Hello, First Love

The village of Leta, where the Otaz Hotel was located.

Ray and I disguised ourselves like clumsy country bumpkins. We were currently wandering around the village festival together.

“Linna will arrive this afternoon.”

Ray whispered quietly beside me.

“She seemed really excited when I explained the situation.”

As we had discussed beforehand, a few days ago, Ray had secretly met with Linna in the capital and recited the prepared scenario.

That I was his first love, that we were having difficulties due to parental opposition, and that he wanted her to secretly protect Heidi.

And apparently, Linna had said this:

"No wonder you two kept exchanging coy glances on the Entoho. I'll take responsibility for protecting Heidi, but make sure you know this one thing."

Coy glances, she said...

We had just been a little happy to meet again after nine years.

"If a man can't even protect his own woman by himself, there's no way I'm giving our Heidi to him. I'll keep persuading her to dump a snake like you, so don't come crying to me later."

Even though she agreed to Ray’s request, she clearly had no intention of supporting that messy love story.

"Anyway, let’s meet in Leta village. We'll try persuading the head maid again there."

"We’re persuading the head maid again?"

"Yes. At the Idra Duchy, she'll be even more arrogant because of her father. It'll be better if you and I keep pressing her there."

"......"

"My father doesn’t really give me authority over the servants. It might seem pathetic, but this is the best I can do."

"......"

"I'll try persuading the head maid more on the way. But because of that, someone might end up tailing you and Heidi in Leta village. Keep that in mind."

Ray said he still couldn’t believe it was this hard just to hire a single maid.

He even shook his head in disbelief, saying that it was ridiculous that even a noble lady's personal request wasn’t enough.

Of course, the more difficult it was, the more convinced we became that "there’s something in the Idra family Linna doesn’t know about."

And so, Ray and I were strolling through this small village’s shabby festival. Athena was hiding in a nearby tree.

"Two behind the grocery store, one behind the butcher’s shop."

Ray whispered lowly.

"They’re tailing us. Probably the head maid’s lackeys."

Really now, was it necessary to go {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} to these lengths just to hire a maid?

"Linna insisted on agreeing, but the head maid is still suspicious of you."

So I whispered in admiration.

"Wow, she’s seriously competent. I mean, technically, I am a spy."

She just happened to be on the wrong side, but she was thorough, at least.

"But Ray, are you sure it's okay for us to talk like this? What if someone hears?"

"At this distance, it's fine. And there’s no one closer."

Ray said this as he pulled my robe more securely over me.

"The only one who could get this close without me noticing is Zahid."

And Zahid was currently locked up in the Temple’s prison.

Still, I stayed beside Ray without making any physical contact, thinking Zahid might get upset if he found out later.

"Even if Zahid were somehow here, he’d just quietly follow us without saying a word!"

Maybe sensing my slight hesitation, Ray spoke gently.

"He’d be worried about messing something up. That guy’s ridiculously cautious."

"That's true."

I nodded slowly.

"Even if he saw this situation, he'd trust us. He'd think there’s some reason behind it."

True, Zahid was the type who would silently observe instead of ruining things by misunderstanding.

Thinking that made me feel a little lighter.

Anyway, until Linna arrived, we had to kill time by looking around the festival as slowly as possible.

Since it was just a village event, the scale was small. We decided to visit every street vendor to drag things out.

"Wow, they’re selling scented candles here. Want to check it out?"

It happened when we stopped by a small stall selling candles.

"Smell this. It’s really nice. Should I buy you one? Want to light it tonight?"

Ray handed me a candle gently, but—

"AAAAAAHH! AHHHH!"

The candle, which had been faintly burning, suddenly burst into flames.

Of course, the vendor screamed louder, startled out of their mind.

"This has never happened before! I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!"

Ray wasn’t hurt, but the mood turned sour regardless.

We ended up just comforting the tearful vendor before leaving the stall.

"Uh...?"

As we left the candle vendor and headed toward the plaza—

"Wow, look at that. That’s amazing."

A small troupe of acrobats had come to perform. Among them, a person dressed as a clown was dancing excitedly and breathing fire from their mouth.

It was obviously just a trick, but it looked convincing enough that a crowd had gathered.

The lively music and amusing makeup made it quite entertaining.

"This is actually pretty cool. Kinda fun."

Ray whispered, eyes shining.

Since there were too many people in front of us, I stood on tiptoe to peek over their shoulders.

Ray chuckled softly.

"There are too many people. You can’t see well, can you?"

"It can’t be helped. What’s fun for my eyes must be fun for everyone else's too."

"Then should I pick you up for a bit?"

At that moment—

"AAAAAAAHHH!"

Suddenly, a flame from the clown’s mouth grazed dangerously close to Ray’s hair.

No one was hurt, but both the clown and Ray were startled... and so was I.

"Mm..."

Blinking, I murmured.

"Forget it. If I get picked up, I’ll probably be the first thing to catch on fire..."

That pretty much killed the vibe of watching the performance.

Still, there was some time left before Linna would arrive.

We needed to do something together to kill time...

I was thinking about what to do when we wandered into a dim alley.

"Hey there, young’uns."

An old woman sitting at the entrance of the alley grinned and called out to us.

"How about a card reading?"

Looking closely, there was a small sign next to her that said "Skilled Gypsy – Card Readings."

The old woman looked practically homeless. It was obvious why she had no customers.

"Mm..."

We didn’t have anything better to do anyway, so after exchanging a glance, we nodded lightly.

"Alright."

Ray and I squatted down side by side in front of her.

The old woman cackled as she spread the cards in front of us. The cards looked filthy — I didn’t even want to touch them.

As we blinked awkwardly, the old woman suddenly asked:

"What do you want me to read? There’s a lot I can do."

We tilted our heads, not sure what "a lot" meant.

Then the old woman suddenly snapped.

"What’s with those blank looks? Never seen this before, huh?"

Startled, I quickly answered.

"Yes, it’s my first time..."

Her deep-set eyes flashed sharply, and I shrank back, adding:

"Honestly, I’m a self-directed person who believes in carving out my own destiny..."

The old woman clicked her tongue. Then she slapped the ground with a booming laugh.

"Then! I’ll decide myself!"

"Decide what?"

"The topic!"

The old woman shouted grandly.

"Let’s do first love! I’ll read your first love!"

We were the ones who had come for the reading, but the old woman had taken full control.

Well, since we hadn’t come here with any serious purpose, we didn’t really feel like objecting.

In the end, like fools, we both nodded.