Dear Ex-Fiancé, I Hope You Regret Everything - Chapter 32

“Hey, Iris! Are you okay!?”

“Yes, but I made Tiana cry.”

“Waaaaah!~!! Waaaaah!!”

Tiana, staggering with unsteady steps, clung to her mother, and even after being picked up, she didn’t seem to be calming down.

“There, there, what happened?”

“Aishu was meaaaaaan!!!”

Tears streamed down her face, dampening her mother’s shoulder.

Iris bowed deeply to the child, looking very apologetic.

“Well, it seems I’ve been disliked. I’m sorry, Tiana. If you’d like, to make it up to you, let’s go buy some sweets later.”

“Okay! Let’s go!!”

All the adults present slumped over in disbelief.

(How simple…)

Well, I suppose that’s just how children are.

(What happened… but…)

Iris, for some reason, looked completely unfazed. Tiana was crying, and Iris seemed perfectly cheerful—I honestly couldn’t make sense of it.

“Lord Skyford, would you accompany us to cheer Tiana up?”

“Of course.”

“Sister, is that alright?”

“If His Highness says it’s fine, then by all means, please do.”

And so, we ended up going shopping in this rather peculiar combination.

That said, we were still quite conspicuous, so we tried disguising ourselves a bit with sunglasses and such. But even then, men would notice Iris’s beauty and turn to look. When I pulled her close and glared at them, they all paled and hurried away.

“Lord Skyford, it’s hard to walk like this.”

“It can’t be helped. I don’t want you tainted by their gazes.”

“Tainted by their gazes? What do you mean?”

Ahem, ahem!!

But…

(So, this is how unsteady children are or rather, how precarious…)

Her hand in mine was slightly sweaty, yet she still held onto me tightly, relying on the adult.

Even so, if you let your guard down thinking she’s settled, the child, breathing heavily with excitement, would suddenly break into a run without warning.

(It’s nerve-wracking…)

“Ah!!! Ah!!!! Candy!!! It’s candy!!!!”

“That’s a candy sculpting stall.”

(Candy sculpting?)

As the three of us approached, the vendor was skillfully cutting soft candy into the shape of a rabbit with scissors.

“Hoh? That’s quite skillful.”

“Is this your first-time seeing candy sculpting?”

“Yes, we don’t see this in Haira.”

Tiana hopped up and down, imitating a rabbit.

“Amaziiing!!! Clap, clap!”

“Oh, little miss! Do you like it? I can make this too.”

With quick, rhythmic snips, he created a tropical fish.

(Hoh, beautiful.)

Tiana, who had been mesmerized by his handiwork, began squealing with delight, her eyes sparkling.

“Wooow!! It’s a fishy!!! It’s so pretty!! Tiana wants this one!!”

“Oh! You like it? Ask your mom and dad if it’s okay to buy it.”

(Mom!!! Dad!!!!)

A shock, as if struck by lightning, ran through my entire body.

(Good! Incredibly good…)

Iris, seeing me frozen, hurriedly corrected him.

“Ah, sorry, she’s my niece.”

“Oh, is that so? She looks so happy, I just assumed.”

(She looks happy!!!!)

I probably radiated an intense aura from behind. The stall owner flinched at my words.

“Shopkeeper.”

“Eh? … Eeek!!!”

“…Sell me all the candy sculptures in your stall.”

“Y-yes? Um… all of them…?”

“All of them. Money is no issue.”

I pushed my lightly tinted sunglasses up to my forehead and glared down at the shopkeeper.

“Eeeek!!! Understood!!! … Huh? You mean you’ll buy everything?”

“That’s what I said.”

At that, the shopkeeper sighed with relief. What did he think I was going to do?

“I appreciate it, but that would be a bit of a problem.”

“Wha—why?”

“The other children would be sad if they couldn’t buy any candy, right?”

His tanned skin contrasted with his bright, gleaming white teeth. He wiped the dripping sweat with his work clothes.

“…Hmm, you’re right. Shopkeeper, I like you even more now. Then, just sell me as much as you can.”

“You got it!”

Rabbit, tropical fish, flower, butterfly, parrot we bought about ten, as many as he could sell.

Tiana stared at all of them, her eyes shining.

“My, oh my, so many! Let’s share them with everyone when we get back to the mansion.”

The shopkeeper removed the towel wrapped around his head and bowed. His black hair was cut short.

“Thank you very much.”

I smiled and took off my sunglasses.

“A tropical fish, huh…”

“No! The fishy is Tiana’s!”

“Wha—come on, it’s fine!!”

The shopkeeper, who had been watching our exchange with a puzzled look, burst out laughing.

“Hahaha!! Should I make another tropical fish?!”

I was utterly embarrassed and declined his offer.

As we left the stall, one after another, children came running toward the candy sculpting stall.