The next morning while preparing to go to work, Yuri felt Lakis’ gaze following her. She turned around and stared at Lakis for a bit then she walked up to him.
“Mr. Lakis, you’re going to get wrinkles on your forehead.”
Her slender fingers reached out to straighten Lakis’ forehead. But instead of stopping his frowning, he actually frowned more. There was obvious complaint in his gaze on Yuri. It’s not that Yuri didn’t know why but she acted like she didn’t know anything.
“Don’t frown so early in the morning, cheer up.”
A slightly dry voice followed just like always.
Therefore, it didn’t exactly feel like she was trying to pacify him but that alone softened Lakis’ heart a little.
“So you still care about how I feel.”
Following that, Lakis held Yuri’s hand which was touching his forehead then he opened his mouth.
“And here I thought you were only interested in my body.”
Still, his continuation was quite provocative.
‘It can be interpreted like that?’
Yuri mulled over what she said yesterday and tilted her head. Like she thought, Lakis seemed to be peeved because of what she said yesterday. Even now as he spoke, he sounded like he was pouting.
Pouting…
The word itself seemed too cute to be used on an adult man but it was true. Yuri fully pulled her hand away from Lakis then she spoke.
“I’m also interested in your face.”
Lakis wasn’t sure if he should be happy or disappointed to hear that so he frowned again. There was no way to tell if she knew what he was feeling inside, but Yuri turned around to leave for work after saying her last goodbye.
“See you later then.”
In the end, Lakis responded and saw Yuri off.
“Bye. I’ll be waiting.”
Yuri glanced back at him then walked out the door.
Click.
Just as the woman in front of him disappeared from his sight, the door shut close. And once that happened, Lakis’ day officially began.
* * *
That day, the old man came to the coffeehouse again.
“How have you been, child? I’d like a cup of tea today as well, please.”
He sat in the same seat as last time and asked Yuri for tea.
“Yes, please wait a moment.”
Yuri calmly replied and turned around.
But inwardly, she felt this was a little burdensome. Maybe it was because she heard the story of the old man losing his youngest daughter, but she felt like she understood why the old man kept coming to the coffeehouse.
“Ah, this isn’t the tea you gave me last time.”
“Yes, it was ginger tea last time and this is quince tea.”
“Ohh, I see. Today’s tea is very delicious too.”
Like before, the old man excitedly praised Yuri’s tea. Still, maybe he could tell that this was a crowded time with quite a lot of customers because he didn’t hold Yuri back to talk with her.
The old man sat down, quietly drinking his tea and watching Yuri go back and forth in the store. Then some time passed and when Yuri finished wiping the cups and came out of kitchen, the old man’s seat was empty.
He seemed to have finished his tea at some point and left the store. However, the thing the old man left behind stood out to her.
“Mr. Gilbert, when did the customer that was sitting here leave?”
“Err, just a minute ago.”
“The customer left something behind so I’m going to step out for a bit.”
“Oh no, he did? Go ahead.”
Yuri picked up the cane leaning against the chair and left the store. Thankfully, the old man hadn’t climbed into the carriage yet.
“Excuse me, customer-nim!”
The moment Yuri shouted, the old man’s shoulders flinched. He certainly seemed to have heard her call. But for some reason, the next moment, the old man hurriedly boarded the carriage.
Whip! Neighh!
As soon as the old man climbed inside and closed the door, the carriage set off like it had been waiting for that.
‘What the-. Did he not hear me calling him?’
Yuri stared at the carriage that was quickly moving away with a frown. Eventually, she returned to the coffeehouse without being able to return what the old man left.
“You didn’t meet him?”
“Yes.”
“This was under that customer’s table too…”
Yuri accepted what Gilbert held out to her. It wasn’t the rough paper used by common people but high-quality paper with a smooth and even surface. That was probably why Gilbert’s hand was shaking when he held it.
