Became the Escort Knight of the Villain in the Romance Novel

47 – Under the Flowing Stars (2)

Time is indeed a subtle thing. Sometimes it is cloudy infinitely slowly, but when you are in a hurry, isn’t it time that flows like a flowing stream.

In the blink of an eye, several days passed, and when I blinked again, a week had already passed.

“Tomorrow!”

“…It’s your birthday.”

After looking at Pena as she jumped and jumped, she let out a light sigh and smiled bitterly.

Yes, tomorrow is Irene’s birthday. Hearing those words from the morning made her feel as if her body shrank for no reason.

She’s a gift, but I’ve prepared it myself. I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to convey this.

My lady, happy birthday. To be honest, that was too flat.

I wanted to give it a little more atmosphere… But I couldn’t come up with the right idea, so I had a lot of trouble for a while.

Maybe tonight, when the bell rings, I’d like to deliver a present. I don’t know if she can afford her.

Anyway, Lopena looked very excited. She felt that lately she seemed a little awkward with Irene,

I wonder if it was just my misunderstanding. When she asked cautiously, Rofena, who rolled her eyes, opened her mouth with a pout.

“Because I have to reconcile with the lady using my birthday as an opportunity. She can’t be crying.”

“Reconciliation? Even fighting with the lady… There’s no way that’s the case.”

With Irene’s personality, there’s no way she’d fight with Lopena.

Perhaps she unilaterally criticized Lopena rather than fighting.

As if that idea had come true, Roh Pena, who instantly became teary-eyed, pouted her lips and opened her mouth.

“I don’t know why you’re in a bad mood either. She just showed her necklace that the knight gave her, and suddenly her mood just got cold.”

“Is that so?”

“No, I didn’t really do anything wrong. I was just bragging about the birthday present, but the lady must have been in a bad mood at that time.”

“I guess so.”

As she carefully stroked Lopena’s hair, Lopena let out her sigh and stared at me.

Did she ever feel like stroking her hair? Ropena, who raised her head slightly, said something slightly different from what I expected.

“There is something reassuring about this. I hated it a little at first, but I guess this is going to become a habit.”

“Because you are so small.”

“No, not small. Even if you look at me like this, you’ve grown a little taller this year.”

You’ve grown taller, you still look small in my eyes.

She laughed for a moment at that, and turned her head to the sound of her ticking, and she noticed the clock pointing to afternoon.

It was shift time now. Even before she was formally appointed, she used to take turns like this,

After she took office, she needed to keep her time a little tight.

She didn’t, because not only did Sir Chris hear her rant, but Irene’s eyes also sharpened.

“Now I have to go. Don’t do anything else and stay calm. Or at least go and help Rize-san.”

“I was going to do that anyway. See you later!”

It must be a skill to always be that bright.

Laughing bitterly at Fena’s familiar scent from her back, she soon turned her back and started moving towards Irene.

#

The scenery she saw when she entered her office was quite far from what I thought.

I thought I’d see piles of paperwork piled up on my desk, but…

At the unexpectedly tidy desk, Irene was just staring at me with a puzzled expression.

…Strong coffee aroma.

Maybe Irene, who always insisted on Darjeeling, was so focused on her work that she drank coffee.

He looked at the black waves lapping in the teacup next to her for a while, then looked at Irene and smiled lightly once.

“Aren’t you overdoing it?”

“…I had to overdo it. Otherwise, I would have had to work and live without a single day off.”

Perhaps her eyes were blurry, Irene, who pressed her eyes gently once, opened her mouth slowly as she lifted up a document with this and that written on it.

“The day after tomorrow, there will be another pile of papers. To take a day off… There was no other way than to overdo it a little.”

“How about getting some sleep?”

It was clear that he would stay up all night again. The thick shadows under her eyes,

If you fall down like last time, why are you overdoing it?

When I slightly frowned at her, seeing me like that, Irene replied weakly.

“I don’t really want to sleep. Drinking this, why can’t I sleep well?”

“Consuming too much coffee is not very good for the body. Aren’t you still spending a lot of time sleeping?”

She knew it well because she drank it to the point of exhaustion.

Of course, I know that the coffee of this era is quite different from the coffee of today, but

Anyway, doesn’t caffeine contain the same? Let’s say that with a worried expression,

Irene put down the teacup and stared at me with a smile.

“Then could you look at the paperwork for me? Then I might be able to get some sleep.”

“Since I am not good at reading documents, I think that would be a bit difficult.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t try.

It’s just that when Irene saw me fixing the paperwork, I got pretty angry.

