“Oh my God! welcome! It is an honor to have you visit our store.”

The young lady, the shop owner, made a fuss about her as if she knew Killian and Lise. 

Looking around the shop, he saw that there were fancy faux chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, romantic decorations everywhere, and the pink carpets of the countertops were sparkling with accessories suitable for girls.

“Oh my, you are cute.”

“Isn’t it cute? Wrap this around her head once like this and put this corsage next to it…”

“And! So pretty! Killian, this…!”

Killian, who was looking outside the window instead of inside the shop, quickly turned his gaze to Lise.

“Killian…?”

“Ah! Is that pretty?”

When Killian saw Lise, he immediately called her pretty, but his reaction was completely different from before, when he always only looked at Lise. Even Killian himself felt it.

“Isn’t it pretty to look at, sir? This kind of decoration, no one can digest. It’s okay. It makes me look childish when it’s done by awkward people. The true value of this corsage and ribbon can be displayed only when it is worn by a beauty equivalent to that of Miss Lise.”

The shop owner praised Lise’s appearance so that her mouth drool. Killian was listening without showing any signs of being bothered, and then she asked Lise to count all the things she said she was pretty. Because of the flattery and praise of the shopkeeper, when she finally left her shop, the bag in her hand contained quite a few items.

“I-I didn’t mean to buy so many…”

“It’s fine. You don’t come out often, so it’s not bad to buy it all at once when you come out.”

“I’m sorry, Killian.”

“I’m sorry. My house won’t go down like this, so buy more.”

Killian encouraged Lise to spend more money, who was still feeling sorry whenever she spent money. Then he moved his steps toward the store he had looked out of the window earlier.

“Lise, I’m sorry, but let’s stop over there for a while.”

“Yes, I like it! Are you buying something, too?”

“Huh.”

Lise, who had been apologetic since she had been buying only her own things, seemed happy. However, the store where Killian entered was a store that sold women’s accessories, just like the store Lise stopped by earlier. Although the atmosphere was completely different from that store before.

“Killian… Well, um…”

“Huh? What?”

“The atmosphere is very different from the places I’ve been to before.”

“Huh, yes. I’m going to buy some gifts for Edith here.”

“Yes? For Edith?”

“Yes.”

“Wha… Come to think of it, it’s an atmosphere that suits Edith.”

“Yes?”

Killian didn’t notice Lise, who was a little flustered. It would have been ridiculous if it was like before, but now he was concentrating on finding something that would suit Edith well.

“Does Edith want you to buy it for her?”

“No. It’s not like that, but I don’t think I’ve ever bought anything fancy for her before…”

“Is it? I think Killian took good care of Edith… You bought her a necklace before!”

He didn’t know if it’s a memory that Lise brought out to comfort Killian, but Killian’s conscience stung.

“…You mean the day Cliff gave you all the rest of the jewels?”

“Ah…”

“Honestly, Cliff was too severe that day. At least he should have allowed Edith to choose. He didn’t even think about my face, and I made you in trouble.”

At the time, he honestly didn’t think much of it, but as time went on, what happened that day became embarrassing. All kinds of precious jewelry were in front of Lise, but Edith put on a ruby necklace smaller than a pea and smiled brightly at him. She really liked it, she would keep it well, revealing that white and dazzling nape… And as she said, she wore the necklace every day.

Every time he saw it, he felt guilty.

“Sorry. Then I had to say no…”

“Why is it your fault? It’s Cliff’s fault. It was fortunate that you chose Edith’s necklace as well. Me too at that time… Because I couldn’t take care of her well.”

Killian sighed and looked around the store, looking for something that would suit Edith.

“Is it Garnet? It’s less than Ruby, but it would be nice to have something like this.”

He pointed to a hairpin made of garnet, and the shopkeeper following him placed it on a silver tray.

“Women like to wear hair ornaments like that.”

His fingers ran through the various corsage headdresses. The shop owner busily picked them up.

“You also have to have several colored satin ribbons…”

Expensive ribbons made of imported fabrics were lined up on silver trays.

“Ah, I think this will suit her well… Will she say it’s too flashy?”

He pointed to the white and black gloves made of delicate and colorful lace and pondered for a while, but eventually decided to buy them too. When he thought of Edith, he saw an endless number of things that would suit her. At the pink shop earlier, there was nothing that would suit Edith, but this place, which had many elegant and sensuous designs, had many items that would suit Edith.

“Shall we go with this?”

After wandering around the store for a while, Killian followed the store owner who was putting what he was pointing to on a silver tray. There were heaps of items on the silver tray.

