Chapter 15
Ellen found Royle even harder to understand than Erica with her peculiar tastes. He always spoke his mind to her, yet why was he so soft only with Erica? It reminded her of someone.
That someone always had plenty to say to her. With the other girls, he glossed over issues or let things slide. But with her, he always spoke so directly that she was left with nothing to say.
Maybe it was the downside of being friends for too long.
Could it be the same with Royle? After all, Eleonora and Roylette had been friends since they were very young. Since Roy was similar to that someone, maybe he also shared this trait.
Ellen shook her head sharply, trying to shake off thoughts of Eunho again.
Why does he keep popping into my head like this? I didn’t even think about him this much back when I was Hyesuh. Maybe it’s because Roy looks so much like him.
Then suddenly, a new thought crossed her mind: What if Roy actually likes Erica?
Sure, he might’ve felt a little overwhelmed by Erica’s advances at first, but he could’ve grown to like her. Why had she just assumed it was because he reminded her of Eunho?
Ellen glanced at Roy and tugged slightly at his sleeve to bring him closer. When he looked at her, puzzled, she asked directly,
“Roy, do you like Erica?”
Roy looked stunned.
“Huh?”
“I mean, seriously. You’re usually really firm about saying no to things and gracious when accepting something—but with Erica, you seem… different.”
She swallowed the urge to say, “Just like someone.” It wouldn’t mean anything to him anyway.
“No, it’s not like that,” Roy said, clearly taken aback.
“If it had been Serel wearing that pig-head monster ornament on her head and asking the same thing, I would’ve responded the same way.”
Ellen turned away with a pouty expression, not quite satisfied. Are these types only blunt with childhood friends or something?
Erica, now sporting the pig-head monster ornament, ran ahead toward a toy shop, and the rest of the children followed after her.
The toy shop wasn’t as impressive as expected. On the shelves were roughly carved wooden dolls, conch-shaped whistles, hobby horses with exposed wood grain, and wooden play dishes.
“These aren’t even painted.”
“The dolls don’t move at all.”
“Why are these made of wood and not porcelain?”
The kids scattered around, poking through the toys. At one point, Santuke tried to move the arm of a wooden knight doll—snap! It broke right off.
“Oh—uh?”
Startled, Santuke looked around. The snapping sound had been loud and clear. The shop owner and the children all rushed over.
“I—I didn’t do anything wrong. The doll was defective! I just tried to lift the arm, and it broke right off!”
Santuke rambled excuses while the shop owner stared at him in disbelief.
“Do you know how expensive jointed dolls are? You think you’d find one in a store like this? You must’ve heard about them somewhere and got the wrong idea. These dolls are meant to stand still. Where are your parents?”
At the mention of their parents, the children looked at one another. Erica answered.
“They’re not here.”
She meant their parents were at home, but the shop owner misunderstood, and his expression turned menacing.
“What? You break my merchandise and think saying your parents aren’t around is enough?”
As the shop owner stepped forward aggressively, Roy slid between him and the children.
“How much for the doll?”
“Ten copper coins.”
The shop owner looked at him, clearly asking are you really paying for it? Roy nodded and turned to Erica.
“Erica, give me ten coppers.”
Erica counted out the coins and handed them to Roy, who paid the shop owner.
“Here you go. Now we’re good, right?”
The toys were cheaper and clunkier than what they normally played with, and the shop owner’s scary demeanor made them want to leave immediately.
The shopkeeper counted the coins and replied curtly, “Fine. But be careful next time. I’m letting you off easy.”
The moment he spoke, Ellen grabbed Erica and Santuke and dashed outside. Roy followed with Serel and Adrian.
After the incident at the toy shop, Ellen thought Santuke would be feeling down. She was a little worried.
But it didn’t last long—soon the kids were energetically running around again, including Santuke.
I worried for nothing.
By the time Ellen, exhausted from wrangling wandering kids, began thinking they should be tied together on a rope, Roy suggested taking a break with drinks at a street café.
They entered the fanciest café in sight and sat at an outdoor table, ordering nearly every dessert on the menu.
“All of these?” the server asked skeptically, his eyes silently saying, Can you even pay for this? He looked like he was ready to call someone to throw them out.
Ellen thought to herself, At least he used polite speech.
She wasn’t the only one who picked up on his attitude. Offended by his obvious doubt, the kids scoffed.
