CH 18

“Well, I have an errand to run now…”

Anyway, Millicent wanted to shake Frederick off. She had just the right excuse.

“What was that song you just sang earlier?”

But he didn’t even ask her just because he wanted to listen to it. He naturally asked one more question to know more about her. It was as if nothing had happened in between.

“What song?”

“… You always start with a counter-question every time I ask you something.” Frederick laughed like he was having fun. “The song you were humming earlier.”

Millicent was taken aback. She wouldn’t have sang it had she known someone was listening. But he had already heard it, so it couldn’t be helped.

She hesitated for a moment, but decided it was better to be honest in moderation.

“It was a song sung by children and peasants back home.” Millicent said. “Let it cool down and eat.”

“What?”

“That’s the title of the song.”

It took quite a while before she paled to the tune, but in the end, time was the medicine.

“Where is your hometown?”

“Wind Whistle Rock.”

“…Isn’t that place ruined?”

Frederick said.

A fresh breeze that blew like a whistling sound over the rocky mountains. The earth that had turned the most beautiful golden color in the kingdom in the fall, the flock of white sheep that could not be docile even as their wool was shaved. The pottery that was carefully transferred from painted and baked tiles on trays. Village girls who complained about the high prices but flocked to the Mulally’s butcher shop simply because the son of the family was handsome….

Millicent still painted a vivid picture. But Frederick was right. Wind Whistle Rock in her memory had burned and turned to ashes.

“It was horribly trampled down for committing treason against the Monegal Holy Church and the King.”

For only a moment, but for the first time, a look of agitation came over Frederick’s face.

“It was one of the most venerable lands in the kingdom, but…..”

Surprisingly, he looked sad.

“That’s why I became a wandering orphan and fled to the capital.”

Millicent, on the other hand, was not upset. Her heart had healed enough that she could use the past as fertilizer for the present.

“Duchess Belvard…” Frederick whispered. “She was a strong person.”

But it was hard to remain calm at the words.

It had been so long since she had heard that from the mouths of others. Even Uncle Mulally and Rubert hadn’t spoken of it since they left the ruined Wind Whistle Rock.

It must have been purely intended to protect Millicent, but in the unavoidable oblivion and loneliness, Ambria Belvard (*Millicent’s mother) was buried.

“I dare not say I have ever met the Duchess of Wind Whistle Rock.”

Millicent again hid her emotions.

“I was very young, so I don’t remember much.”

She didn’t want to talk any further. Nor was there any reason to. Frederick’s suspicions were just about why she had been following Adriana Beasley.

“I have to go to the market.” It was about time Millicent really wanted to get rid of him. “Mrs. Galbraith is waiting for me. Like a fire-breathing dragon.”

At least this part was a nerve-wracking and terrifying truth.

“Who stopped you from going?”

Frederick replied calmly. “I will just go with you.”

And his casually added words sounded crazy.

“Why?” Millicent, who often forgot that her opponent was the king, asked again bluntly, asked sullenly.

“Well.” And Frederick just kept smiling and smiling. “If you love me, you wouldn’t get rid of me, would you?”

It was a grave she had dug herself. Millicent had no choice but to accept his company.

However, the road the seafood market felt different from usual with Frederick’s presence.

People who had never paid any attention to the maid whose face hidden in the long hat kept peeking at her.

The woman who was pounding her knife against a wooden chopping board, and the uncle who was carrying a large wooden box, all looked this way.

“Handsome Sir, try something sweet.”

Suddenly, there was also an old woman who was holding a basket of out-of-season strawberries for free.

“Sir, wonderful knight!”

The boys, who had been fighting each other with tree branches, followed suit.

“Oh my, how handsome!”

The girls, who had gathered in threes with baskets of flowers and fruit, exclaimed loudly.

Frederick’s presence was like the sun baking all things. Or, to put it more nastily, he was like the insect weed that attracted flies.

It wasn’t just because he was strikingly good-looking.

It was just that his aura itself was different. Without any particular effort, he was easily likable. And he accepted it naturally.

It was really strange. He was the complete opposite of Millicent herself.

Millicent often antagonized others without doing anything.

She was a little better now, thanks to Uncle Mulally’s tearful correction, but when she was young she heard more than a few people say that there was something wrong with her. Even the attractive appearance she inherited from her parents could not hide her differentness.

