CH 11

The carriage with Carlot and me inside raced across the boulevard of the capital city, Somnia. 

I put my hand on my chin and caught the scenery of the city rapidly passing by.

The silence was not awkward because in the first place I’d never had a friendly conversation with Carlot.

How much time passed?

Suddenly, Carlot called me.

“…. Hey.”

“What is it, Carl?”

“You didn’t bring a maid with you?” He scoffed. “There’s a maid you used to carry around you. Mass or something.”

No matter how much Carlot hated me, there was no way he didn’t know the name of Martha, the maid who had been with me since birth.

‘Childish boy……’

He intentionally said the name wrong; he seemed to be planning to initiate a fight.

Of course, if it was the ‘me’ of the past, I would have dared to correct her name and raise my voice according to Carlot’s intention, but now I’m quite rational.

I smiled and answered Carlot, “Yes. Mass is a little busy with other things.”

“Oh….”

Carlot looked at me with a dispirited smile. He didn’t expect it would turn out like this.

I felt better when I saw his face as if he had been shot.

On the other hand, I kindly added explanations to Carlot, who was upset.

“And since you are here, it’s okay not to have anyone else.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means what it sounds like.”

Although not as strong as Jansi, Carlot was also able to exert destructive family power as a direct line of the Perdia family.

Carlot’s power is ‘ground collapse’.

It was a large-scale destructive power that could collapse the ground from a narrow range to a fairly wide range.

It was a power that could only be used in large-scale battles, so in the recent era of peace without wars, it could not stand out.

However, Carlot liked his power quite a bit; he belonged proudly to the family’s knights, and trained his sword skills and his power together.

I even heard that he was a genius in swordsmanship, so he has the upper hand in competing with most adult knights.

In conclusion it meant that Carlot was too strong as an escort.

I just told the truth, but the corners of his mouth twitched as if he thought it was a compliment.

“Well, I am a– a little strong. Hmm.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “………”

The intelligence of the second son of the family was questionable. I was worried about Perdia’s future.

It was fortunate that Jansi, who is smart, was the successor.

Carlot, who had been coughing for a long time with red ears, suddenly asked me another question.

“But where are we going now?”

“Toinette street. I have some things to buy.”

Toinette street was named after Empress Antoinette, whom the first emperor loved very much. 

It was a luxury commercial street with clothing and jewelry stores mainly used by aristocrats and wealthy merchants.

“Well, yes.”

Usually, when I went out, it was Toinette street, so Carlot seemed to have no doubts.

It was a good thing for me.

It’s easier to fool Carlot when he’s caught off guard.

The speed of the carriage gradually slowed down, and soon it stopped completely.

We seemed to have arrived.

It was Carlot who got off the carriage first. Usually, when men and women ride together in a carriage, it is common sense for men to get off first and escort the women who get off behind him.

Carlot, who doesn’t even treat me like a family, stood at the carriage door to wait for me to get off as if he was a real escort. 

Suddenly, I remembered what happened when I was young.

One day when I was nine years old and Carlot was seven years old, only the two of us went to the temple.

When we arrived at the mansion, Carlot got off first, looked at me as I was about to get off, and said with a cold voice, “I don’t want to hold hands with you. Get off on your own.”

Then all I could do was watch his back disappear from view.

Carlot’s blatant refusal was quite hurtful to my young heart.

I didn’t even expect him to catch me in the first place.

No, if I remember correctly, at that time I was upset because I might have had something called expectation. Like a fool.

“ Miss, take my hand to get off.”

“Yes……”

Perhaps I felt sorry for myself, but I got out of the carriage holding the horseman’s hand first.

At that time, I was afraid to get down alone from this height of a wagon by myself, but now it was nothing.

“………!”

I could see Carlot’s outstretched hand grasping the air in vain, but I slipped out of the carriage alone and urged him to follow me.

“What are you doing? Come quickly.”

“Eh? Yes.”

I smiled bitterly as I recalled the stupid expression of Carlot who was following me.

‘When did you ever escort me, and why would you start now?’

It didn’t fit for Carlot and me.

***

The first task given to me: spend more than 100,000 larit.

What the duke said was an “additional 100,000 larit” from the previous amount, so there would be no problem with using 130,000 larit.