Lise, who was watching that, said as if she was a little upset.

“Killian… I think Edith will scold you.”

“Hmm… is it?”

But no matter how he looked at it, there was nothing to subtract from it.

“If we go down to the manor anyway, I won’t be able to buy it even if I try, so this is good enough.”

“When you go down to the manor, there’s no party hall to do these things.”

“We can do it in the castle. She will be able to show the dignity and grace of a Countess.”

“Coun… Countess?”

“Ah, I heard that the title to be given to me is Count.”

Killian thought about it a little longer, fearing that he would really get scolded by Edith, but in the end he chose to buy them all. The price came out a little more than Lise’s accessories, but since he hadn’t bought anything before, it didn’t feel expensive. After leaving the store, Lise suddenly said that she was tired and wanted to go home.

Killian was also glad she didn’t like the streets of Lebel Marie, to be honest, and they returned to the mansion. After having her maid carry Lise’s things into her room, Killian knocked on his wife’s door with a paper bag full of Edith’s presents.

“Uh? Killian!”

Edith’s light brown eyes shone as she greeted him. In the past, he thought it was a really normal eye color compared to Lise’s deep blue eyes, but recently, these comfortable and warm-colored eyes felt quite elegant. Besides, how attractive it was when you mix an arrogant look over there… 

“I stopped by to see your face.”

“Come on in.”

Killian sat down at the seat Edith suggested.

“Today… Did you enjoy going out?”

“Yes! I went inside <Peridot> and have black tea and dessert. Did you know that strawberry cake there is also very delicious?”

“Is it still a strawberry?”

“Uh? Is that so? I guess I really like strawberries.”

Her smiling face was pretty as if she had finally realized it. Killian smiled at her face involuntarily and awkwardly handed the bag in his hand.

“This… take it.”

“Yes? What’s this?”

“No big deal. Just because I wanted to buy it.”

Edith tilted her head with round eyes and then carefully unfolded the items in the bag.

“Oh my god…! What is all this?”

“If you don’t like it, you can go and change it to something else.”

“No. They are all really pretty. Who picked this one?”

“I did… I chose it. Do you like it?”

“You chose it?”

Edith’s eyes widened. Then, she put the hair ornament from the box she had just opened around her head. Thanks to Anna’s help, the satin ribbon decorated with pearls was neatly pinned to Edith’s hair.

“How is it?”

“…It suits you well.”

“I think it suits me well as well. It’s surprising that you had such an eye for it, isn’t it?”

“My eye for good things has been trained since childhood.”

“Is that so? I like everything. Even if I were to choose, I wouldn’t be able to choose something as pretty as this. Thanks, Killian.”

There was no sign of sorry or pretense on Edith’s face, who smiled brightly at him. She was really just delighted with the gift he gave her. It was a bit of a fresh experience for Killian, who always heard ‘sorry’ whenever he gave something to Lise as a present. Until now, he had thought that Lise’s modesty was very pretty, but to be honest, from the standpoint of giving the gift, he was much happier with Edith’s reaction.

“I’m glad you like it. If I had known you would like it this much, I would have bought more.”

“No, it’s not like that. There are too many of these. Just…”

“Just… … ?”

“It’s just that I’m more happy that you were thinking about me and choosing things outside. Thanks, Killian.”

Killian felt a pang in his stomach as she received the modest gift he bought to erase his guilt and Edit’s thanks for thinking of her.

‘This woman knows how to arouse people’s feelings of guilt.’

Killian, who was clearing his throat for no reason, said as if it was no big deal that he would buy her this much.

“Next time… Let’s go together. I still have to order shoes and boots before going down to the manor. I have already told the shoe store today.”

“Is it so? I always have time, so please tell me when it’s convenient for you.”

“I see. Then… this much.”

“Yes. Thanks for the gift, Killian. Rest well.”

Killian got up from his seat and gently hugged Edith by the waist as she came along to see him off and kissed her lightly. Edith naturally accepted his kiss and smiled softly.

“You too may have a good dream.”

“Yes.”

Killian, who took a sad step back, went back to his room and unknowingly twitched the corners of his mouth. He asked Edith to go out with him, he said so casually. and she seemed to accept him as well. The prickling sensation in his chest also improved, and more than anything, he seemed to exhilarate himself at the thought of going out with her. 

He wasn’t thinking about Lise, whom he went out with today, but Killian, whose head was filled with Edith’s thoughts, couldn’t even think of that fact.

—————————————————————

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like