Silent Witch

"You really have no flesh at all. I don't know what kind of situation you've been in, but don't worry, our store will feed you well. And even if you have a skinny body, you can still give a man a lot of pleasure if you use it right! Listen, our job is to please the customers, but they would get excited if they get a woman moaning and screaming by their hands, so you have to make yourself feel good too. For example, around here and here… also, touching here will make you feel good…"

After Doris thrust her hand groping into her clothes, Monica's memory was cut off from there.

＊ ＊ ＊

*kiss* A soft touch on her cheek brought Monica back to herself.

"Ah, a cat's paw…"

Nero must have touched her on the cheek with his soft paw. Monica thought so, but when she looked around, she found herself neither in her mountain cabin nor in the attic, but in a room decorated with red and gold that was a sight painful to her eyes. She then turned to her left where the paw(?) had touched her cheek and found Felix was looking at her with an indescribable look on his face.

"Have you come to your senses?"

"Yo!? Yo-yo-yo-yo…"

When Monica was about to say "Your Highness" Felix presses his forefinger against her lips.

Monica broke out in cold sweat and darted her gaze at her surroundings. And realized that she was now sitting on a luxurious couch leaning against Felix, with Madame Cassandra sitting across from her and Doris by her side. She then met Doris' eyes, who gave a bitter smile as she was fiddling her amber hair with her finger.

"Well, I'm sorry. I thought you were going to be sold to our store."

"…………."

That's when Monica finally noticed what she was wearing. It was Bordeaux's dress that looked like flimsy underwear—the one that Doris had forced her to wear after being dragged away earlier.

*achoo* Monica sneezed, to which Felix took off his jacket and put it on her.

"Doris."

Felix looked at Doris reproachfully, and Doris smiled wryly.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I'll lend her some warm coats. And she might need some gloves too."

"Um, I… I just want my clothes back, that's all."

Monica hurriedly stood up and shoved the jacket over her shoulder back at Felix.

"I'll return this to you…….*achoo*"

As she sneezed, her dress, whose shoulder straps had slipped out, fell to her feet. Since she was not wearing any kind of corset today, her dress came off easily, leaving her upper body bare. After that, she crouched down to pick up the dress, pulled the shoulder straps over her shoulders, then carefully checking the hem of the dress to make sure it was not dirty.

Watching such a scene, Felix and Doris were dumbfounded.

"…………"

"…………"

Madame Cassandra raised her eyebrows at the unfazed Monica who put more concern over the stains on the dress rather than by the fact that her dress had just slipped off in public.

"What a strange girl."

"Um… Can I have my clothes back?"

"Doris, give her back her clothes."

When Madame Cassandra pointed with her chin, Doris answered, "okay," and beckoned Monica over.

Monica hesitated and Doris looked troubled as she scratched her cheek.

"Don't worry, I just want to give you your clothes back this time."

"O-Okay…"

"Though If you want me to teach you how to please Sir Baron, I can teach you in secret."

Monica shook her head furiously, and Doris giggled happily in response.

＊ ＊ ＊

After Doris returned her clothes to her, Monica borrowed a warm fur coat and gloves. Having never worn a fur coat before, Monica was surprised at the hefty weight of the coat at first, but once she put it on, she found it to be very warm and windproof.

If I had this, I might don't need to cover myself up with a thin blanket when I'm writing on a cold night, thought Monica as she was secretly impressed, at which Felix gave a smile.

"Yup, it looks good on you. You look like a little animal when you put on a coat fur."

"P-Please stop calling me little squirrel…"

"I won't, Monica. Now, let's get going."

Felix said so as he held out his left arm to Monica slightly.

As Doris had taught her earlier, the proper way to handle this situation is to wrap her arms around him. However, the height difference between the petite Monica and the moderately tall Felix was too great. Monica agonized over it and pinched Felix's cuff with her fingertips. This way, she didn't have to worry about losing him. And Felix didn't rebuke at her gesture.

"Now, there are some stores I want to visit, but let's stroll around a bit. I think it's more fun to check out the stalls and street vendors first."

Having said that, Felix started walking, taking a street that has many stalls and street vendors on.

While most people would expect to find stalls selling grilled skewers and juice, many of the stalls in the entertainment district at night sell accessories. Apparently, stall owners who sell food and drink during the daytime rent their stalls to those who sell accessories during the night.

"Hey there, mister. Why don't you take a look at my booth? You'll find all kinds of accessories that women will love. The girls in the brothel will be very happy to have this as a souvenir. How about some pretty bracelets for the young lady over there? We also have some earrings."

"I guess looking a bit won't be hurt."

As Felix stopped to look at the accessories on the stall, the shopkeeper was rubbing his hands.

"Our accessories are very special. After all, they come with the blessings of a famous magician."

"Oh, you have magic tools?"

"Yeah, we've got something like that here."

Apparently, the words "blessing" and "charm" were more popular with young people than "magic tool."

The shopkeeper began explaining in a plausible tone of voice that the necklace had a spell to increase one's charm and that the ring would ward off evil and so on.

