One Hundred and Twenty Gold for That Little Chain?
*That little metal chain costs a hundred and twenty gold?*
'That's the money I'd have to earn by sprinting around that enormous ducal palace all year long, scraping by on an hour or two of sleep a night, sweat pouring down my heels!'
What possible reason could there be for the nobility's trinkets to be that absurdly expensive!
'Self-indulgent, vain fools, every last one of them!'
My fingertips trembled inside the cloak. I balled my shaking hands into fists and took a careful, steadying breath.
Inhale... exhale...
'It's f-fine. As long as I win over the Grand Duke's trust and get a look inside that pocket watch...'
I'm not losing money on this deal... r-right?
I pulled the jewel pouch out from within my cloak.
The clinking sound inside carried a decidedly heavy weight.
From the pouch, I drew out two jewels worth fifty gold each and one worth twenty.
'A year's salary... twelve whole months of wages...'
My wages. My salary. My blood and sweat... all for that single little chain. My blood, sweat, and tears... an entire year of my life...
Chanting like a witch reciting an incantation, I extended the jewels out, slowly, oh so slowly.
My hand offering the jewels crawled, while the shopkeeper's snatched them away like lightning.
"There we go! Thank you kindly, valued customer! I'll wrap these up for you right away!"
"..."
Tsk. I clicked my tongue and turned away.
A full year of suffering and toil, vanishing into nothing in a single moment.
***
"Just what is he planning to buy, and how much of it?"
I turned my emptied jewel pouch upside down and shook it.
"You couldn't spend another coin if you tried at this point."
"..."
After buying the Grand Duke's gift, I'd decided to pick up the dessert Riel had been craving.
I could feel the Grand Duke hesitating at the dessert shop's deep pink entrance. I understood completely. I didn't want to go in either.
It was a bit like being subjected to mild torture.
After considerable struggle, we purchased a 'Ruby Berry Pie' from a dessert shop called 'Bonbonjello'.
From the shop's name to the dessert's name, every syllable was a trial to pronounce.
When we bought the shop's most popular dessert, they cast a freshness-preserving spell on it for us.
- "How long will your journey take? Oh, two days? Then I'll apply a preservation spell that'll last it a full week."
What a mad, mad world. A preservation spell, for a single snack.
It was more like: buy the preservation spell, get a complimentary dessert.
'Well, expensive things really do come at expensive prices.'
I'd bet a solid eighty percent of that dessert's price tag was the spell.
Then there was the ribbon Anna had sung for, the cufflinks for Sir Allen, the gloves for our His Lordship — with a magic enchantment option added on top.
'And just like that, I'm flat broke again.'
I stuffed the withered pouch into the inner pocket of my coat with a resigned smack of my lips.
With the gifts all loaded into the luggage compartment, we finally climbed into the carriage.
"The sun's already setting."
The sky was darkening, and we hadn't even left the capital yet.
As I was studying the Grand Duke seated across from me, he let out a short sigh and addressed the driver.
"To the Mentedor territory."
"Yes, Your Highness."
With its destination fixed, the carriage took off without hesitation.
Mentedor was a town about an hour's ride beyond the capital's gates.
Its proximity to the capital made it a settlement of considerable size.
"We'll stay there for a night before moving on."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Plenty of travelers passed through, and with the town's size, the security was respectable.
With that settled, the carriage fell into a long stillness.
Then—
"The thing you bought earlier?"
"Yes?"
"It's mine."
"Ah..."
I raised my eyebrows.
'I knew he'd be reluctant to swap it out, but apparently he was quietly looking forward to this.'
I'd stowed all the other gifts in the luggage compartment, but the Grand Duke's present I'd kept tucked in my coat's inner pocket.
'This is exactly the moment I was waiting for.'
I drew out the gift and handed it over. The shopkeeper's lavish wrapping proved entirely wasted on him — the Grand Duke tore through the voluminous ribbons with utter indifference.
Click. The lid of the small wooden box opened, and at last the watch chain revealed itself.
Hm. The Grand Duke made a sound I couldn't quite read.
I swallowed hard and watched him. With his other hand, he pulled the pocket watch from where it rested against his chest.
