Translator: Nox

30

Episode 30

Belinda narrowed her eyes at Cesar, but he had already suppressed his laughter and wore his usual, firmly set expression.

“Oh, Mom and Dad? To you, Acorn mouse?”

“You should say, even a piglet has parents, so what's so strange about an Acorn mouse having parents?”

“That doesn’t sound like a very mature response.”

Belinda interjected elegantly at Cesar's sly remark.

“What did you just say?”

Even the oblivious Cesar had sharp instincts. His gut told him that if he didn't play along with Belinda, he would regret it later.

“I didn’t say anything, madam.”

Heiron, who had been listening to their conversation, mumbled, bewildered.

“They’re really your parents?”

Leo glanced up at Belinda.

When Belinda nodded, Leo mimicked her, crossing his arms and speaking confidently.

“That’s right.”

“But you called her Master just now…”

“My name is Master. Got a problem with that, you little pig Heiron?”

Belinda’s expression was so fierce that Heiron couldn’t utter a word and just shook his head.

Cesar, secretly sighing at the sight, called out to the stall owner, who had been silently observing the situation.

“Shopkeeper.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Could you make something a bit bigger for my son to eat? I’ll pay for it.”

“That’s not the point. Listen, make a Cloud Snack so huge for my Acorn mouse that it’ll crush the spirits of all the other kids.”

Although Cesar was the one who looked intimidating, the owner hesitated and made excuses to Belinda.

“Well, even if you pay, it requires skill to make it this big…”

Belinda flashed a gold coin.

“It’s not entirely impossible. Your son is so cute, I’ll put in all my effort to make it gigantic!”

* * *

The highlight of the first day of the festival was, of course, the parade that proceeded along Gold Street, stretching from the plaza to the city gates.

Belinda’s purpose was also to watch the parade.

However, since there was an awkward amount of time left before the parade started, they decided to watch a puppet show to kill time.

Or rather, just Leo.

The puppet show, depicting the life of the kingdom’s first King, was a performance for young children.

Numerous children gathered to watch the small puppet show, which used a carriage set up in front of dozens of small wooden chairs under the plaza’s clock tower as its stage.

In the end, Belinda and Cesar decided to sit at an open-air coffee house among the many shops that encircled the plaza and wait for the puppet show to end.

Belinda, replenishing her energy with caffeine, occasionally checked the center of the plaza to see if Leo was doing well.

Then, she turned back to the table at the sound of something plopping.

Unlike Belinda, who had a pitch-black coffee in front of her that looked like poison, Cesar had ordered a coffee with milk.

Cesar put one sugar cube in his coffee, tasted it, then put another one in and tasted it again, repeating the process until he had thrown in five sugar cubes before finally tilting his cup with satisfaction.

‘He likes sweet things.’

No, is he addicted to them?

Come to think of it, it was the knight sitting in front of her who had silently finished the last piece of Cloud Snack on behalf of Leo, who had grown tired of eating the Cloud Snack that was as big as his torso.

Belinda rinsed her mouth with black coffee, feeling a faint sugary taste in her mouth, and awkwardly opened her mouth.

“Sir, please don’t report what happened earlier to the Grand Duke.”

“What happened earlier, you mean…”

“The part where you and I pretended to be a couple. The Grand Duke might be displeased, so I don’t think you need to report it.”

“Ah…”

She had been too excited to notice earlier, but looking back, it was an embarrassing thing to do.

‘An adult interfering in a children’s fight.’

‘But that cheeky thing dared to mess with our Leo!’

While Belinda was internally fighting with herself, Cesar, who had been hesitating to answer, opened his mouth.

“Before that, there’s something I must tell you. I couldn’t say it because you wanted me as your escort knight, but in fact, I am…”

“Don’t.”

“Pardon?”

“I have a feeling that you’re about to say something very tactless.”

“…That’s not true.”

“Think carefully about when the best time to say it is and then tell me. I’ll wait patiently until then.”

“……”

In the end, Cesar couldn’t confess that he was Grand Duke Valuashten.

Come to think of it, it would have been a rather abrupt thing to say.

He couldn’t hide it forever, but as she said, it would be better to find the right timing to tell her the truth.

So, instead of telling the truth, Cesar brought up another topic.

“May I ask what your plans are once the contract is completed?”

Once the contract is completed.

He was asking about what would happen when they successfully married, lived a nominal married life in the North for a year, and then divorced.

Belinda answered dryly.

“I’m going to leave for the South.”

“To the South, you mean Hereos?”

The Duchy of Hereos, located at the southern end of the kingdom, was home to a vast granary and port.

As it owned the kingdom’s largest port, it was famous for its exotic scenery and was a popular tourist destination.

“No, further than that.”

“Further than that, you mean…”

Crossing the border.

She was saying that she would cross the sea and go to another country.

Hereos was located at the southernmost part of the kingdom, after all.

Cesar glanced around once, then quietly spoke.

“Are you trying to avoid the threat of assassination?”

Belinda didn’t answer. She simply looked silently at Leo, who was enjoying the puppet show.

When Terry had said that her information was circulating in the assassination guild, Belinda hadn’t seemed particularly surprised.

She must have known in advance that there would be assassination attempts on her.

‘Perhaps that’s why she asked me to be her escort.’

If she was planning to immigrate to avoid the risk of assassination, Cesar was willing to offer her a place to stay in his territory and some soldiers.

It would be the subject of gossip among gossips, but the harsh nature of the North would protect her from such rumors.

Cesar was about to open his mouth with those thoughts in mind.

“I just want to go somewhere where no one knows me.”

“But this is your motherland, isn’t it?”

“Motherland.”

There seemed to be a hint of bitterness in Belinda’s tone as she said that.

“To me, this country and the distant East Continent are the same. They’re equally meaningless.”

That couldn’t be.

For a noble, especially a noble lady, to leave her homeland and go to another country meant giving up an unimaginably large amount of convenience.

But Belinda was acting as if there was nothing in this country to hold her back.

“If I leave safely, I’ll give you my necklace. It doesn’t suit you, but well, I’ll respect your taste.”

Cesar’s gaze was fixed on Belinda’s choker.

He had been deliberately avoiding mentioning it, but he had never forgotten it for a moment.

She seemed to think that the jewel on the pendant was a ruby, but in fact, it was a Magic Sealing Stone with the power to seal Magical Power.

Just possessing it would seal Magical Power, so it couldn’t be good for the body.

It wouldn’t cause fatal harm, but chronic fatigue, headaches, or lack of energy were the side effects that the owner would feel.

Therefore, Magic Sealing Stones were often used to disarm and imprison criminals with dangerous powers.

They usually had an ominous dark red color, but very rarely, they had a clear red color.

At first glance, it looked like a top-quality ruby, but Cesar, who owned a Magic Sealing Stone mine in his territory, could tell at once.

That Belinda’s was not a ruby but a Magic Sealing Stone.

Magic Sealing Stones were so rare that their sales routes were strictly recorded, so it was rare to accidentally obtain one without knowing it was a Magic Sealing Stone.

But the problem was that she possessed the Magic Sealing Stone without knowing this fact.

Cesar, who had been carefully choosing his words, opened his mouth.

“I understand that you always wear that necklace. It seems to be a precious item to you… Would it be okay to give it to me?”

Cesar hoped that it was something of no value to her.

If not…

“It’s something I received from someone precious. But what use is it when I’m leaving?”

It was the same as being betrayed by someone she trusted.