Jillian and Dion continued their walk at the village market. Jillian was very interested in what the vendors had to offer. She approached one of the fruit vendors because she saw such fresh strawberries in a box.
"Oh... Crown Princess, welcome. Are you interested in the strawberries I'm selling? These are the best quality we have,"
"Really?" Jillian took the box of strawberries. "How much for one box?"
The vendor paused for a moment and then answered. "I'll give you 45 gold coins for the strawberries," he said.
"That's 45 coins," said Dion who took out his coin pouch and was about to pay for the strawberries but Jillian stopped him.
"45 coins? For this strawberry? I can tell that this is a strawberry that is commonly produced and sold in many places, not a rare white special strawberry. If you sell those and say 45 gold coins for one fruit, I'll believe you. But for this one strawberry, I think 20 gold coins is the price they usually sell it for," Jillian explained.
Hearing Jillian's explanation, the merchant finally admitted that the price of the strawberries he was selling was only 20 gold coins, just as she thought. She eventually bought a box and paid him accordingly.
"I originally wanted to give you a bonus for your kindness to me, but you made me rethink it because of your lies. Next time be more honest with whoever you buy from, even if it's a nobleman," she said and led Dion away.
Dion asked why Jillian didn't just give him the price the salesman said. Jillian stopped her steps and turned around. "Are you teaching someone to lie?"
"No, but 25 gold coins for him, consider it a bonus..."
"Look Dion, let's say a nobleman, a guest from another country comes and is interested in something they are selling. But they sell it at a very high price, thinking the nobleman won't know the real price," the woman explained.
"Then when they go to another place they find out the real price of the object is not as expensive as they spent, what do you think they will think of our country?" she continued to ask.
The man fell silent at Jillian's question.
"Right, the people are good at lying, how about their leaders? It's like parents are an example to their children. It could ruin the image of the kingdom,"
"I didn't know you thought that far ahead," Dion said, walking over to Jillian.
"Sometimes you have to think things through. None of this would have happened if you hadn't taxed them so much," Jillian quipped as she ate the strawberries she had bought earlier.
"Don't protest to me, my father decided it."
The woman shrugged her shoulders as if she didn't care. Dion rolled his eyes and followed Jillian out of the market, they arrived at a neighborhood far from the market. There they noticed children playing with their friends.
The residents recognized the two of them, at first they did not dare to interact. But Jillian approached them first and greeted them while shaking their hands one by one.
"Nice to meet you guys. No need to worry, we're just walking around here..." she said with a smile.
Dion just watched Jillian who easily got along with the villagers. They seemed happy to chat with Jillian, as did Jillian. This was the first time he saw Jillian smile and then laugh softly in response to someone's words.
Usually what he got was a mocking laugh and an answer he didn't expect.
However, this time Jillian looked completely different.
"Crown Princess! Crown Princess!" called a little girl.
"Yes, what is it?" