Chapter 39
What caught Rafaella’s eye was the man standing at the very back of the line at the dessert shop.
He stood out partly because he was the only man in a space full of girls—but more than that, his appearance itself was unusual.
His brilliant blond hair, as if it had stolen the light of the midsummer sun, fell in loose waves almost to his shoulders. He had a healthy complexion and thin silver-rimmed glasses. Anyone could tell at a glance that he looked like a stage actor—delicately handsome.
His face alone would have been enough to draw attention, but his outfit was even more astonishing.
A flamboyant outfit embroidered with silver thread, a flashy necklace woven from gemstones of every color like a rainbow, rings, bracelets, and more. His entire body was festooned with accessories.
Naturally, he drew the gaze of everyone who passed by.
Rafaella rested her chin on her hand and spoke to Rosalie.
“The Lord of Sester really is capable. I mean, even if this is inside the city, the fact that someone can walk around dressed like that.”
“W-What do you mean?”
“It means the public security is good. Look at that guy.”
Rafaella continued, pointing at the jewel-laden man.
“If he walked around alone like that somewhere else, without any escort, bandits would drag him off without a trace. If he’s lucky, they’d only rob him. Half the time, they’d kill him.”
“H-Huh. I-Is that really true? Does that actually happen?”
Rosalie, who had lived her whole life sheltered within the lord’s castle, gasped and covered her mouth.
However, though she had grown up confined, she had read an enormous number of books. Not only those in the castle library, but also the latest travelogues and novels from city bookstores, brought in through maids. She was, in short, a voracious reader of all genres.
In the most recent romance novel she’d read, when the heroine was about to be attacked by bandits, the hero appeared dramatically to save her. But there hadn’t been any scenes where people were actually killed.
Rosalie didn’t know that the maids and butler, acting on the Lord of Sester’s orders, had filtered out books with more brutal content.
Thinking that reality really was frightening, Rosalie turned her head toward the man Rafaella had pointed out.
And before she realized it, a crude remark slipped out of her mouth.
“T-That person is someone I’d want to rob myself—ah!”
Seeing the man glittering from head to toe, she hurriedly covered her mouth at the words that had escaped her.
Rafaella snorted softly and replied,
“Right? Maybe he was a crow in his past life. He really loves shiny things.”
“I-I know. It’s really over the top. Um. B-But he looks familiar somehow….”
After thinking hard, Rosalie suddenly exclaimed as if she’d remembered.
“Ah! I-I remember now. I saw him come to the lord’s castle to pay his respects a few months ago. H-He’s a noble from some faraway country, and he said he liked this place, s-so he’d be staying near the harbor for a while….”
“So a rich young master with nothing to do, visiting out of boredom.”
Just then, a server approached their group, pushing a trolley.
As the ordered desserts filled the table to the brim, Rafaella and Rosalie quickly lost interest in the man.
The server glanced at Perry, who was occupying one spot at the table, but Perry’s gaze was fixed on the colorful desserts. The server seemed to think Perry was just a small squirrel-like pet.
Once the server left, Perry could no longer hold back. He opened his mouth wide and lunged at the nearest cake.
“It’s super delicious! Perry is happy!”
Taking a huge bite, Perry was soon busy smearing cream all over his lips, while Rosalie neatly cut her cake into small pieces with her fork. It was clear the Lord of Sester had taught her proper table manners well.
Rafaella sipped her tea, watching Perry and Rosalie enjoy themselves.
“This is the taste of money.”
Getting what you want, doing whatever you feel like—there were so many things money could do in the human world. That was why she’d tried to squeeze money out of the Empress as well.
If she wrapped up the business here properly, she planned to extract not just money, but also a proper foothold in the imperial palace. If she were honest, she wanted to snatch even the Empress’s chambers.
They started it first. From now on, this is self-defense.
Thinking about hurrying back after settling matters at the harbor and slapping the smug look off the Empress’s face, the corners of Rafaella’s lips slowly lifted.
“S-Sis, you should have some too.”
“Don’t worry about me. Eat as much as you like.”
“Master! Try this! It’s really good!”
Perry said as he picked up a cookie with his sticky hands and offered it to her. Rafaella chuckled softly, took the cookie, and popped it into her mouth. As she bit into it, the buttery aroma spread and the chocolate chips melted softly.
“Mmm. It’s good.”
“Right? Perry can order lots of these, right? I want to give them to my friends.”
