Chapter 45

"Let's go."

Grace followed the boy without knowing where they were going. After walking a bit, she began to think that the boy didn't know where he was going either.

"Hey."

Grace, who had been matching her steps to the boy's stride as he walked along the beach promenade, mustered the courage to speak.

"You looked like a prince just now."

The boy, who had been tilting a soda bottle, coughed. He took out a handkerchief from his back pocket and hesitated.

He tilted his head, looking down at Grace, who had an ice cream in her mouth, with a blank expression. The boy furrowed his brow slightly and sighed.

"It's melting."

He handed the handkerchief to Grace and wiped his wet mouth with the back of his hand. Even that looked cool. As she looked up at him, feeling like she was watching a soda commercial, the boy asked,

"Why didn't you come today?"

"Huh?"

The girl, who had tilted her head again, smiled with her lips, which were stained red from the strawberry ice cream.

"Did you wait for me?"

Leon's cheeks turned as red as the girl's lips.

"So, you came looking for me?"

"Huh? No. Ah, I just didn't have anything to do…."

Leon averted his gaze and mumbled vaguely.

"I see…."

Seeing his disappointed face, she thought she should have been honest.

"Name."

"Huh?"

"I'm Leon. What's yours?"

"…Daisy."

Leon didn't know why the girl had hesitated, moving her lips slightly.

"Does Leon live here?"

"No. That's just a vacation house. What about you?"

He already knew she wasn't from around here but pretended not to have overheard her conversation with the snack stand owner.

"I came from far away. It's like a family vacation…."

Grace didn't mention where the faraway place was or why it wasn't exactly a family vacation.

"I'm so excited to be here for the first time."

She had hardly ever been outside the remote mountain village. She had never stayed in a luxury resort for so long.

The first day she arrived, she walked along the beach, amazed by the sea she had never seen before, and met Leon.

"Can you go around without your parents?"

Why was this kid always alone? Leon, who was always accompanied by adults wherever he went, found it hard to understand.

"…Huh."

Grace had to go alone, not just could.

When her parents, who often left home, suggested going to Avington Beach, she initially thought it was a real family vacation.

But it felt a bit strange when she left her brother behind. Only after they arrived and unpacked at the isolated accommodation did she realize it wasn't a vacation but a 'mission.'

Grace didn't know what the adults meant by 'mission.' She just assumed it was a righteous act to save the world, like a hero in a book. And like those heroes, she had to keep her identity a secret.

She overheard the adults saying her mission was to extract information from a bad soldier named Winston. Her task was to make the adults she came with look like ordinary tourists.

The adults were all busy and had no time to take care of Grace. So, they left money on her bedside table every morning.

With that money, she had enjoyed a week of luxury she had never experienced before. But today, the day she met Leon, she lost her money and ended up looking shabby.

"Ah, I got my allowance this morning, but I must have lost it on the beach."

Grace mumbled an unsolicited excuse. As she looked up at Leon, the orange tree above her caught her eye.

"Leon, as a thank you for the ice cream, can I pick you an orange?"

Leon's eyes wavered, but Grace didn't understand why. As she looked for the ripest one and tried to climb the tree, a hand touched her shoulder again.

"Don't climb the tree in a skirt."

"Why?"

"…It's indecent."

Why didn't this kid know such obvious things? Daisy blinked her eyes, which were filled with question marks.

"Pink."

Did she finally understand? Daisy's face turned bright red.

"No, no! I'm wearing white today!"

"…Why did you say that yourself?"

The boy and girl standing under the orange tree were passed by adults who gave them meaningful smiles.

Embarrassed, Leon started walking again, pulling his bicycle. Grace hesitated, unsure if he wanted her to follow or if they were parting ways.

Leon stopped after three steps. The girl, who he assumed would naturally follow, was still standing under the tree, staring blankly.

He realized that this girl had never agreed to go on a date with him today, yet he had assumed she would naturally follow him.

'Wait. We haven't even agreed to go on a date, have we?'

He had never said such a thing before. No, he had never needed to.

The social activities of noble children were arranged by their parents, not the children themselves. Everything, from when and where to who and what, was decided, and Leon had to follow, whether he liked it or not.

For the first time, he had the opportunity to spend time with a girl he wanted, freely. But the problem was…

'How do you ask someone out on a date?'

Leon hesitated, unable to bring himself to say it. Just as he thought Daisy might leave, his mouth blurted out something terrible.

"If you want to thank me for the ice cream, you can play with me."

He pointed to the carnival across the street.

'Play with me? Am I a kid?'

Leon wanted to slap himself. Moreover, asking for a favor after buying a cheap ice cream was so despicable.

It seemed this date was doomed before it even started. Daisy's expression wasn't good.

"…Okay."

An unexpected agreement fell. Soon, the two moved forward, each for their own reasons, feeling a bit awkward.

'I heard noble kids pay to have someone play with them. Am I one of those now?'

Grace felt a bit offended. But after riding the rides three times, she completely forgot about it.

"Leon, I want to ride that one this time."

"Okay."

Leon stood in front of the carousel ticket booth without a single complaint.

He asked her to play with him, but it turned out Leon was the one playing. He even willingly rode the carousel, which was for little kids.

Moreover, he helped Grace onto the horse like a real prince. She felt like a princess.

While secretly touching the hand Leon had held, he quickly climbed onto the horse next to her. The carousel started to turn as cheerful music played.

Usually, Grace would wave to people outside, but this time she couldn't take her eyes off the opposite side. Leon was also looking at her the whole time. She blushed and laughed, and Leon asked,

"Why? Do I look pretty?"

"Yes."

The boy chuckled at Grace's serious answer.

"But do you really have horses at home?"

Leon nodded.

"Then this must be boring."

"No… it's not…."

For some reason, Leon was flustered. He started babbling about why the carousel was more fun than riding real horses, even though he didn't know why.

"It has a roof, so you don't have to worry about heatstroke…."

"Right. Right."

Even he thought it was a ridiculous excuse, but Daisy listened to his nonsense seriously.

Actually, Leon thought the carousel was boring. But why was his heart racing like when he rode the roller coaster?

Next was the haunted house.

"Ah! Don't let go! Don't let go! You can't let go of me!"

Leon wrapped his arms around the girl who kept clinging to him and secretly smiled. It was lucky it was dark.

"Phew, that was scary…."

When they came out of the haunted house, Daisy's face was covered in tears.

"I'm sorry. As an apology…."

Before Leon could finish, Daisy pointed somewhere. At the end of her finger was a large dolphin plushie hanging at a shooting game booth.

The two approached the booth. Five shots for one turn. The plushie required 100 points. Leon paid the man at the booth and checked the scores of the targets on the wall.

'The highest is 25 points, the next is 15 points.'

Leon picked up the gun in front of him. It was an old rifle allowed for amusement. He checked if the barrel was bent and aligned his eye with the sight to ensure it was straight. The employee sauntered over and spoke.

"Can you shoot this thing? Need some help?"

Leon was ignored in front of Daisy. Without a word, he pulled the trigger.