Where the Heart Leads (1)
Harnie, who had been biting her lip, spun around to face the man.
"Th-then I'll just eat one more! That shouldn't count, right?"
"My lady, all sales are final, I'm afraid."
"That's extortion! You didn't even ask my opinion, you just went ahead and did whatever you wanted...!"
The man wiped away tears that weren't there.
"Then there's nothing to be done. I went out of my way to offer the young master such a fine proposal... I suppose this means it's over for both of you."
"..."
"For the record, the young master had used his three attempts, so I was granting him one more? And it was you, my lady, who threw that chance away?"
"...Ugh."
Good grief. This man could sell ice to a snowman.
He'd framed it so that neither of them would get a chance—leaving Harnie no choice but to pay up.
"Fine! I'll eat it, okay?"
"An exceedingly wise choice."
The tears that had been hanging in the man's eyes a moment ago vanished and folded themselves away neatly.
A thoroughly satisfied smile.
Harnie, on the other hand, was groaning as she stood there holding the half-eaten fish cake for the longest time.
Eventually, she forced down every last bite off the skewer.
Her face slowly flushing red—that must have been the spice hitting with a delay.
So even this woman is no match for spicy food, after all.
"Give me the bead."
"Yes, my lady. Here you are."
The man handed over the bead with a grin. His own prize might have just slipped away, and yet here he was, smiling ear to ear—it was honestly bizarre.
I looked at Harnie and asked again.
"Number four. That's the one, right? The one you've been eyeing this whole time."
"..."
"Lady Harnie? Ah, that's right—you had the spicy one. Shall I buy you something to drink?"
Harnie, who hadn't said a word, glared at me with her reddened face and tried to stomp on my foot.
But then she stopped mid-stomp and started hammering away at the innocent ground instead.
I can't figure out her intentions at all.
"If you're like this, we can't even get started."
"Don't say anything."
"But wasn't that the one you wanted?"
"I said don't say anything!"
Several more times after that, Harnie stomped on the poor, blameless ground.
Probably because of the spice.
If I just left her alone, she'd be fine.
A short while later.
When Harnie had finally stepped aside.
"Here you go."
I had easily obtained what she wanted.
"..."
"You won't take it? I thought it was what you wanted."
-Zap.
It looked like lasers were about to shoot out of Harnie's eyes.
And yet, somehow.
"*Haa*... honestly. Fine. I'll take it."
She'd somehow talk herself into accepting it, every single time.
Why is she like this?
***
The moment Harnie opened the prize box from the shop, she let out a deep sigh.
"Not to your liking?"
"No."
"Then why the sigh?"
At that, she sighed again, even longer this time.
"You really are... so dense about these things."
"I beg your pardon?"
"It's nothing."
If you're going to say something, at least explain it. How can you just cut yourself off like that?
I was starting to understand, a little, what it meant to be frustrated when someone doesn't finish what they started saying.
In the meantime, Harnie opened the box and took out its contents.
And then.
"Here."
She held one out toward me.
"Hm? What's this?"
"What else? One of them is for you to wear."
The prize from the shop was a pair of rings. The Wedros Twin Rings—matching gems in complementary colors, each engraved with the same seal.
"For something like this, aren't we both supposed to wear one?"
Honestly, I had no interest in the rings.
I didn't think they suited me, and they didn't seem worth anything.
No—worse, if the maids saw them, I might get accused of flaunting luxury.
"Wear both, then. I don't mind."
At that, Harnie narrowed her eyes.
"Have you already forgotten? You're my fiancé. That's the very reason those society ladies came looking for you earlier."
"Huh?"
Don't tell me—
The answer suddenly sprang into my head.
"...Even if we're lovers, isn't this going a bit too far?"
"Too far! It's the opposite—we'd be even more suspicious without them!"
Apparently, among the nobility, gifts of jewelry were extremely common.
Necklaces, pendants, amulets, badges, cravats... every manner of gift imaginable was exchanged between couples.
"If people see that you and I haven't exchanged a single gift in that kind of setting, of course they'll start questioning whether we actually spend time together at all."
"Er... couldn't we just say I gave it to you as a gift?"
Harnie pressed a hand to her forehead.
Gritting her teeth, she said:
"You're the one who made us this way. Lovers who've even been on secret meetings."
