MCFATTKM

37

When their eyes met, the Duke smiled gently and laughed. The Duke of Superion's cheeks were aching in the last few days, perhaps because he didn't usually laugh.

Nevertheless, when he saw Lelia, he had no choice but to smile.

He smiled consciously, albeit with some regret.

He did not want Lelia to be afraid of him.

"Well... where are we going?"

The Duke of Superion stopped in front of a shop without answering Lelia's question.

"......."

Lelia, who had been watching the carriage driver following them, glanced at the signboard in front of her.

This is a children's clothing store. It also looks very luxurious.

Lelia gulped down her saliva.

"I'd like to buy you some clothes before you reach the territory."

"...I'm all right."

"But I can't have you arrive in a robe."

When Lelia heard his words, she looked down at the robe.

It was a very nice robe that Sir Tess had bought her.

[Come to think of it...]

When they reach the Superion's territory, she will meet everyone.

Maybe even that person, whom she met in her mother's hut.

"......."

When she remembered that time, she was so nervous that her toes curled up and her throat tightened.

In the first place, Duke Superion will not reveal Lelia's identity. No one would believe it anyway.

[I must tell him before I reach his territory.]

Lelia made up her mind and followed the Duke.

***

After some time passed.

Unlike when Lelia walked into the store under her own power, she came out of the store on the driver's back.

She had changed her clothes so much that she was exhausted.

The knights, who had followed Lelia into the store, came out with their hands full of shopping bags.

Although they claimed to be shopping helpers, the faces of the knights were full of laughter.

Even without the Duke of Superion influence, the knights really liked Lelia.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Are there any errands you need me to run?"

"Driver, can I get you some water?"

A little person followed them and asked them for work. It made them smile.

There was nothing for Lelia to do, but they had to give chores so that she wouldn't turn sullen.

The knights exchanged glances with each other while watching Lelia proudly completing her missions.

[Cute!]

[Cute!]

They were very different from the maids in the Imperial castle, whom Lelia had left behind. Perhaps because the knights were not the servants of the Imperial Castle, Lelia looked like a doll to them.

When they first saw her, she felt too small and thin. How surprising it was to know that she was ten years old!

They felt proud to see her gain weight and her skin glow.