Chapter 61
And another merchant they were passing by sighed.
“Oh dear… I’m in trouble.”
“This might help solve it. Want to borrow?”
“Oh, perfect!”
Another, and yet another merchant.
As they passed among the merchants, Einar’s small button instantly transformed into something more valuable and expensive.
“Good heavens, thank you! Oh my, they said a noble person would come from the east. You were my noble benefactor!”
And not long after, a merchant gazed at Einar with shining eyes, looking up to him like a savior.
“Wait, I must! Please accept this as a token of my gratitude!”
-Clang.
The merchant, with a face full of genuine joy, willingly offered a large sum of money.
“They did say refusing would be bad for business.”
Even Einar hesitated to accept such an excessive amount, but the merchant laughed heartily and slapped his back.
“Hahaha! You know it well! So take it!”
In the end, the small button had turned into an enormous sum of money.
And all within just a few dozen minutes…
Wasn’t it an unbelievable sight, even for someone watching from the side?
Riina narrowed her eyes and asked Einar,
“Is it always like this when you go out?”
“Usually.”
No wonder this astounding situation seemed so familiar to him.
And as if not to be outdone by Einar’s luck, Riina’s misfortune began to play its part.
-Crash!
With the sound of breaking glass, Einar pulled Riina’s round shoulder towards himself.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
Right in front of Riina’s feet, barely touching the tip of her shoe, lay shattered pieces of glasswork.
Given how large it had been, the broken pieces were dangerously sharp; if Einar hadn’t pulled her away, Riina would have been seriously injured.
The merchant kept bowing frantically, but Riina forgave him with just a wave of her hand.
As they walked away, they faintly heard the merchant’s bewildered murmur behind them.
“How could this have fallen over?”
Einar looked back at this, but Riina didn’t even turn around.
And after walking a few more steps…
-Screech.
-Thud.
“Dangerous.”
Einar blocked a massive painting tilting towards Riina with one arm, and soon a merchant came running.
“Are you alright!”
“I’m fine, but…”
“I’m sorry. The rope supporting the back suddenly broke, I should have tied it more securely…”
Riina cut off the bowing merchant’s words.
“No. It was surely secure enough.”
Confused by these cryptic words from the victim, the merchant asked puzzlingly,
“Pardon?”
“It’s fine, please go.”
But Riina simply moved on without answering.
And so things kept falling from above, tipping over to cover her, and a giant hawk that had been in a merchant’s arms suddenly flew at her due to an unexpected gust of wind…
“I’m sorry!”
“No, it’s fine.”
Finally, despite Einar’s block, the ornate decoration on the handle of a massive sword that had cut through Riina’s cheek fuzz and embedded itself in the wall swayed.
She had faced not only risks of injury but also life-threatening situations that needed both hands to count.
All within just a few dozen minutes…
Wasn’t it an unbelievable sight, even while blocking everything from right beside her?
Einar asked Riina, who was briskly walking away from the sword,
“Is it always like this when you go out?”
“Yes. Well, isn’t it more ordinary than a button turning into a fortune?”
“While each incident might not be special on its own, when they happen in such rapid succession, it’s hard to call it ordinary.”
No wonder this astounding situation seemed so familiar.
Having thought exactly the same thing as Riina just moments ago, Einar pulled her away as he spotted a basket of raspberries flying their way.
Held in his arms and looking at the raspberries scattered at her feet, Riina muttered with a faint sigh,
“A few more times like this and I’ll get quite used to this stiff embrace.”
She lifted her face from his chest to look up at his sharp, blade-like jawline.
But soon her body floated up and then down again.
-Thud, thump.
Einar had grabbed her waist and lifted her slightly before setting her down as he knocked away consecutive fruit baskets.
-Clap clap clap clap.
Looking like a part of a waltz, the scene captivated the surrounding merchants’ attention, and someone unconsciously started applauding.
“Is it over now?”
“Yes.”
Destroyed fruit baskets formed a perfect circle around Riina and Einar.
Amidst the meaningless cheers, applause, and whistles from around them, Riina looked down at the scattered fruits.
“S-so sorry!”
