Volume 1 - CH 37

The next day, Alme was in the upstairs living room of her house, becalmed and deflated like sludge.

Hunched over the small dining table, staring blankly at the window with eyes like a dead fish.

The outside view from the window is bright. It’s another sunny day in Luorio.

Blue sky and sunshine. The tree in the flowerbed in the center of the small plaza is swaying its leaves. The little birds are singing energetically in cute voices.

It is such a peaceful start to the day, but the air around Alme is heavy with a hellish atmosphere. The aura is stagnant and gloomy.

Last night, she returned home from the temple and returned the medical expenses that Jayla paid for on the spot.

Jayla invited Alme to her house, but she just accepted her feelings and decided to rest alone.

She left her, went into the house, and then, after dealing with her tattered clothes – and whatnot – she collapsed on the bed like a broken doll.

She was so exhausted, both physically and mentally, that she was barely conscious anymore from the second half of her bedtime routine.

Then she fell asleep, and when she woke up, she had just finished breakfast.

Jayla stopped by on the way and talked about cleaning up after the festival today.

Jayla had already gone to clean up now and pack up everything, but Alme is still sleepy and sluggish.

“Do you want me to clean up with you?” she asked, but Alme can’t afford to cause that much trouble.

Alme decided to go clean up in the afternoon and saw her off.

–and now she is like sludge.

Thanks to the benevolent priestess, her physical injuries have healed nicely, but her mind appearing to be on the verge of death from emotional damage.

After a good night’s sleep and rest, her brain finally returned to normal function.

–But along with that, she was able to correctly recognize her disgrace in the temple last night, and she wanted to die.

It’s not good to use words like “I want to die” when her wounds have been healed, but… but she’s overwhelmed by her own foolishness to the extent that she thought so.

“Last night, I was such a fool…why did I say such rude things to Mr. Falk…I wish there was a magic to turn back time…”

Thinking back on it with a head that has regained its ability to think, she was indeed a rude fool last night.

She was certainly shocked that Falk had been playing the common man all this time, without revealing his identity…but that’s about it.

It is true that Falk has been willing to overlook the fact that Alme has been using “Shirotaka” without permission to expand the shop’s product line and has supported the shop as a customer all this time.

She received kind words from him, and there were many times when she received strength from him.

And even at the Temple, he admonished Alme for doing something dangerous and took care of her injuries…

At that time, she arbitrarily felt like a victim and behaved in a perverse and disrespectful manner. The more she thought about it, the more she felt like her blood is draining…

“… How can I apologize…at least?… I’m sure he already hates me to the core, and now that I know his identity, he won’t come to the shop incognito anymore…What should I do…write a letter to the temple or something? I bet they’ll get rid of it before it gets to him.”

Even if she sent an apology letter, it will surely be rejected at the sorting stage.

After all, there are Shirotaka fans all over the city. It is easy to imagine that there are women who force love letters into the temple. Alme’s letter would also be treated as one of them and rejected.

She didn’t even have the chance to apologize. It seems that the only thing she can do is to continue to reflect on herself unbeknownst to others…

She let out a deep, heavy sigh and got up from her chair.

She can’t stay like sludge forever.

She’s heading out to clean up in the afternoon, so she needs to get some other things done while she’s at it. She’s feeling very heavy, though.

The most important errand is the transfer of the sales proceeds. She has to go to the bank to deposit the proceeds from the festival that she had saved up in her family safe.

Leaving large sums of money at home makes her feel uncomfortable, so she wanted to deposit it in the bank as soon as possible.

She got dressed lightly and prepared to go out.

When she loosely bunched her hair, which was hanging down in a bun on the side,she suddenly felt lost.

As usual, she picked up the white flower hair ornament, but she didn’t know if she should wear this hair ornament…

A precious hair ornament given to her by a friend… but the relationship with that essential friend has most likely been ended.

……In the end, she decided not to wear the hair ornament. She put it away in the back of a drawer because every time she looked at it, she would remember it and feel sad.

She took the proceeds from the safe and pulled out the most recent living expenses needed. All the rest was packed in a leather bag.

Now she’s ready to go…or she should have been.

Her body sank into the sofa instead of heading for the front door.

She knew it’s going to be afternoon in no time if she keeps doing this but she felt so heavy that she can’t move.

(I haven’t heard from the police yet…the criminal from yesterday probably hasn’t been caught. If something happens in the alley again…)

Just before she was about to leave, she started thinking about it.

