While the clone dealt with the assassin, Adrian and Renelle reappeared in the streets of the South, drawing no attention to themselves.
They were welcomed by the sound of music from musicians who had been playing the entire day.
Adrian continued holding Renelle’s hand as they walked deeper into the festival happening in the streets, refusing to let go, not that she minded in the slightest.
She glanced at the sides, noting the sheer amount of colors in this place when compared to the North or even the capital.
Adrian suddenly pulled her towards a certain stall that sold something that seemed to be similar to translucent colored rocks, but of different colors.
Renelle was quite confused. After all, what would Adrian want with those rocks?
Adrian, though he sensed her confusion, said nothing; instead, he just looked up at the old woman and said, "May I have two, please?"
"Certainly," she said with a smile before picking two ’translucent rocks’ of different colors and handed them to him, and he handed her a couple of coins.
Before the old woman had the chance to properly realize that she had been given gold coins, they were gone.
Whilst walking through the streets, Adrian suddenly handed one of the two "rocks on sticks" to her and muttered, "Try it."
Renelle accepted it, but it was obvious that she was quite skeptical, so he took the lead by putting it in his mouth first.
Following his lead, she hesitantly put it in her mouth only to have her eyes widen when it properly rested on her tongue.
It was a scene that made Adrian wish he had a magic tool to capture this very moment, especially given that it wasn’t every day that her eyes lit up like that.
"What’s this?" Renelle removed it from her mouth and observed the translucent object in her hand.
It was very clearly not a rock, and although she had seen it in her previous life, she had never thought to try it.
"Candy," Adrian answered with a smile, "it’s made from sugar; they boil it down, add color and flavor, then let it harden into whatever shape they like."
Renelle looked at it again with new eyes, turning the stick between her fingers slowly, watching the way the light passed through the amber-colored piece.
"I’ve seen vendors selling these before," she admitted quietly, "I never thought to try one."
"Hmm," Adrian nodded with a smile, "it truly does look quite strange if you have no idea what it is."
"I see," Renelle nodded, "then I’ll be buying these candies every day."
"No," Adrian immediately shook his head, "you’re only allowed a few per week."
"B-but—" she started, only for him to cut her off, "three a week."
"I can—"
"Two," Adrian’s expression looked quite serious, almost as if he were a parent denying his child too much sugar.
And Renelle’s expression was exactly the opposite. The moment the number of candies dropped from three to two, her eyes widened, but she didn’t dare argue anymore.
All she could say was, "Fine."
"Good," Adrian answered with a satisfied smile, extended his hand for her to take again, which she did.
The two continued through the streets hand in hand as Renelle got to try multiple other things she hadn’t in her previous life.
After all, she had been busy actively trying to sabotage the Saintess rather than actually enjoying what the South had to offer.
Speaking of which, Renelle and Adrian suddenly came to a stop, their gazes landing on the couple standing opposite them.
Lucian and Noelle.
It seemed the butler and his lady weren’t the only ones who had decided that tonight was perfect for a date.
Unlike the Prince and the Saintess, however, Adrian and Renelle had already known they wouldn’t be the only couple here.
However, that fact was simply so unimportant to them that they hadn’t given it a second thought.
The couples seemed to come to an unspoken agreement before they each walked in a direction that was opposite to the other.
Adrian and Renelle were silent for a while until they spotted a stall that seemed to have a game setup.
Renelle’s eyes immediately lit up when she realized that the grand prize was a cute little stuffed bear, dressed in what appeared to be a tiny butler’s uniform.
Its composed expression almost reminded her of a certain someone.
She looked to her side, and Adrian immediately understood what she wanted.
He also glanced at the stall and understood what type of game it was.
The game itself was simple enough; there was a row of targets placed at varying distances, each one a small beast carved from wood.
The objective was to knock them all down using small mana-infused balls provided by the vendor.
Quite simple.
Except the targets were magic tools that were programmed to move and avoid all the mana-infused balls.
The vendor, a young man who had quite the enthusiastic energy, a sign that he genuinely loved his job, spotted them approaching and gestured broadly at the display of prizes.
"Three throws to knock them all down," he announced, "knock all five and pick any prize you like!"
The two stopped in front of his stall and looked at the targets and the mana-infused balls before Adrian threw them up after paying a silver coin.
He looked at the first mana ball in his hand before turning towards Renelle and saying, "Would my Lady like to have a go?"
"No," she shook her head with a smile, "I want to watch you play."
Adrian turned towards the targets again and smiled. In other words, he was meant to show off, and he very much intended to.
The young man continued watching as Adrian observed the targets that had started moving.
The butler stood there for a few minutes without making a move, causing a frown to appear on the young man’s face.
As far as he could see, the man before him should be able to at least drop one or two of the targets, so why was he hesitating?
The young man soon found out why.
There was a single second where all the targets overlapped, and the moment they did, Adrian tossed the ball.
There was barely any effort in the throw, but the next second, the ball ripped a hole straight through all five targets.
"..." The vendor looked at him speechlessly and then at the five targets, wondering if what he had just witnessed had truly happened.
He didn’t even know that was possible.
"I’d like that one," Renelle snapped him out of his thoughts, and he looked in the direction she was pointing.
Still in disbelief, he walked towards the butler bear, picked it up and handed it to her.
Renelle hugged it tightly, resting her head on it as she glanced at Adrian,
"I think I’ll name it Adren."