Shadowless Night

As the night deepened, there were a lot more people. The distance between the escort knights, who formed a tight circle, became smaller. Rosaline often wandered away when she couldn’t see her surroundings because of the tall men.

“Ah, you will lose your way like this. Come here, Rose.”

Ricardis pulled Rosaline’s shoulder and let her walk by his side. The knights shielded them. As she came closer, the scent of Ricardis’ flower necklace became stronger. Rosaline sniffed and began smelling the flowers. Ricardis smirked as Rosaline’s face approached his chest.

“You can eat this.”

“Okay.”

Rosaline took off a flower, held it to the side, and sucked from the bottom stem, as she had learned from Calyx. Ricardis also mimicked her with a pink flower. Less than a drop of sweetness wafted into his mouth with the scent of flowers.

…The taste lasted for a long time.

“You know how to do it already?” Rosaline asked.

“I used to eat these a lot in the past,” Ricardis uttered, feeling regretful that he could no longer make fun of Calyx for biting flowers on the street.

Rosaline was greatly interested in the young children and the large variety of cheap accessories. She stopped if she saw something a little shiny, and it was not an exaggeration to say that she was like a crow.

This time, Rosaline didn’t just walk past the stand with the chaotically presented colorful objects. She crouched and looked through them enthusiastically. Ricardis crouched down by her side.

“I’ll buy them for you if you want them, so pick a few.”

“It’s okay. I have a lot of money.”

‘Excuse meee?’ Ricardis held back his smirk. Rosaline picked two pendants of similar color and eagerly held them up to a lamp, then put them close to her eyes. After that, she nodded, having made a big decision.

“I will buy this one.”

“Oh my, you have a great eye!”

“Of course.”

Rosaline looked very proud despite the typical words merchants usually say. Ricardis also stuck right next to her and gave her praise.

“It’s pretty. It’s shiny and translucent.”

“Yup, it is beautiful. Like Young Master’s eyes.”

Ricardis’ expression stiffened, and he rubbed his neck with a heavy hand.

“O-Oh… Well… My eyes are a bit… I’ve heard a lot about my eyes being like jewels. In any case… You want it?”

“Yup, because it’s pretty.”

Ricardis’ ears turned red. With an awkward gesture, he fiddled with the hem of the hood that covered his head. His aimless gaze stopped at another pendant on the stand. A beautiful peridot color… Ricardis, forgetting his embarrassment, stretched out his hand. He held the pendant next to Rosaline’s face as she watched from the side.

“This one is similar to the color of your eyes, Rose.”

“Oh, that’s true. Pretty. My eyes are pretty too.”

Rosaline leaned her torso forward and moved closer to Ricardis. Her face was right in front of his. The edge of her hood, which covered her head, almost touched his. Throughout their time at the festival, Rosaline’s face was hidden, veiled by her hood. However, the lanterns hanging around cast her white face in a silver glow, like a galaxy of stars dusted on her skin.

Ricardis saw himself reflected in her green eyes, brighter than the fake jewels in the pendant. His squinted eyes trembled, and his eyebrows had furrowed. He was embarrassed to see his emotions so obvious. Ricardis’ mouth dried, and he tried to wet his lips with his tongue.

“… Right.”

The corner of Rosaline’s eyes wrinkled as she smiled, and the light in her eyes flashed. Ricardis’ face blushed, and he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Very pretty.”

It was a tiny voice, but Rosaline became excited and asked, “Really?”

And the knights watched all this from behind, just four steps away from them. Hani and Lulu couldn’t bear to see the end of the story and had their eyes closed. ‘Your Highness… you’re walking down… the thorny path… Our poor Highness…’ They kept looking up at the distant sky with their eyes filled with tears, as the tears would fall if they looked down.

Everyone could see that Ricardis was no longer treating Rosaline as a mere subordinate. The emotions between them were ones no one could have imagined they would express, so the knights could not make a sound and just stiffened.

Of course, it seemed that Ricardis was the only one expressing them, but that made it even more problematic. Ricardis, the 2nd Prince Ricardis Darius Illavenia, has a crush? What’s more, the other party is Rosaline Esther? Ricardis’ feelings were new, but he would be wounded as his efforts would be in vain. So seeing this situation right in front of them was three times the shock.

In addition to that, did you throw away your splendid eloquence? They were both like children playing house. ‘This is pretty. That one is pretty.’ The knights’ chests tightened, and they felt suffocated as Ricardis and Rosaline did this.

