WYDM 24

Her voice rose with growing excitement, but the more excited she got, the less sense her story made.

“Ugh, that’s not it.”

“…I don’t think it’s because he’s a knight. If that were the case, wouldn’t she have told me beforehand when I was carrying him?”

Something like “hurry up, there’s something behind us,” or “we need to get inside the building quickly”…

But she’d only ordered him moved to her parents’ room, and hadn’t even followed right away.

“I just don’t know…”

“…”

While Sana tilted her head, having wracked her brain almost full circle, Rabo put a bite of food in his mouth and chewed while glancing at the two of them through his hair.

“But you know.”

Rabo had a surprisingly somewhat high-pitched voice. Usually it was hard to notice because of his trembling voice, but after sitting down comfortably and continuing the conversation a few times, his voice came through clearly.

“Rabo, you have a really nice voice. Yeah, go ahead. What is it?”

Sana complimented him first, then fixed both eyes on him.

For a moment, Rabo forgot he was about to answer and avoided the eyes staring directly at him, shifting his gaze to the food on the table.

People who’d approached him favorably, seeing someone tall with a good build and a pleasant voice, would back away when they saw him hesitate, unable to answer, and severely stammer.

And usually, when they saw his outward appearance—hunched large shoulders, shaggy hair covering his eyes completely, head deeply bowed as he walked—they’d immediately distance themselves from him.

That’s why he had to quietly do work he could do alone, and even that wasn’t so easy to find.

But Sehera was different. She’d recognized his skills and directly entrusted him with work at the estate.

She’d apologized, saying it wouldn’t be specialized work but general work with more odd jobs, and she was the first person to trust him.

This wasn’t just a matter of temporarily entrusting him with fixing a broken roof. This was fully entrusting him with repairs to a noble family’s estate.

When she’d even asked if he could drive horses as a coachman since there might not always be work, his heart had ached.

Sehera, the first person to entrust him with responsibility…

And most of the people working under her resembled her to some degree.

Sana before him always spoke to him warmly and playfully teased him brightly, and Romina had even called him to eat at times when no one was around so he could dine comfortably when he’d first been too shy to come to the dining area.

“No, it’s nothing major… I was just wondering if Lady Sehera is all right. I haven’t seen her since that day.”

“Ah. That’s what this is about. The lady is spending almost all her time in that room right now. She comes back to her room to sleep at night, but she comes out very late and goes back early in the morning, and she eats inside too.”

“Ah…”

The three of them ended up tilting their heads again, stuck in another conversation with no answers.

One man who’d suddenly appeared was holed up in that one room doing nothing… He’d simply regained consciousness after three days and received treatment, yet he was shaking up the entire atmosphere of the county.

* * *

Two days before the party. Planer County Estate was in an uproar from morning.

“Excuse us!”

Someone had been knocking on the estate’s iron gate since morning, and two large carriages entered one after another. The sound of hoofbeats ringing through the garden in front of the estate echoed through the estate that had been quiet for days.

And the man who got out spoke in an even more cheerful voice.

In an estate without a separate butler and head maid, Sehera would always come out when such guests arrived, but now Romina and Sana greeted them.

Romina, who greeted them with her back straight, wore as relaxed an expression as possible.

In fact, those two knew very well what the two carriages that had suddenly appeared were carrying.

“Thank you for delivering in person.”

“We can’t be careless just because they’re not large items. The young lady of the county estate paid for the carriage and labor costs for delivery, so it wouldn’t be merchant-like to neglect this.”

His eyes sparkled beyond his elegant, smiling eyes. When he turned his head back and nodded, the coachmen got down from the carriages and opened each carriage door, starting to unload large boxes.

“Come this way!”

Romina stood there facing the merchant while Sana immediately turned around and opened the front door. The two coachmen began carrying the boxes inside, one or two at a time.

The merchant was looking at Romina standing firmly before him with interested eyes and was about to speak when he suddenly felt a presence behind him and looked up.

He spotted someone coming down the splendid staircase visible straight ahead inside the wide-open front door, walking at a slightly quick pace.

“Ah…”

It was Sehera. She was coming down the stairs quickly, her bluish-white dress hem and golden hair flowing.

