Chapter : 33
“Huh?”
Surprised, Conrad asked back.
“Ah, I spoke first!”
“No, I spoke first. My memory must be slipping.”
This time, both of them awkwardly pointed to themselves and laughed as if they had rehearsed it.
“…Are you two really husband and wife?”
At their clumsy answer, Conrad’s eyes narrowed.
It might have sounded like a rude question, but after traveling with the mercenary band and the trade caravan, he had met all sorts of people.
At that moment.
“…Haah. If you didn’t want to get caught raising illegal plants, you shouldn’t have raised them in the first place. Now I’m the one suffering trying to cover up the smell.”
While cleaning, Daisy suddenly felt hungry and crouched down at the end of the dim hallway.
She was only fifteen.
The adults could survive on just one flatbread until the next meal, but Daisy was still growing. She wanted to eat more—anything at all, even weeds would do.
Then—
“What are the cookies for?”
“Oh, there are some kids among the guests. I was going to give these to them.”
The staff preparing tea and snacks in the kitchen left.
Normally, Daisy wouldn’t even have looked at them.
But the sweet aroma of the cookies lifted her gaze.
‘…No one’s around?’
Carefully stepping into the kitchen, she found it really was empty.
On the island counter, several tins of cookies were stacked, prepared for guests.
“…Gulp.”
The sound of her swallowing echoed in the hall.
‘There are so many tins… If I take just one, no one will notice, right?’
After checking again that no one was nearby, Daisy hurried inside the kitchen.
Meanwhile.
‘We’re doomed.’
‘Yes. Absolutely doomed.’
Angela and Velix closed their eyes in despair.
If just one of them had kept their mouth shut, they could have gotten away with it.
But because both of them were leaders, the words slipped out instinctively.
Angela was the first to recover.
“Husband and wife? Don’t we look like it? Isn’t that right—?”
She nudged Velix’s side with a laugh.
“This man may seem gruff on the outside, but he loves me dearly and even acts cute with me.”
Immediately, she felt Velix’s sharp glare.
‘Why do I have to act cute?’
‘That’s an order from your princess. Do it.’
Sparks crackled silently between them.
Finally, Velix lost the staring contest. He gave an awkward cough, then wrapped an arm around Angela’s waist, leaned his forehead against her shoulder, and muttered—
“…Darling, you’re embarrassing me.”
Angela shivered with goosebumps.
Velix felt the same.
‘Ah. I see. So they really are married.’
Looking as though he had just spotted a pair of cockroaches, Conrad forced a laugh.
“What a loving couple you two are! Hahaha!”
“Ha ha.”
“Ha ha ha.”
And among the “audience” of this cheap play, one little girl actually wiped away tears.
‘…Is this what it’s like… to have a mom and dad?’
Sniffling, Lulu dabbed her eyes with her sleeve.
“Chase—”
“What?”
“…Having a family like this must be wonderful, don’t you think?”
Chase stared at the teary-eyed baby dragon, genuinely curious.
“Why do you think that?”
A little later.
Rubbing his large hands together, Conrad got down to business.
“Before we talk about minerals… since you’re here as guests, have you seen Layton’s local specialties?”
“Not really. I don’t care much for souvenirs.”
“Then you must not know about this Daisy necklace.”
He produced a pricey-looking necklace he had prepared beforehand.
“According to Layton’s legend, daisies from the warm southern lands can grant eternal love.”
“Oh, really.”
“And such love is yours for only 20 gold. What do you think?”
Only? At that price, you could buy hundreds of eggs!
Angela screamed inwardly.
The merchant clearly saw them as gullible travelers to swindle.
‘Fine! We are gullible, damn it!’
The real problem was, after starting this fake “rich loving couple” act, it would be awkward to flat-out refuse.
Angela sent Velix an SOS with her eyes.
‘What do we do? He’s trying to scam us.’
‘…Do I have to act cute again?’
Misunderstanding the signal, Velix intertwined his fingers with hers, gazed at her with moist eyes, and murmured—
“…Darling, buy it for me. For our eternal love.”
Angela shivered again.
‘At this rate, we’ll be stuck in this parlor all day.’
“Dexican.”
In the end, she called Del by his fake name and slipped him a pouch with the artifact inside.
“Oh my, suddenly I need the bathroom—”
Quick on the uptake, Del tucked the pouch away and slipped out.
“Now, where’s the restroom~?”
Meanwhile—
‘Hah! Is the mission starting?!’
Moved by her sister and Velix’s acting, Lulu’s eyes sparkled as she looked around like a meerkat.
Everyone had their part to play: her sister, the knight, even Sir Del.
That meant her job was—
‘To play the perfect daughter!’
Crunch, crunch. Lulu bit into a cookie and cheered on the fake couple.
“I’m a happy daughter!”
Crunch, crunch.
“Because I have such a wonderful mom and dad! Buy the necklace for them!”
Angela momentarily forgot the script.
“Ungrateful child…”
“What?”
“Ah, nothing. Of course we’ll buy it. Hahaha.”
Lulu nodded happily, convinced her sister was enjoying herself.
‘Hehe. She’ll praise me later for sure.’
Then—
“Give me some too. The ones you’re holding.”
A gruff voice came from beside her.
“Huh?”
Turning, Lulu saw Chase—who had been quiet all along—eyeing the cookies.
“Huh? These are Lulu’s.”
“I’m bored. Nothing else to do.”
Saying this, Chase handed her a folded paper.
It was his bucket list.
‘Huh?! He already crossed off Traveling and Walking around in pretty clothes?!’
Lulu’s mouth dropped open. The boy shrugged and tucked the list away again.
The meaning was clear: he’d already achieved what he came for, and now he was bored.
‘…This guy! Instead of helping sister, he’s just sulking?!’
Everyone was busy, yet he alone looked restless. Lulu’s little fists trembled with indignation.
But then again, Chase hadn’t been able to eat anything good before they came here.
‘Hmm. Lulu will let it slide.’
“Here, eat.”
With crumb-covered hands, she offered him a cookie. Chase nodded and silently munched.
‘Even if he says it tastes bad this time, Lulu won’t be disappointed.’
She turned away, pretending not to care, but kept peeking at him from the corner of her eye.
And then—
Chase finished his cookie and held out his hand again.
“More.”
“Oh? You liked it?”
“…Yeah.”
Gasp!
‘For picky Chase to approve… Did they use magic ingredients in these cookies?!’
“Alright then.”
Motivated, Lulu clapped her little hands and handed him several more cookies.
He accepted them quietly, crunching as he ate—
Until suddenly, his ears flushed red and he wolfed them down at lightning speed.
Just then—
“If you like the cookies that much, why not look at the other kinds outside?”
Conrad, who had been nervously watching, spoke up.
“Other kinds?”
“Yes, we have over ten different varieties.”
Though he addressed Chase, Conrad’s eyes were fixed on the crumbs littering the table, itching to clean them up.
But then—
“Mom. I’ll go get more cookies.”
Chase casually called Angela “Mom” as he crossed something off on his list—Call someone ‘Mom’.
“W-what?”
Angela, mid-motion of fastening the necklace around Velix, stiffened.
“No. What if you get lost?”
“The staff will take us. Besides, the restroom is right across from the kitchen, so we can go with the gentleman who just left.”
Conrad, eager to shoo the crumb-covered children away, quickly offered reassurance.
Angela sighed and finally relented.
“Fine. But be back within five minutes. If you’re late, I’ll search the whole building myself. Chase, take good care of Lulu. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“Okaaay~!”
Overjoyed, the kids hopped off the sofa and scampered after the staff.