Didn’t she tell her not to touch the papers after that? Although she honestly broke her heart,

Even I thought it would be impossible to directly help her with her work.

In the first place, wasn’t there much more to see sheet music than such documents?

Hearing those words, I shrugged her shoulders, and Irene looked out the window as she quietly swept her face.

Now that the sun was high in the sky, the garden glistening with the broken sunlight seemed like a pretty sight.

Flowers starting to bloom little by little from the ground,

Would you like to see the occasional fluttering insects attached to the flowers one by one.

Irene, who was staring blankly at her garden, muttered quietly.

“…The weather is nice.”

The wind was not cold today, so the warm sunlight mingled with the wind, and a warm wind occasionally touched my cheeks and scattered them.

Although there are few flowers as winter has just ended, today is probably the perfect weather for the season of spring.

As I nodded at her words, Irene looked at me and slowly opened her mouth.

“Do you want to leave?”

“…Yes?”

When she opened her eyes wide at her sudden words, Irene narrowed her eyes and spoke again in a low voice.

“I mean let’s go outside.”

#

There was neither Lopena nor Sir Chris. It’s really just Irene and I, just the two of us,

The place I came out for a walk as an excuse was a town I had visited before.

If I had to point out the difference, it would be that instead of Irene’s usual dress, she wore something a little more modest.

I don’t want to stand out in the eyes of others.

A sudden outing that started just because I wanted to enjoy my leisure time,

It took quite a long time for me to fully regain my senses.

Looking at the tall clock tower and the bell hanging on it is a while.

Realizing that Irene was right next to me, I sighed lightly. She was given her short break.

In her heart, she wanted to tell her to close her eyes a little, but

For some reason, unlike usual, I had no choice but to come out like this because I was stubborn.

What would you do if it came out like this?

Since there were no festivals or anniversaries, the plaza was very quiet.

Noon, a time when most people were busy at work.

Isn’t it natural that there are no people in the square where people usually come out to enjoy their leisure life?

However, it seemed that none of that had anything to do with it, and I could see from Irene’s expressionless expression that she was quite excited.

The wind blew. When the wind swayed the flower petals and landed on the ground,

It was like the cold gray stone floor was dyed with watercolor.

‘…Not bad.’

As she said at the beginning, it was warm weather that you don’t see often.

I don’t know how many days like this will be in the future, so it wouldn’t be too bad to come out like this once.

However, since I can’t just walk around without doing anything like this, I looked at Irene and opened her mouth.

“Is there anything you are looking for?”

“No, it just came out. I’m thinking of walking around like this for a while before going in.”

It was ambiguous. Do you have no intention of spending your time just walking around the deserted streets like this?

Since she came out like this at best, I had a strong desire to at least show her this and that.

It was difficult to enjoy something at the Duke’s residence. No matter how many things she has in the Duchy,

After all, she doesn’t come out of the duke all that she saw herself was all she saw at the festival the other day.

“If you want to eat, I think you should go to a restaurant. After all, there is not much to see just wandering the streets.”

I left without even having lunch. When she asked if she was hungry, she asked Irene, who cautiously nodded her head.

“Come to think of it, she skipped meals. Are there any places you can recommend?”

“Of course.”

Even before she was formally appointed, she often appeared in the city.

I came out to buy equipment for myself or just to cool my head.

What I found while spending such time was the hidden attractions in this city area.

In the first place, there was no such thing as a high-end gin restaurant. Of course, if you look for it, you can find a high-end place, but

Actually, to find the right place, it was better to find it in the capital.

This is the northern part, and it was a place full of difficulties in many ways to procure fresh ingredients.

However, unlike high-end foods, the foods that ordinary people often enjoy were quite developed.

Apparently, the different races and monsters were on the other side of Mount Verdun right now,

As more hunters hunted them, this kind of food naturally developed.

I had a lot of worries. Will I be able to take Irene to such a place?

Still, he’s the kind of person I serve, but wouldn’t it be a little out of shape to take him to a shabby place?

Around the time I was contemplating looking at the places where the restaurants were gathered, Irene approached and quietly opened her mouth.

“I’m fine with shabby places. After all, if you go to a high-class place, you will only attract attention.”

Then he pointed his finger at a place, and since that restaurant was exactly the one I was thinking of, a smile broke out involuntarily.

When the hell did you notice my gaze? So as I approached it, Irene, who had checked the inside of the restaurant, let out a small breath.

“It’s funny that I said that earlier… but will it be okay here?”

She was a little shabby. It wasn’t a very famous place in the first place, and it was a place that only people in the know knew.

However, I was confident about the taste.

Sir Chris said that few restaurants in the duchy could match it.

