The inside of the carriage was cozy.
“It may be a humble carriage for a lady of your standing, but it was the best I could find.”
He spoke apologetically, but I shook my head.
“It’s fine. I should be grateful, actually.”
After all, I was now traveling distances that used to blister my feet on foot, seated instead on a carriage lined with carpets. There were soft, cushioned seats stuffed with down, blankets at the ready, books to pass the time, and even a comfortable backrest.
There was nothing lacking.
As I was taking in the pleasant interior, my gaze fell on a long object tucked away in the corner.
“That belongs to me.”
Eric smiled sheepishly as he fiddled with a glossy black cane, polished until it shone.
“I injured my knee a long time ago. Short distances are fine, but walking or standing for long stretches takes its toll. When I know I’ll be active for a while, I need the support.”
“I see.”
I nodded, but he gave me a curious look.
“You’re not going to ask?”
“Ask what?”
“Usually, when I mention my knee, people want to know how I got hurt, how painful it was, and whether I’ve recovered. But you don’t seem interested.”
“There’s no need to ask about something painful, is there?”
“…Pardon?”
“It must have been a painful memory. Why make you relive it?”
Eric fell silent for a moment, then asked cautiously,
“Does my using a cane… make you uncomfortable, perhaps?”
“No. Please, use it.”
I hadn’t told him not to, after all.
“Why would it be uncomfortable?”
He rolled his eyes a little before muttering,
“Because it’s proof of a flaw in me?”
“That’s a flaw?”
I glanced back at the cane. Its polished surface looked so new it could have been made yesterday, without a trace of wear. That told me two things: first, when he was injured, he hadn’t been forced to push through work until his wounds worsened, and second, he no longer needed to use the cane all the time—meaning he had mostly recovered.
Eric studied me as though I were a curiosity.
“You’re not pitying me.”
“You have far too much for me to pity you, Baron.”
“…”
Where I grew up, I saw people with all kinds of tragic stories.
Mercenaries who returned from war missing limbs.
Children born in brothels and abandoned.
Families driven out for failing to pay their taxes.
People worked themselves to the bone each day only to scrape by, and if they fell ill, they often died without ever seeing proper treatment. Even those with sound bodies would eventually wear down after a few short years.
That was the slum where I had lived.
Compared to them, Eric was someone who deserved envy and resentment, not pity.
“Do you really think so?” he asked softly.
“That I have much?”
When he asked again, as though still in disbelief, I gave a firm answer,
“Yes. Very much so.”
So please, stop asking.
Eric fell silent for a while, then eventually smiled again and spoke up.
“What takes you to the capital?”
“To see my family.”
“Family… is it a long-awaited reunion?”
“Yes.”
Though my replies were brief, Eric pressed on, speaking gently and considerately.
“It may be tiring to sit in the carriage for so long, but if you can endure for half a day more, we’ll reach Harrison territory by evening. It’s a prosperous region, with sights to see and places where you might rest comfortably.”
I had never once stepped outside the place I grew up. Even the view outside the carriage window was fresh and new to me. And now he was talking about a wealthy territory. Something about that stirred a strange feeling inside me.
“The last time I passed through, I found a delightful restaurant. Their seafood dishes were quite good.”
“Really?”
“I’m sure you would like them as well.”
Seafood.
For someone like me, who had barely tasted pork in her life, the idea of having likes and dislikes about food was laughable. Besides, Isabella’s memories didn’t pass on the flavors of what she had eaten, nor the emotions tied to them.
“If you’d like, I could—”
As he chattered on about fine restaurants, scenic sights, and luxurious inns, I finally spoke.
“Thank you, Baron.”
Startled, he looked at me in confusion.
“For what?”
“For every kindness you’ve shown me. I can feel the sincerity in all of it, and I’m deeply grateful.”
Just because I bore Isabella’s face and carried her memories didn’t mean I had become her.
I was still Rebecca.
Rebecca, the pauper who had never known kindness, who never expected it, who had never been respected this way.
“…Pardon?”
“When you offered your hand to help me into the carriage, when you slowed its pace for my weak health, when you introduced me to places for the sake of someone who had never traveled before… every bit of it has been thoughtful.”
It was something to be grateful for.
No one had ever treated me with such regard.
Eric seemed flustered, but then he smiled warmly.
“If my small gestures have brought you joy, that is more than enough for me.”
I knew it was all far too generous for me, but I wasn’t naïve enough to fall for it so easily, the way a child might after being spoiled just once.
Perhaps it was because I knew—deep down—that this was not truly for “Rebecca,” but for Isabella, with her elegance and beauty.
“The reason I wanted to thank you is because…”
Eric’s eyes lit with a quiet expectation.
I had to say it now.
“…because I want you to know that you don’t need to show me any more kindness.”
“…What?”
Nobles were accustomed to receiving favors because they had the means to repay them easily.
But I had no way of returning the favors I was being given.
“If your kindness grows any greater, I’ll be in trouble.”
“Why would that be?”
“Because if I accept too much… I won’t be able to walk away without paying it back.”
Eric choked, coughing harshly, his face filled with bewilderment.
“I couldn’t even repay you in money. I hardly have any to begin with.”
“L–Lady…”
“Allowing me to travel with you is already more than enough. Truly.”
I didn’t want my debt to him to grow any larger.
At that, silence filled the carriage.
After a long pause, Eric let out a weary sigh and finally spoke again.
“…My lady, you have a most… candid charm.”
“You don’t need to dress it up with flattery.”
“It’s not flattery. I only mean… no one has ever spoken to me so honestly. It’s… refreshing.”
He hesitated, then studied me carefully.
“May I, inspired by your honesty, make a candid request of my own?”
“…”
“You may refuse, of course. It is only a request.”
“What is it?”
“I would like you to be my partner at a ball.”
“A… ball?”
“Yes. In Harrison territory, there will be a modest ball. I owe a friend there, and they insisted I must attend with a partner. Otherwise… I fear it would be rather uncomfortable for me.”
A ball.
It wasn’t as if I had the luxury to enjoy such things.
Or… perhaps it was an opportunity.
If Harrison was as prosperous as Eric said, then its gatherings might draw in nobles who had connections to the central aristocracy.
“Maybe even someone acquainted with the Briume family…”
Besides, being asked to attend a ball as his partner was hardly excessive compared to the favors I had already received.
“All right, Eric. I’ll attend as your partner.”
His smile brightened with delight at my answer.
“Then allow me to provide the dress and jewelry—”
“I’ll rent them.”
“…Then I shall rent them for you.”
The carriage, which had been traveling nonstop, finally halted for supper.
From the driver’s seat, Hugh glanced around cautiously before hurrying over.
“Nothing happened, right?”
“No.”
At my calm reply, his eyes narrowed.
“Nothing at all?”
“Nothing serious.”
The conversations in the carriage had all been entirely ordinary and mundane.
But Hugh still looked doubtful, his voice pressing.
“Nothing serious? Then there was something minor?”
“Just a small matter. Eric asked me for a favor, and I accepted.”
Hugh’s expression darkened.
“What favor?”
“To be his partner at a ball.”
“A ball?”
“Yes. There’s to be a small party in Harrison, and since it’s partner-only, he said it would be awkward to go alone. So he asked me.”
