TLVGAJ 47

~Chapter 47~

“My Lady.”

At my words, the old woman looked up at me with a bright smile.

“Matches. Just buy one box of matches.”

“…”

I looked at the matches laid out in front of her.

There was quite a large pile of them.

Hopefully she didn’t need to sell all of these before she could go home…

Feeling a little sorry for her, I decided to do something nice for once.

“How much if I buy them all?”

“Two hundred gold.”

“Two hundred gold…?!”

The voice that followed the old woman’s answer wasn’t mine — it was Sophie’s.

From what I remembered of the novel’s setting, one gold here was about 10,000 won.

So she was saying the matches cost two million won.

‘Hmm.’

Even with a large pile, that was still expensive.

Sophie seemed to think so too and whispered to me:

“My Lady, it’s not like the Hartmann Ducal family is short on money, but still, 200 gold for matches doesn’t seem like a fair price…”

“It’s fine. I’ll just buy them.”

“What?”

Sophie’s jaw dropped. I looked back at her.

“Sophie. We spend at least a thousand gold just to have a dress made. Isn’t spending 200 gold like this far more valuable?”

In my previous life, I could never have done this kind of “flex.”

I would’ve been too busy surviving to spare a thought for anyone else.

But here, in this world inside a novel, the Duke’s daughter could afford to do such things without worry.

“My Lady… you weren’t like this before. Why have you become so kind…?”

Sophie looked at me with teary eyes, as if moved.

Oh no, is she going to cry?

Well, thinking about the Irene from the novel, I could understand why Sophie would tear up.

“Anyway.”

I turned back to the old woman.

“I’ll buy them all for 200 gold. Please give them to me.”

“Oh my, thank you, young lady. Thank you so much.”

The old woman smiled brightly, her eyes crinkling, and held my hands with her wrinkled ones.

Then she opened a bag and began scooping matches into it quickly — almost like she had been waiting for this.

“And I don’t think merchants are allowed on the train. It’s best to pack up before a staff member says something.”

I spoke as I watched her pack the matches.

“Do you have a first-class ticket? If not, since I’m heading home anyway, you could rest in my cabin for a while…”

“Thank you, truly, thank you, young lady.”

Whether she heard me or not, the old woman handed me the bag.

I took it naturally — but was surprised by how heavy it felt.

‘Huh?’

What I could see through the bag wasn’t matches.

It was a rather large egg — about the size of an ostrich egg.

…What? Hadn’t she just filled this bag with matches?

“What is…”

Just as I looked up to ask what it was, my expression turned to confusion.

“Huh…?”

I tilted my head.

The old woman had vanished without a trace — as if she’d never been there at all.

“Hmm.”

I sat on the bed, raising my eyebrow as I looked at the egg.

The train was speeding toward the Hashit Empire.

What was this, really?

The more I thought about it, the stranger the meeting seemed.

Looking back, there had been plenty of odd things.

A peddler sitting openly in the first-class car corridor, yet no one looked at her.

Matches costing 200 gold.

And finally, her disappearing without a trace.

I touched the egg’s surface with my hand. A gentle warmth met my fingertips.

“Ugh, the more I think about it, the creepier it feels.”

Sophie, who was packing our things, shivered.

“It’s not like we were all hypnotized… What was that old woman? It’s like seeing a ghost.”

“It does feel that way…”

Strangely, only Sophie, Deon, and I had seen her.

After she disappeared, I asked a few passing staff and passengers, but no one had seen her.

“Still, let’s keep the egg just in case. I feel like there’s a reason we ended up with it.”

“Yes… and if it’s worth 200 gold, of course we should keep it…”

Sophie’s weak reply made me chuckle.

As I handed the egg to her, an announcement rang through the train.

【We will soon arrive at the capital of the Hashit Empire, Roman, our final stop.】

Looking out the window, I saw the familiar scenery of the Hashit Empire coming into view.

Now I really felt the trip was ending.

“All packed. Shall we head out?”

After finishing the packing, Sophie looked at me and Deon.

“Alright.”

I nodded and stood up to get ready to leave.

Before stepping out, I took one last look at the cabin I had grown fond of.

The excitement I felt the first time I entered it.

The time I ordered room service and enjoyed a meal with Harry and Finn.

The moments when I had tense face-to-face meetings with Albert and Eric.

The serious talks about magic with Fabian.

So many moments in this cabin flashed through my mind.

Though it had been surprising — and sometimes overwhelming — when male leads appeared during the trip…

I had made more memories than I expected.

Even if I wouldn’t see them again, I decided to keep the good memories from our travels.

As I closed the cabin door behind me, I met Fabian’s eyes as he stepped out of the room next door.

“Oh, Fabian?”

“…”

I tilted my head.

“What about you, Fabian? Now that the trip is over, will you head back?”

“I’ll be at the Magic Tower for a while. …And if you don’t mind, I’d like to visit the Duke’s estate regularly to check your condition. What do you think?”

“…Alright. I’ll have to discuss it with my parents, though.”

Thanks to Fabian, I had learned how to calm my runaway magic.

He was the one most responsible for helping me finish this trip.

“Fabian, thank you for traveling with me all this time.”

I held out my hand for a handshake.

Fabian looked at my hand for a moment, then took it.

“…See you again.”

He wrapped his cloak around himself, and like a mirage, he vanished.

As I stared at the spot where he had stood, a staff member’s voice rang out:

“Opening the train doors!”

With a screech, the tightly shut doors opened.

I stepped off the train with the crowd of bustling people.

Tap.

My heels clicked on the massive platform.

Looking up, I saw the name of the capital written above.

<Roman>

Finally, I was back — in the homeland of Irene, the owner of this body.

Walking toward the carriage that would be waiting outside the station, Sophie stretched.

“Yaaawn. The travel fatigue is no joke. I can’t wait to go home, wash up, and eat the chef’s tomato pasta.”

“Yeah. I can’t wait to see my parents either.”

For the first time, I had completed a bucket list item — a luxury train trip.

Feeling an odd mix of relief and satisfaction, I smiled.

The Ramier Express trip… had come to an end.