“Oops. She must be really worried that I would be angry. Did I show that I have a lot of expectations from her?”
“Contrary to her appearance, she’s a penguin with a soft heart.”
“In my eyes, she looks very soft.”
“Well, Mother is a born warrior. Most people look weak, don’t they?”
Bella wistfully glanced at Suuradel, unable to let go of her lingering feelings.
“Hmm. I don’t know, but it’s too bad that I can’t see Lia’s flustered expression.”
“…I have a photo of her when she was caught by me, would you like to see it?”
When she was told that there was a photograph of it, Bella looked at him with admiration beyond her disgust.
“You are my son, but you are really…”
“Really?”
“Perfect.”
⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆
Kiik—
I was talking about this and that with Iprus when I turned my head to the sound of the door opening.
It was Suradel.
“What is it, Su? Why did you come in so carefully without knocking?”
He met my eyes and smiled. He was in a very good mood today.
“Lia, you know what?”
“What.”
“I like you.”
‘…What do you want me to do?’
“I know.”
“Lia, do you like me?”
I was going to say no right away, but when I saw him looking at me with a somewhat clumsy expression, I decided to give up.
“…I don’t hate you?”
“Then marry me.”
‘Why are you doing this again? I guess you are pretty bored.’
“Su, will you marry someone you don’t dislike?”
“What are you talking about? I love Lia.”
…I was speechless.
“Do you have time for this? I heard that there are a lot of things that are overdue.”
“Ah. I do have a date.”
“A date appointment?”
There was no woman around him, he must be making a rough excuse.
I smiled and asked in a sarcastic tone.
“With who?”
“With you.”
?
‘That date is me?’
“Have you ever asked me that?”
“Mhm. Now.”
I didn’t know whether to be angry or think his nonsense was starting again, so I tried to just stay silent, but Suradel smiled and continued speaking.
“At this time of year, the night market is open in the Weil family territory. It will be fun.”
Night market?
I snorted at the words ‘Suradel’s date’ earlier, but my eyes lit up at once.
According to Article 3, Paragraph 2 of the Cliché Act, incidents would occur at auctions, festivals, and markets (black market, night market, etc.) that the protagonist attended.
If so, there was a possibility of meeting the raccoon demibeast I was looking for at the night market.
Fearing that he might take back his words, I quickly raised his hand and shouted.
“Let’s go!”
⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆
Led by Suradel’s hand, I looked around.
Maybe it was because it was the domain of the Weil family, a family that could handle magic, so even though it was night, the surroundings weren’t dark thanks to the magic lights.
Seeing the vast night market behind the beach strewn with shells and seaweed made me feel excited.
Suradel asked while looking at the magic wand in my hand.
“By the way, Lia, why did you bring the magic wand? You don’t know how to deal with mana yet, so you can’t even use it.”
“Oh, this?”
I shrugged lightly.
“It looks strong and good. It’s pretty too.”
“…I don’t know about strong, but it’s pretty. Though, isn’t it inconvenient to carry around?”
As if I didn’t know that, I crossed my arms and shook my head.
“You have to accept some discomfort for the sake of appearance, Su.”
If it was heavy in the first place, I wouldn’t have brought it, but the magic wand he made was not inconvenient because he imbued a lightweight magic in it.
Thanks to that, it was just right, not too light or too heavy to wield.
In addition, the size and length could be freely adjusted, so if it became uncomfortable, it could be reduced to a smaller size.
“I’m glad you seem to like it. It makes me proud to see you carrying it.”
“Mhm. I like it very much.”
A baseless confidence welled up that I could bring anyone to their knees with this magic wand.
In response to the honest reply that I liked it, his lips curled up, not hiding his happy feelings.
“Right. I talked to my mother, and she told me to teach you how to animalize… No, we agreed on it.”
“Umm, how do I deal with mana? I want to try using this wand.”
When I said it in a half-squeaky tone, Suradel poked my cheek with his index finger as if he found it cute.
