Who Brought the Head Maid Back? - Chapter 60

Noah turned back to the old woman to question her properly, but Amy caught him and pulled him back. The two walked side-by-side down the street, engaging in a serious conversation.

“Amy, don’t just get angry; think about it carefully.”

“About what?”

Amy snorted. Noah glanced at her and whispered meaningfully.

“That fortune teller from earlier might not be a fraud.”

“Excuse me?”

As if she had heard the most absurd thing in the world, Amy picked at her ear with a disinterested expression. Noah, undeterred, pressed on steadfastly.

“Who knows? She might be a prophet.”

“…What on earth are you talking about?”

Letting his words go in one ear and out the other, Amy looked around the square they had just entered. People were crowded around stalls that tightly lined the edges of the plaza. Hmm, business seems to be doing well. Amy watched with satisfaction, but then a thought occurred to her.

‘I should take a look, just in case they’re selling defective goods.’

As the organizers who had collected taxes, it was their duty to ensure that honest transactions took place. As Amy headed toward the stalls, Noah stuck close to her side.

“I’m saying that could really be your future, Amy.”

“My future?”

Amy pushed through the crowd and scanned the goods laid out on the stall with a hawk-like gaze. At a glance, everything seemed perfectly fine. Amy picked up a ring with a pattern twisted like a hemp rope. The Northern flower engraved on its surface sparkled in the setting sun.

At that moment, Noah leaned his lips close to her ear and whispered.

“Someday, you might get married to someone and have a child too, Amy.”

“…”

The breath tickling her ear made the tiny hairs all over her body stand on end. Amy quickly pulled her upper body away to create distance and rubbed her ear. Why is he saying such things in such a ticklish way?

“That makes her sound even more like a fraud. I have no intention of getting married.”

As Amy spoke firmly and put the ring down, Noah’s eyes fixed on the ring before returning to her.

“Why?”

For some reason, his voice seemed lower, but Amy answered absentmindedly while looking at a bracelet next to the ring.

“What do you mean ‘why’? It’s because I don’t want to.”

“Why?”

Noah asked persistently, like a toddler draining the soul out of their parent with endless “whys.” Amy grabbed Noah’s arm and led him across the square as she replied.

“Does there have to be a reason for not wanting to do something?”

“…Then, could you just happen to want to do it again without a reason?”

“I suppose so.”

She didn’t think that would happen, but she felt this conversation would never end if she were too honest, so she just gave a vague agreement. Satisfied with her answer, the furrow in Noah’s brow smoothed out.

“But why are you curious about such things?”

This time, Amy asked the question. Noah answered instantly.

“Because I want you to be happy, Amy.”

“There’s a bit of a logical flaw in that statement. People aren’t necessarily happy just because they get married.”

“Yes. I am strictly talking about a marriage where you can be happy.”

Noah wore a stubborn, child-like expression.

“Who could ever know that?”

Amy laughed with a small huff and thought to herself:

‘Before the regression, I might have been foolish enough to think of the Crown Prince first.’

Well, was it the fault of the one who believed, or the one who deceived? As Amy had those thoughts, the sound of music began to drift over.

“It looks like the dance time has started.”

Amy smiled as she watched people running toward the center of the square. Noah gazed at her intently before asking:

“Amy, do you want to dance?”

“Huh? No. Not really.”

“…Really?”

Noah looked down at the ground, dejected. Amy remembered that Noah’s lessons included etiquette and dancing, but she passed over it unceremoniously.

“Then shall we watch just this and head back to the Archduke’s Castle?”

“…Alright.”

Amy backed away to the edge of the square with Noah. Soon, a fairly fast-paced tempo of music played, and men and women stood in groups of four facing each other, stomping their feet as they began to dance.

“There are Dwayne and Marie.”

Dwayne and Marie held hands and spun in a figure-eight. Dwayne was smiling brightly, whereas Marie had a bored expression.

“Viola is here, too.”

She had her arm hooked around her fiancé’s waist as they twirled in place. It was good to see her looking so happy.

Just then, the village children approached and shyly held out a basket to Amy.

“Oh? What is this?”

Looking inside the basket, she saw paper flowers, each one handmade by tiny, delicate hands. The children laughed, showing off the black gaps in their teeth like a chessboard.

“Thank you for coming to our village festival. We welcome our guests with the spring and these flowers brought by the Grand Duke.”

The children skipped and giggled around Amy and Noah. Then, they pinned a paper flower to Noah’s chest and one in Amy’s hair.

“It’s very pretty. Thank you.”

When Noah patted the children’s heads, a few precocious girls blushed at the sight of him. Amy touched the flower in her hair with her hand.

