Chapter 7

After the successful audience with the king, Fiona and Luke left the castle and headed towards the building where the magicians' quarters were located.

"Good job. What do you want to do now? I'll pamper you today in place of Matthias."

"Yeah... I guess I was being pampered, huh?"

"Sure thing. You're so soft and mushy, there's no choice but to accept it."

When it's put so bluntly, it feels refreshing in a way.

"It's because you feel sorry for me, right? I'm happy, but I'd prefer if you acted normally. I'm already happy enough, so you don't need to do more."

She said this with a reflective and relaxed tone, and Luke stopped in his tracks, his mouth agape.

He looked as if he had seen something unbelievable.

"Huh, really? You didn't notice even with how obvious it was?"

"What do you mean by 'really'? I'm aware that I was being pampered."

Fiona tilted her head. She was talking about being aware, but she didn't understand what he meant by 'really.'

Seeing that she didn't understand at all, Luke was at a loss.

Should he tell her that Matthias clearly loved her as a woman, which was obvious to everyone? But if he told her, she might become distant from him...

--No, it's better not to say anything.

"Never mind, it's fine."

"??"

He decided not to say anything unnecessary. He wanted to avoid unnecessary risks and have a peaceful day.

"So, what do you want to do?"

"...You're going to ask anyway, huh? I don't know. Maybe I want to take a walk. I've never been around here before."

"Take a walk, got it."

They decided to walk around the castle for a while.

"Hey, the building I'm staying in is the court magicians' quarters, right? Do you live there too?"

"I live on the second floor. It's both a base and a residence for magicians, so everyone calls it 'Home.' The building next to it is the knights' base, where Matthias spends his time. By the way, Fiona's room is a super VIP room."

"Figures."

She wasn't surprised, as she had expected as much. But she expressed a hope.

"Can I move to a regular room?"

"No can do."

"Really? Is it impossible?"

"If you have a complaint, talk to Matthias. He's the one who uses his power to do as he pleases."

When he put it that way, she couldn't say anything more. Matthias had already rejected her request.

"Alright, never mind."

"Exactly. Giving up is key."

They exchanged a wry smile and continued their walk before returning to Home.

"Sorry, I'm at my limit."

"Got it. Go ahead."

As soon as they entered the building, Luke mentioned he needed to use the restroom. Since he didn't have the time to escort her to her room on the fifth floor, he decided to leave her in the hallway.

"Really sorry, I'll be a while."

"Okay."

Fiona held out her hands. When Luke directed his magic at the left cuff, she felt her strength drain away, and she plopped down on the spot.

After confirming the activation of the curse seal, he ran off to the restroom.

The curse seal on her left cuff seemed to drain her strength, leaving her barely able to clench her hand.

She sat there, marveling at the power of the curse seal, when someone stopped in front of her.

It was a struggle to look up, but she managed to lift her face and gaze at the person in front of her.

The man with black hair parted in the middle and long bangs seemed familiar. She thought she might have fought him before.

"Hello."

"..."

He ignored her greeting and silently extended his right hand. As she watched, water suddenly splashed down on her head.

"Huh, you're just a weak woman when your magic is sealed."

He said this dismissively and looked down at the drenched Fiona with a scornful expression.

She looked at him blankly, completely unfazed.

"...Oh, you're the one who always attacks with water."

The water on her head reminded her of the person who often attacked with water. Of course, she had always countered or frozen his attacks and dealt with them easily.

He twitched a vein at her calm demeanor but she continued speaking matter-of-factly.

"Hey, can I ask you a favor?"

"What is it?"

He narrowed his green eyes in annoyance and spoke.

"Could you clean up this water later? People might slip if it's left like this."

"Huh!? Then you should clean it up yourself!"

He raised his voice slightly, but she remained unperturbed.

"Right, that's true. But if I go to get a mop while I'm still wet, I'll just make the hallway wet... What should I do..."

"..."

Fiona's calm and leisurely manner threw him off, and he frowned in silence.

"Hey! Graham, what the hell are you doing!?"

Luke came running over after using the restroom. He gently touched Fiona's cuffs and released the curse seal that had drained her strength.

"Graham, clean up the water now."

"Shut up, I was going to do it anyway."

He said this with a lazy tone and immediately cleaned up the water. Fiona, now able to move properly, got up with some effort.

"Thank you. I'm Fiona. Nice to meet you."

She introduced herself calmly and leisurely, as if nothing had happened, causing Graham to frown.

"Huh, you're a weird one."

He said this and walked away quickly.

"I'm weird..."

Fiona felt a bit sad at being called weird and spoke in a small voice, her head hanging low.

"You're not weird. He's the weird one. It's embarrassing for someone his age."

"Really? How old is he?"

"Twenty-three. It's hard to believe he's older than you."

