Chapter 13
From what I remember, the Duke was a sub-male lead-level character in the original story.
‘Later on, he even develops a subtle tension with the female lead, the saintess.’
But whether he’s the main lead or a sub-lead—even in a bleak genre, even if he’s ruthlessly cold-hearted—
‘He’d at least feed the female lead, right? Usually?’
Letting a lady accompanying him go hungry isn’t exactly the hallmark of a male lead (or even a supporting male character).
In that regard, I was certain Kal wasn’t that kind of material.
‘What a waste of looks, seriously.’
What kind of extra looks this much like the Northern Duke?
While I inwardly lamented his unfairly handsome face, the merchant, thoroughly irritated by Kal’s words, waved his hands dismissively.
“Hey! If you’re not gonna buy, get lost!”
“…….”
“Other customers are waiting!”
In the end, we were chased out.
As I stared longingly at the skewers, licking my lips regretfully—
“Are you that hungry?”
Kal asked nonchalantly.
I didn’t bother hiding my annoyance and snapped back.
“Honestly, in my current mood, I could even eat an ogre.”
“With that tiny mouth of yours?”
“You keep calling it tiny, but…”
I was about to kindly educate him on how mouth size had no correlation with stomach capacity when—
“Anyway, understood.”
The moment he said that, Kal’s presence behind me vanished in an instant.
Literally, in an instant.
“……Kal?”
I turned to look at the now-empty space behind me, momentarily bewildered.
‘Wasn’t he assigned as my escort?’
I scanned the area several times, but he was nowhere to be seen. At least not within my visible radius.
How had he concealed his presence and disappeared in that brief moment?
It was a stark reminder of his skill.
‘He must be at least Swordmaster-level—rare even among the Holy Knight Order and the Imperial Knights.’
On top of that, the growing crowd made it impossible to search for him.
“Isn’t this dereliction of duty?”
But then again, I had told him earlier that he didn’t need to follow me.
The timing was weird, sure, but there wasn’t much I could do if he decided not to come back now.
‘Still, I feel a little… disappointed?’
Just when I thought I finally had company…
Wait.
‘How often did we even… meet?’
We’d talked enough to grow somewhat familiar, though.
But feeling disappointed? Over him, that annoyingly smug man?
I shook my head, dismissing the absurd thought.
Well, it’s not like I can’t take care of myself without an escort.
‘Should I check out the gunsmith first?’
With that thought, I headed toward another shop.
Sometime later…
“Ugh.”
I let out a deflated sigh as I returned to the market entrance.
Unexpectedly, gauging public sentiment turned out to be harder than I thought.
‘Excuse me, do you have any light pistols…?’
‘Huh? That accent… You’re from the capital?’
‘A capital citizen here at this time?’
The moment I opened my mouth, merchants either looked at me with disgust or immediately withdrew their goods.
Some even openly badmouthed me.
‘A capital citizen? Ugh, bad luck first thing in the morning.’
‘No wonder they looked so pale and delicate.’
‘Excuse me, you’re the ones who look pale and delicate here…’
Weren’t the people of Saint Porto the stereotypically fair-skinned, tall Northerners?
‘I didn’t expect them to be this hostile.’
After visiting a few shops, it felt like word had spread that I was a visitor from the capital.
Just approaching a stall made merchants glare at me with scrutinizing eyes.
‘This is a problem.’
No matter what, I’m still a customer—isn’t this reaction too extreme? Even if I’m from the capital.
‘It feels unnecessarily tense.’
Then, a piece of information flashed through my mind.
‘A capital citizen here at this time?’
‘The whole city’s busy preparing for winter monster attacks!’
The grumbling merchant’s words and Jeremy’s complaints about winter being even busier came to mind.
‘Is it because it’s winter?’
A season when supplies run low and life gets harder?
A season when capital folk seem several times more hateable?
It made sense.
As I rolled my eyes in frustration—
“…….”
“…….”
