Chapter: 13
‘Is it not just for show?’
Vanessa shook her head with an indifferent expression.
“No. Nothing. If that’s what you consider a date.”
“……Is there somewhere you want to go?”
Vanessa’s gaze landed on Ian.
“Not particularly.”
If the place suggested by someone who had realized the need for dating after reading an article was a bookstore,
then perhaps he was focusing on the date itself rather than how it would look to others.
In that case, she didn’t particularly care where they went.
‘I should refuse next time.’
It takes two hands to clap and make a sound.
It was only natural that words like “business” and “show-window” would start circulating before long.
“Vanessa.”
“Hmm?”
“I…… don’t really like crowded places.”
“…….”
“I don’t like noisy places either, or places where people bump into each other.”
Vanessa blinked at his sudden confession about the things he disliked.
“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“So…… if you know of a suitable place, tell me.”
By the time he finished speaking, Ian’s gaze had shifted toward the window.
Strange.
When he had accepted the contract marriage, he had been as dry and emotionless as could be. So why did he seem embarrassed now?
Was this also entirely a misunderstanding on her part?
Vanessa tilted her head.
“Didn’t you want to go to the bookstore?”
“It’s the quietest place.”
“Then we can just go there.”
At her tone, as if asking what the problem was, Ian glanced at Vanessa.
“Now that I think about it……”
“Now that you think about it?”
“It doesn’t seem…… suitable as a place for a date.”
“…….”
The longer Ian continued speaking, the wider Vanessa’s eyes slowly became.
Why did he seem so unusually gentle?
Vanessa stared blankly at Ian before giving a small cough.
“So it just needs to be quiet, have few people, and not be too close to me, right?”
“……Yes.”
“There is one place like that, though……”
Only then did Vanessa’s lips slowly curl upward.
She had thought this would be a date that was practically a waste of time.
But if things were like this……
‘Maybe it won’t be a complete waste after all?’
The carriage traveled for quite some time before arriving at Pommeld, the capital of the west.
Pommeld, also known as the City of Craftsmen, was just as bustling as La Pont du Neuve, the capital of the east.
The moment Ian saw the densely packed crowd, with barely enough room to set foot anywhere, his face turned pale.
“……Vanessa.”
“Hmm?”
“I would appreciate it if you told me verbally if you had a complaint.”
Isn’t this place the exact opposite of everything I said?
Ian muttered blankly outside the carriage, and Vanessa held out her hand toward him.
Already getting overwhelmed?
Perhaps the crowd had completely drained him, because unlike earlier, when he had been as stiff as a support post, Ian’s escorting had improved somewhat.
“We just need to go a little farther inside.”
“……I’ll trust you.”
“This amount of people isn’t too bad, is it……”
Vanessa was about to speak casually, but after seeing how pale Ian had become, she firmly closed her mouth.
This was also the capital where she had met him in her previous life.
She had come here to buy a cane to support her leg because Carlisle would frown every time she limped.
She had even sat on the bench at that entrance back then.
She could feel a slight tremble in the hand he still had not let go of.
“……I see. I thought there would be fewer people farther inside, so I came here thinking it would be all right…… I’m sorry.”
I keep forgetting that the Ian of now isn’t the Ian from back then.
Vanessa swallowed a sigh and looked back and forth between the crowd spread out before her and Ian, who was still frozen stiff like a block of wood.
She didn’t like breaking the conditions before they were even married, but there was no helping it.
“Can I hold your hand?”
“That……”
“At this rate, it feels like we won’t arrive until after the sun has completely set.”
“…….”
He looked once at the crowd she was leading him through, then once at their joined hands, before eventually furrowing his brows.
“Don’t worry. After we’re married, I won’t touch even a strand of your hair.”
“A strand of hair……” Ian muttered as if he were dumbfounded, but now was not the time to worry about that.
Vanessa tightened her grip on his hand and strode forward.
‘It feels like I’m soothing a crying child and dragging him along…….’
The farther ahead she walked, the stronger the force pulling back from behind became.
At the same time, she could feel the gazes of those around them.
It was understandable. A man who was a head taller than everyone else was being held by a woman’s hand and dragged along.
“……Ah!”
A sudden cry escaped Vanessa’s lips.
All her attention had been focused on the hand she was holding with Ian, so she failed to avoid a child running toward her.
