I Thought It Was a Common Transmigration - Chapter 68

“Oh, my goodness! Welcome! We are honored to have you in our store.”

The shopkeeper, a young woman, bustled about as if she knew Killian and Lizé.

As they looked around the store, an ornate faux chandelier hung from the ceiling, romantic decorations on all sides, and on the pink carpet were shelves full of accessories fit for girls.

“Oh, how cute.”

“It’s cute, isn’t it? If you wrap this around your head once like this and put this corsage next to it……”

“Wow! It’s so pretty! Killian, look at this……!”

Killian, who had been staring out the window at something instead of inside the store, quickly turned to Lizé.

“Killian……?”

“Oh! That’s pretty!”

Killian looked at Lizé and immediately said it’s pretty, but it was a far cry from the way he’d always looked at her, and Killian could feel it himself.

“Isn’t it pretty, sir? Not everyone can pull off such accessories. It looks childish when it’s worn by the wrong people. It takes a beautiful woman like Lady Lizé to make the corsage and ribbon look their best.”

The shopkeeper complimented Lizé’s appearance until her mouth watered.

Killian didn’t seem too bothered by this, and asked to pay for all the things she said were pretty.

As a result of the shopkeeper’s flattery and compliments, the bag in her hand had quite a few items in it when she walked out of the store.

“I- I didn’t mean to buy this much……”

“It’s okay, they don’t come out that often, so when they do, it’s not a bad idea to buy them all at once.”

“I’m sorry, Killian.”

“Don’t be sorry. This isn’t ruining my house, you can buy more.”

Killian encouraged her to spend more, as she still felt bad every time she spent money.

Then he started walking toward the store he’d been looking out the window at earlier.

“Lizé, I’m sorry, but let’s stop over there for a minute.”

“Yeah, great! Are you going to buy something too, Killian?”

“Yeah.”

Lizé, who had been feeling bad that she had been buying things for herself, seemed happy.

But the store Killian went into was the same as the one Lizé had stopped at earlier, selling women’s accessories. Although the atmosphere was completely different.

“Killian…… this is, um……”

“Huh? Why?”

“This store has a much different vibe than the last one.”

“Yeah. Right. I’m here to buy some gifts for Edith.”

“What? Edith?”

“Yeah.”

“Aha…… come to think of it, it’s a pretty nice atmosphere that would suit Edith.”

“Isn’t it?”

Killian couldn’t help but notice that Lizé was a little flustered. It would have been ridiculous in the past, but now he was focused on finding something that would look good on Edith.

“Did Edith want you to get her something?”

“No, but I don’t think I’ve bought her anything fancy before……”

“Really? It seems like you’ve been taking good care of Edith, and you even bought her a necklace before!”

Lizé may have been bringing up the memory to comfort Killian, but Killian’s conscience prickled at the memory.

“……you mean the day Cliff gave you all the rest of the jewelry?”

“Ah……”

“Honestly, Cliff was a jerk that day. He could have at least let Edit choose. He didn’t think of my dignity, and he put you in a bad spot.”

At the time, he honestly didn’t think much of it, but as time went on, it became more and more humiliating.

All the precious jewelry was in front of Lizé, and Edith smiled brightly at him with a ruby necklace no bigger than a pea.

She said she loved it, that she would treasure it, and then she exposed that white, giddying nape of her neck……

And true to her word, she wore that necklace every day.

Every time I saw it, I felt guilty.

“I’m sorry, I should have said no back then……”

“Why is that your fault? It’s Cliff’s fault. It’s a good thing you picked out Edith’s necklace, because I wasn’t…… very good at it myself.”

With a small sigh, Killian looked around the store, looking for something that would suit Edith.

“Is it garnet? It’s less precious than ruby, but it would be nice to have something like this.”

He pointed to a hairpin made of garnet, and the shopkeeper behind him placed it on a silver tray.

“Women like to wear hair ornaments like this, right?”

His fingers skimmed over several different types of corsages. The shopkeeper busily picked them up.

“Multicolored satin ribbons are also a must-have……”

One after another, expensive ribbons made of imported fabrics were placed on a silver tray.

“Ah, I think these will go well too…… What if she says they’re too flashy?”

He pointed to a pair of white and black gloves made of delicate, lavish lace, and hesitated for a moment, but eventually decided to buy them too.

When he thought of Edith, he saw an endless array of things that would look good on her.

In the pink store earlier, he hadn’t found anything at all that would suit her, but here, with its elegant yet sensual designs, there were plenty of things that would suit her.

“Is this enough?”

