Chapter 80

Chapter 80

As I continued to stare without answering, Jane curved her lips even deeper.

It was as if she was saying, ‘I’m really fine!’

“You were the one who asked me to come to the festival. I will be here, so you can watch.”

I really meant that. It was Jane who was looking forward to the festival, not me, so wasn’t it right that the person who was looking forward to it should be the one to look around?

Despite my sincerity, Jane expressed her refusal by shaking her head violently, as if she had heard something she couldn’t hear.

“Oh, that’s nonsense, Miss. I can look around with Priest Ian after he finishes the treatment. So don’t worry about this and go ahead and enjoy it.”

Jane said so and waved softly at me.

Was she asking me to lower my head?

Tilting my head, I took a step closer to Jane and bent my knee slightly. Perhaps my interpretation was correct, Jane whispered in my ear with a small smile.

“Honestly, you don’t often have the opportunity to enjoy a festival like this. You should enjoy it while you’re out.”

‘Aha. How cunning.’

Jane was saying it in a roundabout way, but I knew what she meant.

Yes, even in the eyes of others, my family seemed to be slightly extraordinarily worried about me.

Well, in fact, aside from that reason, Jane had a point. Aside from my family’s worries, I was going to die in four years.

So even if I participated in the festival every time, up to four times, that would be it.

Of course, Jane said this without even dreaming about that possibility.

I stared blankly at Jane, who met my gaze with her shining eyes.

Looking into those eyes, I thought that maybe Jane’s feelings were similar to mine, who came to the festival because I wanted to please the other person.

Oh, she seemed too excited for something like that… Well, no matter what the true nature of her suggestion was, there was no way for me to refuse the request of Jane, who resembled Eunji.

Eunji told me to live happily, which I had thought was impossible. So while I was trying to achieve happiness, I couldn’t help but listen to the child that looked like her as she was begging me to enjoy the festival.

I slowly straightened my back, turned away from Jane and went straight to Aiden.

“Let’s go, Aiden.”

I stood by Aiden and looked at the patients, then Ian, then Jane, then turned away.

Jane, the last person I saw, bowed her head toward me with a smile on her face.

“Go and enjoy yourself,” she added in a quiet voice.

Aiden didn’t know I would really turn away, so he followed me with a slightly surprised look.

“Are we really leaving?”

“She wants me to. I am a good listener.”

“Oohh… I see,” Aiden answered vaguely.

‘Oh…’ Well, I had a history of wronging him and running away. For Aiden, I might not have fallen into the ‘good listener’ category, so I decided to pretend I didn’t hear his dazed answer.

“Aiden, have you ever been to a festival?” I asked as I looked at the small head of the child who passed me with a giggle. He did not give me an immediate answer.

I followed the small child with my eyes until the figure blended in with the crowd and disappeared, then turned my head towards Aiden as the silence became longer than I thought it would.

He seemed lost in thought. The corners of his mouth twisted upwards but there were some cracks in his calm face, looking awkward.

“It was at a very young age.”

Before long, Aiden’s calm voice leaked out from the awkward corner of his mouth.

“When you were young?”

“Yes. I mean, when I was a beggar. There are a lot of people on festival days.”

‘Ah… Oh dear.’

I blinked like someone who asked something I shouldn’t have asked, then I looked away from him.

“That day wasn’t a very good memory, but today I think it will remain as a good memory.”

Aiden must have noticed that I was looking at him, so he quickly erased his expression and lightly added words.

Then he lowered his head and looked at me.

Like protesting, asking me to return my gaze to him.

It was me who made a blatant mistake, but it was Aiden who took it generously and flexibly, so I accepted his protests.

When I turned my head and met his eyes, Aiden paused in surprise.

But it was only for a moment, and soon his lips, which had been drawing an arc, went up a little deeper.

That smile looked so pleasing, I blankly closed my mouth and nodded my head.

‘Yes, I hope it will be a good memory,’ I thought silently.

***

We didn’t know what to do right away. It was my first time at a festival, and Aiden was… not much different than me.

We just walked side by side with a slight gap between us.

As time passed, the number of people increased, and the festival did not have a separate place for shops.

In the middle of the loud noises, it seemed like we were the only ones who didn’t speak. Rather, since we were the only ones who were quiet, paradoxically, the other noisy sounds felt like background music.

All I could hear clearly was the footsteps of Aiden and I.

“Aiden.”

There was something that caught my eye. It was a fountain gushing purple liquid on a street vendor’s stand.

I grabbed Aiden’s sleeve in a snap at the strange appearance I had never seen before.

“Look at that.”

I pointed at it with the tip of my finger, and Aiden immediately raised his head to look at it. He also spat out a small exclamation. Perhaps it was the first time he had seen such a thing, or he was playing along with me.

“Is it made of magic?”

“Maybe it is.”

“Is it a drink or a decoration?”

“Judging from the fact that they sell skewers next to it… Could it be a drink?”