Luke crossed his arms and frowned.

"Right. He's the same age as Matthias."

"Yeah. Matthias is pretty weird too... Fiona, I'm sorry for leaving you alone."

"It's fine."

They climbed the stairs and headed to Fiona's room. Once inside, she removed the ribbon from her chest and unbuttoned the top button of her shirt, letting out a sigh. She didn't like having her neck tightly buttoned up.

While chatting with Luke in the chair, a servant entered the room with a cart.

He quickly prepared tea for both of them and arranged some baked goods before leaving.

The teapot was filled with honey and jam, and Fiona smiled, thinking of Matthias.

She picked up a small muffin, spread some jam on it, and took a bite. She drank the warm tea without adding anything to it, letting it clear her mouth. The warm drink seeped into her body, which had been soaked in water.

"Hey, the people here are all so nice."

"You just got drenched in water, why do you think that!?"

"Well, it was the first time someone showed me such obvious malice. When I got drenched, I thought, 'Ah, this is a normal reaction.'"

Luke explained why Fiona, despite being the enemy, hadn't faced much malice. She had held back in battle to avoid taking lives, secretly interfered with the attacks of the empire's magicians, and helped injured kingdom magicians and knights retreat.

"...What? How did you know?"

She was confident it hadn't been noticed. When casting magic from a distance, she needed to draw a magic circle. The circle she drew when casting magic emitted the same golden light as her bracelet. To avoid being noticed, she had modified it to emit white light. She was surprised it had been noticed despite her efforts to hide it.

"Matthias noticed. He told everyone when he captured you. Everyone had noticed many things that seemed unnatural and accepted it easily."

"Ah, I see."

So that's why Reila was kind to her, and she hadn't felt any malice from the people she passed in the hallway. Being treated kindly was better than being treated as an enemy, but Fiona felt a bit embarrassed.

---

"Fiona, we're going to town today."

While having breakfast with Matthias, she was suddenly told this.

"...Town?"

Was he talking about the town? He had indeed said they were going to town. As the meaning of his words sank in, joy slowly welled up inside her.

"Wow..."

Town. They were going to town. Fiona changed into a light green sleeveless dress with a round collar and a thin black ribbon. The hem had a modest frill. She braided her hair loosely as usual.

"Do you have a handkerchief?"

"I put it in my pocket."

"Take something to wear over your shoulders."

"It's warm today, so it's fine."

"No, you need to. It might get cold if it clouds over. Take something to wear over your shoulders."

"Okay, I will."

He was being a good mother today. Fiona took a black cardigan from the closet as instructed.

Matthias was dressed simply in black pants and a white shirt, with his blue sword, a divine artifact, at his waist.

"Do you want to wear any accessories? You can use anything from the jewelry box."

Fiona hesitated. Of course, she wanted to wear them, but they were all expensive, so she was hesitant.

"Well, I'm already happy with just this dress, so it's fine without accessories."

"Do you not like accessories? Or did you not find anything you liked? If so, I can get you something else."

She panicked, realizing this was a bad direction.

"No, it's not that. They're all beautiful, and I couldn't decide... I've never worn accessories before, so I don't know if I like them or not."

Matthias noticed her hesitation, opened the drawer of the dresser, and took out the jewelry box.

He opened the lid and thought for a moment.

If he told her to choose what she liked, she probably wouldn't. To make her feel more at ease, he decided to pick something simple. But then, he remembered that the place they were going to today wasn't suitable for dangling accessories.

After some thought, he picked out a hair clip.

"A hair clip won't be too much. Wear this today, and if you don't like it, you can take it off later."

He attached it to the top of her right ear.

"...Okay."

Fiona responded softly and looked in the mirror. The black hair clip had seven small gems scattered on it, shining like stars in the night sky. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and a smile appeared on her lips. Matthias was satisfied with this.

"Shall we go?"

"Okay."

They left the room and started walking down the long hallway. They bowed to the magicians they met and continued down the stairs.

Outside, they walked in the opposite direction of the castle.

They walked along a tree-lined path for a few minutes, crossed a large bridge, and arrived at the town below the castle.

Fiona had said she didn't mind where they went, so Matthias decided to take her wherever he wanted.

However, Matthias was carefully observing her. He didn't miss the moments when she stared intently at something.

Whenever Fiona thought, "I wonder what that store is" or "I wonder what that line is for," Matthias would take her there, and she happily followed.

After about an hour and a half, Matthias was holding several paper bags. He had bought everything she seemed interested in without asking.

"Hey, I can carry some of the bags."

"Rejected."

"Aw..."

She gave up when he immediately refused.

For lunch, they bought food from a stall she had been staring at and sat on a bench to eat.

"I've never eaten this before."

"Is that so?"