'Now's my chance!'
I hurriedly called out to him.
"Your Highness."
"...What."
He paused mid-motion, chain in hand, and looked at me.
"If — if you would permit it, I would like to change the chain for you myself."
"..."
Slowly, the Grand Duke's head tilted.
That look — why on earth would *you*? — jabbed at my face.
I turned my head slightly away to avoid his gaze, lest my scheming little heart be exposed.
It had actually been a mere moment, but it felt like a long, long silence stretched between us.
Would the Grand Duke hand over his precious pocket watch to me — or wouldn't he?
Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum. My heart began racing with the tension.
Then—
"Here."
The Grand Duke held the pocket watch and chain out to me.
"..."
I stopped breathing for a moment. Seeing the pocket watch and chain resting in his open palm stole the air right out of my lungs.
Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum.
'Hoo, hoo. Finally...'
Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum.
'Hah, I feel dizzy.'
At last, I was about to see inside this pocket watch...!
Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum.
'The moment I've been waiting so, so long f—'
Then the Grand Duke furrowed his brow.
"Do something about that heartbeat of yours. Are you trying to make it explode?"
"Oh — my apologies."
You can *hear* that? How sensitive can you get. I pouted, grumbling internally.
The Grand Duke let out a long sigh and leaned back against his seat.
"Who gets that worked up over a single watch chain..."
"..."
Let him grumble all he liked. I paid him no mind and gazed at the pocket watch in my hands.
Up close, it became all the more certain.
This was a handcrafted piece, an object someone had poured a great deal of love into.
It bore the marks of frequent handling and the wear of long years, and yet of all the pocket watches I'd seen, it looked by far the most refined.
As I carefully detached the old chain, I thought:
'Grand Duke, you have no idea.'
Do you know that I'm like this over nothing more than a watch chain?
'Well, granted, that chain does have an entire year of my labor melted into it.'
But even that isn't enough to burst my heart.
I took a deep breath and attached the new chain. Snap. With a faint grinding whisper, the pocket watch gained its new chain.
I had worried it might feel out of place — a new chain on a watch so weathered by years — but not at all.
'It suits it perfectly, like they were made as a set from the start.'
I double-checked that the chain was fastened properly.
'Flawless.'
Now came the moment to "accidentally" flip open the pocket watch's lid.
I glanced at the Grand Duke across from me.
As it happened, he was looking out the window. Handing over his precious pocket watch might have left anyone a touch uneasy, but he simply gazed out at the scenery, perfectly at ease.
'Now or never.'
And then, at last, I pressed the pocket watch's clasp button — *pop!*
Click—. The lid finally opened. And in that very instant, I felt the Grand Duke's head turn toward me.
'Look at it! Hurry!'
Hoo, hoo...
For a moment, the carriage was swallowed in silence.
"..."
"..."
Click. I quietly closed the pocket watch's lid, pulled a cloth from my pocket, and wiped the watch's surface as though nothing at all had happened.
Then I held it out to him and smiled with perfect nonchalance.
"The chain is all attached. Take a look, Your Highness."
"..."
The Grand Duke stared at me for a moment before accepting the pocket watch and examining it briefly. Then he tucked it back into his inner pocket and spoke.
"Keep that old chain somewhere safe. Don't throw it out."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Forcing myself to smile calmly, I wrapped the old chain in the cloth and placed it inside the box.
Then the Grand Duke said:
"Thank you."
"..."
Midway through tidying the box, I looked up at him, wondering if I'd misheard.
The Grand Duke sat as he always did — arms crossed, eyes closed.
- "Thank you."
I'd been hearing phantom voices quite often lately, but what I'd just heard was no hallucination.
Somehow, my chest felt all warm and tingly.
"Yes, Your Highness..."
I found myself staring at him for no reason, and feeling awkward about it, I began reorganizing the already perfectly organized box.
'Hah... that Grand Duke... why is he being like this...'
The heartbeat I'd barely calmed threatened to swell all over again.
'In any case, the objective is achieved.'
I opened the pocket watch's lid.
And.
I saw it — clearly, precisely, unmistakably.