After I died, Everything Changed - Chapter 42

Lahan guided me to a round sofa in the center of the shop and gently had me sit.

After the stiff ride in the carriage and a bit of walking, my sore legs and tired hips welcomed the softness.

While I settled in, Lahan began inspecting the boots on the shelves.

He looked surprisingly serious about it.

“They all look the same to me, but you’re taking it very seriously.”

Sure, the leather came in different shades, but to my eyes, the boots all looked more or less identical.

“I want to pick the most durable one.”

“Not the most beautiful, but the sturdiest?”

“Do you think that’ll make me unpopular with women?”

Spoken shamelessly, as if he had no idea just how attractive others already found him.

“If you give it your best effort, I doubt anything would be impossible for you.”

“Winning a woman’s heart is harder than picking out a pair of boots, I’ll tell you that.”

With that, Lahan took a pair of light brown leather boots off the shelf.

“Let’s call this today’s best choice.”

He strode over and knelt in front of me on one knee.

“This is unnecessary. I can put them on myself.”

I tried to stop him, but he didn’t move.

Instead, he boldly took hold of my foot.

“…You really are impossible.”

“Was I ever known for being formal?”

“You could at least pretend to be.”

“Ha!”

Strangely, his behavior—while certainly forward—didn’t feel unpleasant.

Maybe it was because he acted like none of that noble lineage and high status even mattered.

Was he always like this?

I’d always known he was a bold man.

But since we’d never really spent time together before, I hadn’t realized he could be so casual with someone he considered close.

And yet here I am, thinking of us as close.

They say familiarity breeds affection. Maybe there was something to that after all.

“It fits perfectly.”

While I’d been lost in thought, he had already taken off one of my shoes.

With gentle movements, he slid the boot onto my foot.

“See? I knew I had good taste.”

“…”

There wasn’t much to say. It wasn’t about looks or elegance.

It was a practical boot, made for utility—not for show.

“The front’s a bit stiff, so it might feel uncomfortable at first. But it’ll protect your feet well.”

He hummed a cheerful tune as he busied himself switching out my other shoe.

Then he started tying the laces with careful hands—big hands, but surprisingly gentle.

“…Thank you.”

When I offered a quiet word of thanks, Lahan glanced up at me.

He rested his arm on his knee and looked into my eyes.

“Seems like I’m getting too much gratitude for something as simple as a pair of boots.”

“Do I look like the kind of person who doesn’t know how to say thank you?”

“No, but… if you’re this thankful over something so small, it makes me wonder if I’ve been way too dramatic all this time.”

The boots didn’t fit like the custom-made ones crafted specifically for my feet.

They were a little foreign, a little stiff.

But oddly enough, they gave me a sense of stability.
A quiet reassurance.

“It’s not just about the shoes.”

“Then what is it?”

“You taught me how to listen to sound.”

“Sound?”

Sailing with Lahan, I’d learned how to listen to the ocean.

And that experience had opened something within me.

After that, I had begun to truly hear the sounds of the forest too.

In that way, I was genuinely grateful to him.

“You sensed the typhoon was coming, didn’t you? From the sound of the sea?”

“Hmm. That’s half right—and half wrong.”

“You were wrong?”

“That day, on my way to the boat, I saw rats scurrying along the mooring lines of a docked ship. Did you know? Small creatures are often more sensitive to nature. Those rats, who practically lived on the ship, were fleeing to land. That was as clear a sign of an approaching typhoon as any forecast.”

“…So it wasn’t the sound of the sea?”

I felt a bit flustered.

So the realization I thought I had—something I believed came thanks to him—wasn’t really what I thought it was?

“Well, I wasn’t entirely wrong. It’s not the sound of the sea exactly. It’s more like resonating with the emotions of the creatures carried on the wind.”

“I see… so it’s not about the sea or the forest themselves, but the feelings of the lives within them…”

“Now I’m curious.”

“About what?”

“The sound you hear from the forest.”

At his words, I gave a soft smile.

So even someone like him finds certain things intriguing.

“Why are you staring like that?”

Lahan had been watching me closely.

