Just as it seemed like the thug was about to pass Ris and approach me.
“Ugh…”
The moment he turned his back to her, she raised the edge of her hand and struck the back of his neck.
It didn’t look like she hit him particularly hard, nor was there any sound of impact. And yet, the thug immediately lost consciousness and collapsed on the spot.
Even seeing it with my own eyes, it was hard to believe such skill.
“Wow… Ris, your technique is incredible. You didn’t happen to receive assassination training somewhere, did you…?”
For a split second, it seemed as if her pupils wavered ever so slightly. But she answered at once.
“No. That is not the case. And I merely rendered him unconscious.”
With that, she returned to her usual impassive expression.
Watching her, I suddenly realized something. Ris had an unusual lack of emotional reaction when people were getting hurt.
I thought her expression a moment ago had seemed a little unnatural, but that wasn’t what mattered right now.
“It looks like this was the person who had been following us.”
But it seemed Ris had a slightly different thought.
“He does not seem like someone capable of hiding their presence that well. The real one may be elsewhere, and this person could simply be bait sent to confuse us.”
Then she lightly hoisted up the large thug without even a shout of effort. Even while carrying a man who looked to be nearly twice her size, her breathing didn’t falter at all, which was once again astonishing.
‘That’s monstrous strength that would put most brute force to shame.’
“I will go toss this over there.”
While she stepped away to deal with the unconscious thug, someone approached.
‘No way, another thug?’
Startled, I quickly looked up. But contrary to my expectation, this time my view was filled with shining blond hair and a pale face.
With a broad smile spread across his handsome face, he called my name.
“Lyn. I did not expect to run into you here.”
“…Ifrit.”
That smile still carried the look of a bright, innocent boy.
Before I knew it, I was staring at him blankly, when Ris suddenly appeared and stepped in between Ifrit and me. She must have sprinted at full speed the moment she spotted him from afar.
“My goodness, Ris.”
Her eyes, fixed silently on Ifrit, were openly filled with wariness.
However, no matter how much she disliked him, Ifrit was a Marquis. So she reluctantly dipped her head in greeting.
Considering the gap in their status, her attitude could have looked quite disrespectful, but Ifrit seemed not to mind it at all.
As if she didn’t even exist, he looked past Ris at me and spoke gently.
“So we meet like this. It is truly a pleasure.”
Perhaps conscious of Ris after all, he fortunately adjusted his manner of speech.
“Ah, yes. Sir Ifrit.”
He looked subtly pleased. One might think he was simply happy to see me, but considering our current relationship, it was a somewhat puzzling emotion.
‘Honestly, I’m not happy at all.’
The last conversation we had was me rejecting his proposal, so there was no reason for meeting him to feel comfortable.
Ifrit stepped past Ris to my side and asked casually.
“Where are you headed?”
“I was about to go home.”
It was a way of saying that unless he intended to follow me all the way home, this was where we parted.
At that, his clear, beautiful grayish-brown eyes drooped sadly. He seemed to glance toward Ris, then gave a small nod with an expression that said it couldn’t be helped.
“I understand. Please get home safely.”
The moment Ifrit turned away, Ris stuck close to me and linked her arm through mine. Even as we walked, she kept shooting dagger-like glares back over her shoulder and turning around several times, until I finally burst out laughing.
“What is it, Ris? Do you dislike Marquis Pavel that much? Or is it because you are worried he might say he is leaving and then follow us?”
But contrary to my expectation, her expression was serious.
“It seems the presence that felt like it was following us earlier has disappeared.”
“Really? But why do you look like that, Ris?”
“It may have given up on following us, but it could also have hidden its presence more thoroughly. Or it may have left because its business was finished.”
“Could it be that because we were talking with the Marquis, they thought there was a man in our group and gave up?”
There were, after all, people who would look down on and harass one or two women walking alone. But as if deep in thought, the crease between her brows didn’t ease easily.
***
The next day as well, I left the mansion together with Ris.
When I told her to load the sacks full of raw stones onto a cart since they would be heavy, Ris, for once, voiced her own opinion.
“Ah, my Lady. Is there really a need for this? It is more comfortable for me to just sling the sack over my shoulder.”