“Starting tomorrow, we will go to the beach and practice animalizing for an hour a day, and then I’ll teach you how to handle mana.”
“Why at the beach?”
“Because everyone knows you as a killer whale beast?”
Oh right. I was still pretending to be a killer whale, right?
There were so many people who knew my true identity now that the tension seemed to have eased a lot.
‘I can’t be like this.’
I slapped myself on the cheek with the thought that I should come to my senses.
Of course, it would hurt if I hit hard, so it was done very lightly.
Then I thanked Suradel.
“You must be busy, but thank you for taking the time.”
“Huh. It’s good to be able to legally play around. Mother will work hard for me.”
It was an answer that made me feel like I should say thank you to Bella, not to Suradel.
Before I went into the night market in earnest, I looked back at Iprus and Hanu who had followed me.
It was late, and since Suradel was next to me, I thought of relieving them of their duties so that they could look around freely.
“I’ll be going around with Suradel, so the two of you can play separately.”
Hanu refused at once.
“I was entrusted with escorting the young lady. I am not allowed to take personal time during the escort.”
“Hmm. Okay…?”
Somehow, I expected him to come out like this.
Without much response, I naturally gazed at Iprus.
Then, with a drawn-on smile, Iprus pressed down hard on the crown of Hanu’s head.
The careless Hanu’s head lowered as if in a greeting.
Still holding down her brother’s head, Iprus waved at me.
“Have a good date, you two!”
“It’s not a date, but sure.”
I was about to wave at Iprus, but I paused for a moment.
It was because I was worried, for the clothes she was wearing were thin.
“Rus, it’ll get cold at night, so don’t hang around too long.”
“That’s what I want to say to Lady Lia.”
I looked down at the clothes I was wearing.
My off-shoulder dress, which exposed my shoulders coolly, made it clear that I was not in a position to worry about her.
“But I don’t get cold easily. You know that, don’t you?”
“That was when you were a penguin, but now you are a human, right?”
“Still, it doesn’t affect me.”
I held Suradel’s hand to show that I could stand the cold.
His hands were always cold as ice.
“Look at this. It feels good because it’s cool, I’m not cold at all?”
“Oh.”
Iprus made a somewhat sinister smile.
“Then, would it be all right for you to hold Sir Suradel’s hand all day long?”
“Huh? Uhh…”
I wanted to express that I was strong against the cold, which was why I held Suradel’s hand, but it seemed like something strange was going on.
“In any case, we can rest assured, as the lady said. Then let’s go…”
“No. Even if Iprus goes, I will be with Lady Lia.”
Hanu, who cut off Iprus’ words, seemed unwilling to break his opinion.
Due to his resoluteness, I decided not to continue persuading him.
“Well, I meant to let you have free time, but if you stubbornly refuse, there’s no reason for me to force you.”
It was not like I was actually dating Suradel, it was just a proposal for the two of them who must be tired today.
Iprus then whispered to Hanu in ventriloquism.
“You… where did you sell your brain?”
“But my mission is…”
“Stay still, you fool. If it’s Sir Suradel, the lady won’t be hurt even if a bunch of kids run by.”
“It doesn’t matter if the person accompanying Lady Lia is strong or not, it’s my mission…”
“Oh, shut up and follow me!”
In the end, Hanu was dragged by Iprus’ strong hand.
Looking at their disappearing backs, I waved cheerfully.
“It will be fun if the two are mistaken for a couple.”
Then Suradel replied in a voice full of laughter.
“Do you think it will be faster for us to be misunderstood than for those two to be misunderstood?”
“Ha, which idiot will think of us as a couple…”
I snorted and refuted, but quietly caught sight of our hands that were clasped together.
Even his left ring finger had a platinum ring identical to the one I wear around my neck.
I moved my gaze back to Suradel, and he looked back at me with extremely friendly eyes.
‘Anyone would think we’re lovers.’
If done well, it seemed that we could even be mistaken for newlyweds.
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