Chapter 45
The shop owner couldn’t overcome his curiosity and asked where she came from.
“Yes. I stopped here for a while to visit some relatives.”
“Ah, that’s what I thought.”
The shopkeeper nodded his head, as if he was right, too. He cleared his doubts about her and started talking as if he had met a long-lost friend.
“In the past, when ships came in from the south, there were various items, but after the supplies were cut off, there were a lot of products that were not available.”
“I see.”
“At that time, we were able to put various things in. Now, the sea route is blocked…”
“Since when was it blocked?”
The shop owner looked around as if it was a big secret and whispered.
“The previous King became seriously ill and His Majesty, quite young and without parents, must have been seriously troubled by succeeding the throne. At that time, it seemed like there was going to be a war soon.”
“I see…”
“I also closed the doors here and prepared to go back to the military. You don’t know how chaotic the atmosphere was.”
“Oh my gosh.”
As Rose responded to the shopkeeper’s words with serious eyes, he became even more excited.
“At that time, there were a lot of trade ships in the port. However, for fear that merchants would come and go and spread rumors about Helevant, the chancellor temporarily blocked the entry of foreign ships.”
“Ah…”
“Isn’t it true? Foreign merchants are people who always spread useless words.”
“Haha…”
Rose smiled softly and nodded her head. Still, his words were quite interesting.
“Of course, it was a wise judgment. Since the internal affairs were confusing, he decided that internal settlement would come first until the young King became a strong monarch.”
He was obviously a loyal person, and pride was seen in the shopkeeper’s eyes. Helevant men were not only ordinary people but also brave soldiers. She remembered those words from Jansen.
“So what happened in the end? Is the little King still okay?”
Rose urged the shopkeeper as if curious about the backstory. The shopkeeper, recalling the past, straightened his back and said triumphantly.
“Of course. Now you have become a full-fledged monarch, wiping out troublesome punks from the streets.”
“That’s a relief.”
“At one time the whole of Helevant was chaotic like a lawless place, but now it has changed a lot. It will soon regain its former reputation.”
The corners of Rosé’s lips curled up naturally.
“It would be nice if the port could be reopened as before, and trade ships would come in constantly.”
The store owner nodded vigorously as if it was natural.
“I heard they are making a huge road in the Guagimolia forest right now. It’s only a matter of time before the port reopens soon.”
Earlier, she, who was dawning on the robe to hide me, now looked straight at the store owner.
“It will definitely happen.”
“By the way, where are you from?”
The owner’s attitude toward Rose became a little more polite than at the beginning. If she was a woman who drew pictures as a hobby, she was obviously a noblewoman or a woman of the royal family. What’s more, if she was looking for Veluasan paints and discussing the quality of weasel brushes, he couldn’t help but wonder what this woman’s true identity was. She dressed plainly like a commoner, but the owner guessed that she was not an ordinary woman.
“Just from a place nearby.”
She quietly looked away, answering vaguely. The owner followed her gaze, lengthened his neck, and looked out of the shop.
It was his back, but he could see a big man waiting for her outside.
“I have to go because someone is waiting.”
Rose picked up any of the paints displayed in the store. After taking out the coin and handing it over to the store owner, she hurriedly turned around.
The owner’s eyes widened when he saw the shiny and heavy thing that had fallen into his hands.
“No, Miss, this–”
The gold coin, which gave off a brilliant golden color, was an exorbitantly high amount compared to what she had taken.
“It was fun talking to you.”
Her voice was the last to be heard outside the store.
Cough, cough. Jansen felt that his condition was worse than expected. The cough got worse.
In fact, when he woke up in the morning, he felt a chill in his body and found out that he had a low fever. A good plan flashed in his mind.
‘If only me is missing, His Majesty Maxim and Her Majesty could pass time together.’
Maxim, whom he thought would change after getting married, still stayed up all night working in a room attached to the office. His movement was constant like a person who was addicted to work and training. Office and training ground, training ground, and office.
The Queen gave her affection only to the wolf she brought with her while out hunting.
In Jansen’s eyes, she seemed to soothe the loneliness.
‘It’s hard. It’s really hard.’
He thought that His Majesty Maxim had made up his mind and thought of marrying a Stern woman to have an heir and to promote the stability of the royal family.
‘But you have to look at the sky to pick up a start! How can it take so long?’
In that sense, there were few good opportunities for the two to be together as much as this outing. Moreover, Jansen knew a very important fact.