Just as Vanessa stumbled badly and was about to fall backward, something firm supported her back.
“Careful.”
Ian’s voice, right above her head, was low and calm.
“……Sorry. I wasn’t looking ahead.”
At some point, Ian’s arm had wrapped around Vanessa’s waist.
“Your dress is dirty.”
Only then did Vanessa look at where they had collided and see bright yellow juice splattered across it like a stain.
Vanessa casually brushed the hem of her skirt with her hand as if it were nothing.
Fortunately, the dress she had worn today had a yellowish tint, so the stain wasn’t very noticeable.
“Oh, my goodness! Lena! I told you not to run! I’m terribly sorry, Madam. Please forgive us……!”
A woman who appeared to be the child’s mother came running over and repeatedly bowed her head before Vanessa.
It seemed that both of them had been distracted.
“I’m truly sorry. I should compensate you, but our circumstances aren’t good…… Please, I beg you to show mercy. Lena! What are you doing? Hurry and apologize!”
“It’s all right. I wasn’t watching where I was going either. More importantly……”
Vanessa carefully removed Ian’s arm from around her waist and bent her knees slightly.
“I-I’m sorry…… Waaah!”
The child clutched a half-empty bottle of juice in her hand. She was crying her eyes out while gripping the hem of her mother’s skirt, unable even to think about picking up the doll lying on the ground.
“The doll got dirty because of me, didn’t it?”
“Sniff, hic…… I-I’m sorry. I did something wrong. Mommy……”
Apparently, the mother’s talk of forgiveness and mercy had frightened the child.
Vanessa let out a small, troubled sound.
At that moment, Ian, who had been watching the situation, suddenly stepped over and picked up the doll from the ground.
“……Ian?”
With an indifferent expression, he brushed the dust from it and then handed the doll to the crying child.
“Don’t run. It’s dangerous.”
“Hic, sob…… Y-yes.”
“In a situation like this, don’t cry.”
“Gasp……!”
When the child swallowed a breath and tried to hold back her tears, Ian let out a small laugh through his teeth.
The person who had been angry just moments ago was nowhere to be seen.
“Vanessa, are you hurt anywhere?”
“……No. Thanks to you catching me.”
“That’s a relief.”
Still wearing a smile at the corner of his lips, Ian gently patted the child’s head twice.
“Make sure you hold your mother’s hand tightly when you walk.”
“Y-yes……!”
“T-thank you. Thank you so much. Lena, hurry up before it gets any later!”
The child’s mother tightly grabbed her daughter’s hand, gave one last bow, and quickly hurried away as if fleeing. As though she had to leave before he changed his mind.
“Take it.”
Vanessa looked at Ian’s outstretched hand.
“We’re almost there, so it’s all right now……”
“If you get hurt again like you did just now, I don’t think I’ll be able to indulge in another whim.”
Not every noble considered the lives of commoners worthless, but for most nobles, that was simply the natural order of things.
And commoners, too, generally regarded a noble’s kindness as nothing more than a passing whim.
At least for now.
The same probably went for what had just happened. There were countless nobles who would punish a commoner if they couldn’t pay for the cost of a dress.
‘Things might change if the Crown Prince marries the Third Princess.’
Vanessa still thought Ian was one of the majority of nobles.
That was why she had assumed he had said it was all right solely because he wanted to protect the child.
……So there really was still some of the Ian from her previous life left in him.
Instead of answering, Vanessa carefully placed her hand on Ian’s palm.
Unlike before, the strength with which he clasped her hand was quite firm.
Even when she deliberately shortened her stride and walked slowly, he adjusted his pace to match hers.
She didn’t dislike this situation, where instead of walking while staring straight ahead, all she could see was his broad back.
“Ian.”
“……What is it?”
“Can I walk beside you?”
“You know that a noble’s kindness is just a whim, right? If you do this……”
“Since I’ve already made you indulge me, I’m asking you to indulge me a little more.”
“…….”
“It’s a date.”
“Ha……”
Despite her somewhat stubborn request, Ian stopped with a troubled expression, allowing Vanessa to easily walk alongside him.
“I hope that whim lasts even after we’re married.”
“…….”
No answer came, but when Vanessa saw Ian’s reddened earlobes, she let out a quiet laugh through her teeth.