Once she got to the street out front, she can use a horse-drawn carriage to get around safely. Unlike last night, it is bright outside, and she didn’t think there is anything to worry about, but…she can’t help but have a bad imagination flickering in her mind.

She stayed on the sofa, feeling restless for a while.

As she was doing so, she suddenly heard the sound of bells coming from the first floor entrance.

“Is it Miss Jayla? Has she finished cleaning up?”

It seems early in terms of time, but she is a regular at the festival, so perhaps she is used to the clean-up process.

Alme opened the upstairs window and checked the entrance below.

“… Huh? … Huh!!”

She looked twice at the figure of the person at the entrance and froze.

It was Falk who rang the bell. Brown hair and brown eyes – the look he always had when he came to eat ice cream.

He is carrying large paper bags in his hands.

(Mr. Falk!? What should I do! He’s here! But I’m still mentally unprepared…! Um, I don’t have anything to offer as an apology… I’m confused…)

Only her head started to get in a great hurry but her body couldn’t keep up and she couldn’t move coherently.

Falk glanced up and noticed Alme peering out of an upstairs window, frozen in place.

At that moment he placed the packages in his hands on the ground and removed his silver necklace.

– and instantly, the color of his hair and eyes changed.

Brown hair turns silvery white. The same brown eyes turn into clear gold.

A mystical appearance that would make anyone think that he was a prince of spirits, glistening in the sunlight.

Exposing his beautiful appearance, Falk dropped to both knees on the ground.

From that posture, both hands were further on the ground, and he bowed his head vigorously.

“Miss Alme! I’m very sorry for last night!!”

This pose, if she remembered correctly, was called “Dogeza” in her previous life. Falk has been boldly kneeling down in front of someone’s house.

Alme was so astonished that she leaned out of the window and screamed.

“Whoaaaaah! Hey! What?”

“Please forgive my rudeness last night!”

“You’ll get chilled. Please stop!”

Alme was startled and made a mad dash down the stairs to the first floor.

She opened the entrance door with the momentum that seemed to almost break it and rushed over to Falk.

It would be too bad if neighbors saw such a scene. Fortunately, there were no people in the small plaza, but you never know when someone around there might see.

In a panic, she tried to call out to him, but before she could do so, Falk spoke up quickly.

“I apologize for the huge delay in saying my name! My name is Falkert Raltoze! Please forgive me for all my rudeness! Please feel free to punch me or kick me…until you’re satisfied!”

“No, I wouldn’t do that! What is Mr. Shirotaka doing!? Please raise your head!”

She reached out to help Falk, who was on his hands and knees, to stand up. –Falk refused Alme’s hand and did not look up.

“… This is the origin of ‘Mr. Shirotaka’. He’s not even a prince, he’s just a pathetic man. I’m really sorry for deceiving you and hurting you.”

After saying that, Falk finally lifted his head timidly. At the same time, he held out the paper bag beside him.

It was a large paper bag decorated with gold foil stamping and delicate ribbons.

“This is an apology item…”

“Eh, um”

Faced with the offered paper bag, Alme quickly backed away.

Her mind drifted back to the last time she was presented with a gift of fine honey. The look and quality of the paper bag gave her an idea that whatever is inside is expensive. She was afraid to receive it…

When she froze with her mouth agape, Falk scrunched up his face.

“…would you please accept it…and these as well…”

Falk picked up another paper bag and handed it over to Alme.

While hesitating, she accepted it and saw the contents from the mouth of the bag.

Inside the paper bag that was handed to her were glasses wrapped in cloth. There were exactly five in the bag. These are the glasses from the ice cream shop. They were used for shaved ice at a festival stall.

Alme had a sudden realization and turned her attention to Falk.

“Um, this?”

“…During the festival, I couldn’t leave the temple, so I asked someone to buy it for me. It was very delicious…”

While saying that, Falk sullenly lowered his head.

Seeing that figure, she felt somewhat drained of strength.

His appearance changed, and she knew his status had as well… she thought that he had become a distant existence called ‘Mr. Shirotaka’.

But the man in front of her was still the same ‘ice-cream-loving regular customer’. He was still the same Falk that Alme knew so well, with the same carefree attitude.

–In that case, Alme might be the same as usual.

Alme moved her weak body and crouched down in front of Falk who was looking down.

Gently putting her hand on his shoulder and call out to him.

“Mr. Falk, it’s hot in the sunshine here, isn’t it? Please come inside and cool off and we can have a little chat while eating ice cream.”

Then, when she said that like she always does, Falk’s expression changed to one that looked as if he were about to cry.