A merchant who appeared to be the owner of the fruit baskets came running from far away, but Riina just swallowed a light sigh.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. The wheat sacks suddenly tumbled and hit the corner of the support board, causing the baskets to fly everywhere…”
Even as he spoke, the merchant’s eyes wavered unsteadily, as if he himself couldn’t believe it.
Hearing this extremely fact-based excuse, Riina nodded indifferently, while Einar gave a hollow laugh.
“Now that’s a specifically strange incident.”
“Yes… More importantly, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”
To the apology she had heard countless times in the past few dozen minutes, Riina shook her head and patted Einar’s arm that was still around her waist.
As she emerged from the burst fruit piles encircling them like some avant-garde art, Riina caught a glimpse of a red stain.
“I thought they would come one at a time.”
As Riina slightly lifted her skirt stained red at the hem, her white, slender ankle briefly showed.
“But they came all at once. If it had been just my luck at work, I would have been covered in fruit baskets, and if it had been the opposite, the fruits wouldn’t have flown at all.”
Though she was merely checking the stained part without any particular thought, Einar casually adjusted her skirt himself to cover her legs as he answered,
“We’ll need to buy you a dress.”
“It’s not very noticeable, so I can wear it for today.”
That was an exceptionally frugal statement for the Bolshevik heir.
Naturally so, as even families far less prestigious than the Bolsheviks never wore clothes again once they were soiled.
When even those with just a bit of power wouldn’t reclaim specially made clothes, there was no reason to wear damaged clothing.
But Riina had spent quite some time roughing it in the borderlands, the disputed territories.
Therefore, if she didn’t need to mind others’ eyes, a small flaw in clothing didn’t matter to her.
“It’s not like anyone’s looking anyway.”
“No. We’re buying one.”
However, as soon as her words ended, Einar firmly insisted, and Riina narrowed her eyes.
“Why are you suddenly concerned about my clothes?”
“It’s not about the clothes, but that even a slight flutter of your skirt drawing attention irritates me.”
At this impossibly honest and direct answer, Riina’s eyelashes fluttered rapidly like a hummingbird’s wings.
Even without any hint of humor in his voice, she could tell it wasn’t a simple joke.
Moreover, his gray eyes had sunk too coldly.
He was acting as if she were truly his beloved.
Their engagement was merely a necessity, formed as a consequence of a bet.
Could it be…
Looking back on their time together, Riina clicked her tongue internally.
There had been quite a few ticklish moments.
There were times when her heart raced, as it wasn’t made of ice or steel.
But Riina had let all those things flow by naturally.
Though she had experienced and failed at intense love before her regression, she didn’t adamantly deny love.
Nor was there any grand reason like ‘it can’t be because it’s Einar.’
It was simply that ‘love’ wasn’t a priority, and honestly, it was overwhelming.
Wasn’t it taking enormous effort to achieve her goal of living freely alone with her misfortune, away from her family?
‘I love you. I love you! Please look at me. See? I love you so much.’
‘Third Prince… No, Smith, please!’
While it might not be as severe as that desperate unrequited love before her regression, she well knew that even ordinary love wasn’t all sweetness and excitement.
If, just if, he truly had genuine feelings for her…
It would be troublesome.
Someone once said that life is all about timing.
Perhaps if he had appeared after everything was over and she was living alone, it might have been different.
But to have someone harboring love for her as her closest ally when she had neither the inclination nor the leisure to accept it…
“Einar.”
Riina looked up at Einar intently and opened her mouth, but then closed it.
This wasn’t the place for such a conversation.
“Yes?”
As the cool air that started from his feet swirled around them, the perceptive merchants all turned their gazes away and buried themselves in their work.
Seeing this, Riina swallowed a light sigh.
If there were something to show off, she might think he was doing this for someone’s benefit.
Moreover, treating her this way seemed so natural to him that he didn’t even seem to realize it himself.
She had let it pass earlier, but…
‘I moved because I wanted to see you.’
Einar hadn’t given any explanation after saying that.
Perhaps even he didn’t understand it well himself.
Yes. If time passed without realization, one might never know that truth at all.
There was no need to make trouble where there was none.
