As if she had come to a place filled with past memories, her heart had also returned to the past.
Should she go back to playing the role of an elegant princess? She shook her head slightly.
She didn’t want to show him a fabricated version of herself. As if testing whether he could like even this side of her.
“Your stone-throwing skills are top-notch. Where did you learn them?”
“Hmm. I didn’t learn it, I just naturally picked it up. Somehow.”
“But can you really juggle?”
“Yes. I made some money with it when I was young. Would you like me to show you?”
“If it’s not too much trouble.”
“It’s no trouble at all. Give me the stones.”
Still, there was no need to show him such an unadorned side of herself. Ariella regretted it belatedly, but by then, three stones were already spinning in her hand.
Tap, tap, tap. Each time a cheerful sound was heard as the stones were thrown into the sky, Nobert clapped vigorously with his calloused hands.
The restaurant, as Ariella had warned, was quite noisy and crowded.
The large, two-story building was packed with dozens of tables placed close together, and as befitting a popular spot, most of them were already filled with customers.
The boisterous sounds of conversation and clinking glasses echoed from all directions, filling the restaurant’s interior.
Perhaps due to the time of day, everyone at the tables was nursing a beer, making it seem more like a pub than a restaurant.
Ariella and Nobert settled at a table on the edge of the restaurant, in a relatively quieter area.
Soon, plates of golden-brown sausages, tangy sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, and a foreign-style potato dish made with flour were placed before them.
While the quality of the ingredients was inferior to what they ate at the mansion, the taste was by no means lacking.
“Nobert, are you alright?”
“What do you mean?”
Contrary to her worries, Nobert seemed quite familiar with this kind of atmosphere. He ordered with ease and didn’t hesitate to weave through the crowd of people who were getting into the spirit and dancing.
Ariella was the one who was more flustered. She knew the restaurant would be noisy, but she hadn’t expected it to be this chaotic. Even if it wasn’t a real date, it wasn’t exactly a suitable atmosphere for one.
“The atmosphere of the place. It’s louder than you thought, right? I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it would be like this…”
“No, it’s alright. I’m more accustomed to this kind of atmosphere. However, you might be uncomfortable, Ariella. Shall we move to another place?”
“No, I’m fine too. We don’t have to move. Do you like the food?”
“Yes, it’s excellent. No wonder there are so many customers.”
“That’s a relief. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here, so I wasn’t sure if it would taste the same as it used to.”
Ariella let out a short sigh of relief and glanced around the restaurant.
The last time she had eaten at this restaurant was a full ten years ago.
It was just a few weeks before she was discovered by the Bedford ducal family’s butler and taken to the duke’s mansion, one day when she was twelve years old.
Kaia, who usually avoided leaving the orphanage, had suggested an outing for some reason, and a young Ariella had excitedly grabbed Kaia’s hand and left the orphanage.
The place they arrived at was here, on Delancy Street.
Kaia had left her at this restaurant, saying he was going to meet someone he knew, and Ariella had assumed that Kaia was going to borrow money from an acquaintance as she ate the food he had ordered for her. What she ate then was this potato dish.
The chewy and soft foreign-style potato dumplings were usually served as a side dish to other meals, and were the cheapest item on the menu at this restaurant.
But for Ariella, whose memories from before entering the orphanage were hazy, it was the first time she had eaten such a proper meal, and so she buried her face in the plate and devoured the potatoes like crazy.
When about half of the not-so-large potato dish had disappeared, she regained her senses and placed her hands on the table. She desperately wanted to finish the remaining half, but she couldn’t.
Kaia must be hungry too.
For that reason, young Ariella waited for Kaia, constantly wiping away the drool that was flowing out, and when Kaia appeared after more than an hour, she said,
“Kaia, eat quickly! I’ve been guarding it so no dust would get on it, so it’s clean!”
Kaia had looked at her with moist eyes and stroked her hair for a long time, muttering, “Good girl, really good girl.”
And a few weeks later, Ariella became the Duchess of Bedford, and her table was filled with dishes that were far more luxurious than potatoes.
Just as she was becoming bored with those dishes, she learned of Kaia’s death.
After gaining the right to go out freely, Ariella often visited Delancy Street to reminisce about her memories with Kaia. But she couldn’t bring herself to enter the restaurant.
Unlike the restaurant, which had remained in the same place for ten years, her appearance had changed so much that she couldn’t find any fragments of her past self. Perhaps because of that sense of alienation, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
But today, she had hesitated a little, but she had managed to step into this restaurant, and she had tasted the dish from her memories again. The potatoes didn’t taste the same as they used to, but they were still delicious.
That was enough. Ariella thought so and continued her meal.
It was when her white plate was almost empty.
“Honey, there’s a seat here…! Oh my, goodness! Aren’t you two a lovely couple? You look so good together!”
A middle-aged woman who had come to take a seat at the empty table next to them suddenly showered them with compliments.
Ariella was a little taken aback, but she knew that it was common to exchange simple conversations with strangers on Delancy Street, and she couldn’t find any malice in the woman’s voice, so she obediently lowered her head.
“Thank you for your kind words.”
“I can’t help but say nice things! Just looking at you, you’re a match made in heaven! Enjoy your meal!”
“Yes, you too.”
She smiled brightly, finished the conversation, and looked forward again. And soon, she noticed that Nobert’s face had changed.
It was a subtle expression that seemed to be both happy and guilty. Ariella couldn’t understand why he was making such a face, so she tilted her head in confusion.
“Nobert? What’s wrong?”
“…Weren’t you offended?”
“Huh? Offended by what? By her suddenly talking to us?”
“No. It’s not that… It’s just that… I was afraid you would be offended by her putting you in the same category as me.”
Her mouth dropped open in disbelief.
At this point, she was really curious. Why did he only show such low self-esteem in front of her? He had been so confident in front of Aaron.
She was the one who was shamelessly acting as his mistress for her own purposes, she was the one who was being gossiped about by socialites for having landed a good man and changed her fate, and she was the one who was wallowing in the mud, consumed by a vile desire for revenge.
Why on earth was he putting himself down so much?
“There’s no reason for that. I was the one who asked you to pretend to be lovers in the first place.”
Today, she would solve that mystery. Ariella thought so and continued,
“I have a question, Nobert.”
“…Yes, please ask.”
“Why do you always talk about me as if I’m such a great and noble person? Why do you mention things like my place and my limits, as if you’re less than me?”
“Because that’s the truth.”
“That’s not true. As Nobert knows, I’m just a fake duchess who will soon lose her status and family. On the other hand, you are the great Grand Duke. If we have to talk about limits, I’m the one who needs to know my place.”
Ariella calmly pointed out the reality. Then, Nobert looked extremely displeased, as if he himself had been insulted.
“Who is saying such things?”
No, he wasn’t just displeased. There was a chilling anger in his voice as he asked who the culprit was. He looked like he would run off and cut off the tongue of anyone if she said someone’s name.
“You are someone I respect and admire more than anyone else. To insult you is to insult me, so please let me know if anyone dares to insult you.”
“No, it’s not that anyone said that…”