Why did she look at others as if observing them? Why didn’t she smile like a little lady? Why did she always want to be alone?

She could not honestly answer a single one of the questions that were always poured out. Because her mother taught her not to do so.

This made it even more contradictory. The fact that Frederick, shining like the sun, was fascinated by the dark essence that Millicent secretly revealed in an instant.

“Cathedral citizens are always so kind.”

Frederick said cheerfully, not knowing what Millicent was thinking. In the short while they were walking, his hands were full of gifts.

“They’re only kind to Your Majesty.” Millicent grumbled. “When ugly men pass by, they throw fish heads.”

“No way.”

Frederick seemed completely unaware of the reality of thinly veiled citizenship.

“It’s true. I’ve seen it before.”

Millicent pointed to the filth scattered on the ground as a symbol of ridicule toward ugly men.

“Anyway, don’t come near me.” Eventually, she could no longer stand the shower of interest. “I will surely die of exhaustion, like I were on a stage.”

“Isn’t it nice to be on stage?”

Frederick replied with the innocence characteristic of a man without seeing the ugliness of the world.

“By the way, why aren’t you nice to me, Millicent?” He suddenly asked suspiciously. “Because no one really treats me the way you do.”

“I am unkind to everyone by nature.” Millicent crackled. “At least I treat Your Majesty politely.”

“Polite?”

“Of course. And how kind I were even when I didn’t even know you were the king. I even said good morning.”

“…You call that politeness and kindness?” Frederick seemed sincerely astonished. “I don’t even know where to start pointing it out.”

Anyway, after some twists and turns, they arrived at the seafood market. The shop that always delivered to the royal palace was out of herring. Therefore, she chose another shop with roughly similar standards.

Millicent snapped her fingers to get the attention of the fishmonger who had lost himself as soon as Frederick appeared.

“I would like some herring and dried cod, please.”

She was about to add that he should give her a generous amount, but decided not to. There was no need for that.

“I will take good care of the wonderful Sir!” (Shop owner)

Before she even asked, the owner had packed a bag so generously that she was worried that there would be nothing left.

“The cat is trying to steal some fish.” Frederick, who was watching the stall, pointed to a yellow-haired cat that appeared buoyant and with its tail firmly erect. “But it’s too cute to chase away.”

That one word was like a magic spell.

“Oh, I’ll leave it alone since the good Sir say it’s cute. It needs to eat too!”

The fishmonger smiled. Normally, he would have swung his broom mercilessly at the cat just for hanging around near the fish. So far, Millicent was just stunned.

“Here is the order request form and the gold coins.”

The owner took it from Millicent, without looking at her. Then, still without looking at her, he held out the receipt.

“Aren’t you a maid?”

But when she signed it and handed it back to him, he showed interest in her for the first time.

“Then I suppose you wouldn’t be able to read?”

The shop owner raised an eyebrow. It was an extremely unorthodox attitude.

“Normally, you should use finger prints or draw a picture of it…”

“I know how to write my name.”

Finally, the little bones got thick enough to be puzzled to this degree.

“And there are a lot of maids who study the Monegal Bible, so they know how to read.” Millicent taunted easily.

“I can write my name, too.” Frederick interrupted abruptly. “This maid is not the only one who can write her name.”

He didn’t seem to have much doubt about the fact that the maid could write. Millicent had no idea what he was thinking.

“You’re really amazing!”

Fortunately or unfortunately, the shop owner’s interest in Millicent waned. He was in awe when Frederick, tall as a palace gate, told him that he could write.

“Dazed, perhaps.”

Millicent snorted.

The shop owner greeted, asking Frederick to stop by again next time increased three notches.

Tired of hearing it, Millicent pulled Frederick away.

“I’ll even pay for the fish the cat stole.” (Frederick)

Finally, when Frederick personally gave the shop owner a gold coin, the shop owner fainted with overwhelmed emotion.

“Please return to the court.” Millicent, completely fed up, took the lead. “With Your Majesty, I cannot even die of expulsion.”

“No.” However, Frederick did not follow suit. “There is a place I want to go with you, Millicent.”

Frederick smiled. “It’s a place I can only go with you.”

Again, he laughed, but this time it was an unpredictable laugh.