/
When the painful memory resurfaced in her mind, Radis unconsciously let out a sigh.
And watching her from the side, Olivier suddenly walked towards the children who were choosing candy.
At the sudden appearance of an adult man, both the little customers and the parents waiting for the children looked at Olivier.
“O, Oli
! No, Y-Your H
”
People’s curious eyes were on them, so Radis couldn’t call him by his name or title. She had no choice but to keep quiet.
But regardless, as though he didn’t hear her, Olivier looked through the glittering candy with a serious expression.
“This one please.”
He chose one, and the candy maker replied bewilderedly.
“F-Five thousand rupens, sir
”
Olivier gave a handful of gold coins.
The candy maker’s mouth went agape.
“Good gracious, sir! I can’t take this
!”
Olivier responded with a soft voice.
“Keep the change. However, in the future, if you meet a child who can’t buy candy because they don’t have money, would it be alright if you think back to these gold coins and give them some candy?”
“Goodness, my lord! Are you sure? But yes, I will certainly do so!”
Olivier chose a flower-shaped candy.
With her eyes on him as he held that candy, Radis felt one side of her chest suddenly feeling so full.
“Lord Olivier
”
“Ah, you’ve decided that you’re done shopping today, yes?”
“

!”
Olivier coughed slightly, though he had a playful smile on his lips.
“Then, I should give this candy to a cute girl.”
“Pardon?”
“Cute little lady, you’ve been waiting for a long time, haven’t you? It’s your turn now.”
Olivier gently brought the candy to her hand.
‘Ah
’
It was neither the 17-year-old Radis nor the 26-year-old Radis who received the candy.
It was the 12-year-old Radis inside her.
“Thank you
”
The child smiled and received the candy, tears brimming in her eyes.
She had to wait for such a long time, but it was finally her turn.
* * *
On the way back to the townhouse, the carriage was quiet. Well, except for the rattling of the boxes hitting against each other.
Olivier was as silent as he was during their carriage ride to the restaurant, and just like him, Radis was busy as well while she was organizing her thoughts.
‘Why is His Highness acting this way to me? Don’t tell me
 Really, truly, towards me—does he
?’
She felt as if her entire body was elated, floating in the air like her bum wasn’t on the carriage seat at all.
However, Radis’ rational side kept her anchored firmly, struggling to keep her heart at a tight leash.
‘No, that’s impossible!’
Still though, the voice of reason had noticeably lowered in volume.
While pretending to look out the window, Radis glanced sideways towards Olivier.
As the colors of the sunset were gently wrapped around him, it’s as if he was a painting that’s come to life.
‘Seriously, why are you so pretty
? To the point that it’s alarming
’
Then, the alarmingly pretty Olivier opened his lips.
“The river is full of swans today.”
Perhaps he thought that she was still looking out the window.
Now, Radis looked for real this time.
Between the short trees and the cute villas, she saw the river’s red stream beneath the sunset.
“Swans? They’re still there?”
“They’re always there. Do you want to go and see?”
Olivier smiled pleasantly as he saw Radis nodding her head.
“Huu
”
And Radis pressed a hand over her heart while Olivier wasn’t looking.
With how loud her heart was pounding today, she thought that there must be a problem with the muscles around her heart.
And she just might feel such muscle strain around her heart tomorrow, which she had never felt before.
White swans were playing leisurely by the river.
Radis snuck towards the swans, hiding her presence.
Even if she hid her presence though, the swans would see her plain and clear. Nevertheless, the swans were used to humans and so they didn’t run away.
The swans’ feathers were as white as milk, their beaks were not sharp, and they had no teeth.
As they swam in the shallow waters, the chubby bellies of the swans were atop the surface, while their webbed feet were waddling vigorously underneath. Seeing this, Radis thought that they were so cute.
“So adorable
!”
Radis was genuinely in awe.
It was her first time seeing such pretty, elegant and lovely creatures.
Amongst the monsters, which she faced practically every single day before, the cutest ones that she saw were either the saber-tooth tigers or the pixies.
Well, of course, both were actually quite dangerous.
As she fell in love with the swans, Olivier quickly became surrounded by the children in the area. They were from a nearby farmhouse, and they were selling slices of bread here.
“Wow, you’re such a pretty big bro!”
The children gawked openly at Olivier’s beautiful silver hair.
He beckoned the children to come closer, then he handed out silver coins in exchange for bread.
Radis looked up at Olivier with a quizzical expression.
“Is that a snack?”