Chapter 6

“This place is said to make wishes come true.”

There was a large fountain in the middle of the square. At the center of the fountain was a statue of a man carrying a basket. Around the fountain, several people were throwing coins and then praying with their hands together.

Prillance and Ver were looking around the place they couldn’t visit last time. Ver was guiding Prillance who was unfamiliar with the place.

“So is that a statue of a God?”

“Yes.”

The figure of a god with curly hair was like a sculpture of an ordinary man, rather than a statue of a glorious god.

“He’s known as the god of abundance. He is said to fulfill the people’s hopes for a plentiful harvest.”

“Ah.”

When she looked at the people all around her, everyone was making their wishes.

“Of course, some aristocrats also make their own wishes.”

After trying to think of a wish, Prillance took a coin and threw it in the basket. It wasn’t a small basket, so the coin easily went in. She gently put her hands together as other people did and made a wish.

‘May people’s lives and hearts be enriched.’

Following Prillance, Ver also tossed a coin and closed his eyes. Prillance, who had finished praying, raised her head. Ver was still praying.

She observed him as his eyes were closed. He looked handsome, even with his eyes closed. His lips that were currently closed usually looked the brightest when he was smiling. Prillance threw in another coin.

‘Please, let Ver Grant’s heart be enriched. So that he can smile more in the future.’

She whispered over and over again, as if she was really, really desperate for the wish.

Because Prillance went back to making another wish, Ver also had a chance to observe her.

He could see her whispering with her mouth while her eyes were tightly closed. No sound could be heard, but she seemed to repeatedly murmer ‘Please’. As he saw her two hands clasped together, he thought she must have had a long-cherished wish.

“If you wish for too much, he might get angry.”

Only then did Prillance open her eyes. And her eyes met his. With her eyes wide open, Ver thought she looked really cute at the moment.

But Prillance soon realized he was just teasing her. His slightly curved eyes looked unusually playful.

“I asked for the same wish several times. Just to make sure he heard it.”

Prillance, who stuck out her lower lip and spoke bluntly, once again looked cute. Ver smiled. The smile struck Prillance’s heart. It was such a beautiful smile.

‘I think God granted my wish faster than I thought’

Prillance turned her head to calm her fluttering heart.

When she turned around, she saw a child playing around, picking up the coins that had fallen on the bottom of the fountain and then putting them back into the fountain again. The child’s mother, who had taken her eyes off of the child for a moment, was surprised when she saw this and asked the child to put them back. Prillance’s eyes met with the mother’s. The mother’s eyes widened as she became wary of her surroundings.

Unlike Prillance, who smiled at the child’s playfulness, the wary mother quickly disappeared with the child. In the fountain, where the mother and child disappeared, were coins on the floor that couldn’t get into the basket.

Prillance felt sheepish as she watched the two disappear in a hurry.

“By the way…where does the money collected in this basket go?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I think they go to the imperial family. It’s imperial property, so it is against the law to steal the coins. I heard there is even a caretaker.”

“Ah.”

She slowly started to understand. It was constructed by the imperial family to give people peace of mind.

It hadn’t been long since the fountain was created. Nevertheless, the fact that there were this many coins in the fountain seemed to show the desperation of the people’s hopes.

“Would you like to go somewhere else?”

“Yes.”

Prillance and Ver were dressed in casual clothing. If it wasn’t for the two’s striking appearances, they would have looked plain enough to not be considered nobles.

Originally, they had planned to sightsee in the carriage. But they ended up here because Prillance said she wanted to look and walk around the place in person.

“It’s amazing.”

It had been a while since she had been to such a cacophonous place. The voices of merchants yelling and customers bargaining with various items were heard all over the place.

“Watch out.”

Ver stood behind Prillance, looking around, as if to protect her. One of his arms was slightly enclosed around her body. She felt his body temperature as his arm brushed against her back.

Unlike her body, which was tense at the moment, Ver didn’t feel her temperature rise since he was too busy looking at the surroundings.

Her face itself was striking. Just because she was wearing plain clothes didn’t mean she could hide her appearance.

Even on this bustling street, he could see many suspicious men. From a little distance from her, he could feel the vulturous gaze of the men around her.

This was something familiar to Ver. It was something he had always been doing whenever he was with Cecia.

Ver intimidated them by sticking to her side as much as possible. Of course, it was a little hard to not let Prillance know.

“Do you like this?”

Ver reached out to the item she had been staring at for quite some time. Because of that, Ver stood even closer. A pleasant, deep voice rang in her ear.

“Ah…”

The disconcerted Prillance stiffened and blushed, but Ver didn’t notice. His eyes were turned to a man who was about to reach her. He was a man who hadn’t backed down from his energy since a while ago.

And now the man was trying to reach the object next to Prillance.

Ver covered her hand. Then he pushed the man’s hand with a blow that looked light but wasn’t light at all. Then the man who took his energy faltered and quickly fell away.

It wasn’t until the man’s figure disappeared that Ver saw the thing she was holding. It was a wristband.

Then, he saw his hand holding Prillance’s hand. Only then was he aware of the situation and turned his head to the side in embarrassment. He couldn’t help but be surprised at her close face.

“Sorry.”

Ver hurriedly dropped her hand and stepped back. Her warmth remained in his hand.

“I will buy this.”

Prillance hurriedly paid the store owner and left the store first. It was to hide her crimson face and the sound of her beating heart. Because of the large number of people, she understood Ver was just trying to take care of her. Nevertheless, her heart was beating strangely.

In particular, the voice she heard directly in her ear earlier was still vivid. While she was calming herself for a moment, Ver followed her. He could still smell her unique scent, which he had inhaled up close.

As Ver was approaching Prillance, there was suddenly a raucous noise from behind. When he looked back, he saw a woman hitting someone and running away. The black-haired woman ran away, pushing Ver along with several others. Soon after, a group of sturdy men chased after her.

“Please stay here for a moment.”

Ver told Prillance and immediately followed them. He looked quite desperate as he ran away in a hurry. Staring at his back, Prillance inadvertently clenched the two leather straps she had just bought.

***

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Ver nodded towards the black-haired woman as she expressed gratitude and quickly went her way. Of course it wasn’t Cecia.

After seeing the woman’s hair, he had just followed his first instinct.

It was his habit of protecting Cecia which had been engraved in him since childhood. Now that she was no longer a commoner, and was never going to be in a dangerous place, it was all useless worry.

There was a bitter smile around Ver’s mouth.

“Lady Weiand.”

After remembering Prillance, Ver’s steps became urgent. She was already targeted even while she was with him, so he became more worried that something might have happened while he wasn’t around. He realized this too late and immediately ran in a hurry.