6: The Village Trip
I hesitated in response to Felix‘s question.
I felt like he would eventually find out if I lied to him. He seemed to genuinely care about Celia Ebennein. But what could I possibly tell him? ‘Someone else’s soul entered Celia’s body!’ He’d surely never believe that. And even if he did, it would be a problem. He might try to hold a ritual to call the original Celia’s soul back. A ritual is fine, I suppose, but what if I end up in someone else’s strange body?
I swallowed the food in my mouth and looked at Felix.
“The Crown Prince dumped me.”
“I saw that part, so I know. But your personality wouldn’t change just because you got dumped. Did a Mage visit you?”
“I don’t know. If a Mage visited, would I still have memories of the Mage? If my personality changed like this, they would have experimented on me. I truly have no memories at all.”
Felix fell silent at my answer. He didn’t seem to have much to say. I looked away and spoke up again.
“Can I ask you something now? How did you recognize that I was Celia? Everyone else has no idea.”
Felix stared intently at me. Then, he sighed deeply and shrugged his shoulders.
“I just felt like it. We’ve known each other for how many years? How could I not recognize your face? It’s confusing, but if I look closely, I can still see you.”
“I guess my skills are still lacking.”
“What is?”
Felix heard my mumbled words as I ate and immediately asked. He was so quick that I flinched without meaning to.
“I just… I want other people not to recognize me.”
Unlike my awkward reply, Felix suddenly leaned his face close to mine and spoke with an urgent voice. “Why do you want people not to recognize you? Are you planning to run away?”
I felt my eyes widen. I pushed Felix’s face away with one hand, trying to calm my rapidly beating heart.
“No, nothing like that. Don’t make weird assumptions.”
Felix was pushed back but still twisted his head to meet my gaze.
“Then what is it? Why do you want them not to recognize you?”
“Proof of skill? Something like that.”
“Proof of what skill?”
“I want to make money with makeup.”
“Makeup can earn money? Servants or people themselves usually do it.”
“You don’t need to know the details.”
“The old Celia used to tell me everything. Aren’t you too prickly now? Well, fine. Do what you want with that. I thought for a moment you were planning to meet the Crown Prince again at this ball.”
“…What?”
“What?”
“There’s a ball?”
“Why are you suddenly… Oh. You said you didn’t remember, right?”
Felix pondered, looked around, and stared intently at Lily. After a moment of thought, he bent down and cupped his hand next to my ear so only I could hear. He began to whisper.
“The Crown Prince, and the Emperor, love parties so much. Actually, they just really like women. Anyway, it’s practically a continuous string of balls almost every weekend.”
After whispering his secret, Felix sat up again, folding his legs, and looked at me.
“So, part of the reason I came was to ask if you’d go to the next ball with me. I don’t want to go, but I can’t skip it since I have to show my face.”
A ball, huh? And the Crown Prince will be there? This event should be enough to demonstrate my skill, right? And since the story is still in the early stages, the Crown Princess hasn’t made a proper deal with the Mage yet. Maybe I can even catch the Crown Princess’s eye?
I nodded and quickly finished the rest of my sandwich. Felix looked surprised at how quickly it vanished. Ignoring him, I lightly dusted my hands and stood up abruptly.
“Lily, is the town far from here?”
“What? The town? It won’t be far if we take a carriage. But why are you suddenly asking about the town?”
“Felix, I’ll go to the ball with you. I have somewhere I need to go urgently, so you can just head home yourself.”
“Hey, hey, wait a minute! You’re going?”
Felix quickly grabbed my wrist, looking up at me. Unable to move because of his grip, I looked down at him with a confused expression.
“Of course, I’m going. Who else would go?”
“No, I mean, why are you going? You can just send a servant.”
Felix spoke as if it were obvious, looking even more flustered than I was. Thinking about it, Celia was still a noble. A noble going to the village without a reason? Even I thought it sounded a little strange. They have so much money, why bother?
But the problem was whether a servant could correctly find and bring back what I needed, based on my description. I thought hard, then looked at Felix. Felix is an outsider, a noble from another family, so perhaps if he orders it, they will bring it back correctly?
