Episode 14

Lauten

Today, I opened my eyes in this world. After washing up, refusing to be dressed up, and eating, I thought about Eris’ birthday, which is just around the corner.

In this country, I will have a grand adult ceremony, and it was obvious how exciting it will be since the Imperial Family offered to host it.

‘It is impossible to turn over the issue now after the Emperor has nailed it, so I have to endure, believing that it will pass.

Adult ceremonies were tolerable, but the problem was this. If an adult ceremony is held by the Imperial Family, Eris Miséran is basically announcing that she is a member of the Imperial Family, making it virtually impossible to break this marriage.

I’m afraid he didn’t marry Eris in the novel, instead she was dismissed.

There seemed to be no mention of it.

Did the break-off fall within the causal range? I think the only thing that Eris did as a fiancée was to bully Helena, but one can do this even after you break up.

‘It was very annoying to treat me as fuel, to make another’s love burn more. The matter of the Prince and Helena is even more urgent, and I have to make an effort to get out of that situation.

‘Is this a case where there’s a guy who’s giving you strength and a guy who’s crapping on you? Did I ask you to marry me? It had already been decided by the families!

Suddenly, annoyed, I started yelling and kicking the bed, causing someone to knock on the door. It was embarrassing.

“Hmm, hmm… Who is it?”

“……..It is me.”

“What is it?”

“My younger brother… wants to see you.”

What have you got? My body rose up naturally. It is good news in this world, where there are only annoying things. By the way, I was worried about where to meet the scruffy kid.

There are many eyes seeing, and my appearance stands out unusually when I go to the house.

There is a saying that if you want to hide a tree, hide it in the forest. A crowded place. Where it’s not weird for me and him to be together…..

Ah…!

“Tell your brother to come to the biggest dessert shop in the country.”

“Very well.”

Lauten was by far the largest dessert shop in the country. A five-story building.

The building itself was more of an artifact, with a bright coral-colored exterior reminiscent of the Budapest Hotel and a white molding.

The first floor was a bakery and a counter for take-out, and the official place for bread, and snacks was from the second floor.

Bread was displayed on the second floor, snacks were on the third floor, and the cookie plates were laid out and numbered one by one.

It was a structure where you select the numbered plates in advance, it gets picked up and calculated, then, it was either packaged on the first floor or prepared for it to be eaten upstairs.

On the fourth floor, rich commoners sat, and on the fifth floor, it was prepared for aristocrats to sit down and eat.

The fourth and fifth floors differ in its interior. The fourth floor has an open concept, with only tables and chairs, while the fifth floor has each room made with care. Even so, most nobles had servants to bring them (the pastries) home to eat.

The fifth floor could be used, but other nobles may catch Eris entering a private room. So I decided to just use the fourth floor because it has the perfect setting. The people there must be busy talking among themselves to notice her.

Still, if I go like this, I’ll be noticed, so I need to choose a modest outfit and hide my hair with a big hat. Decorations also need to be changed to something modest and much cheaper.

Since I didn’t wear makeup or a corset, wouldn’t this be enough to fool even me?

It was nice to go around the second and third floors and choose something that looked delicious, sit on the fourth floor, and look around.

After a while, the servant who came back with what I ordered displayed them one by one on the table.

The aristocrats were given a five-tiered dessert stand, but the commoners seemed to have been limited to the level of three. Scones with clotted cream, jam and pastries, cakes, and crumpets with pickled fruits were beautifully contained.

When the teacup and teapot were being set up, Anakin and his brother approached me from afar. Just in time. The younger brother looked busy watching.

“Please, sit down.”

“Yes? yes….”

As the child scurried down, Anakin naturally stood behind him. It was better than standing behind me, but I wonder if he should do this in a place where there are many people. Besides, I’m currently posing as a rich commoner.

“You sit down, too.”

“… You mean me as well?”

“Then you can keep standing in the way, of course. It’s just annoying to me.”

He pulled out a chair and sat next to the boy. To be honest, the size was made for women, so it was slightly small for him to sit on. Though that wasn’t any of my business.

“You said you wanted to see me?”

“Yes, the priest you mentioned before, we found the place where he now lives.”

“Where is it?”

The child looked around for a while and then stuck out a note hidden in his hand. Bonito, it was a strange province. I’ll go back and look through the map later.

I was going to nod my head and take the note, but the child took the note, pushed it into his mouth, and swallowed it. I was so surprised that I looked at him with a bewildered face, but the child laughed with a casual look.

“I heard that confidentiality is the most important thing. I don’t even know what was written anyway.”

“What if you get sick?”

