CH 56.1

Tashian frowned and said to Ikshid.

“… God will really find you even if you are ten thousand steps back from him.”

“Ha ha ha! Isn’t that the purpose of this outfit? You must be able to find me anytime, anywhere so that you can protect me!”

Ikshid laughed wildly and smirked.

“A disguise must have a theme. I mean, my motto as of now is, ‘I am a wealthy merchant who came from far away to watch the Flora Festival!’ My only fault here is that I did my best to hide my identity.”

Hearing that, Eun-woo, who was full of excitement, said in a bit of disgust.

“Imperial Brother, at least take off that red cloak. It stands out so much.”

“What are you talking about, Elli? This is the most crucial outfit. There is no better way to cover my eyes than this!”

Eun-woo let out a sigh as he heard Ikshid’s words, which were also true. The large hood that came down to cover the Crown prince’s eyes was really adequately covering Ikshid’s bright golden eyes.

“You are too worried about my clothes. These two guys are following me and protecting me, so there’s nothing to worry about, brother.”

Ikshid blinked, pointing to Tashian and the knight with him, Sir Ouns, and clicked his tongue.

As he said, it was hard to find anyone bigger than these two men in front of them. The men with one or two heads protruding from the ordinary crowd were each wearing a sword hanging to their waists. Then, he was constantly wary of what was so disturbing that he showed agility like a hound.

“Come on, let’s go. Selena.”

With Ikshid leading them,, the four of them set out to watch the festival in earnest with Sir Ouns following behind.

Mostly, Eun-woo and Ikshid were the ones who cheered without staying in one place only, and Tashian and Selena were the ones who quietly watched them as they were being loud and happy.

“Look over there! I guess that’s Uriah’s fountain!”

Eun-woo went around the famous tourist attractions one after another from the recommendations of the maids. She watched the fountain of Uriah, where love comes true when a coin falls on the fountain, and the clock tower buried in a pile of grain in the middle of the square.

When it was lunchtime, she grabbed Ikshid when she got hungry, and bought some delicious food such as honey apples or grilled skewers from a street vendor.

“What a waste. It would have been better if I had coins with me.”

Ikshid grumbled in a displeased tone, drinking the beer in a wooden mug, sitting outdoors, lined up in the streets.

The three others tried tossing the coin into the Uriah;s fountain, but only Selena succeeded, while Tashian and Sir Ouns didn’t bother doing it.

Tashian, who was sitting next to him, with one arm raised on the seat, was feeling unpleasant.

“Are you still saying that? I’m not a child, and it’s getting harder and harder to serve you as days go by.”

“Yeah, man! It would have been a success if you hadn’t dragged everyone out at the sound of Elli’s hunger…!”

“From my point of view, even if I tried ten million more times, it would be a failure. And the one who said it was hungry too.”

Tashian spoke coldly. Selena comforted Ikshid, who was sitting beside her, with an elegant smile, since he was desperate to succeed in tossing that coin.

“Your Majesty. Don’t be too heartbroken. I was only fortunate to succeed.”

Eun-woo couldn’t shake the feeling that Ikshid had already fallen in love with Selena, who for a moment, looked so devastated.

Eun-woo sipped the juice placed in front of her to erase Ikshid’s twinkling eyes in front of Selena, from her memory. It was the juice from a raw fruit that Tashian had bought for her. And in front of her, all kinds of her food were piled up generously.

Chopped Ham, Potato Gratin, Grilled Sausage, Corn Butter, Pumpkin Soup, Grilled Steak with Cheese, Grilled Tomatoes, and Crepes with Nuts and Cream.

It was all street food that he had been buying along with Sir Ouns. Tashian did so and constantly looked at her reaction to see if she was not satisfied or satisfied.

He asked, after serving her another plate of food.

“What do you think? What else do you want to eat?”

“I’m fine, Tashian. You should be the one eating some more. I am full.”

Eun-woo smiled gratefully and apologetically, offering a delicious-looking lamb sandwich for him.

After the meal was somewhat finished, they headed north to the square, each with a candied fruit skewer in their hand.

The main street connected to the road leading to the Imperial Palace was lined with major buildings, including the Grand Theater Hall, and Government Office. These buildings were also surrounded by colored tents and drapes reminiscent of autumn leaves, providing shade for tourists and passersby.

Then, something caught her eyes.

“Look at that, there are so many cages!”

Eun-woo exclaimed as she pointed to a shop lined with cages on one side of the street. There were many exotic birds, with brilliant colors in the large cages. It wasn’t only parrots or falcons, but also hawks and owls, the size of an adult male’s forearm, were on display.

Ikhshid, who saw it, clicked his tongue, and sighed.

“Tch… these birds suffer from greed of humans.”

Tashian turned his head toward Eun-woo and raised his head in the direction of the cage.

“Do you want to go take a look?”

She shook her head across. Honestly, she wanted to take a look, but those were already in the duke’s castle.

Rather, they felt pity for the birds alone in their cages on this fine festival day.

She mumbled very softly.

“…How great would it be if I could just release it?”

“It’s not difficult to let it go.”

Suddenly, a solemn voice was heard. It was Ikshid. All of a sudden he was looking in the same direction with her from behind.

“I can have my servants pay the price for these birds and release them right away, or I can issue a decree right away to ban new business at the festival.”

Eun-woo was deeply surprised to see Ikshid’s golden eyes embracing seriousness. It was her first time seeing him being completely unlike his usual innocent appearance. He spoke with seriousness that contradicted his cheerful self.

“But that doesn’t guarantee that these birds will live however they want. Even if I was to pay their prices and release them afterwards, there is no law that forest will be safe for them either. Perhaps more than half of these birds were already eaten up by many beasts or captured by hunters, spending almost their lives traveling from market to market.”

At his pessimistic remarks, Eun-woo felt a bit wounded for the birds.

“…But, as you said, you could publish a decree banning new business.”