After hearing it a few times, he couldn’t help but realize that what Sir Chris said was true.

“It’s a pretty good place. Even if it’s not as good as eating at the duke’s residence, people I know eat every meal here.”

However, the question on Irene’s expression was not easily resolved.

Come on, she must be a bit reluctant to dine at a place like this, having lived her whole life at the duke’s house.

Irene looked at her restaurant for a while and thought about it, then moved her steps inside, shaking her head.

Kikik-

A board that creaks whenever you step on it, even a wooden table that looks dull at first glance.

And when the restaurant owner with a full beard approached,

She couldn’t harden Irene’s face, so it looked like it had become a pure white dead tree.

“What would you like to order?”

“I would like to serve you a meat stew and a little sliced hind leg.”

As the restaurant owner who took her order stepped away, Irene looked at me, her face pale, and she started whispering cautiously.

She asked if she hadn’t come to the wrong place, and when she asked if she’d rather go to a better place even if she overworked herself a little, she sighed and laughed.

“My lady, don’t worry too much. If it doesn’t taste good, why don’t you tell me what to do?”

“…I have no intention of saying anything to you.”

Saying that, Irene narrowed her eyes, and she sighed softly as she looked at the door of her restaurant.

I’m sure you want to go out immediately. However, the corners of her mouth seemed to twitch when she thought of Irene, whose attitude would change soon after the food was served.

Expecting such a reaction is also a fun that she can only feel when she is with Irene.

As soon as the food was served, Irene tilted her head at the appearance of the food, which was better than she thought.

Garlic flavored sauce,

Carefully slicing the steak soaked in her deliciously brown sauce revealed the bright red flesh.

The outside was charred, but unlike him, Rin’s eyes widened slightly at the bright red flesh that oozes juice when pressed.

But it was still too early for her to admire.

The real taste of this steak is what she truly brings out when paired with the grilled asparagus.

As she reached for her knife to finish cutting her steak, the savory aroma of butter and fatty meat leaked into her nostrils.

“How are you? Unlike the restaurant… This dish deserves to be called the best in Julis.”

She picked up a piece of minced meat. The butter coated on the outside shimmered in the candle light.

Transparent juice flowing underneath. It took a while to appreciate it, but as soon as she carefully put it in her mouth, a natural exclamation burst out.

She felt it while cutting the meat, but the steak at this restaurant was truly excellent.

The moment it touched my tongue, I could clearly feel the texture of the meat gently enveloping my mouth.

The savory gravy that you can feel every time it touches your teeth,

And at the same time, the spicy scent of garlic hitting the tongue perfectly caught the unique smell of the meat.

And the scent of butter and asparagus that follows,

If I had only felt butter, I might have thought it was a bit greasy, but

The gentle scent of grass exhaled from the well-roasted asparagus came through without even a moment to feel the greasiness.

Why the hell is a restaurant that sells such food so shabby?

A question arose for a moment, but what came to my mind first was Irene’s expression staring at me.

“…Is it delicious?”

“To be honest, it tastes even better than the steak I ate at the Duke’s residence.”

“I don’t believe in such bluffs.”

She ate her steak, which was given to her, and Irene, realizing that there was nothing wrong with her, carefully put her sliced meat into her mouth.

As soon as I looked at her mouth, a smile leaked out without my knowledge at the slowly changing expression on her face.

First doubt, then denial, and then a look that gradually changes to admiration.

Immediately, Irene stared at me with twinkling eyes and cautiously licked her lips.

“Is it delicious?”

“That’s right. Didn’t you believe me?”

“Oh, no. It’s not like that, it’s because it’s unexpected. I could never have imagined that a place like this would have this level of food.”

Perhaps she really thought so, Irene’s blue eyes shimmered as she looked at her steak in wonder.

It’s probably the first time I’ve seen something like this.

The sight of Irene devouring her steak with her twinkling eyes made her heart tickle for nothing.

I also had the desire to feed one myself… But that thought was just a delusion.

“Are you okay?”

“To the extent that I feel sorry for doubting you.”

At that she raised her hand and covered her mouth.

Even though she tried to hold back, she kept smiling, and whenever she looked at Irene, she kept smiling happily.

When she cuts her meat with her tiny hands, when it goes into her mouth that opens small, and when her twinkling eyes turn to me.

It was hard for me to control my smile.

It was just as good. Maybe this moment is no different from usual.

This extremely ordinary moment that anyone can easily feel. Why do I feel so special?

It was normal.

So it was good.

I looked at Irene, who was still mumbling with the steak in her mouth, and ended up laughing again.