Chapter 164

‘You have nothing to say, Cedric.’

Sure enough, Cedric slowly avoided my gaze, then gently pushed the desk toward me and said in a low voice.

“…… Well, alright. Aren’t you here to see stuff? Go take a look.”

Changing the subject

‘But, well, it’s true that I came here to see the decorative tassel Cedric brought in the first place.’

I sighed briefly and turned my gaze as Cedric’s intentions.

Of course, it was a decorative tassel that was so beautiful that I immediately lost my concentration as soon as I looked at it.

But while I was watching, I suddenly had a question.

‘Beautiful. But isn’t this kind of tassel usually decorated at the end of the sword handle? If I were to buy this, how am I supposed to use it?’

Even if I was a knight like Cedric, I wouldn’t normally carry a sword.

‘But the color is too pretty to pass by without buying it. What should I do? Shall I make a present to one of the Marquisate’s knights?’

At that moment, my eyes met again with Cedric.

The question popped up without me knowing.

“If you don’t have a sword, where should you put this tassel?”

“You don’t have a sword? Then buy a sword to decorate the tassel with. No. No need to buy, Shall I give you one? I have a lot of swords in my house.”

“Yeess?”

Isn’t that the tail wagging the dog?

As I panicked, Cedric paused a bit and responded with a smirk.

“Of course, what I just said was a joke.”

“It didn’t sound like a joke…….”

I muttered timidly, and Cedric ended up insisting that he was joking.

“Well, anyway. Even if it’s not a sword, shouldn’t it be decorated elsewhere?”

“Ummm…….”

It should be like that too. I tinkered with the tassel of gold and lavender mix, which was particularly striking on my eyes.

“Alice and His Highness Nicholas also bought this. They’d like to decorate the doorknobs and bags in their room. You do it too.”

“Ah! Bag!”

It was only later that I remembered the little bag I carried with me every time I went to kindergarten. Why didn’t I think of that?

“Okay, then I’ll buy this. How much?”

I decided to make a cool quick purchase.

Then Cedric paused a bit, then looked around and strode towards me.

Right near my ear.

“…… ?”

What? Is the price so high that he has to whisper it in secret?

I had such a question, but after hearing Cedric’s voice, I understood why.

“…… You allowed me to get five silver item for one silver.”

“Yes, I certainly did.”

Come to think of it, I had given Cedric a great discount earlier.

“I’ll also give you a special silver price reduction this time.”

“Then I won’t decline.”

It was a fairly fair transaction if exchanged with each other.

I nodded my head happily, hoping that Cedric would be kind to me for some reason.

Until I hear the next word.

“Except for 5 silver coins, you only pay 15 silver coins.”

“…… !”

No, why is it so expensive?

I doubted my ears.

“Is this the reduced price?”

“Yes. Were you surprised that it was so cheap?”

“Um, I was surprised that it was expensive…….”

“What?”

Cedric and I looked at each other with bewildered eyes.

“15 for a tassel. I spent a lot of money earlier, and at that price, I can’t buy it.”

And it was only then that Cedric noticed something was wrong with my protest(?).

There was a miscommunication between the two of us.

“What? One? I thought you were going to buy everything here.”

“…… !”

“…… You fiddled and looked troubled, I thought you liked them all.”

Cedric struggled to make excuses as if he was ashamed of the misunderstanding he had made by himself.

Then, soon after, he picked up the light purple tassel I had chosen and handed it to me.

There, along with the white tassel that I put down after thinking a little bit.

“Come on, take it. I’m giving you a present. You just need to give me one silver coin.”

“A present?”

“Ye, yes! Present! Come on, take it! Before I change my mind.”

Cedric crumpled the tassel into my hand and pushed me away.

He was kind as I bought something yet he was cold as if telling me to go away.

‘What is it? Cedric…….’

If Cedric seems to be particularly shy these days, I wondered if I was mistaken.

* * *

Finally I turned to Maya.

There were only a couple of pottery left in front of Maya.

They were small objects, such as palm-sized vases and incense candle stands, that were delicately painted in colorful colors.

‘But won’t it break? Obviously, the teacher said not to bring anything dangerous that could break.’

I suddenly remembered the teacher’s words and asked Maya a question.

“Hey, don’t ceramics break easily?”

“This pottery won’t break even if you hit it hard with a hammer.”

Nonsense!

Where in the world can you find such pottery?

When I put on that expression, Maya asked with a smile.

“You look curious, would you like to try it?”

“Yes?”

“Will it break or not?”

Saying so, Maya pointed to the small hand hammer that was set to one side.

“I don’t lie.”