forgiveness? Forgiveness! How dare you talk about forgiveness in front of me! You almost scratched the wagon!”

Even the man’s words reminded me of attention-seeker Mia. ‘Are you Mia’s dad…?’

“Gosh… Oh my gosh… Somehow, he got caught by such an aristocrat…”

“How could you run so fast in such a crowded place?”

There were whispers in small voices all around. A boy kneeling in front of an arrogant nobleman trembled. It seemed that the boy almost got hit by the carriage.

‘But one has to slow down in crowded places. Members of Parliament must also drive in compliance with the law. It seems that there’s no such traffic law here… Even so, in life, there are things that should be done even if there are no laws. Something called custom that has been passed through history.’

“What should I do?”

Lucas interrupted my thoughts.

“What do you mean?”

“Will you help him?”

‘I don’t know… help… should I?’

I didn’t know why the dark sides of the world were unfolding right before my eyes these days. It was a very annoying and tiring situation where I felt very bothered to step up, but my consciousness wriggled if I didn’t. In the end, someone might end up pointing a sword at me inside the Duke’s mansion. Like Ariel, you have to be careful around home. Wow, I was so tired just thinking about it, my head was pounding.

‘I’m not the female lead, I’m the villainess… Shouldn’t this kind of situation unfold only in front of the kind, positive, and meddlesome heroine?’

“Do you know who that person is?”

I asked Lucas in a low voice, and he shook his head before replying.

“It seems that he is a noble who was invited to the young Lord’s engagement ceremony, but it seems that the carriage… was rented. It seems that he was lucky enough to get the invitation.”

“He got an invitation by luck…”

‘Isn’t security too lax?’

Well, what was the point of that question now? I put it off and fixed my gaze on those two again. The man’s cane was making a menacing noise above the child’s head.

‘If you are lucky, you should know how to use it.’

TL/N: Meaning how to use the luck he got

The trembling little child crouched every time the cane passed over his head. At the very pathetic sight, the people around them only shouted, “Oh gosh!”

‘Really… How do you know I’m this weak against young children?’

It seemed that I couldn’t stay quiet like a normal person. Yet, I was not acting like a villainess so that was enough.

Effortlessly comforting myself, I shook my head and looked up at Lucas.

“If he swings that stick at me, you better block it well. I hate being hit.”

‘That’s right, I’m sick of being hit.’

I got hit a lot before becoming an adult… The image of a child with a trembling body, being hit with a cane over his head was something I couldn’t experience in this life. Furthermore, I would die soon, so being hit all over again… I hated the idea of that so much.

“Of course.”

I nodded at Lucas’s answer and walked towards the center of the crowd.

——

*Gomguk: or beef bone soup refers to a soup in Korean cuisine made with various beef parts such as ribs, oxtail, brisket, ox’s head, or ox bones by slowly simmering on a low flame.