That His Majesty Maxim stays overnight when he visits Marianne’s every year.
‘If he could fall for it a little bit further.’
He smiled sly, as if he had devised a great scheme, and then suddenly turned serious.
‘Haaa… Should a mere secretary even think about such a thing?!’
He hated it when it was about complex issues of the opposite gender. No matter how much of a Master he was, Jensen was the one to take care of every single thing.
‘It would be good if you take care of it on your own, please.’
Cough, cough, cough.
‘My bones hurt.’
Perhaps because of the strong medicine he took earlier, he somehow felt dizzy. It wasn’t even a full-fledged winter yet, but the chill was penetrating into his bones.
‘It’s cold, I’m going to die of a freezing body and mind!’
He hurried into the building, rubbing his shoulders with both hands.
‘Uh? Secretary Jansen?’
Hannah, who happened to see him in passing, tilted her head.
‘Why is the secretary’s face so pale, is he in pain?’
The look of him coughing as he passed by was still on her mind.
Rose slowed down due to the savory smell that stimulated her appetite. The smoke of grilled garlic and smoked sausages was wafting from somewhere. Chewy sausages and shiny ham at the entrance of the store. The restaurant made her stop on its own,
‘Come to think of it, I was so nervous today that I couldn’t even eat breakfast.’
Because so many high-quality dishes were prepared in the castle, it was surprisingly difficult to come across such crude but delicious dishes. Rose licked her lips again and glanced back at Maxim
“…Are not you hungry?”
When she looked at him unexpectedly, Maxim looked at the restaurant. He looked around for a better restaurant, but Rose said quickly.
“I’m hungry, so just stay here.”
As she looked with too desperate eyes, he was forced to grab her horse reins and walk toward the stable behind the building.
“Come in.”
Rose smiled brightly and entered the restaurant as if being sucked in by the smell that stimulated the appetite. But the moment she stepped inside,
‘Goodness.’
A startled gasp escaped between her lips. The inside of the dining room was so different from what she had envisioned. It was as if she knew why Maxim had looked elsewhere with dissatisfied eyes.
The gloomy interior was filled with the sour smell of brewer’s yeast and pungent food smoke. Lame-looking men were sitting around the old table, and the faint laughter of a woman in the back alley with her shoulders almost bare could be heard. This place was like some kind of underground world away from the peaceful outside scenery.
She felt like she was in the wrong place, but Rose cautiously entered the dining room looking for an empty seat. Strangely, she felt like the eyes of the people in the restaurant were focused on her. It wasn’t her imagination, it was the truth.
As she entered, the noisy interior instantly quieted. She buried her face as deep as she could in her robes, but couldn’t completely hide her snow-like skin and the red hair that ran down her side. As she sat down at a table, the dining room became noisy again, but there was a crowd staring at her blatantly from one corner.
Chewing on something, they exchanged glances with each other. It meant that she looked like she had some money, and one by one they walked to her seat, chattering.
“Oh, this pretty Miss came here alone?”
Rose spoke to them firmly.
“Don’t talk to me, I came with someone.”
As Rose turned her head offended, the man with a missing front tooth grinned and pushed his face closer to her.
“This is the first time I’ve seen red hair like this, so did you dye it to make it stand out?”
Rose suppressed her anger and warned him.
“Get away from me right now because my husband is coming.”
When a man mocked her by imitating her voice, even those in other seats giggled. The man without a front tooth reached out to touch her hair, which was shiny like pomegranate but suddenly,
“Aaahh!”
A scream was heard loud enough to ring through the restaurant, and a man wrapped his hand around the other. It was as if all the bones of his fingers had been crushed.
A heavy sword from behind struck his hand strongly. In the end, he couldn’t even touch Rose’s hair and made a painful sound.
“You bastard, who the f*ck are you? I’m going to kill you today!”
He looked back while swearing. At the same time as he looked back, he halted in surprise. A large man in black was standing, looking down at him with his golden eyes. His face seemed as if he would break his breath right away like a devil.
“You… You bastard…”
The man’s voice was different than before. With a look of contempt, as if he stepped on a dirty bug, Maxim said.
“Leave.”
The voice was low and the command was short, but there was tremendous pressure on his words.
“You… you are that precious husband.”
“If you don’t want to die, get out of here.”
At Maxim’s words, the men’s faces contorted harshly.