Then Rosalie hurriedly tried to stop him.
“P-Perry-nim. We already ordered so many cakes earlier. C-Cookies are good, yes, they really melt in your mouth, and the aroma is amazing, b-but… gulp. S-Still, cookies can wait until next time….”
Seeing Rosalie swallow her saliva mid-sentence, Rafaella finally burst out laughing.
“Rosalie. Let’s pack a box each to take back. Eat them yourself or give them to the lord—do whatever you want.”
“Ah, sis….”
Rosalie’s eyes sparkled with emotion as she gave Rafaella a burdensome look, but Rafaella calmly avoided her gaze and called over the server.
The server, delighted at encountering a big spender after so long, hurried over with a bright smile.
“Pack ten boxes of these cookies.”
“G-Gasp, ten boxes?”
“Yeah. Prepare them right away.”
“Y-Yes! Right away!”
After heading to the kitchen to place the order, the server suddenly returned carrying a small plate.
On it were three finger-length cookies, shaped like thin dough rolled tightly.
“This is a complimentary service from our head chef! They’re usually given only occasionally to regulars—lucky cookies—but he really wanted to give them to you.”
After setting the plate down, the server glanced at Perry with cream smeared around his mouth and smiled so widely his eyes nearly disappeared, then left.
“Master, what’s a lucky cookie?”
“Who knows. It’s my first time seeing one too.”
“Uh, sis. A-Aren’t there lucky cookies in the capital?”
Rosalie continued in surprise.
“T-This, you break it in half like this, and inside there’s a fortune that tells you your luck.”
As she explained, Rosalie demonstrated by snapping her cookie cleanly in half. Inside was a long, thin strip of paper. She pulled it out and read it, tilting her head.
“M-Mine says, ‘You will receive warm comfort from someone precious.’ What does that mean?”
“That’s pretty vague.”
“Perry! Perry wants to try too!”
This time Perry climbed onto the plate and smashed one of the cookies with both hands.
With a crack, the cookie split open, revealing a slip of paper inside. Perry worked hard with his short arms to unfold it and read.
“Ah! Perry’s says, ‘You will have a good dream’!”
“Perfect for a sleepyhead.”
“Perry is not a sleepyhead!”
“What do you mean you’re not? You sleep twelve hours a day.”
“That’s because I’m growing! Perry still has to grow more!”
“Well, you are pretty tiny. Fine, fine. Eat lots and grow up fast, baby.”
“Eek! Master, that’s mean!”
Annoyed by the teasing, Perry puffed out his cheeks, grabbed the cake boxes that had already been packed, and—pop—vanished into the spirit realm.
“Uh, sis. Perry-nim is u-upset.”
“He’ll be back soon.”
“S-Still, don’t tease him too much. E-Even I think calling him small was too much….”
“Was it?”
“I-I’m small too, so I know. T-Those kinds of words really hurt.”
“Hm.”
After thinking it over, Rafaella called the server and ordered two more boxes of cookies.
She teased Perry often because his reactions were cute, but seeing Rosalie speak like that made her think she should apologize.
Rosalie nudged the plate with the remaining lucky cookie.
“A-Aren’t you going to look, sis?”
“No. I won’t.”
“W-Why not? It’s fun.”
“Actually, these fortunes are all psychological tricks. They write things that could happen in everyday life, and humans convince themselves the fortune came true.”
“T-That might be so, b-but it makes you feel good.”
Rosalie’s words made Rafaella ask back in genuine surprise.
“It makes you feel good? Just from something like this?”
“O-Of course. Just thinking that something good will happen makes you feel better. I-It makes the day feel exciting.”
“Exciting, huh….”
Rafaella fell silent in thought.
When was the last time she’d felt excited? It was so far back she couldn’t remember. During her dull, tedious life in the divine realm, or even when she secretly descended to the human world behind the chief god Taratius’s back—she’d sometimes felt amusement or interest, but never excitement.
Perhaps she hadn’t felt it even once since becoming a god.
Her mind changed. Rafaella picked up the lucky cookie. Rosalie, sitting across from her, watched with eyes full of anticipation.
Crack. Rafaella broke the cookie and took out the slip of paper.
As she read it, her expression grew strange—and at the same time, the shop entrance became noisy.
“What do you mean, why…!! I stood in line too. I waited so long…!”
The one grabbing the server and causing a scene was none other than the jewel-laden man.
