“Yes, that could be the case.”
Well, it could be. There was no rule that men couldn’t wear flashy necklaces.
But the Nobert she knew had no interest in jewelry, and didn’t wear even a common brooch, let alone rings or necklaces. Even the sword he carried was so plain and unadorned that one would never guess it belonged to a duke.
For him to say he was going to buy a necklace for himself was an obvious lie.
“I didn’t think you were very interested in jewelry. Or am I wrong?”
“I wasn’t, but I think I’ll start taking an interest from now on.”
“I see. Then since it’s something Nobert will be using, you’ll choose it yourself, right?”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have a good eye for choosing jewelry. Ariella, I would be grateful if you would use your discerning eye.”
But when he was so brazen, there was nothing she could do. She could only narrow her eyes and glare at him.
I really want to use my discerning eye.
It was an aesthetic sense that Amira had even called a “devil’s talent.”
She felt an urge to use that talent to decorate him from head to toe, but Ariella made an effort to remain calm. No matter what, she couldn’t turn that handsome man into a social clown.
Not long after, the shopkeeper appeared with a tray of glittering necklaces, and Ariella, as Nobert had requested, helped him choose one.
Fortunately, even she, with her less-than-stellar aesthetic sense, managed to pick out something quite decent this time.
It wasn’t that her senses had suddenly become sharper; it was simply that all the candidates were good pieces, so she couldn’t fail no matter what she chose.
The one they selected was a necklace with intricately crafted emeralds, and it was fascinating that the emeralds had a light blue tint.
Ariella, who had no interest in jewelry, had only ever known emeralds to be green.
Her reason for choosing it was simple: the diamonds decorating the emerald were fewer compared to the other necklaces.
In other words, it looked the cheapest of the lot. Even so, it certainly wasn’t cheap.
But, rendering her efforts useless, Nobert opened his wallet even wider.
“Please package it with the matching earrings.”
“Nobert!”
“I just happened to want earrings as well.”
Is there a problem? Ariella was utterly defeated by Nobert’s brazen reply.
The shopkeeper and staff watched the affectionate couple with warm smiles, then left the reception room to package the items. It seemed they had formed a completely different impression of Ariella than she had intended.
“Make sure you wear them both, the earrings and the necklace, when we meet next time.”
When Ariella made the demand with a sulky face, Nobert curved his lips into a pleasing smile.
“If you wish, of course.”
Nobert’s face, as he spoke with a smile, sparkled more than the emerald necklace she had seen earlier. With a face like that, he would surely pull off even the most extravagant jewelry.
She lost. Ariella didn’t know exactly what she had lost to, but she was certain of it nonetheless.
“…Ariella. Do you not particularly like jewelry?”
As she squeezed her eyes shut in defeat, Nobert cautiously asked a question.
“It seems you haven’t worn earrings or necklaces much before.”
From before, huh. Just how long has he been watching me?
Ariella wondered anew and replied.
“Yes. They’re inconvenient in many ways… And I don’t really like flashy, glittering things in the first place.”
“Then what do you like?”
Her words caught in her throat for a moment. Ariella blinked her large eyes blankly.
Embarrassingly, she was confident she could immediately answer what she disliked, but she couldn’t immediately recall what she liked.
Until now, her life had been so busy running away from painful and terrible things that she hadn’t had the capacity to embrace things she liked.
After going far back into her memories, Ariella was finally able to find one thing that her past self had loved.
“…Potatoes?”
A small potato she had obtained after fighting all day with the children at the orphanage.
It was dried out and covered in the children’s handprints, so it couldn’t really be called delicious, but when she shared the hard-won potato with Kaia, she couldn’t have been happier.
“Potatoes… you say?”
Nobert asked back, sounding doubtful.
Ah. Ariella realized that she had been lost in her past memories and spouted nonsense, and quickly corrected herself.
“Ah. No, I misspoke. What I like is…”
She moved her lips urgently, but perhaps because she was flustered, only emptiness filled her head again. No matter how hard she tried to think of something, only the potato covered in dirt and blood kept coming to mind.
Huff. Ariella let out a soft sigh and honestly confessed her state.
“Um… Actually, I don’t really know. What I like.”
She gave an awkward smile and continued.
“I know a lot of things I dislike… But I haven’t had the chance to think about what I like.”
Ariella briefly regretted bringing up such a serious topic so suddenly and glanced at Nobert.
What if he thinks it’s strange? A moment of anxiety even arose.
But, as always, Nobert didn’t arbitrarily judge her or offer hasty advice, but only gave a calm and gentle reply.
“Then it will be fun to find out in the future.”
The fun of finding out what I like. It was an idea that Ariella had never even considered before.
It wasn’t a particularly special thing to say, but perhaps because the timing was right, or perhaps simply because she heard it from him, the words settled warmly and firmly in her heart.
“…I guess so.”
Ariella nodded blankly.
“I really guess it will be.”
After leaving Bedford, I will live a life of getting to know myself.
A life of learning, one by one, what I like and what I want to keep by my side.
Thinking that, laughter burst out uncontrollably.
Like the morning sun that clears away the dawn light and shines brilliantly on the world, a bright smile, without any pretense or affectation, filled her face completely.
Nobert captured her face in his trembling eyes.
The sharp line of his jaw tightened.
‘Endure.’
He clenched his fist tightly and repeated the words he had already recited hundreds of times today.
Know your place, you dirty bastard.
He even hurled harsh insults at himself for harboring vain desires, reminding himself of his station again and again.
The woman before him is the noblest and most precious person in the world. He, a lowly being covered in dirty blood, should not dare to covet her.
He repeated it over and over, but despite these efforts, his self-control quickly vanished with a few words from her.
“In the future, please tell me a lot.”
Ariella’s voice, speaking of a future together, was so sweet.
He knew well that it wasn’t the meaning he was hoping for, but the fleeting hope he harbored was so sweet that he felt his brain melting away.
“How could I, dare I…”
“I’m asking because it’s you, Nobert.”
