Chapter 218
Chapter 218
Upon arriving in Sharatan, I couldn’t help but notice that not much had changed. The only difference was the new movement magic circle that allowed for transportation to Acrab. I quickly shed my coat, stuffing it into my bag as the heat in Sharatan was much hotter than in Acrab.
“If you don’t want to die from the heat, you should take that off, you know?” I warned Las, as we made our way to Azel’s fruit shop.
To my surprise, people still remembered me, even after two years. The locals greeted me warmly, as if we were old friends. Las and the knights, who had accompanied me, looked bewildered by the friendly atmosphere in Sharatan. They were not used to a society where everyone treated each other like family.
“Is everyone here like this?” asked Las.
“Yeah, everyone here is like family, right?” I replied.
“It’s amazing,” he said, “it’s not even a small city.”
“Each district forms a group. So, in times of crisis, we share to help each other and perform transactions smoothly. It is a system that cannot be done in Acrab,” I explained.
The atmosphere in Sharatan reminded me of a small town gang society, but I didn’t dislike it. Initially, I was unfamiliar with people who treated strangers kindly like this. It may have been because I had only seen the individualistic people of Acrab for over a hundred years, but the people of Sharatan were the first outsiders I had met other than Kaichen since I possessed Dalia’s body.
I couldn’t shake the trauma of Acrab, but Sharatan had a different kind of energy that I couldn’t help but be drawn to. I found myself becoming more and more attached to Hanmer and Azel, and even the willow house seemed more appealing to me because of it.
As I strolled through the streets, pondering a future where everything had settled down, it occurred to me that spending the rest of my days with Kaichen in the willow house would be pretty idyllic. And before I knew it, I’d arrived at Azel’s fruit shop.
“Azel!” I called out as I approached her shop.
“Oh my goodness! C—co… count?!” Azel exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise. She quickly brushed off her apron and came running out to greet me.
“It’s a shame we didn’t get to see each other yesterday. I wanted to come visit, but Hanmer said you were here. I just stopped by to buy some green apples,” I explained.
Azel’s face broke out into a wide smile, and she fidgeted with excitement. “There are apples here, but I’m not the owner anymore… Even though we’re still preparing, I’ll sell it to you if you pay for it. Let me check!”
“Sure, can I have some?” I asked.
“Yes! Please wait a moment! Yanghwa! Can you come here for a while?” Azel called out to the new owner of the shop.
I slumped into a chair under the shaded tent and let out a sigh. The armored woman beside me was insisting on keeping her gear on, citing some escort duty as the reason. I gazed over at the fruit shop across the street. It was undergoing some renovations, and something about it caught my attention.
“Yanghwa?” I muttered to myself, trying to place the unfamiliar name. It felt like I had heard it before, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
Then it hit me. “Yanghwa. Ja Yanghwa,” I exclaimed, jumping to my feet. The woman next to me and Las looked startled, but I didn’t pay them any mind. I rushed into the fruit shop where Azel had disappeared.
Why didn’t I recognize the name sooner? It was someone I had been thinking about just the day before. But the possibility existed that it was just a coincidence and this Yanghwa was not the person I knew. Would they really be running a fruit shop in a place like this?
“This kid! The Count of Acrab is here, you know?! Did you already forget when I told you all morning that she was a regular at this store? She’s here now, so come out!” Azel’s voice came from inside the store.
A woman’s voice replied, “Madam, I don’t want to specially meet with the nobles. Why is the great lord of Acrab a regular at this little fruit shop? If I had known this earlier, I wouldn’t have thought of taking over the store.”
Azel persisted, “Stop being stubborn! I only found out yesterday that this regular is a special person! Why are you hiding like that?”
“Madam Azel, please let me off. You know what I’ve been through. I want to live as quietly as possible as if I don’t exist.”
“I’m telling you, this person is different from the other nobles. Even though she’s from the Eastern continent, she doesn’t discriminate or treat people poorly. Alright? So please come out, for my sake.”
“If that’s the case, then just sell the store. I’ll hide here until she leaves.”
“What’s with this attitude? You know it doesn’t matter. She’s only here to buy some green apples. Just tell her I’ve been busy and haven’t been around.”
I could hear a voice choked with tears and Azel’s frustrated tone.
After overhearing their conversation, it became clear to me that the ‘Yanghwa’ Azel was talking about was the ‘Ja Yanghwa’ I knew.
‘Wow, could this be it? One of the potential female leads I’ve been searching for just appeared out of nowhere? What’s she doing here?