Like a goddess descending from heaven to earth, the merchant slightly opened his mouth, forgetting even to smile with his eyes.

“Ten items total. I don’t need to check separately—they’ll be accurate, right?”

Romina urged him to check in an elegant voice. The man, having his own line stolen, looked slightly flustered, then found his lost focus and smiled with his eyes.

“You mean this? It’s not just any noble—we’re selling goods to Dirk. The items are properly prepared.”

“We haven’t established a proper merchant company yet. Thank you for being on time.”

The young lady of the county estate looked somewhat tired for some reason, but she was a beautiful woman who sparkled. The merchant watched her approach like a dream, then jerked his head and bowed.

He bent deeply, hoping it would look as polite as possible, then carefully straightened up.

She was already standing where the elegant maid had been, facing him.

“Since you paid for the personnel and carriage to deliver to the county estate, it became a merchant’s promise. Dirk wasn’t large, but it was greatly influenced by Count Planer, so when I heard someone was continuing his legacy, I really wanted to meet them.”

Then, like a noble young master to a young lady, he extended his hand toward her. Sehera, who’d been looking at his hand requesting a hand kiss, glanced at it briefly then looked directly at him.

In those eyes without wavering or emotion, the merchant knew she wouldn’t accept this hand.

When he awkwardly lowered his hand, only then did she move the corners of her mouth slightly to give him a gentle smile. At least that smile seemed to say she wasn’t blaming him.

“I’ll check the items right away. Unfortunately, I’m quite tired right now, so I can’t talk long.”

At her firm yet kind words, the merchant hesitated then immediately smiled and nodded. He was considerably disappointed, but since there was no opportunity to press further, he had no choice but to withdraw.

“It was a good transaction. Will we be able to meet as merchant company to merchant company in the future?”

At his expectant face, Sehera smiled back. At that business-like smile, the merchant smiled even more deeply and bowed once more. Then the carriage disappeared leisurely, the sound of hoofbeats echoing once more through the quiet county estate.

“My lady, you look very tired. Are you all right?”

Romina offered a word of concern to Sehera, who’d been watching the back of the carriage until the end. She definitely seemed not to have slept yesterday.

Her smooth skin looked somewhat parched, seemingly having lost moisture, and even under her eyes looked slightly dark.

“Mm, I’m fine. If I sleep well today and tomorrow, I’ll be fine right away.”

At least the fortunate thing was that she seemed determined to sleep properly today and tomorrow.

“Should I check the gifts?”

And as she turned to go inside, her blue eyes sparkled prettily.

That face was the expression from when she’d first started doing business under Dirk’s name, so Romina felt somewhat relieved.

She’d been very worried, feeling like she’d lost the lively face of Sehera, whose bright and passionate face they’d barely been able to see over the past year, but as the party she’d been excitedly preparing for approached, she seemed to be regaining some of that vitality.

“Wow! My lady! Now that they’re all gathered, I’m so, so excited…! Kyaa! We’re opening them all to check if the contents came properly, right?”

Sana was already revving up in front of the items the coachmen had stacked in one side of the hall and left.

The atmosphere suggested that if permission was granted, she’d immediately rush in and tear apart all the packaging.

“Wait, Sana. Sit down there.”

Sehera handled her skillfully.

She knew she couldn’t entrust everything to her right away, but if she didn’t let her do anything at all, she’d go around gloomy all day, so she had to devise another method.

Sana plopped down completely in front of the gifts as she’d said. Then she looked up at Sehera again.

“Take down the gift in front, just unwrap it, and hand it to me.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Sana knew why she was assigning her work this way, so she stretched out both arms and carefully took down one item. After slowly removing the paper and plastic strings wrapping the outside, she held it out, and Sehera carefully checked each item one by one.

The gifts were quite varied. Large paintings, or books with very colorful colors, and there were fabrics, or dishes with unique and pretty patterns she’d never seen nearby.

“Wooow…!”

And while unwrapping, Sana discovered a box full of hair accessories that were so pretty and fascinating.

“Uh… you’re not supposed to open that all the way inside?”

At the unusual exclamation, Sehera looked up toward Sana and spoke in a troubled voice. At the serious voice without playfulness, Sana turned around.

“This… this this…!”

She seemed so moved she couldn’t even speak properly.