Chapter 37
“What time is it already? This can’t be.”
After all the effort it took to figure out the way here!
The words written on the door of the jewelry workshop, which I had finally found while checking the map Manou drew for me, felt so cruel.
Could it be that they’re just throwing a tantrum because I’m late?
No matter how many times I knocked, there was no response.
“All the other places are open, so why here?”
I couldn’t believe it, so I kept knocking on the jewelry workshop door. A woman from the neighboring clothing store peeked her head out.
She looked momentarily surprised at my hair, covered with a semi-transparent veil, but quickly sized up the fabric and price of my clothes and spoke with a haughty air.
“What are you doing?”
“Where is the owner of this jewelry workshop? Aren’t they working right now?”
Perhaps my tone came out sharper than intended, because her eyes held a trace of suspicion as she stared at me.
I quickly forced a flustered smile.
“I… I’m not familiar with this place.”
“First time in this neighborhood? That shop has been working here only from the first to the third day of Lord Rosio’s period. The remaining four days, they work in Triana. The earnings are better there, so they spend more time over there.”
It seemed Manou had misunderstood. Perhaps because I hadn’t spent much time in the estate.
I asked urgently,
“Triana? You mean across the river, right? Do you know exactly where the jewelry workshop in Triana is? If you know, maybe even a map?”
Triana was also part of the Sephardi estate.
Unlike the Centro, where the palacio, main shops, and cathedral were concentrated in the east, Triana was on the west side, across the Betis River.
“A map? How would I know that? I have no reason to ever go to Triana.”
The clothing shop woman, who had seemed kind, pouted and pretended not to know when I asked more details about Triana.
“Nothing at all comes to mind? Like next to the fountain, or near the plaza?”
“I really don’t know Triana. I heard it’s next to Nueva Plaza with the bull statue. Sometimes servants who guess wrong come asking, so I end up telling them.”
“Thanks.”
“But seriously, I don’t know Triana.”
I thanked her repeatedly and moved on. Time was short.
“Do you know the way to Triana?”
“No. Why would I know that?”
Did my question sound strange?
“Do you happen to know the way to Triana?”
“Don’t say unlucky things. Really.”
Or maybe it was because of my hair?
I stopped several people along the street to ask directions, but the responses were cold.
Some just gave me contemptuous looks without answering.
Even when I tried using a refined tone, like nobles speaking, everyone remained tight-lipped about Triana.
As I wandered like a madwoman, two scouts who had been watching me giggled and spoke.
“What’s up? Why go to Triana? Do you live there?”
“Hey, when have you ever seen women living there say they live there?”
“Why? It’s a place full of love. Where else can rich noblemen hide their lovers? The taverns are amazing. Gorgeous women, beggars, heartbroken artists—they all live there.”
“That’s true. Looking at your face, you must know Triana well. Hello, pretty Moro girl. Your jet-black hair is very alluring.”
They could be that vulgar even in front of someone.
Even in this irritating conversation, I could understand why everyone had pretended not to know about Triana so desperately.
‘These guys are the only ones who can tell me.’
I sighed deeply and straightened my expression.
There was no need to announce that the Sephardi noblewoman was wandering alone, but I didn’t want to be underestimated, so I spoke in the formal tone a noble would use to a commoner.
“Do you know which bridge leads to Triana?”
“Whoa, that tone. Scares me to death.”
“Considering your fair face and clothing, you must be a respected madame.”
“Respected? Not at all. Look at this.”
One of them reached out and lightly touched my veil.
A few strands of my jet-black hair fell, and they whistled.
“Still, your face is pretty. Sometimes girls there manage to snag a good position.”
Though I was boiling inside at their lewd chatter, I kept smiling.
“Please tell me the way to Triana. I’m lost.”
One of them leaned forward playfully.
“I’ll tell you, but why don’t you give me a kiss first?”
“Are you kidding? Do you want your neck chopped off by a nobleman whose mistress you steal?”
“Ah, true. Gotta watch my neck. Miss, to get to Triana, just follow the alley until the fork, then take the middle path. At the end, you’ll find a bridge. Cross it, and that’s Triana.”
They were surprisingly cooperative.
“Thanks.”
“Hey, saying thanks with just your mouth isn’t enough. Didn’t I tell you?”
The soldiers’ eyes were unpleasant.
‘Yoon Gabi, can’t you get your world-building right?’
I sighed, blaming the creator of this world, wondering if even these pathetic soldiers were ever intended characters.
I gave a wry smile.
“Right. I can’t just say thanks with my mouth. I’m grateful—will you give me a chance to repay the favor?”
“Really? We can?”
“You’re the only ones who told me the way to Triana, so perhaps the noble connected to me could help you someday.”
My suggestion seemed acceptable; the soldiers glanced at each other, smirked, and foolishly took the bait.
“Amazing. Who else could use such language? Must have learned it somewhere.”
“Anyway, if you do that, we’re thankful. Not sure how great an old man you asked, though.”
“Shall we escort you?”
“No need to waste the precious time of soldiers serving the Sephardi. If I give their names, I’ll tell them clearly myself.”
At my request, they recited their ordinary names, family names, neighborhoods, and affiliations.
Too many names to remember in one day.
I murmured them a few times, then smiled.
“Remember well, and tell my father properly.”
“Father? What? Is that how you call your old lover these days? Can’t I call you that too?”
One soldier laughed, still unaware of the situation.
Suppressing my disgust, I smiled gently. I loosened my veil, which had partly covered my hair and eyes.
“Since you told me the way, I’ll be generous this time.”
“Generous? Hah!”
“Generous is the right word. If you call my father, Duke Sephardi, that, it counts as noble insult, and worse, treason.”
“Sephar—ah.”
Their mischievous smiles disappeared instantly when I shook Sephardi’s seal from my pocket.
The soldiers bowed and trembled.
“Miss Sephardi, we… spoke without thinking—”
“If you forgive our rudeness, I… I will never again—”
“Again what? You said to repay the favor. The pretty Moro girl with the old lover is repaying the favor right now.”
I flicked them lightly with my foot as they lay flat, reciting the names and affiliations they had given. Even their muttered pleas stopped.
“If you want to help someone in the future, just help kindly. No nonsense, understood?”
“Yes, yes, Miss Sephardi. Understood.”
“Good. And remember, anyone who claims they’ve seen a half-noble miss like me will be guilty of an even greater crime.”
I didn’t forget to deliver that final warning to the soldiers, heads bowed and unable to look up