“Your smile… it’s nice to see.”

What, had he never seen someone smile before?

I instinctively tried to suppress the corners of my mouth.

“Then I suppose I’ll have to do a proper job entertaining you today, won’t I?”

Just as I stifled a laugh, the shop owner appeared.

He looked at us and asked, surprised, “Your Grace! You’re here? And… may I ask, who is this young lady?”

“A goddess.” Lahan replied without hesitation.

“Hahaha! Should I believe that or not? Though… she is beautiful enough to be one.”

“Well, if you want to charge more, believing it would help, wouldn’t it?”

“Fair point! So, would you like to wear them out right away?”

“Yes.”

I answered, glancing down at the boots Lahan had already laced tightly.

“Then I’ll wrap up the shoes you came in with.”

“Thank you.”

The owner took my old shoes.

I stood up from the seat and turned to Lahan.

“Thank you. I’ll repay you properly next time.”

“What’s with the talk of repayment?”

I never gave him anything, and yet he always managed to hand me something.

This kind of relationship left me with a strange sense of debt.

“When someone offers, you should just accept it. Don’t they say never trust calm seas or kind women?” the shop owner quipped.

I blinked, not quite following.

“…Is that supposed to mean I’m not trustworthy?”
I asked Lahan quietly.

He burst into laughter.

“It’s an old sailor’s saying. The sea and women—both beautiful, both unpredictable. That’s the idea.”

“Unpredictable?”

“Which is to say—seize the chance when it comes.”

It was a saying I hadn’t heard before. It sounded strange, but interesting.

I nodded slowly.

“Well then, shall we go seize today’s opportunity?”

Lahan offered his hand with a smooth, polite gesture.

Without thinking, I reached out and took it.

It was all so natural, like flowing water.

For some reason, when I’m with this man… I keep getting swept along.

* * *

“Once this ship is completed, it’ll be something worth commemorating for Mergen too.”

Lahan tilted his head back, gazing up at the nearly finished vessel.

“It will be. It’s the first ship we’ve ever built with our own hands.”

“The current trade ship was gifted by the imperial palace, wasn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

“And if I’m not mistaken, that gift was tied to Deborah’s engagement. More or less.”

He wasn’t wrong.

The imperial family had given that ship to Mergen around the time of my engagement to Henry, so it wasn’t entirely unrelated.

“Mergen and the imperial family are pretty deeply entangled, aren’t they?”

“Not as much as Bahel.”

“Well, people like us just end up watching what they do, trying not to step on their toes.”

“Maybe Bahel does, but Your Grace doesn’t strike me as someone who plays it safe.”

“Must be the sailor in me. The only thing I’m afraid of is the sea—it’s the one thing you can never fully understand.”

“Strange words, coming from someone raised in the imperial palace…”

I said, playfully poking at his logic.

Lahan gave a soft laugh and met my eyes.

“My mother grew up by the sea.”

“Ah…”

“Before it was revealed she was Bahel’s illegitimate daughter, anyway.”

“That’s not what I was trying to bring up. I just…”

I already knew that story. But I hadn’t mentioned it to press him for confirmation.

“Thanks to her, I learned a lot. And I grew to love the ocean.”

“Isn’t the sea something most people are afraid of?”

“Only if you treat it like a stranger. If you think of it as a friend, there’s no better companion. Isn’t it amazing how it accepts any challenge you bring to it?”

“You talk like you’re ready to conquer it.”

“And the fact that no one ever can conquer the sea? That’s part of what makes it so alluring.”

Lahan really did love the sea.

That free, unrestrained energy he carried—it reminded me of the ocean itself.

They say people grow to resemble what they love. Maybe that was true after all.

“When Mergen’s ship finally sets sail, I want to be there.”

“Aren’t you always here anyway? Honestly, I have a feeling you’ll end up being there regardless.”

“So, I exist in the future you picture for yourself.”

He smiled as he said it.

And he wasn’t wrong.

Somewhere along the way, Lahan had naturally become part of the future I imagined.

“Come on, let’s look around a bit more.”

For some reason, his expression looked completely content—like he was exactly where he wanted to be.

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