All of the products were shining beautifully under the light of the lantern. The shopkeeper must be well aware of the fact that it's much harder to tell the difference between a cheap product and a high-quality one at night than in the daytime.

…none of these seem to have any effect as a magic tool.

The base of the ring and the clasp were engraved with what appeared to be magic letters, but it was all complete nonsense. Perhaps Felix was aware of this but was pretending to be interested since his gaze at the accessories was devoid of any enthusiasm. In a way, he was just looking at it.

As Monica looked at the accessories, she suddenly noticed a brooch that has a different design from the others. To put it bluntly, the workmanship of the base of the brooch was extremely detailed. Compared to other cute-looking accessories, the ornamentation was much more elaborate. It was made of topaz and the magic formula engraved in it was real.

…it has a simple defensive barrier but doesn't seem to be very detailed…

The shopkeeper raised his voice when he saw Monica stared at the brooch.

"Oh, you have a good eye, young lady. You could tell this brooch is different from the others. It's specially made."

The owner trailed off, bent forward a little then said in a lowered voice as if he was talking in secret.

"This brooch might be a second-hand, but… hey! It was made by one of the Seven Sages, the [Jewels Magician]."

"Oh…"

The mention of the Seven Sages made Monica wince. Standing next to her, Felix put his finger on his chin and muttered.

"I've heard that Emanuel Darwin, the [Jewels Magician], is a genius at making magic tools."

"You're very knowledgeable, mister. That's right! If you were to go through the proper channels, you could buy a house in the capital with the magic tools made by the [Jewels Magician]. Here, I am offering it at a special price… how about it?"

"Can I see the brooch?"

After Felix said this, the shopkeeper said amiably, "Here you go," wrapping the brooch in cloth and offering it to him. He then took the brooch and reflected the topaz in the light of the lantern. Probably confirming there was a magic formula lying inside.

In the back of the magic formula, Emanuel Darwin's name was inscribed in a very small font.

No matter how one looks at it, this brooch was a counterfeit. The magic formula was not precise enough, and to begin with, a magic tool made by the Seven Sages could not have been sold in a stall like this. The only thing that bothered Monica was the way the brooch was decorated. She had seen a brooch very similar to this one before.

… it looks similar to Lord Cyril's brooch…

Cyril Ashley, who has a constitution that makes him prone to storing mana, always wore a magic tool brooch to absorb and release the magic power within his body. Monica had directly held the brooch in her hand, so there was no way she could be wrong.

Lord Cyril's brooch also had the name of the [Jewels Magician] engraved on it.

Cyril's brooch had not been applied with a spell to prevent it from deteriorating over time. And now, the brooch in Felix's hand only has a crude defensive barrier. These two were very similar, in either with the decorations on the brooch and the quirks of the magic formula.

"Great, I like it. I'll take the brooch."

"Hehe, that's very generous of you, mister. Thank you very much."

Before taking the brooch, Felix paid the price, which was an extraordinary amount of money to pay at a food stall.

Monica watched Felix put the brooch away in his pocket with a hesitant feeling.

…Does His Highness notice that the brooch is similar to Lord Cyril's brooch?

She could not tell what his thoughts were from Felix's beautiful profile, and yet, without particular reason, she kept staring at him, to which he moved his blue eyes to look at her.

"Hey, Monica. Are there any accessories you want? I'll buy you anything if you like it."

"…No. I'm fine."

When Monica shook her head slowly, Felix leaned down a little and looked into Monica's face.

"You were wearing makeup the other day at the chess tournament. It looked really good on you."

"…………"

"Would you let me give you some accessories that would look good on you at that time?"

Most ladies would swoon over if Felix whispered in a mellow, sweet voice. But Monica didn't feel anything from it. And now, she was thinking in her own way and said clumsily.

"Um… Your… I mean Eig, do you still remember at the time we met for the first time?"

"In the old garden when you've been dropping your nuts?"

"Yeah, when you picked up the nuts at that time… I was really… really happy."

For Monica, who was just recently enrolled in the school and had no one she was familiar with, the ribbon that Lana gave her and the berries that Felix picked up were treated as treasures. She even thought it was a waste to eat them.

"Well, I can't really put it into words, but…even if I were to buy accessories here now, I'm sure I wouldn't be as happy as I was with the nuts at that time… I think."

At Monica's crude words, Felix lowered his eyebrows slightly and smiled wistfully.

"I see…"

The lonely look on his face made Monica feel terribly sorry for him. No matter what the reason was, the fact remained that Monica had rejected Felix's goodwill. So, Monica hurriedly continued with her words.

"Also, I-I've only recently become interested in fashion, since I'm still a beginner, accessories are still too high on my plate… well, accessories are for more experienced people, so I don't think I'm ready yet!"

As Monica frantically said this, Felix stared at her blankly, and the next moment he began giggling happily.

"Oh well… haha, I guess I'll leave it at that."

Monica nodded briskly and inwardly patted her chest in relief.