Karena L’Arch mengadakan upacara kedewasaan tahun lalu, Elaine, yang lebih pendek daripada teman-temannya, mungkin tampak seperti anak-anak, tetapi itu memalukan bagi Elaine, yang sudah berusia 26 tahun.
“Kamu akan tumbuh lebih tinggi sekarang, jadi kamu tidak perlu lima set. Aku lebih suka membeli dua set ini dan tiga set yang satu ukuran lebih besar dari ini!”
“huft…Seberapa besar kau akan membuatku malu?”
“Apa yang membuatmu malu?”
Elaine ingin bertanya apakah L’Arch sama malunya seperti dirinya karena sepupunya memperlihatkan semua pakaian dalam yang akan dikenakannya, tetapi menurut L’Arch, akan lebih memalukan jika keponakan Count Newt yang menghitung harganya.
“Jika Anda butuh sesuatu, datanglah ke sini dan pesanlah atas nama ayah saya. Saya akan membuat buku besar.”
L’Arch menyuruh pedagang itu, yang menatap mereka dengan gembira, untuk membuat buku besar dan meminta Elaine menandatangani barang-barang yang dibelinya hari ini, lalu melunasi kreditnya dengan uang tunai saat itu juga.
“Kau melihatnya? Mulai sekarang, keluarga akan membayar semua yang kau beli di sini, jadi jangan khawatir soal uang saat membeli pakaian dalam.”
“Apakah paman saya berpikiran sama?”
“Anda tidak perlu khawatir. Dia memutuskan untuk menyerahkan urusan Anda kepada saya.”
Elaine terkejut dan menatap L’Arch lagi, tetapi L’Arch tetap tenang seolah tidak ada yang aneh.
Namun sikap L’Arch sangat tidak menyenangkan bahkan bagi Rabes.
[Apa maksudnya dia yang bertanggung jawab atas bisnismu?]
“Aku tidak tahu…”
[Jika dipikir-pikir dalam kaitannya dengan fakta bahwa keluarga terkutuk itu memperlakukanmu sebagai properti,…kurasa dia mengatakan bahwa pamanmu menyerahkan kepemilikanmu kepadanya.]
“Saya benar-benar merasa seperti sebuah properti. Kalau dipikir-pikir, sepertinya tidak ada bedanya dengan kehidupan saya sebelumnya.….”
Elaine berbisik dengan suara pelan agar L’Arch tidak mendengar dan menelan ludah kering.
Bahkan sebelum kepulangannya, Elaine adalah milik keluarga Count Newt, dan memang benar bahwa pendapat L’Arch sangat memengaruhi keputusannya terhadap masa depan Elaine.
Tetapi L’Arch tidak pernah peduli pada Elaine seperti ini.
Elaine, yang merasa perubahan sikap L’Arch semakin menjengkelkan, segera menggelengkan kepalanya.
“Kurasa aku masih terlalu peduli pada L’Arch. Lupakan saja. Toh kita akan menjadi orang asing dalam setahun.”
Meskipun dia tidak tahu barang apa yang dicari Rabes di kuil, Elaine berpikir dia akan dapat menemukan semuanya dalam waktu sekitar satu tahun dan bebas pergi.
Ketika dia memikirkannya seperti itu, dia mulai merasa bahwa situasi saat ini, di mana L’Arch bertindak seolah-olah dia adalah pelindung Elaine, sungguh konyol.
“Kau sama sekali tidak memilikiku, L’Arch. Aku tidak akan hidup dan mati hanya karena ucapanmu seperti yang kulakukan di kehidupanku sebelumnya.”
Elaine berpikir dalam-dalam seolah bertekad.
After finishing talking to the underwear store merchant about the credit account book or the ledger, L’Arch looked over the list of items to buy and said, “What’s next? Notebooks and writing utensils? As for notes, the ones from the Madela store are fine. let’s go.”
Unlike Elaine, who was somewhat reluctant, he even seemed a little excited.
However, at the Madela store, Elaine confirmed the identity of the strange anxiety she had been feeling earlier.
“L’Arch!”
This is because as soon as she crossed the threshold of the store, she heard Lorina’s voice calling L’Arch.
“What are you doing here? Elaine…?”
Lorina, who was welcoming L’Arch, opened her eyes wide when she saw Elaine coming in behind L’Arch.
“Elaine joined as a saint, so I’m here to buy the necessary items for her. I heard that Lady Dardil has also entered the Temple?”
“Ah yes…”
Lorina couldn’t take her eyes off Elaine while answering L’Arch’s question. In the end, it was her mother who had been pretending to be friendly instead of Lorina.
“L’Arch, are you taking care of all your cousin’s preparations?”
“I think I should take care of my younger siblings’ affairs. My mother is busy too.”
Countess Dardil nodded as if she understood. There was no way Countess Newt would take Elaine, who was no different from her ‘enemy’s daughter’.
“If time permits, I would like to talk more, but we have a lot of places to go.….”
“Oh, that’s right. Lorina?”
