Chapter 71
A silver-haired man.
The owner of the ship Daedern, and Lili’s husband.
‘…That’s him, right?’
To be honest, I couldn’t remember his face clearly.
But with how incredibly handsome he was, with silver hair, and with Lili beside him, it had to be that man named Allend.
Showen felt uncomfortable around him.
Now, the feelings he once had for Lili were completely gone, but
the memory of having his sincere heart ruthlessly trampled by that man still remained.
‘They’re coming.’
Lili and Allend were slowly getting closer to him.
Showen pretended not to notice and struck up a conversation with the street vendor in front of him.
“Ah, boss. This looks really tasty.”
“Oh? Judging by your outfit, are you a sailor? A handsome young man with a good eye for food! That’ll be 2 silver.”
“……”
The vendor put on a customer-service smile and held out his hand.
But no matter how much Showen dug through his pockets, there was nothing but dust—there was no way he had 2 silver.
To be struggling over 2 silver that even kids carried as allowance.
It was an embarrassing situation.
“Well, that is—”
“What, you don’t have money? You don’t look like that kind of young man, but if you don’t have money—”
“I do! Three of them, please.”
A head suddenly popped out beside Showen and handed money to the vendor.
It was Lili.
She took three skewers of grilled corn and handed one to Showen and one to Allend, who was with her.
“Showen! What are you doing here?”
“Long time no see. A relative lives here, so I came to stay for a bit.”
“Oh. Then are you staying in Zendal from now on? For how long?”
“About a month.”
Holding the corn skewer, Showen looked at Lili.
It really was nice to see her after a long time.
As Showen smiled faintly, his eyes met a pair of eyes like clear seawater.
Behind Lili stood Allend, holding a corn skewer despite it not matching his refined appearance at all.
Was it just his imagination, or did his expression look cold?
When they were on the ship, he felt more gentle than this.
“G-Greetings… Shipowner.”
“……”
When Showen greeted him awkwardly, Allend nodded in response.
Then he looked at Showen as if he had something to say.
“What are you staring at?”
“…How did you recognize me?”
“Because you were next to Lili…”
Honestly, how would I know the shipowner’s face?
If Lili hadn’t been there, even if we passed each other like this, I would have assumed he was a stranger and walked by.
‘…Is he picking a fight just because I recognized him?’
If someone picked a fight, you had to return it.
It was a virtue just as important to sailors as loyalty.
Showen smirked slightly.
“Looks like you and Lili are still getting along well these days, Shipowner?”
“We are. And you— I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say my wife’s name so casually.”
Was he implying that I was some scoundrel hitting on a married woman?
Showen’s lips twitched.
“I’m sorry, but Lili is also my friend. Do you happen to be the type to restrain your wife, Shipowner? What will you do if Lili gets tired of you and hits a slump in your relationship?”
This time, Allend’s eyebrow twitched.
“Well. I don’t think our feelings for each other will cool enough for a slump to come.”
Allend and Showen’s gazes collided in midair.
Watching the two men engage in a silent standoff in the middle of the street, Ari shook her head inwardly.
‘What kind of setting got added this time?’
It seemed she had unknowingly reunited with her ex-husband.
When she said she liked him, he avoided her like that, yet in situations like this he acted like someone with a face of steel.
‘Honestly, Your Majesty really commits to role-playing. If you’d been an actor…’
You would’ve completely dominated the entertainment industry.
Ari glanced toward where Henkel and Kadien were standing behind them, then looked back at Allend and Showen.
“Showen, do you have any other plans today?”
“…No.”
Showen shook his head.
Not just plans—he had no money, and nowhere to go.
…and he was hungry.
Seeing that, Ari waved a voucher she pulled out of her bag.
“Perfect! Someone I know gave me restaurant meal tickets. Let’s go eat together.”
An adult.
In the few months she hadn’t seen her, her friend had become a financially capable adult.
Moved, Showen nodded.
There were five meal tickets from Olivia.
Two were given to Captain Henkel and Kadien, and the remaining three were for us.
So the three of us—His Majesty, Showen, and I—entered the restaurant room we were guided to.
But the seating was… awkward.
“The seats…”
“I’m sorry, customer. Other than reserved seating, this is the only place we can offer right now…”
There was one two-person loveseat and one single chair facing each other across the table.
That was the problem.
Since we were using a married-couple setting, it felt like His Majesty and I should sit on the two-person seat.
But a lover’s seat—yes, a lover’s seat!
‘It’s so narrow our legs would touch!’
If His Majesty and I sat together, I was 100% sure our thighs would touch.
Then what about me—what would I do…?!
The future playing out in my head was terrifying, making it hard to sit down.
“What are you doing? I’ll sit first.”
“W-Wait a second!”
As I stood there hesitating, Showen, who had entered behind me, tried to pass me and sit in the single chair.