Yuri ran her eyes over paper. It was decorated with gold and looked like an invitation. At the top was something that seemed like a fairy detailed map. And at one point of the map, the following was written:
[My house.]
Yuri pondered over it.
Why was this here? Did the ‘my house’ written on the map belong to the grandpa? If so, then didn’t it seem like he left it behind deliberately?
Above all, the fact that the old man left behind his cane bothered her. It was probably hard for him to walk properly without it so did it make sense for him to just forget it and go?
On top of that, when Yuri thought about how she chased after him earlier, but he acted like he didn’t hear and oddly increased his pace…
“D-Do you have to take it to him?”
Gilbert seemed to have guessed the same thing as her and spoke while trembling.
“He’ll take it when he comes next time.”
However, Yuri calmly put the issue aside. There was no reason for her to go there just because he kindly provided a map.
“I-Is that so? He probably will?”
“Yes. I’ll go clean up.”
And with that, Yuri quickly erased this incident from her mind.
* * *
But even after a few days passed, the old man did not come to the coffeehouse.
Gilbert looked restless and kept looking at where the cane was stored as if he was guarding a treasure. The cane looked as expensive as the old man’s clothes, so Gilbert seemed very uncomfortable about having it in his store.
“Did you hear what happened?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know Thomas, the one who drives the public carriage. Apparently, he picked up a noble customer from the shopping district recently and the noble dropped their jewelry.”[1]
Meanwhile, the conversation some customers were having in the coffeehouse caught Gilbert’s attention.
“Then the noble came to look for it later but Thomas didn’t even know it fell inside the carriage. But gee, the noble actually reported that Thomas deliberately hid the jewelry.”
“What? Are they nuts?”
Instantly, Gilbert who was acting like he was cleaning the next door table and intently listening to them was terrified.
“They’re the one who dropped their stuff, why’re they going after an innocent person?”
“That’s how all nobles are. Tsk, poor Thomas.”
Gilbert’s complexion was poor as he turned around with his dry dishcloth. He swallowed dryly and looked at the place where the cane was kept with trembling eyes.
Seeing him like this, Yuri clicked her tongue.
With Gilbert’s nobility phobia, his heart had shrunk to the size of a sparrow’s.
“Ms. Yuri, well…I’ll head out!”
Eventually, as Yuri expected, Gilbert left the store with the map and the cane the old man left behind. He looked like he’d decided to return the old man’s things before the old man’s security raided his coffeehouse and turned him into a thief.
“Have a nice trip.”(Yuri)
Although he was trembling, Gilbert left the store with a face full of determination. Yuri easily sent him off.
But after about an hour, Gilbert returned, looking no different from when he left the coffeehouse.
“Was the map wrong?”
Yuri asked, looking at Gilbert who complexion was even worse.
“No, it…”
Hearing her question, he stumbled over his words before explaining to her.
“I think I went to the right house, yea, the customer who owns the cane. But someone called the butler came out and told me that they can’t bring in someone with an unclear identity.”
“Really?”
“So, So I said I’ll just give them the stuff he left behind and go. But then he said they can’t take in items brought by someone with an unclear identity…”
So he brought the cane back. However, Gilbert did not stop speaking there.
“But he then said he remembers the face of the female staff in the coffeehouse so if that staff came, they would open the door.”
Gilbert couldn’t hide his puzzlement as he spoke and when Yuri heard what he said, she narrowed her eyes.
“Hmm.”
Weren’t they so obvious in everything? Then maybe the map was indeed an invitation left for her.
“Alright, I’ll go then.” Only
Yuri said, taking the cane and map from Gilbert. At that, Gilbert was delighted.
pαпᵈα-noνɐ1·сoМ “Y-You will?”
From the looks of things, the old man wanted to her to bring it personally and Gilbert wasn’t very courageous so it would be difficult to leave it in the store any longer.
There was no other way to resolve to issue right now than having her go.
Translator’s Corner:
[1]I don’t know if this should be translated as official carriage or public carriage but for now, we’ll go with the latter.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter