Life as a Tower Maid: Locked up with the Prince - Chapter 196

Chapter 196

Translator: Yonnee

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“…Wouldn’t it be too suspicious if a beanie is just flying in the air?”

There was a serious expression on Albert’s face. He must have no idea that I’m choosing it for him.

“You don’t know that for sure, so let’s just hurry in.”

He might refuse to wear the beanie if I told him on the onset that it was for him. In the end, I dragged Albert into the hat shop and neglected to clear up the misunderstanding.

As he entered the shop, Albert looked quite awkward.

“Are you here alone? How can I help you?”

The man who must be the shopkeeper approached Albert and asked him kindly.

Since Albert was veiled with an illusory magic spell right now, the shopkeeper was treating him as a normal child, not knowing that he was a noble.

Albert looked up at me with a start.

“You just have to say hello like a commoner would, Albert. Because right now, you’re not Albert, just a passing commoner boy. You don’t have to act like how you normally would.”

I said this to him with a shameless tone. To be honest, this outing was also a great opportunity for Albert to break away from the fetters of aristocracy.

“You can say that you’re just looking around alone.”

Albert quickly parroted what I said.

“I’m going to look around alone… sir.”

“Alone? Where are your parents?”

“They’re feeling sick, so they went back first… sir.”

It was so cute to watch him fumble with his words, clearly not used to speaking politely. It looked to me like Albert was sweating bullets, but he managed well enough on his own.

I wanted to watch him act awkwardly more, but unfortunately, Albert quickly adapted to the situation.

After a while, Albert had successfully persuaded the shopkeeper, and he was now standing in front of the black wool beanie that I had been staring at a while ago.

“Do you really want this so badly?”

“Yeah.”

Looking around first to confirm that there wasn’t anyone watching us, I lifted the beanie from its perch and snugly put it on Albert’s head.

Albert raised his hands and touched it.

“Why did you put it on me?”

“Honestly, I realized that it won’t look good on me… So I thought, won’t it look so much better on you if you wear it?”

If I went ahead and told him that I actually chose it for him, Albert would deny it sharply like a knife. So, I gave excuses here and there.

While I was thinking, Albert hesitated. He fiddled with the round pompom made from wool on the top of the beanie.

“I don’t like hats.”

Of course, I wasn’t the kind of person who’d give in to Albert’s words.

“But I want to see you wearing it…”

Whenever I was with Albert, my acting skills and senses always took center stage. I dropped my head and put on a sad expression.

“I really want to see it…”

Pursing his lips tightly, Albert eventually nodded.

“F-Fine.”

And in the end, I succeeded in getting that beanie for Albert from the hat shop.

Since this was a place where winter flourished, it was all the more important to wear snug hats.

Because of that, even nobles in this place wore hats out of necessity, and it was rare to wear hats only for the sake of fashion.

However, Albert reversed that common notion in one fell swoop.

Anyone who saw Albert wearing this beanie would have thought the same thing—

That beanie? Isn’t that an amazing fashion statement?

Everyone would immediately want to own one.

Our shopping spree didn’t end with just that.

I intend to take this opportunity to buy Albert more warm clothes.

Besides that, Albert seemed to have brought more money than I expected.

Soon enough, instead of those old, worn-out and ready-made clothes anymore, he was now donning new clothes and a coat that was lined with wool.

Of course, I made excuses throughout the entire process of buying them, but Albert indulged me without a second thought.

He probably knew that I was just making excuses. Nevertheless, this was all part of self-care.

But Albert didn’t point it out.

Now that Albert was all warm and bundled up, I smiled contentedly.

“You look great, Albert.”

“Did you get what you wanted now?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Hearing my response, Albert pursed his lips for a second then opened them.

“Then, grant me a wish, too.”

“A wish?”

“It’s not hard.”

“Really? Alright, as long as I can do it, I’ll do anything.”

It’s rare for Albert to ask me any favors. I wanted to do everything I could for him.

Not long after, Albert spoke again.

“…I want to call you by your name, too.”

“Why?”

“Because it feels nice when you call my name.”

It’s the first time that Albert regarding me in a more polite manner.^[1]

The gesture touched me, not only because he was more polite to me now. I liked it because Albert was extending his honest feelings to me.

Albert hurriedly covered his mouth as if he spoke without meaning to, but as though he had made up his mind right then, he immediately spoke up again.

“If I call your name, I think you’ll feel great, too.”

Each and every word touched me.

I recalled the times that Albert had called me Rosé before. And I could only wonder if that gesture was what made my heart begin to waver.

However, it was difficult. I still couldn’t tell him my name.

Albert was visibly disappointed. I gave him a big hug instead.

“I’ll tell you later.”

“…When?”

“One day, when I’m ready.”

Albert reluctantly nodded in response.

“You said that you’ll never break your promises, so I’ll trust you.”

I’m so happy that he could trust me.

“Then, shall we look around the streets again?”

I pulled back from the hug and was about to take his hand in mine again, but at that moment—

“Albert.”

I heard someone calling Albert’s name from close by. But there shouldn’t be anyone who’d recognize him because of my spell?

A glasses-wearing man with black shoulder-length hair was waving towards Albert. He walked towards us at a leisurely pace.

Confused to hear the voice, Albert was perplexed as he looked at the man who called him, and he blinked in a daze.

“…Master.”

An unexpected guest had just arrived.

¹ Albert’s politeness – In this part, Albert called Jung-in ‘당신’, which is the more polite version of ‘너’ (as he was calling her all this time since he didn’t know her name). It’s a notable difference in Korean because of the shift in speech level from informal to formal. ↩

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