If he had been a nobleman, he would have done a good job of approaching Leila and escorting her.
But now he was just a mercenary baboon, and he was going to make an offer that is terribly disrespectful to her.
‘… But I can’t let her go alone. Who knows if there will be an opportunity.’
Judging from her light outfit, perhaps she’s just going to a tea house or a dessert cafe.
If she meets someone, for example, the Marquis, then he just has to watch until then.
If she spends her time alone, he might have a chance to talk to her.
It seemed that it would be easier to talk to her like that than it was for him to knock on the door.
‘What are you doing?’
But she didn’t move as he expected.
Leila was constantly walking around and visiting all kinds of shops. She didn’t seem to be buying anything, because she was empty handed every time she got out.
She didn’t even seem to be looking for anything. Because the stores she visited had nothing in common.
She went to a tableware shop, a sculpture shop, a general store, a figurine store, a jewelry store, a fabric store, a dress store, and so on. It felt like she was looking all around the stores in the capital.
‘Please. Please stop acting so dangerously!”
She seemed unaware that she was drawing people’s attention.
Although simple, her clothes are made of luxurious fabrics and her appearance is so beautiful that it made people’s eyes pop out.
This alone was enough to attract people’s attention.
She also attracted more and more attention as she was wandering around all kinds of stores without an escort.
Was it because of that? Thieves also started chasing after her.
They noticed that she roamed around the stores that are expensive and selling rare things, so they were after her pocket.
‘Uwaaakh! Whoaa!’
Har screamed inwardly and hit the back of the thief who was following Leila.
It was already the fifth.
Leila did not notice what kind of battle Har was fighting behind her back, and of course she did not know Har’s inner cry.
She was doing her business with the utmost carelessness.
‘Fucking marquis.’
Har slapped the back of the sixth thief who appeared and cursed the Marquis.
His person is walking around in such a defenseless and dangerous way, how can he not escort her?
He didn’t like him from the first time he saw him.
His black hair seems to show his inner heart, and his bright red eyes look ominous.
He was also displeased with his face, which is like a cold mask. It seems as if even a drop of blood wouldn’t come out even if he was stabbed.
If Har had to look for the Marquis strengths, he is a pretty handsome man.
But when it comes to looks, Har is sure that he’s much, much better-looking than the Marquis is.
Therefore, his appearance was not even worthy of being called an advantage.
While Har couldn’t contain his anger anymore and was clutching the seventh thief, Leila turned to her house.
“I’ll tell her right away.”
Har murmured softly as he looked at the tip of Leila’s fluttering ribbon.
Whether she’s in danger or not, why should he care? They would never see each other again once they settled the matter.
He was merely looking for an opportunity to speak and saw her in danger. So he helped.
Once he’s done, he won’t care how she lives or how the Marquis treats her.
Choosing the Marquis and becoming his mistress was Leila’s choice. Therefore, he wasn’t going to argue.
And the relationship between Har and Leila had long since been severed.
It was rude and disrespectful to hold on to a broken relationship.
Har made a bold determination, but was still not willing to knock on the door of Leila’s house.
It was because he hadn’t thought about how to convey the abrupt words to Leila.
“This is driving me crazy.”
While he was contemplating, two maids came out of the house. They seemed to be leaving work.
‘…It’s too late.’
It was already long past dinner time.
It was very disrespectful to knock on the door of a woman living alone at night, so Har walked to the inn where he had stumbled upon.
He was so hungry. He hadn’t eaten anything all day, pondering and worrying over things.
***
The next morning, after stopping by the city, Har headed back to Leila’s house.
He came up with an amazing plan overnight.
‘If it’s difficult to get into that house, can’t I just disguise myself to make it easier to get in?’
He planned to pretend to be someone who was sent by the Marquis. He went to town for this plan and bought some decent clothes.
‘If I said I’m the Marquis’ person, would she let me in? Will there be an opportunity to talk?’
Har was proud of his thoughts and moved on.
“…!”
As he was just rounding the corner, a carriage pulled past him.
The carriage was engraved with a symbol representing the Marquis.
Har quickly hid in the alley where he had stayed yesterday.
The carriage stopped in front of Leila’s house again.
He thought the Marquis had come, but a middle-aged man in a suit came out of the carriage instead.
With a small package in his hand, he knocked on Leila’s door, and a maid from within her house opened it right away.
“This can’t be…”
Today was the day he had to visit. But the Marquis just had to make the first move!
Why today out of all days?
What a jerk.
The real person of the Marquis had gone in there, so if Har visited again, she must be suspicious.
Now he could see that his plan was ingenious and full of loopholes.
Har didn’t even have a carriage to prove he was the Marquis’ person. Besides, seeing the maids reaction, they seemed to recognize this person.