Fiona took a bite of the hot crepe filled with chicken and vegetables. Matthias wiped the sauce from the corner of her mouth.

After finishing their meal, they strolled around the town a bit more and headed to a place Matthias had reserved in advance.

When they opened the door to the building with paw prints of various sizes on the wall, Fiona's eyes widened and sparkled.

There were cats everywhere in the store. It was a cat café.

They sat at their reserved table, and a black cat immediately jumped onto Fiona's lap.

"Ahhh..."

Fiona was moved and held out her hands, trembling.

"You can touch them."

"...Okay."

Encouraged by Matthias, she tentatively stroked the cat's chin. The cat immediately started purring and rubbed its throat against her hand.

"Wow... so cute..."

She blushed with delight at the cuteness.

"Yeah, they're cute."

Matthias said this without looking at the cat, his expression softening. His eyes were only on her, but she was too engrossed with the cat to notice.

While they were talking, a server came to take their order. They could have drinks and light snacks here, so Fiona ordered a sweet milk tea, and Matthias ordered coffee.

The black cat jumped off her lap and wandered off, so she sat in the chair, feeling a bit nostalgic, and sipped her milk tea.

But she started to fidget, wanting to play with the cats that were rubbing against her feet.

"There are cat toys over there. You can go play with them."

"Okay!"

Fiona's face lit up, and she immediately went to the round rug, holding a cat toy and playing with several cats.

Matthias leaned on his elbow, sipping his coffee and relaxing.

He didn't seem eager to play with the cats, but he occasionally stroked a cat that jumped onto his lap. Of course, his eyes were always on Fiona, who was playing with the cats.

The cat café was a popular relaxation spot in the town below the castle. Since it was a reservation-only place, they stayed until the end of their reserved time before leaving.

"Hey, I like all animals, but I especially like cats. I was really happy that Matthias had reserved this place by chance."

"That's good to hear."

He had a cool expression, but of course, it wasn't by chance.

He knew she often looked at the cat pages in the animal encyclopedia, watched the cats relaxing in the courtyard from her window, looked for cats while walking, and often used the towel with cat embroidery among many towels.

He didn't ask if she liked cats, thinking she might be hesitant even if he did.

After walking a bit, he stopped.

"Can you wait here on the bench with the bags? I need to go to the guard post around the corner to take care of some business."

"Okay, I understand."

She sat on the bench as instructed, and he placed the paper bags next to her.

When she extended her wrist, Matthias chuckled.

"There's no lock here."

"Oh, right."

"I'll be back."

She wondered if she didn't need to do anything, but decided to wait quietly so as not to interfere with his business. She looked up at the sky, which was getting cloudier, and thought about the cute cats from earlier. After about ten minutes, Matthias returned.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"No, it's fine."

They started walking again and arrived at the town's large library. It was a three-story building with a wide courtyard and reading spaces both inside and outside.

"I need to find a few books I was asked to get. You can do whatever you want. You can go to the courtyard, but please don't leave the grounds."

"Okay, I understand."

They would be separated for a while. Fiona walked around the library, picking up books that caught her interest.

She chose five books and carried them in her right hand to the courtyard. She found a single seat at the end and sat down.

"Wow... I feel so free..."

She had never had a full day off before, but since coming to this country, every day felt like a holiday. Was it really okay to live such a luxurious life as a prisoner?

"I want to be useful as soon as possible."

When her powers returned, she decided to work for the benefit of others with her own will.

She must have been engrossed in reading for about an hour when Matthias came back with a few books in his hand.

"Shall we go back? Do you want to borrow any books?"

"Well, these two, are they okay?"

"Got it. I'll take care of the procedures, so please put the other books away."

"Okay."

Matthias took the two books from her hand and smiled when he saw the cat pictures on the covers.

After the procedures were done, he picked up the bags he had left at the counter.

They left the library and headed back to Home.

It had gotten a bit chilly, so Fiona put on her cardigan.

"Sorry, I need to deliver the books, so can you wait here?"

"Okay."

Matthias went to the guard post as before, and Fiona sat on the bench with the bags.

She looked up at the sky, which was getting cloudier, and thought about how much fun she had today.

After a few minutes, Matthias returned.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Shall we go back?"

"Okay."

On the way back, they took a different route, and by the time they arrived at Home, the number of paper bags Matthias was carrying had doubled.

When they returned to Fiona's room, he placed all the paper bags on the table.

"These are all yours. Use them as you like."

"Huh? Aren't these Matthias's purchases?"

"They're yours. And no returns are accepted, so use them or dispose of them as you like."

"..."

Fiona knew what was in the paper bags because she had been watching him buy them. She also knew that he wouldn't listen to her if she tried to refuse.

"...Thank you, Matthias."

When she expressed her gratitude sincerely