CH 177

“........So you’re saying, they assigned us the wrong room?”

“That’s right.”

“But didn’t you say this was the only room left earlier?”

“The situation has changed.”

I almost let out a dry laugh because I was stunned by Dietrich’s brazen answer that I barely managed to school my expression.

‘It’s not a lie seeing as his aura didn’t waver…..’ 

It must be true that the situation has changed. 

‘The problem is that the person who changed the situation is Dietrich.’

I took out Marilyn’s letter from my arms and tapped it on my palm while staring at him.

“Hm. Is that so?”

Dietrich, as I stared at him with narrowed eyes, looked a little perplexed at the sight of the letter.

I nodded slightly as I observed his face which seemed to exhibit a guilty conscience. 

“So you say?”

“Anissa.”

“Well, fine.”

I stuck close to Dietrich, who opened his mouth as if he would confess his sins to me and grabbed his collar. 

Surprised by our sudden closeness, his eyes widened. 

‘Is this something to be surprised about?’

I shook my head because I didn’t want to hear what he was going to say.

“Now that our luggage is already put in order, let’s go outside and play.”

“…….”

“I want to do an auction.”

Anyway, the reason why he hid Marilyn’s letter was probably that he wanted to travel a little longer with me, and the same reason probably applied to his caprice of changing the rooms that I didn’t particularly feel the need to be angry about it. 

I dragged Dietrich out of the room by his cravat as he looked back at me with a sullen face.

“You’re not going?”

“I’ll go.”

────── 〔✿〕──────

Since the lord of Kirov was Hexion Kirov, the owner of the Loelli Hotel, rumors of the Grand Duke Lagrange's visit quickly spread among the nobles of Kirov.

I wanted to see the city quietly, so I ordered Oslo and Dina to cover up the Lagrange crest.

“Dietrich, too.”

“I don’t carry a crest or anything like that with me.”

“No, cover your face a little.”

The combination of black hair and dark red eyes was not uncommon in the North, but the problem was his dazzling face.

‘You should be famous for being handsome.’

I glanced at him, who was one head taller than the average man making him stand out more.

“What is it?” 

Dietrich asked me back with a slight frown like he didn’t want to wear the hood I was carrying in this hot weather. 

Like he was a commoner knight, I looked up at him, who was attracting people's attention even though he wore a shirt and plain cotton pants, and sighed deeply.

“You stand out too much.”

“I think you’re one who seems to draw people's attention.”

I grinned as I tied my long hair up high at Dietrich's blunt words.

“My eye color has changed so no one will recognize me.”

The rumor that the youngest princess of Lagrange was actually the younger sister of Duke Euclid was a scandal that turned the empire upside down.

So, the rumors must have spread as quickly as they did, but there were few nobles who met me when I was ‘Annie’.

“All the nobles in high society knew me to have red eyes so I’ll be fine.”

“........I don’t think that’s the problem.”

I ignored his mumbling and grabbed his hand which peeked out from his robe.

Perhaps Dietrich was weak to the sudden physical touch that he greatly flinched when I just held his hand.

“Can I hold your hand?”

“Aren’t you already holding it?”

He said with a little dissatisfaction like he was embarrassed for raising his shoulder even a moment. 

“Then, should I let go?”

“…….”

He raised an eyebrow at my words that seemed to tease him and interlaced his fingers with mine.

I grabbed his hand and started to walk, swinging our arms back and forth.

Dietrich’s fingers, which were long enough to look cool to the eyes of the beholder, were handsome even with their protruding knuckles.

‘Now that I think about it, Dietrich doesn’t seem to have an ugly side on him.’

I rubbed my rose-tinted eyes and nodded my head. 

‘It seems that he’s genetically handsome.’

Thinking like that, I unconsciously tickled his palms with my fingertips, and he suddenly stood in place even though we had been walking well.

“Why are you suddenly standing still?”

“Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“Hand.”

I wondered if it was because I had tickled his hand that he was about to scold me so I let go of his hand and crossed my arms.

“You’re being cheap. Is your hand going to wear out just because I fiddled with it a little?”

“It’s hard to walk.”

“What connection is there between me touching your hand and walking?”

Even if it sounded like a criticism, it was definitely a question but he didn’t answer.

“Ha?”

I shrugged my shoulders as I stared at his broad back as he strode forward swinging his arms, leaving me standing blankly.

‘If you want to go alone, go.’

I had Dina anyway. 

“Dina, when will the auction open?”

“It starts around sunset.”

“I guess we should go now.” 

“Yes. I bought the ticket under my name since you said you didn’t want to participate as Lagrange.”

“Thank you, Dina. You’re so thoughtful.” 

I gently closed my eyes and smiled at Dina’s consideration which I couldn’t see in Oslo or Lancel. She backed away, scratching her cheek in embarrassment.

“It’s nothing. Ah, also, this.”

Dina, who was half a step away from me, rummaged through her arms and pulled out a hair ornament decorated with blue crystals on a light blue ribbon.

The sunlight reflected by the crystal scattered in all directions.

“I thought it would look good on you…though it might be presumptuous of me.” 

I looked at the ribbon swaying in the air, smiled softly, and accepted Dina's gift.

“Can you put it on top of my tied hair?” 

She nodded her head in response to my question and moved her hand.

I arrived at the auction house with my ribbon fluttering like a butterfly's wings.

“Why did you go first?”

It must have been the first time Dietrich came to Kirov but he arrived at the auction house first without Dina’s guidance.

“What’s that?”

Dietrich looked at me, Dinah, and my hair ornament alternately, and asked in a low voice.

I shook my head to the side as if bragging, realizing that he was asking about the hair ornament.

“Dina’s present! Isn’t it pretty?”

“…….”

“It's been a long time since I've received a gift I like this much.”

While I was pretending to be Annie, I had received gifts from male employees and Donovan from time to time, but they all had a sticky and unpleasant aura that I didn't want to hold in my hand.

‘Dina’s aura is so clean.’

And she was as clean and pleasantly simple as her aura. 

The dome-type auction house was lined with various stalls from the entrance, and the format was no different from other markets, but the price tag on the front was huge.

“These aren’t the things to be auctioned off, are they?”

“Yes, it just seems to be on sale.”

“And yet they’re this expensive?”

“Most of the customers at the Kirov auction house are high-ranking aristocrats or royalty. There are many royals from other countries who come to play.”

“Why? Is there a limit of status?”

“No. The tickets are very expensive.” 

I wondered how Dina and Oslo could buy a ticket and turned to ask but Dina silently pointed at Dietrich.

He seemed to be spending a lot of his money again.

‘I hope this doesn’t lead to Lagrange’s ruin.’

I bit my lip as I rekindled my concerns for Lagrange’s financial standing which I had set aside for a while.

Sitting in a luxury seat that looked very expensive among the auction house seats, he flicked his finger at me who was whispering in Dina’s ear.

“Tell me if you want anything.”

“Okay.”

‘I definitely won’t say anything.’ 

I nodded at his words and made a promise to myself.

If Dietrich ever get a wind of even a speck of dust I wanted to get, he would surely not hesitate to jump into the auction with one year’s worth of budget.

‘Let’s just watch today, just watch.’

No matter how well the War of the Roses ended, the situation in which Dietrich, the head, had been away from Lagrange for quite some time would not have had a positive effect on Lagrange's financial condition.

‘Should I have listened to Veronica’s talk about the establishment?’

I looked at Dietrich's side of the face, worried that my return to Lagrange might be in a state of debt.

“Dietrich, don’t spend money recklessly on the auction.”

“Why?”

“........If it’s a wealth that I’m going to increase, there should be some left for me to work on increasing.”

Veronica was a very capable owner of the establishment, and I was confident that I could conquer the northern social circles whenever I needed them, but no matter how much I flew or crawled, I couldn’t create something out of nothing.

‘Don’t you think there's a reason why people say you spend money to eat money?’

I grumbled and glanced at Dietrich, who seemed to be ready to jump up and raise his picket at any time. 

“Hm? Understand?”

However, while staring at the mermaid's tears and the diamond-decorated hairpin at the auction with a very serious face, he suddenly smiled.

“.......Why are you smiling?”

I blinked my eyes since he was a person who rarely smiled, and even when he smiled, only the corners of his mouth would be slightly raised. 

Dietrich was covering the corners of his lips that were raised up with his large hand, but the corners of his lips that had risen uncontrollably could be seen through them.

“I asked you why you’re smiling.”

“Right. In the end, you’re the one who’s going to increase the finances.”

“........”

“I guess you're thinking of marrying me.”

He kissed the back of my hand with a smile on his face.

I hurriedly turned my feverish head to focus on the auction.