When our eyes met, I sent him a look of suspicion. Felix looked around, then looked back at me with an aggrieved expression. He didn’t seem to know what I was thinking.
“Felix.”
“Uh, what?”
“Then why don’t you order it?”
“Order what?”
“What do you think? Tell them to bring what I need. You know they don’t listen to me very well.”
Felix grumbled to himself, as if asking why I was using him like a servant. Still, he called over a passing servant without another word.
“Come here for a moment.”
“Yes?”
The servant approached us obediently, though with a question mark on his face. Felix nodded, indicating I should give the order to this servant.
I cleared my throat and pictured the exact items in my head. Then I slowly began to speak.
“Could you go to the art supply store in the village and buy some brushes? But not just any brush, I need thin brushes. Flat ones that look square. I also need thin, rounded brushes. And…”
I said I would be slow, but I didn’t say I would be brief.
After about five minutes of description, the servant, Felix, and even Lily were staring at me as if their souls had left their bodies.
Forget it. I’ll just buy it myself.
If I wait for delivery and get the wrong items, my schedule will be ruined. I looked at Lily.
“Lily, can you go buy it?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Hearing Lily’s answer, I turned to look at Felix.
“For that reason, I need to go buy it myself.”
“…”
Felix still hadn’t regained his senses. When he didn’t respond, Lily quickly interjected.
“But My Lady doesn’t need to go to such trouble…”
“I think having to read out that long list again after getting the wrong item would be more trouble, Lily, don’t you agree?”
Lily didn’t know what to do, but she couldn’t deny my point. I sent the dazed servant away and patted Lily’s back.
“I’ll be back.”
“My Lady…”
The warm atmosphere was suddenly shattered by an unexpected interruption.
“I’m going with you.”
“What?”
Felix, who seemed to have finally come to his senses, gave a confident smile.
“Do you want to get robbed by thieves and cry?”
Was Celia a crybaby? Why does everyone keep asking if I’m going to cry? And going with someone… usually a knight or someone… Hmm, knights would probably ignore Celia too.
I paused, then sighed and nodded. Felix’s expression instantly brightened like an excited puppy.
“Right? Lily would clearly get scolded if she went off carelessly. Go with me. I have things to buy anyway.”
I was suspicious of Felix, but he wasn’t wrong, so I nodded. After confirming my agreement, Felix shoved a piece of bread into his mouth and chewed loudly.
I handed the basket to Lily and walked toward the carriage to leave. But Felix just stared intently at me, who was standing still. I narrowed my eyes, as if asking what the problem was. Felix paused for a moment, then sighed.
“You’re going out looking like that?”
“Why?”
“You’re just saying, ‘I’m a noble, please steal from me,’ aren’t you?”
“…Ah.”
I relaxed my eyes and looked over my appearance. This outfit would definitely draw attention. Felix looked around and walked up to a passing servant. He whispered something to him.
After waiting for about five minutes, held back by Felix, the servant returned with a long black cloak.
“Put this on. Cover your head completely. Your hair color is too unique; everyone will recognize you.”
“Isn’t yours just as unique?”
“I have my own. I wear it too when I go to the village.”
I nodded, took the cloak Felix handed me, and covered myself completely until I was a black lump. Felix seemed to glance at my figure but said nothing, simply walking out of the mansion toward the carriage he had arrived in.
Clip-clop, rattle.
The carriage moved peacefully along the road. Probably.
The reason I say “probably” is because I felt like I was going to die from the pain, no matter how Felix felt. The seat was hard, and the carriage jolted so much that my butt hurt terribly. Is this right? It wasn’t an exaggeration; it felt even more painful than a wooden school chair.
But the man across from me seemed completely fine, leaning against the carriage and closing his eyes. As a result, I had to clench my jaw, biting back the moans of pain that threatened to escape.
I don’t remember how much time passed as I suppressed my tears and screamed internally. When Felix’s voice finally brought me back to my senses, we had already arrived at the village.
“Lia, put your hood on. It’s faster to walk from here, so we’re getting out now. Pay attention and follow me closely.”