“I grew up eating food thrown on the streets, so a small piece of paper isn’t going to hurt me.”

Humph, the snorting child looked so cute as he pushed away the teacup. If you work hard, you should be rewarded.

“Come on, eat as much as you want. We can pack it if you have any leftovers.”

“Are you sure…? Do you mind if I eat everything?”

“That’s why I ordered it.”

The child didn’t know what to do, but then he started pushing food into his mouth. I was worried about indigestion, but I didn’t bother to bring it up. Anakin stared at me as I said.

“You can eat too if you want.”

“No, it’s just…”

“It’s just?”

“What do you intend to do? That place is quite far from here. It’ll take a good 15 days.”

“15 days…..”

‘It was going to be my adult ceremony in 15 days. Should I go after the coming-of-age ceremony? I was thinking about it, but the child secretly raised his hand while eating.

“I can make it.”

“…No, I want to talk to the priest myself.”,

Although he had retired, it’s said he was also a high priest, so if he looks at me, he will recognize that I am a stranger at a glance. Then the story will be easier.

First, I beckoned to Anakin. Anakin handed the child a small pouch of gold coins.

“That’s the amount I promised.”

“Thank you!”

“I’ll take care of your share separately, so give every penny of it to him.”

At my words, the child couldn’t hide his disappointed expression. You really tried to steal it.

“Did you sell those earrings?”

“No…….”

“Why?”

“Because it would be a waste. It was the first time I worked to earn something and it wasn’t taken away…”

Taken away? When I stared at Anakin, Anakin blinked and said.

“It is the boy’s father. He got into alcohol and gambling, begging, and taking money.”

“Aren’t you two living together?”

“He was drunk and got into a fight. He died.”

The child spat on the floor as if it was a ‘habit. He scraped it off with his foot.

“I’m not a relative, so I’ve been protecting him in the name of rent.”

“And now?”

“Now I’m protecting myself.”

“But you still have a long way to go to adulthood.”

The child sucked his jam-stained finger and spoke as if it didn’t matter.

“They’re going to be acting as adults anyway. Far from thinking about being protected, we’re all probably thinking about eating. At this point, all the kids in the slums are living on their own, so it’s okay.”

He said he was like that, so I nodded because I didn’t want to speak any further.

Suddenly there was a murmur around, and I looked up, and Helena and Hubris were walking from afar.

Oops, I quickly lowered my head and pressed my hat down to cover my face. Fortunately, I didn’t think they saw me.

“Sir, are you not a priest? I’ll show you upstairs!”

An employee who recognized Hubris tried to guide him to the fifth floor. Maybe Hubris cared about people’s eyes since he went up to eat. Then Helena poked Hubris in the ribs and shook her head.

“Oh, no! Hey, I’m going to eat here. Right?”

“…Please prepare it here.”

Helena whispered as the waiter disappeared. I also stabbed Anakin by his sides and asked.

“What did she just say?”

“I’m not a noble person, so I’ll get in trouble if I go to the fifth floor.”

“Crazy, really…”

Come to think of it, Helena in the novel didn’t know that he was the High Priest until the middle part. No, how do you not know?

Because the clothes were different for the priest and the high priest, I could not not know. Did the employee know at a glance? No, and the employee guided him, so why did he step out and stop it? It was such a great mystery.

After a while, a five-tier dessert stand was placed in front of Helena and Hubris. This was possible because the high priest was treated similarly to the nobility, regardless of his origin. Helena seemed unable to tell the difference between a five-tier stand, and a three-tier stand.

Anyway, when the stand was placed, the atmosphere around them changed. The people in conversations started peeking at Hubris and Helena.

Hubris was the youngest high priest of all time, so he was famous among the priests, No, apart from all that, it’s weird not to look at the way they looked.

Bright silver hair and purple eyes. Helena, with a lovely smile that would melt everyone’s heart, always shone without a single light.

Hubris, who sat in front of her, also had a formidable face. He had straight black hair on top of chestnut, skin color of the finest melted chocolate, strong features, and looked more like a royal from a foreign country than the current one.

Furthermore, the garb of a high priest, who was dressed in a perfect fit, was clearly meant to be ascetic, but it’s effects backfired as it created a sexy look, that calls for it to be peeled off.

Helena and Hubris started a conversation. Anakin glanced at me asking if I wanted to hear their conversation, so I nodded my head. It was obvious even if he didn’t say

“I guess everyone is looking at you because you’re handsome.’

“If you like it, you can eat it.’

‘Sweet things make people feel good.’

“Don’t pay attention to other people’s eyes.’