“Oh, dear. I really have to go now, Regina.”
Kai stood up, brushing the dust off his knees.
His voice sounded a little disappointed.
I stood up after him, hesitating for a moment.
This was the first blind date in my life that had ended without the other person running away or fainting.
How was I supposed to wrap things up in a situation like this?
Should I use the strategy of ‘blocking the enemy’s escape route,’ or the tactic of ‘anticipating the next engagement’?
Just as I was racking my brain over what people called asking for a second date—
“If you don’t mind.”
Kai spoke first.
His golden eyes, with the moonlight from the now-dark sky behind him, curved gently.
“I’d like to arrange another meeting with you, Regina. Even though I’m not exactly a suitable match.”
There was a self-deprecating joke mixed into the end of his words.
He was probably thinking about his own situation.
I tilted my head.
“I don’t think having debts makes you an unsuitable match. There are many things in this world that can’t be helped. I’m sure you have your reasons.”
At my sincere words of comfort, Kai stared blankly for a moment, then burst into bright laughter.
“Haha, about those debts…”
“Next time, I’d like us to watch a play together.”
Kai opened his mouth as if to explain something, but our words overlapped.
“A play? Do you mean an opera?”
Kai, who had been about to talk about his debts, stopped and widened his eyes.
At his reaction, I awkwardly scratched my cheek with my index finger.
“I heard that nobles in the capital buy private box seats at the opera house. But the Eisenbach family hasn’t been in the capital for very long, and…”
My voice trailed off.
Actually, my father had gone to the opera house later with a bag full of money.
But they had told him there were no seats available and given him waiting list number 150.
It was only later, through Count Benner, that I learned this was a form of discrimination.
“…I don’t know much about that sort of thing, so I don’t have a box seat.”
I added, pretending it didn’t bother me.
“But that doesn’t mean I don’t know a place where they put on good plays.”
At my words, Kai leaned forward with interest.
“Oh? And where might that be?”
“I need to make some preparations, so I’ll tell you later. It’s a secret.”
Kai’s eyes sparkled like a child’s as he said he was looking forward to it.
“Then our next meeting…”
We decided on a date and time for our next meeting.
Just before we parted, Kai looked at me with a strangely determined expression and said,
“Next time, I’ll make sure to arrive properly, Regina. Through the front door, not the window.”
“I’ll look forward to it. Then I’ll walk you home.”
When I held out my hand to see him off, Kai waved it away.
“Walk me home?”
“Isn’t that obvious? I heard it’s good manners.”
“Hahahaha! Walking someone home after the first meeting? That’s moving a little too fast.”
Kai burst into laughter and spoke playfully. I paused.
“Oh, I see. That might make you uncomfortable.”
Kai probably knew more about these things than I did, having spent my life rolling around on battlefields.
Thinking that, I obediently backed down.
“Then get home safely. I’ve checked that there are no more signs of anyone nearby.”
“All right. I really had fun today.”
Kai waved with a smile and went down the clock tower.
I stood by the railing for a long time, until his presence had completely disappeared.
****
The moment I returned to the mansion, my father and older brother sprang out from behind the entrance pillars, where they had been lying in wait.
“Regina! You’re back!”
“How did it go? Did that guy faint as soon as he met you? Or did he run away?”
They studied my expression and fired questions at me one after another.
In their eyes, resignation that said ‘It must have failed again’ coexisted with anger that said ‘How dare some man treat our daughter like that?’
“It’s better to find someone else instead of a weak man with so much debt…”
“Father, bring me that list again. I’ll immediately…”
“No.”
I answered calmly as I took off my shoes.
“It was nice.”
“…Huh?”
“W-what did you say?”
My father and older brother’s mouths fell open at the same time.
They looked as if they had just heard that a monster had performed ballet.
Leaving them behind, I quickly climbed the stairs.
“I’m tired, so I’ll rest now.”
But even after I went into my room, washed up, and lay down in bed, I couldn’t fall asleep easily.
As I stared at the dark ceiling, those golden eyes that had sparkled in the sunlight kept appearing in my mind.
‘I’ve never dated a man before because I’ve spent all my time fighting on the battlefield…’
Kai. That man.
The man who wasn’t afraid of me, didn’t laugh at my rough mannerisms, and laughed with me as we ran across the rooftops.
‘Somehow… I have a good feeling about him.’
I buried my face in my pillow.
Normally, this would have been the time when I had nightmares filled with the smell of blood, but tonight, I felt like I would have a pleasant dream.
****
The next morning.
I got up earlier than usual and finished getting ready.
Today, I wore comfortable clothes for going out instead of my usual training outfit.
My destination wasn’t the glamorous center of the capital, but ‘Tonyachi,’ an artists’ district connected to the back alleys.
Tonyachi was where the capital’s rebels gathered.
It was a street lined with poor painters who couldn’t get support from nobles, street musicians, and bizarre sculptures.
Unlike the well-paved main roads, the ground here was uneven, and strange murals covered every wall.
I pushed through the crowd and headed deeper into the street.
The sounds of musical instruments coming from all directions tickled my ears, while the smell of paint and cheap wine stung my nose.
I spotted a man repairing a puppet in front of an old cart and approached him.
“Hey, you there. Puppet master.”
When I called out, the puppet master, who had messy hair and wore a worn-out coat, turned around in surprise.
The moment he saw me, he flinched and stepped backward.
Even though I was wearing ordinary clothes, he seemed to sense the smell of blood and murderous aura that clung to me.
Artists had sharp instincts, after all.
“…W-who are you?”
He asked in a trembling voice.
“I’d like to hire you for a job.”
I got straight to the point.
“I’d like to commission a private performance for me and my… hmm, my companion.”
The puppet master widened his eyes and looked me up and down.
A person suddenly showing up and asking for a puppet show out of nowhere. It seemed like the two things didn’t match at all.
“I-I’m just a street puppeteer, you know? The quality might not be good enough for a noble…”
“You have ‘that’ in your repertoire, don’t you?”
I pointed to a dusty puppet shoved into the corner of his cart.
It was a knight puppet wearing armor, but with one broken arm.
“The Last Knight’s Dance.”
At those words, the puppet master’s face filled with shock.
“G-gasp! That… I only performed it once, as a practice show, early one morning… How did you know about it?”
“On my first day in the capital, I couldn’t sleep, so I went for a walk. I happened to see you practicing in a corner.”
That early morning, I had watched him perform alone in this district, moving the puppets and crying.
It wasn’t flashy or romantic.
But it was special.
It would be a good play to watch with Kai.
I smiled and took a thick pouch from inside my clothes.
The heavy sound of gold coins jingling rang out.
“I’ll rent out an entire small theater in a corner of Tonyachi. I want you to perform that show there. There will be exactly two audience members. I’ll pay whatever fee you ask.”
The puppet master looked back and forth between the pouch of gold coins and my face.
His expression was complicated, mixed with joy, fear, and uncertainty.
“Um… is this a date, by any chance?”
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