Oh. Her pronunciation is falling apart.
Especially when she said "lovers"—it came out so mangled I could clearly hear every syllable dissolving.
If I refuse this, I'm going to get spiked in the back for sure.
"F-fine, I understand."
Sweating cold sweat, I took the ring.
And after mulling it over for a moment, I took Harnie's hand.
"May I borrow your hand for a moment?"
"What are you doing?"
I recalled something I'd read in a book of etiquette.
When it came to lovers, this was apparently the proper form—slipping the ring onto your beloved's finger yourself.
So I slid the ring onto the fourth finger of Harnie's left hand.
"Would that pass for proper etiquette?"
I asked her, quite satisfied with myself.
Harnie, who had been staring blankly at the ring on her hand, yanked it back.
"Was my etiquette wrong?"
"N-no... that's not it..."
"Then what?"
"You didn't need to go this far! We only need to be *seen* wearing them! Who's even watching us here..."
"Ah."
Now that she mentions it.
Unless we were deliberately putting on a show for the nobles, etiquette meant nothing here.
Besides, considering the Snowflower Festival's crowds were mostly commoners, there was no real need to keep up such formalities.
"The reason I wanted these rings was the same. I just... wanted to show the nobles that we were a couple, that's all..."
"Was that all it was?"
"..."
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Are you absolutely sure you did that without knowing what it meant?"
She narrowed her eyes at me again, suspicion written all over her face.
"Back there too... if you did it on purpose, then..."
"What possible benefit would there be in my doing such things on purpose? I was simply trying to follow proper etiquette, that's all."
"..."
At that, Harnie let out a long sigh and put on an expression that said, of course, that figures.
"*Haa.* Please, just stop drawing attention to yourself with these things."
Then she asked me to forget everything she'd just said.
She'd apparently been mistaken, so I was to pretend I'd never heard it at all.
I had no idea what was going on with her, but I agreed.
She also strongly advised me never to use that bit of etiquette again.
"It's not *wrong*, exactly... b-but you mustn't use it carelessly. Never do that again."
"Really? I learned it from a book and thought I'd put it to use, but apparently it was a waste of effort."
"Hah. How can someone so sharp be so suddenly... ah, no. Actually, I suppose that makes sense. *Haa*..."
She asks the question and then answers it herself.
What on earth is this situation?
Having sighed her fill, Harnie's gaze sharpened.
"What book is that, exactly? At the very least, I need to hear the title."
"Hmm..."
Most of Karsein's books had been rummaged through by the maids, many of them torn apart. And the family study and library were off-limits—those were Dangerous Zones.
So I'd been reading what was in my room... but the cover had been torn off, so I couldn't tell what book it was.
"Clearly you read it wrong, so just stop. No—throw that book away."
"Why would I throw away a perfectly innocent book?"
"I'll recommend you a *proper* etiquette manual myself! Just throw that one out, promise? Understood?"
"..."
She has something she wants to say, and I can feel spikes incoming.
I don't know what I did wrong. Let's just assume it was my fault somehow.
*Boom!*
At the sudden sound, we both turned our gaze.
It came from none other than the sky.
Against the deepening evening hues, snowflake-shaped fireworks were bursting open, painting colorful pictures across the darkening sky.
"Wow."
Harnie let out a cry of wonder.
Like a child seeing a festival for the very first time.
"How beautiful. I wonder how they even make something like that."
No—let me correct that.
It was true—this really was her first festival.
Watching those colorful fireworks reflected in her violet eyes...
I had the unshakable feeling that she'd never once gotten to enjoy a festival like this.
Because neither had I.
"You said you'd been to the Snowflower Festival before, didn't you, Lord Karsein?"
"I did."
"Then back then... were these sorts of things going off too?"
Still with her eyes fixed on the night sky, she asked me.
Ordinarily, I wouldn't have been able to answer—but thanks to the Memorial, I could.
"They weren't snowflake-shaped back then."
"Weren't they?"
"They were far worse. They couldn't hold a shape at all. If I had to describe it—just lumps of rather pretty color clumping together and spreading across the sky."
"Hmm. So the magic formula was incomplete back then."
Harnie chuckled, guessing the reason on her own.
"Shall we move in closer to watch?"
"Excuse me?"
"We're too far away here. If we head toward the center of the festival, we'll get a much better view."