She normally never talked back to me, but she seemed to have firm confidence when it came to her own strength.
‘Yes, for you, that might be the case. But…’
“I know. This much is light work for you. But we are going into the crowded center of the Capital, are we not?”
“Yes, but why is that….”
“I do not want to draw attention from that many people. So please endure it just for today.”
It was obvious that people would stare at the sight of a young woman casually slinging over her shoulder a large sack that clearly looked extremely heavy.
After some careful coaxing, she eventually went with me, pushing the gardening cart with the raw stones loaded onto it.
As if this amount of weight truly meant nothing to her, she walked faster than me, who was empty-handed, diligently scanning our surroundings.
We were walking along, chatting lightly about this and that, when Ris suddenly turned back with a sharp look in her eyes.
“What is it, is there something there?”
“My Lady, please stay here for a moment.”
“Huh? Why….”
Before I could even finish my question, she stopped the cart and sprinted toward the direction she had just glanced at.
Tadadada!
The speed was so unbelievable that my eyes widened. Movies I had seen back when I lived in Korea flashed through my mind. The kind where robots were fused with human bodies, creating protagonists with astonishing physical abilities.
‘Is she some kind of cyborg or what…?’
Ris returned not long after. But her expression showed she hadn’t let her guard down.
“What is it? What was it?”
“It seemed someone was following us. I meant to catch them today for sure, but by the time I reached the direction where I sensed the presence, they were already gone.”
“What?”
An instinctive fear crept up my spine, making the hairs on the back of my neck bristle.
“Do not worry, my Lady. I, Ris, will make sure that no one so much as lays a fingertip on you!”
She told me to trust her and proudly thumped her chest.
Just then, a familiar man walked out from an alley ahead. The moment we spotted each other, both his eyes and mine widened at the same time.
“Lady Evelyn? We meet again.”
“Indeed, Sir Ifrit. We do seem to run into each other often.”
Somehow, it felt like we had been meeting even more frequently since I rejected his proposal.
Ris bowed her head deeply as if greeting him, hiding her displeased expression.
Ifrit, who greeted us with a bright face, shifted his gaze to the cart she was pushing.
“What is this?”
‘Ah… damn.’
I had planned to sell these raw stones to a jeweler other than Pavel’s Jewelry.
At first, I had gone there without knowing it was Ifrit’s shop, but now it felt awkward to keep bringing things there to sell. On top of that, I was currently someone who had rejected his proposal.
‘There is no way I’m shameless enough to casually walk into his shop after that.’
Still, since he asked me directly, I couldn’t avoid answering. After a brief hesitation, I replied honestly.
“They are raw lapis lazuli stones.”
At that, Ifrit’s eyes sparkled.
“Did you buy them? Or are you planning to sell them?”
I couldn’t say that I had hoarded them a few days ago, so I had to tell a small lie here.
“…They were something we had at home. I heard the market price has gone up a lot lately, so I brought them out to sell.”
As expected of Ifrit, a gemstone expert and someone skilled in commerce, he immediately proposed a deal.
“If you had something like this, you should have come to me first!”
“Ah, well…”
“If you were to sell this elsewhere while I am standing right here, I would be quite hurt.”
Caught by those deer-like eyes, I ended up having no choice but to sell the raw stones to Pavel’s Jewelry.
‘Still, I am grateful that he offered such a good price.’
The payment for the raw lapis lazuli stones was more than five times the price I had paid to acquire them. At this rate, even after repaying that bastard Gerald the principal and generous interest, a considerable sum would still remain in my hands.
‘Good. I just need to steadily grow it like this. If I keep going, buying a house in the countryside to live in with Rosie will be easy before long!’
Seeing me grinning broadly with my heart swelling with excitement, Ifrit smiled warmly as well.
When I faced the affectionate smile of a pure-looking handsome man, another smile slipped out of me without realizing it.
Of course, this wasn’t because I liked him, but closer to a physiological reaction to seeing something beautiful.
‘What is he so happy about that he is smiling like that? As if he knows what I am thinking.’
I scolded him inwardly for no reason, without even realizing that the discomfort I had felt toward him after rejecting his proposal had somehow eased.