In a panic, I grabbed his arm.
“Sho-Showen. Want to sit with me?”
“Uh…? Why, why?!”
“Well, we just met again after a long time. And we don’t know when we’ll see each other again…!”
To anyone else, it might look like I was hitting on Showen, but that wasn’t it.
If I sat next to His Majesty, I didn’t know what I might do—!
The thought that I had to protect His Majesty filled my head.
“Let’s sit together, Showen!”
I seated Showen on the two-person chair and tried to sit beside him.
But then—
“…Why, why is that?”
“I think it’d be better if you sat on the opposite side.”
His Majesty gently smiled, holding my shoulder, and seated me in the single chair.
Then he took a seat next to Showen.
“S-Shipowner, why are you sitting there?!”
“…It’s not like I’m sitting here because I want to. Just sit.”
Even with just His Majesty and me, the seat would’ve been full—
with His Majesty and Showen together, it felt so cramped the armrest might burst.
“……”
The servers who came in to take orders and serve food witnessed this rare sight and gasped each time.
“You two look very close.”
Someone commented because the atmosphere was so awkward, but they almost got killed by glares.
Both of them looked like they were saying, Stop saying nonsense.
Still, perhaps the food suited his taste—despite the uncomfortable posture, Showen cleaned his plate completely.
“I’ll go to the restroom for a bit…”
After finishing even the last dessert, Showen staggered toward the restroom with a worn-out expression.
Only His Majesty and I were left in the room.
“Your Majesty, when did you get so close with Showen?”
“Be quiet.”
I just wanted to tease him a little.
I took the decorative strawberry from my dessert cake and placed it on His Majesty’s plate.
“What’s this?”
“A small happiness.”
“That’s silly.”
He called my action trivial, but then
His Majesty chuckled softly and placed his strawberry on my plate.
“What’s that supposed to be?”
“An exchange of small happiness.”
“…Your Majesty, I think I’m in a state of happiness overload right now.”
I wanted to say, “That’s silly,” too.
But wow. Impossible.
Why does hearing the word “happiness” from His Majesty feel so good…?
My mood felt all warm and fluffy, and I was deeply moved!
“…Are you crying?”
“No.”
I sniffled.
“It’s just… Your Majesty, I really like you a lot.”
And before any sound could come out, I hurriedly added—
“It’s not a confession, and I’m not asking you to date me, so don’t misunderstand.”
“Misunder—”
His Majesty looked dumbfounded.
Anyway, whatever.
“Your Majesty is just—”
Bang.
“Ah, I feel alive now after going to the restroom. …Did something happen?”
“Huh? No?”
“Is that so? Um, Shipowner. Please move inward a bit.”
“……”
Thanks to Showen returning at perfect timing, His Majesty had to shift back into the cramped position.
Your Majesty, just—
I just want you to be happy…!
“Showen, don’t forget that this old person treated you to a meal today.”
“Stop bragging. Fine, next time it’s on me. And… Shipowner, thank you as well. When I treat next time, come with Lili.”
Showen bowed politely to His Majesty and got into the carriage.
After leaving the restaurant, I happened to overhear Showen muttering, “Guess I’ll have to sleep outside,” and pressed him about it.
Turns out, my friend was a penniless homeless man.
The captain was too much. His own son, seriously…
Then the topic of relatives came up, and thankfully, they turned out to be from a family His Majesty knew.
Heh. To think he remembered even such small details.
As expected, the Seikan God had poured everything into him—he really was a cheat character.
“Then send a letter here before you set sail.”
“The imperial palace kitchen? Got it.”
Since we promised to meet once more before Showen left Zendal, I wrote down the place where Lili received mail and handed it to him.
And then Showen left.
His Majesty and I also boarded the carriage back to the imperial palace.
“……”
The street under the setting sun was quiet.
Only the sound of rolling wheels could be heard as His Majesty and I sat facing each other.
Where am I supposed to look…?!
Hoo, hoo.
I started to become self-conscious for no reason.
I rolled my eyes toward the window and tried to calm my quickening breath.
Heh. Still, compared to the first time I went to the Nisephoriel Temple, this was huge progress.
Back then, just being in the same space as His Majesty made me anxious.
Now, at least—
Now it’s at least…
‘Doesn’t feel okay now either?!’
I tightly locked my fingers together and placed my hands neatly on my thighs.
Behave yourself, my body.
“…Ha.”
“…Why are you smiling?”
Don’t smile.
If you can’t handle it…!
Are you confident, Your Majesty? Because I’m not…!?
“I was reminded of something from the past. The day we went to the Nisephoriel Temple.”
He was smiling because he was thinking of the same thing as me.
At those words, my clasped hands shook like an earthquake.
Ziiing—.
Ah, no.
You’re not supposed to react to that, okay…?!