But Harnie shook her head.
"There's no need to do that for my sake. This view is more than enough for me."
Like that's going to fly.
I'd stake my life on it—it was a lie.
If anything, she wanted to experience everything, try everything.
*Slip.*
"Karsein? Why are you taking my hand..."
"Let's go."
"Pardon? Where?"
"To get a closer look at that."
I said, holding her hand firmly.
"I've never seen anything like this before either. It's fascinating, and beautiful, and I'd like to hear more of your explanations—but not from all the way back here."
"You don't need to go all the way over there just for that. We could easily meet another time and..."
"No. It has to be now. This is a once-in-a-lifetime Snowflower Festival—an unprecedented one. An opportunity like this won't come again."
Deep down, she wanted to enjoy it more.
Her violet eyes, tinged with lingering reluctance, said as much.
I want to stay here a little longer.
I want to walk this street a little further.
I want to spend more time savoring this festival.
And so I wanted to make sure Harnie didn't let this chance slip away.
"We're lovers now, after all. No one's going to say anything—so let's stay a while longer, shall we?"
"But Karsein, your time... *Kyaa—?*"
"Quite right. My time spent on you is precious—which is exactly why we should go further in and enjoy ourselves properly. Come on, hurry!"
So her honest desires wouldn't hide behind polite deflections anymore.
I took her hand first and led her along—toward wherever her heart was pulling her.
*Boom!*
Even as we walked, a massive violet snowflake burst open in the sky above.
I couldn't see it all that well, but...
"Okay, okay! Fine, so let's slow down a little—!"
The corners of her mouth, as she hurried along in tiny steps clutching the hem of her dress, seemed to be turned just slightly upward.
See? A lie after all.
***
Dozens of patterns were being traced across the heavens.
As night fell and the streets grew darker, the citizens answered with ever brighter light.
Lanterns. Lamps. And fireworks.
With every means at their disposal, the lights they conjured made the hours of the festival melt away like an instant.
Before I knew it, a faint smile had settled on Harnie's face.
"It would've been a shame if we hadn't come."
Karsein said so, gazing out at the festival winding down.
Harnie felt the same way, deep down. It was only because of what she'd said earlier that she couldn't bring herself to admit it aloud.
He went on.
"Harnie. Did you enjoy yourself?"
"Yes. I had a wonderful time."
"I'm glad. It seemed like you were only keeping me company."
As if that were true.
He knew perfectly well that he was the one who had been considerate.
Harnie shook her head at once.
"It was... rather novel, and lovely. This whole festival business."
"Is that so."
The reason she'd come here in the first place was simply to commit some unexpected act, nothing more.
And yet, this novel experience.
This unfamiliar, unhurried time.
Had been enjoyable. Truly.
"As I thought—that bargain of ours was no losing proposition. For me to have squandered a lady's time like this, and yet receive no complaint in return."
Harnie covered her mouth and snorted.
"You don't honestly think that."
"You caught me?"
"Yes. Ages ago."
On my end, it was nothing more than a plausible-sounding lie.
"The festival's over, so shall we head back?"
The end of the day was drawing near.
From a distance, the nobleman and his lady walked toward their carriage.
Their pace was neither hurried nor slow—just right.
It meant a day spent with no lingering regrets.
"Thank you for today."
Before climbing into the carriage, Harnie offered her gratitude to Karsein.
"Hm. Now I suppose I should practice my carriage etiquette a bit."
"Practice, nothing. You've already mastered all of it."
"I couldn't say. I'd simply rather not give those ladies an opening."
"Goodness. Fine. But... Karsein. I'm sorry to change the subject so abruptly—may I ask you something?"
"What could possibly warrant such ceremony?"
She had been holding her tongue, but the question had been gnawing at her.
Now that the festival was behind them, the timing was perfect.
"Before you met me—what were you doing heading toward the outskirts of the festival?"
He had clearly been making his way toward the outer streets before their paths crossed.
Which meant he hadn't come to enjoy the festival at all.
And yet it was Karsein who had taken her by the hand, saying he wanted to see the Snowflower Festival.
Between those two actions, an enormous contradiction had sprung up.
At that, Karsein chuckled softly.
"Our arrangement—your offer that I may make proposals of my own whenever I wish. That's still in effect, I trust?"