It showed the possibility that up until now, the Marquis had sent the same person every time he sent an errand.
Therefore, if a stranger suddenly appeared, saying that they had been sent by the Marquis, it must be suspicious.
‘Shit. So it was a waste of money after all?’
Har angrily ruffled his hair. He wasted money buying clothes for nothing.
If Leila has been interacting with her surroundings, visiting won’t be so difficult.
But according to his sister, she was cut off from the world and seemed to be especially wary of men. ‘Well, it makes sense. She’s been through things like that.’
‘Shall I dress up?’
A dazzling thought flashed through Har’s mind as he was pacing nervously in the alley.
He looks just like his sister. His sister has been dressing as a man, but she’s never been caught! But then Har looked down at his body once and immediately stopped the thought.
‘If you don’t doubt a woman who is 190 cm tall, you must not be a person, right?’
He was too tall to disguise himself as a woman and had a thick skeleton. He won’t even be able to find a dress that fits.
Again, the situation returned to the starting point, and it was no different from yesterday.
Har leaned against the wall and stared at Leila’s house. He was squeezing his thoughts.
However, no decent idea came to his mind, even until the Marquis’ man returned to the carriage.
“That’s…”
Like someone who believes that Leila’s door will open on its own, Har looked carefully through the exterior of the house.
Then something caught his eye. It was a mailbox.
‘If it’s difficult to get in, you can just call her out.’
All he had to do was write a letter. It was a simple task. Har’s face, which had been frowning because of worries, brightened.
He was just about to get out of the alley. Suddenly the door swung open and Leila popped out.
He quickly stopped and leaned against the wall.
He saw Leila walking with an urgent expression.
‘Where else are you going?’
Har, who was looking at Leila’s back with worried eyes for a moment, turned his head.
It’s none of his business. It doesn’t matter what happens to her.
Why should he do another shameful and rude act of chasing after a lady?
‘They say that human trafficking is on the rise.’ Why did his colleague’s words come to mind at this time?
Maybe one of the thieves he beat up yesterday was a human trafficker.
“No way.”
It was noon. Besides, this place was in the middle of the capital.
No matter how rampant human traffickers were, they could not have done anything in this situation.
“…Damn it.”
Har cursed once and hurriedly moved his feet as he had done yesterday.
This is all for his sister. If something goes wrong with Leila, it will wrong his sister and the child in her womb.
Therefore, this is just for personal protection.
Yup. That was it. It had to be that.
Fortunately (?) Leila did not wander around like yesterday. She visited the bookstore and stayed there for a long time.
Har sat down on the sidewalk a little away from the bookstore and yawned.
‘She’s just going to the bookstore, so why did she put on such an urgent expression?’
Judging from the look on her face, it seemed that something big had happened.
‘I should get rid of my concern.’
What’s the point of knowing why she went to the bookstore?
Even with that thought, boredom arose from waiting without a promise, and that boredom continued to arouse curiosity about her.
He tried to silence that curiosity.
Moments later, she came out of the bookstore, holding a pack of paper bags in her arms.
Because she didn’t run around as loudly as she did yesterday, no one was following her today. Still, Har silently followed her.
‘What is she doing?’
Leila’s pace slowed. She opened the paper bag in her arms and took out her book.
It’s not too far from her house, but Leila started scanning the book while walking down the street.
As she pulled out another book, the cover caught Har’s eyes by coincidence.
His eyesight was just too good, and it helped that Leila was squirming with the books, looking uncomfortable.
‘The Kingdom of Sronakia?’
As with any book, the title of the book Leila was holding is written on the cover.
She bought some books with information about the Kingdom of Sronakia from the bookstore.
Har’s head began to extract information about the Kingdom of Sronakia at will.
A distant kingdom 6 countries away from the Empire. A peninsula country surrounded by sea on three sides.
A country that is famous for tea, ginseng, and silk, and produces expensive pottery due to the high quality of the soil and the high level of craftsmanship. Since it was a country that had no relations with the Empire, this was all the information he had in his head.
‘Does she want to go to the sea?’
But it’s strange.
The Empire was a huge country, it naturally had cities adjacent to the sea.
Among them, there were tourist attractions as famous as the sea of Sronakia.
If she liked the sea, she didn’t have to go as far as the Kingdom of Sronakia.
After some time, Leila arrived in front of her house. She held the books with one hand, opened the door, and entered her house.
Har, who saw this, turned his back without any regrets.
He was thinking of going back to town to buy the supplies he needed to write a letter.
‘Does she want to travel? Or is there a special product she would like to buy?’
While saying that he would not care, Har pondered about the connection between Leila and the Kingdom of Sronakia throughout the walk.