My gaze briefly met someone else’s.
It was the skewer merchant from earlier.
The moment our eyes met, he pretended not to see me, but I caught the faint glimmer of hope in his sidelong glance.
The greasy meat skewers weren’t selling as well as I’d thought. No, not just “not as well”—
‘They’re not selling at all.’
“Two skewers, please!”
“Do you sell just the offal separately?”
Other stalls were doing fine.
This seemed to be his problem alone.
‘Hmm.’
Maybe this was my chance, as the Duchess, to step in.
‘This chicken is so undercooked, I might as well eat the grass skewered with it!’
A few cooking shows I’d seen in my past life flashed through my mind.
I wasn’t a gourmet, but I could at least give some feedback.
As I smiled slyly, sensing an opportunity, the merchant’s hopeful expression shifted to unease.
The white streaks in his fiery red hair seemed to grow even paler.
‘Still, as a lord’s wife, I should be polite.’
I approached him, radiating harmless vibes.
“Business not going well?”
When I spoke casually, the merchant’s lips twitched.
His eyes held a mix of hope—finally, a customer—and irritation—wait, isn’t this the same person who left earlier?
“……It’s just bad luck having a capital rat as my first customer.”
“Technically, I didn’t buy anything.”
“Your companion’s nonsense ruined—”
“The stalls next to you are doing fine, though.”
“Tch.”
The merchant’s lips jutted out even further.
Channeling the chefs from past cooking shows, I tilted my head.
“I may not look like it, but I know a thing or two about food.”
(Well, more like I was good at shoving things down my throat, not necessarily tasting them.)
“Want me to take a look?”
“Planning to freeload under that excuse?”
“Busted.”
“You capital rats, ruining my business isn’t enough—now you want free—”
“If you say no, I’ll just pay and eat.”
Clink.
A pouch heavy enough to warrant a more solid onomatopoeia landed on the counter.
It was the wallet I’d pulled from my inner pocket.
“Up to you.”
The merchant’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he glimpsed the golden coins inside.
“My…”
“My?”
“If you thought you could buy my heart with money, you’ve come to the perfect place, dear customer.”
It was too much money to refuse.
The merchant, now grinning like a bandit turned charming middle-aged man, rubbed his hands together.
In these tough times, no one turns down a big spender.
“Here. I grilled it with all my heart.”
I smiled warmly and picked up the skewer he offered.
It looked delicious, so what could possibly be wro—
“Bleh.”
I spat it out the moment it touched my tongue.
“…….”
The merchant’s eyebrows drooped. He looked genuinely hurt.
For a middle-aged man, he had the face of a wounded maiden.
Even I felt a pang of guilt.
“Was it really that ba—”
“No, no. It’s not the taste, it’s…”
‘Wait.’
A lightning bolt of realization struck me.
……This weirdly familiar, stomach-churning sensation, like static electricity crawling over my skin from hell—
“Is this mar—?”
Just as I realized what had just grazed my tongue—
“Fine! Take your money back!”
The merchant, now sulking, threw the pouch back at me.
But the absurdity didn’t end there.
While I was busy soothing my burning tongue, I missed the timing to catch it—
Snatch!
A small hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the pouch.
A pickpocket.
“……O-Oh, heavy!”
“…….”
“……Thanks, capital rat!”
Yep. Not only was I infamous in the market, but now I was a crime target too.
The pickpocket vanished into the crowd.
It happened in an instant.
“Ha…”
Who’d have thought I’d get pickpocketed?
I briefly looked up at the sky.
I acted all cool in front of the merchant, but that was my emergency fund.
‘Nothing’s going right.’
Along with the emptiness, a surge of anger rose.
Now that I think about it, I’m pissed.
“…….”
I took a deep breath to calm down.
‘Too crowded to chase after them now.’
I glanced upward and spotted a small tower overlooking the market from Saint Porto’s hills.
“……You’re dead once I catch you.”
I started running to secure the high ground.