However, as Ricardis showed a desperate effort to try hard at playing house, the knights, as his subordinates, could only move far away so as not to disturb him. Except for one person.

“Rose! There’s something delicious over there!”

At Pardict’s call, Rosaline ran down the street like a leopard. Hani got mad and kicked Parpar’s shin.

“This whale cub…” Lulu also trembled and muttered.

Parpar was stunned as he did not understand what they were talking about and rubbed his dirtied shin with his hand.

[T/N: Remember that Pardict’s surname is ‘of Whale Grave’, which explains the ‘whale cub’ remark.]

***

Rosaline was alone. She had found a giant skewer, held it in her hands, and looked around her, hoping to brag with satisfaction, but did not find Ricardis, Pardict, who she had been eating well with, or any of the other knights.

People continued to rush about like a wave and pushed Rosaline back, forcing her to move as far as possible. Rosaline then slipped her body into a narrow alley.

She saw people rushing about. She knew none of those people, and no one called her name. Rosaline leaned against the wall and squatted sullenly. The two giant skewers she was holding in her hands slowly cooled. With a gloomy face, she decided to eat the skewers first.

After blowing it off, she filled her mouth in just one bite. The sauce was sweet, the meat perfectly grilled, and there was a hint of a burnt taste. As she ate, she felt like she was getting better. Rosaline munched on them diligently. After she ate, she knew she had to find her party. Ricardis, seeing Rosaline in a state of excitement, shooting her glowing eyes here and there, had foreseen this situation…

[What should you do if no one is around, Rose?]

[Wait in front of the fountain in the plaza.]

[Great.]

And so, her target destination for when she was lost was determined: the fountain in the plaza. Rosaline murmured with her mouth, repeating the place once more.

After finishing her skewers, Rosaline walked in the direction a drunk man showed her, and she reached the plaza.

‘Plaza?’

Contrary to the name, which made it out to be very large, the place was just a space created by the intersection of narrow roads. Also, unlike the other streets that shone brightly, making people not realize it was even night, it was too dark. This place looked like you could only use it for sleeping.

You couldn’t see anyone playing musical instruments and singing in happiness. There were only people with dirty faces smiling as if they had lost their minds and some others with suspiciously wrinkled brows as they watched the newcomers on the street.

‘Umm… Is this not the plaza?’

Before they entered the dark street, a regular person would have realized this, but Rosaline had already crossed to ‘plaza’s’ center. At this point, it should be impossible for even Rosaline not to notice. Obviously, the man she was looking at, the one cutting off a snake’s head and licking the blood on the dagger, was not fit for the festival.

[There are streets where bad people gather. I prefer you not to go to places like that, Rose.]

Rosaline roughly thought that this would be a street where bad people gathered. Licking snake blood isn’t bad, but she just had a feeling. As Rosaline went back the way she had walked, her attention caught on the stall she had passed earlier. Small glass bottles were lined up, along with something colorful and pretty.

“What is this?”

At Rosaline’s question, a shabbily dressed man raised an eyebrow. He had been watching Rosaline from the moment she entered the street. It was more accurate to say that he glanced down her form, finding that her tidy hoodie and confident gait didn’t suit this place. As long as one isn’t blind, they will realize that this is probably a new customer. However, none of the items he sold were worth buying for someone who might actually spend money, as his stall was cheaply made even by the standards of this back alley.

“…a drug that makes people happy, but it’s probably not worth buying.”

“Is it delicious?”

‘Wow… Seriously, this girl…’

“You have the wrong idea.”

She couldn’t even be called a new customer.

“…Please leave this street immediately. It’s not a place for a lady,” The man bowed his head and softly whispered.

How could it be safe? A dark night on a festival day with the full moon hiding in the castle’s shadow? That is why the merchant showed kindness. He was sure that this lady, who lacked sense, came out to enjoy the festival. He could only hope that her bad luck goes away.

But the merchant’s warning was too late. As he said his words, the men in the alleys of the street fully realized that the new person was not a regular customer because of Rosaline’s ‘Is it delicious?’ question.

Rosaline’s gaze shifted to the side, looking at the glass medicine bottle that made people happy. She noticed the leers that followed her since she entered the street had become sharper.

Rosaline was half-bent awkwardly to look at the things. She heard the sound of the men pulling their weapons out from their sheaths. The man who licked the dagger previously stained with snake blood also approached.

It’s best not to cause an incident, but it’s already happened. It’s best to sort it out quickly. Rosaline began to circulate the magic within her body.