“I get what you’re worried about. We’ll pay up front—just bring what we ordered,” Erica said, placing a gold coin on the table.
Though the total cost was barely two silver coins, she deliberately used gold. The server’s eyes widened, and he snatched it up quickly. He now looked more like he was wondering where did these brats get this kind of money? But he didn’t say another word and bowed respectfully before leaving.
“Do we look that poor in these clothes?” Serel asked, eyeing their outfits.
Ellen glanced at the other children in the street. “Aren’t we dressed pretty normally? We look similar to them.”
“Yeah, but I doubt they’d be eating at a café like this. Next time, we should dress more like well-off commoners,” Adrian added, clearly still annoyed at the server.
While they critiqued their fashion, three servers arrived with desserts and the change. Erica shoved the silver and copper coins into her pouch.
“Shouldn’t have used gold. Now my pouch is way too heavy.”
Her pouch bulged, nearly bursting from the weight of the change.
Ellen didn’t even blink at the table overflowing with desserts. She’d already seen this happen during the group’s six previous snack outings.
Despite having already eaten a lot at the market, the kids poked at the desserts only once before stopping.
“Can’t eat anymore.”
“Same here.”
“…”
They weren’t impressed. Compared to the treats they usually enjoyed, these desserts felt like downgraded versions.
The market food had been novel and interesting, but this café’s offerings felt bland in comparison. With full bellies and little interest, they put down their forks without hesitation.
“It’s already evening. Should we get going?” Roy asked, glancing at the sky from his seat.
“It’s not dark yet. Can’t we play a bit more?” Serel asked, following his gaze.
“Considering how long it’ll take to get back to Dumfrican by carriage, we should probably head out,” said Ellen, exhausted and relieved at the thought.
“Ahhh—it was so much fun. I wanna keep playing,” Erica groaned, stretching her limbs from her chair, face full of regret.
Not just her—every kid except Ellen and Roy had don’t wanna leave written all over their faces.
As the kids lingered at the café, not wanting to go home, a rhythmic thud thud thud of several people running echoed toward them. Curious, they turned to look and saw a group of knights from a noble house rushing over.
“What’s going on? Something happen?”
“This is the Brown district—why are there knights instead of guards? Which house?”
Adrian narrowed his eyes to identify them.
“Looks like Dumfrican’s crest,” he said.
The children turned their eyes toward the knights.
“Hey, is something happening at your house?” Serel asked.
Santuke stood up and raised his hand. The knights spotted him and rushed over.
“What’s going on?” Santuke asked.
“We’ve been looking everywhere! Lord Santuke and the other young masters and ladies all vanished!”
The soldier barked his reply, standing at attention.
Oh, right—we snuck out, didn’t we? The children looked at each other sheepishly.
“We should go,” Roy said with a chuckle, getting up. The rest followed.
Surrounded by knights, the children walked through the center of the market. Onlookers stared, clearly thinking, Who are those kids?
To commoners, it looked like six street kids being escorted by noble house soldiers.
Back at the spot where Erica’s carriage was parked, the group was shocked to find Santuke’s mother waiting beside it.
“M-Mother?” Santuke approached her, and she immediately grabbed and twisted his ear.
“Ow, ow, ow! That hurts!”
“We’ll talk when we get home.”
Though she whispered it, every child heard. Yikes, they thought, casting pitiful looks at Santuke.
“Miss Erica, Miss Serel, Miss Eleonora, Master Roylette, Master Adrian—are you all unharmed?”
Lady Dumfrican asked kindly, but the kids had already seen her twist Santuke’s ear.
“We’re fine!”
“Sorry for worrying you, Lady Dumfrican!”
The children responded with perfect posture, completely on edge.
“That’s good. Now, whose carriage is this?”
“It’s mine, ma’am. The crest’s just not on it, so it’s hard to tell,” Erica replied sweetly.
“It may not show, but it’s very elegant. I wonder where it was made. Do tell the Duchess I’ll write to her.”
“Yes, I’ll let her know,” Erica replied before boarding the carriage, followed by the others.
Santuke hesitated—should he ride with Erica or with his mother? He wanted to be with his friends, but he had misbehaved…
He slowly reached toward Erica’s carriage, watching his mother’s face. She turned away, pretending not to see.
Not wasting the chance, Santuke scrambled aboard Erica’s carriage.
