It was a mistake to think she would be idle just because she was at home. Emily took care of almost all the housework and was still making cookies to supply to the guild. But separate from being busy, the fact that she still had no friends her age bothered him, so hearing that there were many people at the mansion and that the older sisters working with her treated her well made him think he had done well to allow it.
“Oh, come to the guild once more after work tomorrow. It’s good to learn basic etiquette.”
As expected, the Master seemed to know about such things too. Diego suddenly became curious.
‘I heard it’s been a long time since he withdrew from fieldwork… Has he ever escorted someone else?’
He soon wore a bitter smile. They said dominant guild members received nomination requests from nobles several times a day, but the Master must have had it much worse.
He suddenly remembered words he’d heard at a drinking session in his early days with the guild.
‘There were rumors that the guild has a separate real owner, but I don’t know if it’s true either.’
‘When I joined, there was talk that everything except his face was fake.’
Even back then he had been aware of being strangely drawn to Roman, but it was a time when he never thought he would come to share private time with him like now. So he had listened with one ear and let it flow out the other, but now he couldn’t help but be concerned.
But he didn’t know how to open the topic. It was awkward to suddenly ask who the real owner of the guild was during a meal, and asking whether Roman was his real name was even more impossible.
If he did that, he could clearly picture him laughing while holding his stomach. Also, judging by his usual personality, whether it was true or not, he would obviously laugh playfully and slip away or vaguely brush it off.
Meanwhile, Roman continued his meal leisurely. In fact, when leaving the guild, he hadn’t planned to stop by a restaurant. He felt full from drinking blood, and he desperately wanted to return home quickly and soak in hot water. But he happened to notice a sign with tableware drawn on it, and thinking of Diego, who would have been on an empty stomach since lunch, he entered the restaurant.
As a result, it was an excellent choice. After finishing a quite satisfactory meal, the two of them mounted their horses again.
“Did you come all this way for dinner?”
“Who knows.”
Roman drove his horse leisurely while withholding an answer, and shortly after, they arrived at the real destination. The place he sought was a dress shop run by an old friend. After sending Diego a look to follow, Roman opened the door and entered the dress shop.
“Welcome.”
Susanna, dressed in a splendid gown, greeted the customers with a bright smile. After exchanging light cheek kisses with her, Roman immediately got to the point.
“Show me some clothes. Something I can wear right now.”
At those words, Susanna made a slightly surprised expression before smiling more deeply and answering jokingly.
“You must be very busy these days. Coming at this hour and even looking for ready-made clothes.”
It was something she could say because she knew Roman’s tastes well, being both an old friend and a regular customer. Roman didn’t visit the dress shop often, but whenever he came, he invested quite a long time and thoroughly ordered custom-made clothes reflecting his own tastes.
But Susanna’s guess was only half right. While it was true he was busy with work, Roman hadn’t come to buy clothes for himself.
“Who is the person you came with? I don’t think I’ve seen them before.”
“A guild member.”
“Really?”
Susanna didn’t miss the opportunity and delivered her sales pitch.
“It’s nice to meet you like this. Since this is a place guaranteed by Roman here, please trust and visit us. I’ll treat you well.”
“Stop that and hurry up and show me the clothes. As you said, I’m here squeezing out busy time.”
He himself had no one waiting or interfering, so he could return home whenever, but Diego was different. Since he said he had stopped by the guild briefly on his way home from work, Emily would be waiting for her brother with worry.
“Let’s look quickly and go.”
At those words, Diego belatedly moved his lips with a dubious expression.
“Don’t tell me you came because of me?”
“No, it’s because of me. I’ll explain the reason later, so just look and choose something you like. Quickly.”
“This way, please.”
Susanna, who had been standing beside them, tactfully guided the two. Walking inside, neatly displayed men’s clothing came into view.
“Choose. This is quite a decent place, despite how it looks.”
Susanna inwardly let out a hollow laugh. ‘Despite how it looks.’ It was an absurd statement when even renowned nobles whose names everyone knew frequented the shop as regulars.
But outwardly showing nothing, she discreetly observed Roman’s companion, who stood with a somewhat stiff expression.
Just from the clothing, it was certain he wasn’t the type who usually associated with Roman. She couldn’t tell if he was really a guild member, but at a glance, his physical condition was very good. With broad shoulders and long limbs, she wondered if there would be any ready-made clothes that would fit.
Still, she couldn’t neglect her duty as a dress shop owner, so Susanna spoke to the man with a brightly smiling face.
“Do you have any preferred designs or colors?”
“…No particular design, but I like dark colors.”
“I see.”
With dark skin and a large build, bright colors definitely wouldn’t suit him. Susanna soon pointed to one among several mannequins standing at regular intervals.
“How about an outfit like that?”
“It seems fine.”
“…You think so?”
Roman, who had been listening quietly, inwardly let out a laugh. It was truly the first time in a while he’d seen Susanna, who had mastered customer service after running a high-end dress shop for several years, look so flustered.
It made sense. There would hardly be any customers who acted like it didn’t matter either way when buying clothes with a base price exceeding 100 gold.
Soon Susanna brought clothes identical to what the mannequin wore. Roman examined the fabric with careful eyes. Looking closely, the material seemed good, and with not excessive gold leaf decorations as accents, it seemed like it would suit Diego well.
“Would you like to try it on?”
Susanna’s gentle recommendation followed. Though making a slightly troubled expression, Diego took the clothes without complaint and headed to the fitting room.
Click—
As soon as the sound of the door closing was heard, Susanna’s gaze turned to Roman. A faint smile hung on her lips.
“Who is he?”
“I told you, a guild member.”
“Hmm.”
Susanna laughed with a face that said ‘yeah, right.’ Roman visited the dress shop every time the seasons changed and boosted sales considerably, but he had never stopped by with anyone else before.
Even giving him the benefit of the doubt and saying it was for work, it was still strange. The Roman Frang she knew would have given him a bag of money telling him to buy clothes with it rather than visit this place together with a mere guild member.
Then who exactly was that man?
Susanna smiled brightly and vented her curiosity.
“Did you meet on Lovers’ Lane?”
“I said he’s a guild member.”
“You’re not telling me to believe that, are you?”
“……”
Roman shrugged. He’d never particularly hidden things or lied, so he didn’t know why his credibility was so low.
“Oh, come to think of it, a few days ago…”
Seeing Roman suddenly turn his head, Susanna also stopped talking briefly and looked at the same place. Soon admiration appeared on her face. Even while handing over the largest size of clothing, she had worried it might not fit, but fortunately it fit perfectly as if it were custom-made.
“It suits you well.”
Honest praise flowed from Roman’s mouth too. Susanna, who had approached closely, examined carefully from shoulders to toes. The sleeves were very slightly short, but considering it was ready-made, it was quite excellent.
“Want to choose more?”
“…No. If there’s nothing particularly strange about it, I’ll take this one.”
“Then do that.”
If it had looked really bad, he would have stepped forward first to look at other clothes, but looking again, it suited him quite well. Roman, who had reached the counter, was about to take out the pouch from his pocket when a thought occurred to him and he looked at Susanna and said.
“I’ll come pay for the clothes tomorrow.”
The reason for deliberately trying to buy on credit, something he had never done before, was because of Diego standing behind him. Though it wasn’t a particularly large amount for himself, the thought briefly crossed his mind that it might be burdensome from Diego’s perspective.
He soon let out a laugh no one would know. Living a life where he didn’t watch anyone’s reactions and had nothing to be wary of, yet thinking of someone else before taking some action was amazing even to himself.
“Do you know Ireta stopped by too?”
