“Is it not enough? Father told me that I can buy more things with this.”

“It’s the opposite. It’s too much. But then again, your father did give this to you.”

The owner looked up at the sky for a moment, then looked behind Nico as if he was really troubled. I guess it’s hard for him to tell a noble child to go somewhere to exchange money. I don’t have any money on me either, so I have to rely on the adults behind me.

“I don’t have enough coins to exchange for a gold coin. Ah, what to do…”

“Oh, take this for now.” Bart gave him a silver coin.

“Sure. It costs two copper coins for one.”

“Two for four copper coins. A silver coin can get us 10? That’s why you got 6 copper coins back.”

Nico is smart. So, a gold coin is worth 10 silver coins? I tilted my head questioningly. I didn’t touch money at all in Wester, so I don’t know. I was a two-year-old who had learnt the geography of Kingdom but didn’t know how to use money.

“Lei-sama, you’re wrong.”

Natalie, who had been quiet, suddenly explained how money worked to me even though I hadn’t said anything. I wonder how she knew what I was thinking.

“10 silver coins turn into one large silver coin, and 10 large silver coins turn into a gold coin.”

“He gave thhath tho Nico?”

If one silver coin is worth about 1,000 yen^[1], then one gold coin is worth about 100,000 yen^[2]. The owner was in a pickle because he didn’t have any change for that amount. Even if he did have change, where would Nico put it since he took out the gold coin from his pocket.

“Lam-ojisyama…”

“Our King doesn’t have much common sense, and Kingdom’s King is just as bad as he is.”

Won’t people find out who Nico is if you say King out loud? I looked around in a panic, but everyone was just watching us with warm gazes. Oh yeah, they already know what we look like.

“I’ll take care of the gold coin and pay you back in the end, so just keep that change and this silver coin. This should be enough for children.”

“Whath abouth Lei?”

“Nico will pay for you.”

“Ai.”

I asked because I was curious, but I was told directly that I wasn’t allowed to hold money. I don’t think they didn’t give me the money because they thought it would be spoiling me. They probably thought that it was difficult for a two-year-old to handle money, so I nodded. Nico also nodded and put the silver and copper coins into his pocket with his chubby hands.

“Tell me if there’s anything you want to eat, Lei.”

“Ai!”

I’ll tell you everything I want to eat. But reality is harsh for a toddler. Meat rolls were thin bread wrapped around stir-fried meat.

“I’m full.”

“We shhouwd have wenth hawfiesh.” (We should have went halfies)

But there was no point regretting it now, so we went to the next place.

“I can drinw shomethhing.”

“I guess so. I want something refreshing. That’s it!”

The next shop was at the corner of the street. My nose twitched at once.

“Ith shmewwsh wiwe fruithsh.” (It smells like fruits)

“You have a good nose, little girl. It’s a little early for autumn fruits, so it’s water made with dried fruit peels. It’s not sweet, though.”

“Hmm. Give me one of those.”

“It’s one copper.”

The owner looked at him as if asking if one cup was enough, but he handed him a large cup of water in exchange for a copper coin without saying anything. Nico carefully took the cup.

“Here. Don’t spill it.”

“Ai.”

Nico gave me the cup. I held it with both hands and drank.

“Yummy. Ai.”

I handed half the drink back to Nico.

“Ah!” His attendant shrieked as Nico drank the cup I had just drank from.

“It’s so refreshing that I feel like I can drink a lot more! Here, have the last few drops, Lei.”

“Ai.”

I emptied the cup and Nico went to return the cup to the shop. The owner accepted the cup with a smile.

“You’re a good Onii-chan.”

“I’m not her Onii-chan, but I am older than her. I have to look after her.”

Nico nodded as if it was obvious. I’m happy to have him look after me since I’m younger than him.

Nico and I were having fun looking around town for a while, but I wonder what the others are doing? I looked behind us and noticed that everyone was following us.

“You can aww do whathever you wanth.” (You can all do whatever you want)

We didn’t come to town just for Nico and I. I’m not sure why Nii-sama and Gill are looking at us and smiling when they probably have other places they want to visit.

“We often sneak out of the dormitory, so… ouch!”

“Gill! You’re so thoughtless. I can’t believe you’re graduating this year.”

I could see Nii-sama’s elbow on Gill’s face.

“And I don’t go out as much as Gill. Yup, not as much as Gill.”

“You just don’t sneak out as much as me, ouch.”

A man who never learns; that’s Gill. I pretended not to hear him. They’ve all been to town at night and know what it’s like.

I could tell that people all love the town whether they’re nobles or from Wester as I looked at Gill and Nii-sama who were having fun walking around at night and Bart and everyone else who were observing the town while staying vigilant.

I wonder if Ange-obasama has ever been out to town at night like this. I wonder if she ever realised that everyone can enjoy their nights with a smile on their face because the Four Marquises work hard on maintaining the barrier.

“There are those who want to protect these smiles and those who think that they’re sacrificing themselves for these smiles. On the other hand, I don’t think the head of our family has ever honestly cared about whether the people in town are smiling or not. There are a lot of different kinds of people, Lei.”

“Hansh…”

“I’ve been through a lot of trouble because of that, although I haven’t been through as much trouble as you, Lei-sama.”

Hans always goes to Easter.

“But you can’t change the past no matter how much you think about it. You have to think about what you will do from now on.”

“From now on.”

Hans quietly looked around town. It was too big of a task for a two-year-old to think about the future of everyone in Kingdom.

“Let’s go eat those baked sweets from over there for now. If we take halfies then we’ll manage to eat them somehow.”

“Ai!”

So, that’s about all I’m going to do now. I’ll just live every day like this. I’m sure I’ll always be in a cheerful place if I eat and drink cheerfully and look forward to tomorrow.