The first place I stopped by with a huge mission was the most popular dressing room among the ladies recently.

As if that was true, there were quite a few ladies in the dressing room who came to match their clothes.

One of them gasped and exclaimed, “Look the second prince of Perdia is here!”

“Where? Oh my, it’s true,” another tittered in response.

I don’t understand it, but it was said that Jansi and Carlot were the most popular grooms in society.

Indeed, the ladies glanced at Carlot with blushing faces.

Carlot, who became sensitive to the discomfort of their gazes, followed me while grumbling.

“You could have called the dress-maker to the mansion; why did you come here in person?”

“There’s a reason for everything.”

“Reason?” Carlot asked.

Instead of explaining, I demonstrated what I meant. 

As soon as I entered the dressing room, I pointed to the ready-made clothes that filled one wall and said.

“From here to here, I’ll take everything.”

“…. Hey!”

Looking back at the startled Carlot, I laughed.

“It was to do this.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Get used to it, Carl.”

It’s the course of life that Perdia deserves, fake brother.

Carlot, unaware of the conversation between the Duke and me, muttered in disgust.

“I heard you spend money without a brain, but I didn’t expect this much….”

Carlot then asked with a serious face.

“What are you going to do if that gets into Father’s ear?”

That’s what his father ordered.

Ignoring the absurd words of Carlot, I went back to luxury.

“All the clothes on that wall over there.”

“Yes, Miss.” 

Carlot, with a tired expression on his face, looked at the clothes and complained, “That’s a men’s banquet dress. Why the hell did you buy that?”

As he said there was indeed a men’s party dress.

I did ‘from here to there’ blindly, so I didn’t see it.

There was no particular reason to exclude it as men’s clothes when I didn’t look at it properly, so I asked Carlot.

“Ah…. Would you like to wear it?”

“You’re giving me a present right now…. doing things like that–”

I shrugged. “Well, then I will leave that out.”

“Hey!”

He asked why I was buying it, and when I said I was going to take it out, he suddenly got angry.

A strange guy.

“If you wanted to have it, you should have told me. All right, I won’t take it out.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Carlot fumed.

I ignored Carlot, who was busy being angry, and showed the clerk of the dressing room the Perdia’s seal necklace.

It was one way for a high-ranking aristocrat to pay their bills.

Since the seal necklace was engraved with a magic circle it cannot be stolen. It was like an identification card and a blank check in itself.

It was a system in which I picked up an item and showed the seal, and the price was charged to the Duke.

‘That’s why I can’t create personal funds.’

It records what you buy and how much you spend.

“Send them all to the Perdia mansion.”

The attendant bowed politely. “Yes, Miss.”

There was no time.

After paying, I headed straight to a nearby jeweler and pointed to a stand.

“I’ll buy all from this whole stand.”

“You’re really….”

As always, Carlot looked at me in amazement.

“Stop being surprised, Carl.”

It seemed that he had not yet received Perdia’s money education.

You’re acting like Yoon Ga-eul, the ‘me’ in my previous life.

It was easier to spend money with a startled Carlot beside me.

‘I’ve bought precious metals, so it must be over now.’

I spent up to 140,000 larit, which means I finished the first assignment quickly. Next, it was my turn to take care of my personal business.

The destination was the west magic tower not far from Toinette street, but there was a problem.

“Are you done? Let’s go.”

I can’t take Carlot with me.

That’s why I said I don’t need an escort. It was too difficult to move.

As we left the jeweler, I looked up at Carlot.

“I want to eat cake.”

“Cake?” He repeated, furrowing his eyebrows in irritation.

Go home and eat.”

Carlot seemed annoyed just by hearing it, but I did not give up my stubbornness easily.

“I want to eat fondant chocolate cake from the patisserie <Blanc au Blanc>.”

“What? The people are crazy about that. To buy something there you have to wait for hours.”

I smiled without answering.

‘That’s why I want it.’

Then it will be easy to get rid of you.

“You can eat any cake, you don’t have to….”

Elodie: “Have you forgotten your duty as an escort? I told my father–”

“Yes, let’s go, let’s go!”

In the end I was the victorious one when Carlot, who couldn’t break my stubbornness, gave up.

“Come on, Carl.”

“What a real waste of time. A waste of time….”

When I hurriedly walked ahead, I saw Carlot’s face. He was sighing deeply, as if it was bothersome.

<Blanc au Blanc> is the most famous patisserie in Somnia, and it has the peculiarity that it was established by a retired imperial pâtissier, so there was a steady flow of customers every day.

Thanks to the sassy personality of the pâtissier who was favored by the emperor, you have to wait in line to buy something, regardless of your status.

Usually, if you want to eat this patisserie’s cake, you order a maid to wait and buy it, but I had no intention of doing that.

When we arrived at the patisserie, there was already an expectedly long line.

Carlot and I stood at the end of it.

“All cakes taste the same. Do you really want to eat the cake from here?”

“Carl, your swords are all the same, so why don’t you just use a cheap manufacturer?” 

“How is it the same as that!”

“It’s the same to me……”

“Never mind. I’m not talking to you.”

The sulking Carlot turned his head away. I didn’t want to talk to Carlot in particular, so I just waited quietly for the line to decrease.

The noon sun was very hot. Even with a parasol, I could not completely escape the heat due to the geothermal heat that was creeping up.

“Carl. I’m dizzy.”

“Let’s just go back.”

“It’s a waste to just go back, since we’ve waited this long.”

I held it in and eventually Carlot exploded.

“Why are you so stupid? You can just buy this patisserie instead of waiting foolishly!”

It’s not that I didn’t get the Perdia-style money education, but I didn’t have to be a Perdia from the inside.

‘I can’t believe I can just buy that store.’

This level of thinking is unacceptable.

As I looked up at Carlot with a surprised expression, he thought he had a great idea. He coughed in vain and as if he came to his senses, he opened his mouth again.

“You can ask the maid to buy it tomorrow.”

“……”

I lowered my gaze to the floor, kept my mouth shut, and made a silent protest.

Phew. Then I heard a suppressed sigh and Carlot’s hand pushed my shoulder slightly.

“Then take a rest in the shade over there. I’m going to buy it. Fon– what was it?”

“Fondant chocolate cake,” I said with a small smile tugging on my lips.

“Yeah. Damn fondant chocolate cake.”

Carlot muttered as if he was angry, but steadily stood in the decreasing line.

As I headed towards the shadow that Carlot had pointed out, I turned around and he was caught in my gaze.

‘If I disappear, he’ll be in trouble.’

I felt a little, very slightly sorry, but I couldn’t help it.

***

“Isn’t that the little master of Perdia?”

“Nonsense. Why would he be here?”

“Really! Look over there!”

“Wow! Carl?”

“It’s really Carlot!”

Carlot’s nerves became sharp as all around him, young women began to recognize him and giggle everywhere.

PHOTO

“Why am I running a cake errand like this….” he swore under his breath.

The more he thought about it, the more he came to the conclusion that he was stopped by Elodie Perdia.

He wanted to leave this line at any moment and go back home, but it was a waste of time since he already waited for half the line to decrease. It was the moment when he understood what Elodie meant before.

After a long wait, Carlot was finally able to enter the patisserie.

Carlot, who stood at the counter, ordered as he memorized.

“Damn fondant chocolate cake, one.”

The cashier repeated cheerfully, “You ordered fondant chocolate cake, one. Do you need anything else?”

Carlot: “No–”

It was the moment he was about to say no.

“Actually, one of each type of cake, to the Perdia mansion. You can deliver, right?”

“Delivery is possible, but…… do you mean everything?”

Carlot nodded resolutely. “Yes.”

“All right, Sir.”

After paying the bill, Carlot left the patisserie in a light mood.

‘I wasted so much time and buying just one cake is ridiculous.’

Of course, he was going to pass it all over to Elodie. He felt a little relieved to imagine her surprised face after seeing a mountain of desserts.

The cake you want to eat so much, try eating it until your stomach explodes.

“Wow. Mr. Carlot?”

“That’s Carlot, right?”

Carlot, who passed the people who were still shouting at him, headed to the alley where he told Elodie to wait.

Carlot entered the alley at the end of the street, and then made a stupid expression for a moment.

A parasol that fell to the floor.

“Hey,” He called. 

An empty alley.

“Elodie Perdia.”

No answer was heard.

Elodie Perdia had disappeared.