After a long walk through the store, Killian stopped and looked at the shopkeeper, who was placing what he was pointing at on a silver tray.

The silver tray was piled high with items.

Seeing that, Lizé became a bit exasperated and said, “I’m afraid you’ll be scolded by Edith, Killian.”

“Hmm…… is that so?” 

But no matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t put back any of the items he had chosen.

“I wouldn’t be able to buy it once I go to the castle anyway, so this much is good enough.”

“But if you go to the castle, there’s no party hall to wear these things.”

“She can do it at the castle. She can show off the majesty and elegance of a countess.”

“Countess……?”

“Oh, I heard the title that’s going to be bestowed on me is Count.”

Killian hesitated a moment longer, wondering if Edith would actually scold him, but in the end, he decided to buy everything.

The price was a little more than he’d paid for Lizé’s accessories, but since he hadn’t bought any for Edith before, it didn’t seem like much.

After leaving the store, Lizé suddenly felt tired and wanted to go home.

Killian was glad to hear that, as he honestly didn’t like Le Belle-Marie Street all that much, and they returned to the mansion.

After having a maid carry Lizé’s things to her room, Killian knocked on Edith’s door with a paper bag full of gifts for her.

“Huh? Killian!”

Edith’s light brown eyes sparkled as she greeted him.

He used to think they were a very ordinary eye color compared to Lizé’s blue eyes, but lately, he found this relaxed, warm hue quite elegant. Plus, how attractive they were when mixed with a bit of boldness……

“I stopped by to see you.”

“Come on in.”

Killian took the seat Edith offered.

“Did you enjoy your…… outing today?”

“Yes! I went to Peridot and had some tea and dessert. Do you know they have a really good strawberry cake?”

“Strawberry again?”

“Huh? Yeah, I guess I really like strawberries.”

She smiled like she’d just realized something.

Killian smiled back, then awkwardly handed her the bag in his hand.

“Here…… take this.”

“What? What’s this?”

“Nothing much. I just grabbed it while I was out.”

Edith tilted her head, then carefully unpacked the contents of the bag.

“Oh my god……! What is all this?”

“If it’s not your thing, you can go and get something else.”

“No, they’re all beautiful. Who picked these?”

“If it’s not your cup of tea, let’s go and get something else.”

“No, they’re all beautiful. Who chose these?”

“Me. Do you like them?”

“You chose them yourself?”

Edith’s eyes got even wider.

Then she put the hair ornament on her hair from the box she’d just opened.

With a little help from Anna next to her, the pearlized satin ribbon was pinned neatly to Edith’s hair.

“How is it?”

“……it looks good on you.”

“I think so too, it looks good on me. I’m surprised you had such an eye for it.”

“My eye for quality goods was trained at an early age.”

“Is that so? I love them all. If I were to choose, I couldn’t have chosen anything prettier. Thank you, Killian.”

There was no hint of sorry or pretense on Edith’s face as she smiled brightly at him.

She was genuinely pleased with his gift.

It was a refreshing experience for Killian, who was used to hearing Lizé apologize every time he bought her something.

Up until now, he’d found Lizé’s humility endearing, but honestly, as the giver, he was much happier to see Edith’s reaction.

“I’m glad you like it, I should have gotten you more if I’d known you’d like it so much.”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just that there are so many of these. It’s just……”

“Just……?”

“Just, I’m more happy that you were out there thinking about me and choosing things for me. Thank you, Killian.”

Killian felt a tingle in his stomach as Edith thanked him for thinking of her in exchange for a modest gift he’d bought to erase his guilt.

‘This woman sure knows how to play on a person’s guilt.’

Killian coughed unnecessarily and tried to act calm as if buying her that much was no big deal.

“Next time…… let’s go together. We need some shoes and boots before we go to the estate, and I’ve already told the shoemaker today.”

“Okay. I always have time, so let me know when it’s convenient for you.”

“Sure. Then…… bye.”

“Bye. Thanks for the gift, Killian. Have a good rest.”

Killian stood up from his seat, put his arm around Edith’s waist as she followed him out to see his off, and kissed her lightly.

Edith naturally accepted his kiss and smiled softly.

“Have a good rest too.”

“Yes.”

Turning on his heel, Killian headed back to his room, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

He casually asked Edith to come with him, and she accepted it without hesitation.

The stabbing sensation in his chest had improved, and more than anything, he was thrilled to be going out with her.

He hadn’t been thinking about Lizé, who had been out with him today, but with his head full of thoughts of Edith, Killian hadn’t even realized that fact.