For some reason, she felt a lump in her throat. Her heart softened at the fact that even such young children had stepped up to help the village.

Then, the tallest boy snuck up to Amy’s side.

“Aren’t you going to the dance time?”

“No.”

When Amy instinctively straightened the boy’s crooked collar, he tilted his head shyly. She felt a sharp gaze from the side, but she brushed it off as her imagination. Then the boy made a suggestion.

“Then please try some flower tea.”

“Flower tea?” As Amy tilted her head, the children shouted competitively.

“It’s tea made in our village. It’s delicious!”

“It’s savory and fragrant. We served it for the first time at this festival, and everyone loved it!”

Amy and Noah exchanged glances. Amy, who hadn’t realized the villagers were planning something like this, thought she should ask Joseph if he knew about it once they returned to the castle.

After waving goodbye to the children, she noticed quite a few people with paper flowers on their chests and in their hair. Her heart swelled with pride again, and she felt a surge of motivation to make this a place where children could grow up without worries.

The two went to the roadside teahouse the children had mentioned and drank the flower tea. Just as they said, it was fragrant, and she felt her fatigue melting away. As Amy was looking at the flower blooming inside the teacup, Noah spoke.

“I’ve been thinking… Amy, why don’t you take lessons too?”

“…Pardon?”

It was so out of the blue that it took her a beat to process it.

“Me? University lessons?”

When she asked back in bewilderment, Noah nodded and spoke as if it were obvious.

“You want to study, Amy.”

“…”

Before the regression, she had watched the Crown Prince study against his will and felt regretful, thinking, ‘I wish they’d let me do it instead.’

Perhaps noticing something when he saw her hovering around the study room to eavesdrop even when she had no business there, the Crown Prince had once asked if there was something she wanted to do. So, after much thought, she had honestly confessed that she wanted to pursue academics. To which, the Crown Prince.

‘Amy, why would someone who is to become the Empress do such studies?’

He had simply snorted and brushed it off.

Amy swallowed hard as she looked at Noah.

‘Did I make it obvious again, like back then?’

She had planned to keep that vague desire buried in her heart and realize it later by hiring a private tutor after everything was over and she was living in a warm southern country…

As if reading her mind, Noah added:

“It’s just my thought. And the tutor said it was a good idea, too.”

“Well, that’s because he’ll be earning more money. But I, I’m not confident I can do as well as Your Highness.”

As Amy hesitated, Noah let out a snort.

“Amy, are you picking a fight with me right now?”

“What?”

“Didn’t you tell me once that studying is something you do on your own? Having tried it, I realized you were right. It doesn’t matter how fast others progress; I just need to do a little better than I did yesterday.”

“Ah…”

“So don’t compare yourself to me. Just because there’s nothing in my head doesn’t mean it won’t pile up in yours.”

“That’s true. But, may I really do that?”

“…”

Seeing Amy ask so cautiously, Noah was momentarily lost for words. Perhaps saying his heart ached would be the most accurate description. She was always so bold when acting for Noah’s sake, but it frustrated him that she lacked such confidence in herself.

He intentionally squinted his eyes and smiled.

“It’s something you want to do, so why wouldn’t it be, okay?”

“No, it’s just that a woman receiving higher education is a bit and there are many universities that don’t allow women to enroll.”

“Who in this Archduke’s Castle is more qualified than you, Amy?”

Noah frowned as if displeased.

“Once the North is back on track, I’m going to bring a university here. And I’ll make it so people can enroll regardless of gender.”

Amy tilted her head skeptically.

“Would a university be willing to do that?”

“When I told the tutor I’d give him the position of Dean, he happily agreed.”

“Well, as I said, that’s because he’ll be making several times more money…”

Noah clenched his fist and spoke with determination.

“The world is going to change to focus on individual ability rather than gender or status. I want the North to be like that before anywhere else. Just looking at the employees in the castle, how many wasted talents are there? Leaving that idle is a national loss.”

“…”

“The North lacks talent. Because of the harsh weather, many young people in their prime moved to the Empire. We have to bring them back now, and we have to cultivate new ones.”

“…Your Highness is right.”

Amy felt a lump in her throat once again at having met a master who understood her heart. If only I had known before the regression. Then, she accidentally let her inner thoughts slip out.

“Your Highness, why are you so good to me?”

Then, Noah looked surprised and asked back.

“Am I good to you?”

“Yes.”

“Is that so…? I’m glad.”

Amy gazed at Noah, who was smiling with satisfaction. She was acting this way because she owed him from before the regression, but Noah had no reason to go this far for her.

As if reading her mind again, Noah gazed at Amy with a warm look in his eyes.

“Because making you happy, Amy, is also my goal in life.”

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