Just as Aiden had said, I could see skewers lined up next to the stall with the fountain on top.

We continued our own speculation and headed in front of the street vendor with the unknown fountain.

The owner, who had been sitting leisurely, jumped to his feet as we approached.

“Welcome.”

He must have been able to smell customers. I glanced at the owner with a kind smile, then pointed my finger at the fountain and asked, “What is this?”

When asked, the owner started explaining with a confident face, like a parent who wanted to show off their child.

“This is a wine fountain. It’s a product that was made in the Magic Tower, so it’s a precious item. How hard it was for me to get this… What do you think? Aren’t you curious? Since it is a product exclusively for beverages, it naturally maintains its hygiene.”

The chatter of the seller, who started to talk about things that I didn’t even ask about, went on for quite a long time.

At first, I listened attentively, but now I felt like I was about to yawn, so I had to turn around, pointing to the place where the skewers were gathered.

“Are you selling that, too?”

“Of course.”

The skewers were of various types. Most of it looked like dried meat or chicken and seemed to have different sauces, but… It looked quite appetizing, as it was dripping with gloss.

Suddenly, feeling very hungry, I touched my stomach.

Right, I guess I was hungry.

“Shall we eat this?”

“Yes? I’m fine, but…”

Aiden said that much and kept his mouth shut, but I could tell what he was trying to say without him even having to say it.

I was a noble and a lady, so he must’ve been wondering if I could eat street food like this. It was certainly something that would be rude to talk about in front of the store owner.

I responded to him without mentioning the items… or so I was going to, but it seemed that what I was thinking was not what Aiden was thinking.

“Are you okay to drink?”

I blinked a few times at Aiden’s voice as he raised an unexpected question, then I put my eyes on the wine fountain.

“Is the alcohol level high?”

“No, actually, it’s just imitating wine. It is not a high-alcohol drink.”

“I see. A drink or two is fine, don’t worry.”

Despite what the owner and I told him, the worry did not completely disappear from Aiden’s face. ‘I know, you’re very worried.’

The owner skillfully opened the glass tube, took out two chicken skewers and put them in our hands. Then he took the wine from the fountain with something like a long ladle and filled small glasses with wine, one glass at a time, and handed them to us.

Apparently, I had to empty my glass here.

“It is eight copper.”

After leaving the items in my hand with Aiden for a moment, I took out eight coins from the coin purse Jane had provided and paid the price.

Once again, I was a little amazed at the thought that this was the first time I had used a copper coin since I became Selena. Wow, I looked like a real chaebol.

Oh, I was a chaebol, right?

Aiden saw me pulling out my wallet and hurriedly said that he would pay for it. However, thanks to the items I had left to him, his hands couldn’t move and were restless.

In the meantime, I finished paying, and the owner happily received the coins and thanked me with a high voice.

“Thank you.”

“Thank you, Miss.”

After the owner’s words, Aiden’s small greeting followed.

He looked very dead inside.

No, what was this? Others would be happy if other people paid for them.

I guess I would have to make Aiden pay for my next purchase.

I took my things back from Aiden and tasted the chicken skewers in one hand and the wine in the other.

It was my first time standing like this and eating street food with someone.

There were a lot of firsts after becoming Selena.

“How is it, do you like it?” The owner asked me in a nice way.

I couldn’t mumble with the chicken in my mouth, so I just nodded without uttering a voice.

“Haha, of course. Delicious, right? For the lover over there, do you also like it?”

Aiden, who was eagerly chewing meat with me, suddenly started coughing.

Maybe the spicy sauce got stuck in his throat, as he was coughing repeatedly. Aiden had tears in his eyes.

‘Uhh, that looks difficult.’

“Um, is he okay?”

The owner clicked his tongue and quietly asked me. I frowned, looking at Aiden who was coughing and shedding tears.

I glanced at the owner’s face and took a sip of wine. The combination of bitterness and sweetness of cheap wine was much better than expected.

Admiring the taste of the wine, I answered the owner’s question with a shrug, as if referring to someone I didn’t even know.

“He doesn’t look okay, does he?”

Aiden, who had finally stopped coughing, and I, who was standing at a distance and watching the painful sight, finished the skewers and wine neatly in place.

While eating the chicken skewers, I exchanged light greetings with the owner who kept wanting to talk to me, and searched for the next place to go.

The first street snack I tasted was quite successful, so my expectations for the festival rose a bit.

It would have been better if there were a little less people…

“What shall we do this time?”

“Cough, cough. I don’t know.”

Perhaps his throat was still uncomfortable, as Aiden answered while clearing his throat. At first glance, his face was a bit red. He really did choke earlier.

Before I knew it, I was looking for something to drink with my eyes.

His throat hurts, so it was better for something less irritating… As I looked, I moved ahead and saw a small tea house behind the rows of street vendors.

“Let’s go over there, Aiden.”

Aiden nodded his head again wordlessly and followed me.

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