“That's true, but I wouldn't have even dreamed that Lucas would be here.
On the contrary, if I had known he was there, I wouldn't have come.
It's funny that I'm justifying myf to you both.
Why should I explain myf?”
I sighed deeply, crossing my arms.
“…We apologize, it was our mistake, ma’am.”
Amy, who had been silent, spoke as she lowered her head.
“I really have nothing to do with this man, so I hope you both understand.”
I wasn't sure if Amy understood what I said.
I just hoped this wouldn't reach Leon's ears.
“Don't worry, ma'am.”
Amy seemed calm, as if she understood my intention, but the worry did not go away.
Hadn't Amy told Leon despite her promise before?
“How can I not worry?”
“What do you mean?”
Amy looked at me with round eyes and asked.
“Don’t you really understand?
Yesterday, you told Leon about my meeting with Lucas, which made him unnecessarily worried.”
“No, this is a misunderstanding.
I did not say a word to the master, as I promised you.”
"What do you mean?
If not you, then who?"
At that moment, the door to the prayer room opened, and Lucas appeared.
He shook his long blonde hair in a flamboyant manner and looked at me.
“By the way, I met your husband yesterday.
He said that he had returned home but was forced to attend a meeting of the nobles.
When I mentioned that I had met you, His Highness the Duke spat on me.”
'Leon is not a lama, and he is not one to spit on anyone.
He maintains certain boundaries even when he plays the idiot, doesn't he?'
"Leon's not that type.
What exactly did you say to him?"
“You said you and I had a close relationship.”
I looked at Amy.
I felt sorry for doubting her.
'But this idiot?'
I looked at him angrily and said in as low a voice as possible: “Don’t talk about me to anyone again.
You and I are complete strangers, okay?”
“I just came to pray, isn’t that too harsh?”
Lucas relaxed the corners of his eyes and laughed lightly as if he was surprised.
I felt a little sorry.
This all started because of me, or rather, because of my ex Bill who confessed to him.
He's definitely confused too.
So, feeling guilty, I advised him: “Okay, in good faith, I advise you that instead of walking around like a drunk, practice martial arts.
You should be able to protect yourf.”
Lucas was not an important character in the novel, and did not appear in it.
Maybe he was just one of those who would die early at the hands of monsters.
He looked at me with an even more surprised expression.
I nodded vigorously and said to Amy and Mary, “Let’s go.”
I left Lucas behind and walked out of the temple and into the carriage.
“Shall we go straight to the hotel?”
“Yes, I'm tired.”
I felt like my energy had been taken away from me.
I had hoped to never see Lucas again, but that was just a wish on my part.
When the carriage was about to start, Lucas approached and knocked on the window.
I was going to ignore him and ask to leave, but his serious look, different from before, made me open the window a little.
“Bill.”
“Call me Your Highness the Princess.”
“Okay, Your Highness.
The confession you made to me, was it sincere?”
Maybe it was true to the real Belle, but it wasn't to me.
“Of course not.
I heard that your reputation is very bad, and I really hope that I am not part of those rumours.”
I left Lucas, who was looking at me with dark eyes without saying a word, and returned to the hotel.
“Bill Bell, where have you been?
We promised to walk together, so I came back early.”
Leon, who came back unexpectedly early, was waiting for me.
If I had known he was waiting, I would not have gone to the temple.
“Proudly, His Highness the Duke was fired because he caused too much chaos,” Calsen added in an emotionless tone.
"Where were you?"
Leon ignored Calsen's words and asked me.
“I went to pray to Governor Tia for you, Leon.
This is very normal.”
“Bill Bill is truly an angel.
I feel like I will live to be 500 years old!”
"What?
What do you mean?
You should live to be 1000 years old!"
At my words, Leon clapped and jumped excitedly.
His big body seemed to jump like a child, making me feel like my heart was shaking.
I suppressed my desire to yell at him to stop because he was annoying, and I smiled at him kindly and tenderly.
“We said we'd walk around D.C. together, Bill Bill.
Let's go.”
With Leon's encouragement, I ended up walking around the capital with him without rest.
"Wow, Bill Bill, look at this!
Buy me this."
“Leon, you have a lot of money.
You bragged about it!”
Leon ignored my words and ran somewhere else.
“Bill Bill, this looks delicious.”
As Leon, who is taller than most of the grown men, was jumping around like a child and talking inappropriately, we quickly became the center of attention downtown.
I didn't hear everything people whispered, but words like “Esther” and “Sweden” reached my ears automatically.
'Let them make fun.
In the end, it's Leon who will survive.'
I didn't have to get angry here, but rather keep up with Leon and please him.
“Wait a minute.
I want to go there.”
An antique shop in a strangely remote location caught my attention.
Without hesitation, I pulled Leon towards the store.
But, when he realized we were going to an antique store, he started complaining that it was a dirty place and he didn't want to go.
That was the moment I felt an urgent need to discipline him with love.
'He drags me as he pleases, then refuses to go somewhere I want?'
In the end, I asked Calsen to take care of Leon and entered the antique store alone.
There was a scary sound when the door opened, as if it had not been opened for a long time.
The dark store was full of old items on the shelves.
An old woman, whose age was difficult to guess, wearing glasses on her nose, looked at me with a sharp look, which made me shrink unconsciously.
“Out of place.”
‘Strange?’ I ignored her words and greeted her in as bright a voice as possible.
A good first impression may bring something extra.
"Welcome."
I slowly wandered into the store, thankful I didn't bring Leon.
The store was narrower and dirtier than I expected.
The items on the shelves were covered in dust, and the large baskets on the floor were full of items with no room for a foot.
‘This way the customers will run away in terror.’ But such places could contain something of value if you looked carefully.
“These items are not for sale, get out quickly.”
“Aren't you ling?”
“Yes, it's not fun anymore.”
‘Who runs a store for fun?’ I knelt down in front of a basket and began examining the items one by one.
“I said it's not for sale.
I'm arranging, so get out.”
I ignored the old man's words and began looking into the basket as if I was fascinated.
I discovered a small bell inside.
As I was looking at it carefully, the bell suddenly started to light up and ring loudly.
I looked at the old woman confused.
But she didn't seem to hear anything, and continued to stare at me with a sharp look while waving her hand.
“Get out quickly.”
“Please l me this bell.”
“What bell?”
The old woman frowned deeply when she saw the little bell she had raised.
"It's not yours.
This bell has no owner.
I won't l it."
The old woman, who was sitting bent over, with an astonishingly upright posture, approached, snatched the bell from my hand, and began pushing me forcefully toward the door.
“Don't you see the bell lighting up?”
She stopped pushing me.
“Do you really see that?”
I nodded.
This was the same feeling I had when I saw the Holy Sword.
I wanted this bell so bad because of that joyful pulse.
“It's an ownerless bell, but it looks broken.
It attracts strangers...”
She muttered unintelligible words and sighed several times.
“Take it.
You are the new owner.”