Lorina managed to smile when her mother nudged her.
“I hope to see you soon, L’Arch.”
“Of course, I will see you soon. There is an engagement in 2 weeks.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
L’Arch looked bored as if he was talking about someone else’s business, but Lorina blushed at the word engagement. She looked shy and happy as if the discomfort or anxiety she had felt just now disappeared in an instant.
Then she shot Elaine a look that said, ‘I won!’
It was so funny that Elaine almost burst out laughing, but she didn’t know what kind of gossip she would hear if she did that in front of Madame Dardil, so she just smiled.
Of course, Lorina’s smile hardened there.
[Why is she so eager to start a fight whenever she sees you?]
It seemed to Rabes that Lorina’s attitude was strange, but Elaine couldn’t figure out the reason, so she just shrugged her shoulders.
Anyway, after wandering around the shopping district with L’Arch for a while, Elaine was able to prepare everything without missing anything.
Elaine’s list of items, as well as a good quality leather luggage, ointment for wounds, cream for the face, a garter belt to hold up her stockings, leather shoes, socks, gloves, a scripture with a leather cover, stationery, letter envelopes, a paper knife, a paperweight, and handkerchiefs.
L’Arch, who was carrying all her luggage by himself, didn’t have enough hands, so even Elaine ended up having to carry a lot of paper bags.
“As expected, I should have brought a servant.”
“There was no need to buy this much in the first place, L’Arch.”
But L’Arch ignored Elaine’s words.
As the afternoon sun began to set, I left the shopping street and L’Arch stopped in front of a store.
“Wait a moment in front of here.”
“uh? Yes.”
Unlike the two who always went in together, L’Arch went into the store alone, so Elaine waited in front of the store without thinking, thinking he might be buying something he needed.
As she was looking at the people passing by on the street without thinking, Rabes chimed next to her.
[Did you feel better today because that guy bought you this and that?]
“Is there anything else to do other than like it? It’s something I wouldn’t have needed if I hadn’t joined the temple in the first place. It feels a bit unfair that I wasn’t able to do this in my previous life.”
[So, you’re not saying you’ll fall in love with that guy again, are you?]
“Absolutely not. But why is that?”
[No, I’m just afraid you’ll do something stupid again.]
“That won’t happen.”
[As I said last time, if there is anything you want, please tell me as much as you want. Because I can give you something much better than what you bought today.]
Elaine laughed because it was somehow funny that Rabes was giving her firm instructions.
‘I was a little worried about where on earth the dragon, who is said to be unable to create something from nothing, would get such an item. But more than anything, I was happy that there was someone who cared about my life.’
Elaine was always anxious because there was no one like that in her previous life.
‘I didn’t have anyone to talk to about whether I was doing the right thing, whether I was making the wrong choice, or what I should do.’
So she had a lot of worries and thoughts, she was indecisive and put off making choices, she couldn’t let go of self-destructive unrequited love, and in the end, her life was helplessly taken from her.
‘If only one person had thought of me like this in my past life, I wouldn’t have lived like that.’
Elaine pretended to tidy up windblown hair and gently stroked Rabes’ head.
Even with that small touch, Rabes buried his nose in the back of Elaine’s neck and let out a warm breath.
* * *
A small party was held at Count Newt’s mansion, a week before the saint’s initiation ceremony. It was L’Arch and Lorina’s engagement.
Initially, both families tried to announce their engagement with a bigger party, but it became a small party where only close acquaintances were invited because Lorina suddenly joined the temple as a saintess.
“In my previous life, their engagement was two years later than this, so I don’t know why it was moved forward.”
Elaine whispered as she sliced the raspberry pie in front of her.
It makes no sense to rush the engagement ceremony because Lorina has become a saintess.
‘Being a member of the Temple doesn’t mean you can’t have an engagement ceremony, and in my previous life, they had an engagement ceremony two years after I joined the temple.’
[but it must have been caused by a change in your behavior. But it won’t be a serious change because what’s going to happen has happened.]
“Kalau begitu aku senang.”
Waktu pertunangan itu mengejutkan, tetapi juga tidak terduga bahwa Elaine diundang ke acara ini. Bahkan Lorina yang mengundang Elaine.
‘Saya tidak tahu apa yang sedang terjadi, tetapi saya tidak bisa menolak.’
Berkat ini, Elaine hanya duduk di sudut pesta di mana tidak ada seorang pun yang berbicara kepadanya, melahap makanan yang belum pernah dicicipinya sebelumnya.
[Aku bahkan tidak mengerti upacara pertunangan ini. Jika kalian berdua memang cocok, mengapa harus ada upacara untuk ‘berjanji’ terlebih dahulu? Pertama-tama, pernikahan adalah janji untuk bersama sampai kalian berdua meninggal. Membuat janji demi janji, bukankah ini aneh bagimu?]
“Mereka tidak bisa menikah saat ini, tetapi mereka ingin menunjukkan ikatan antara kedua keluarga mereka.”
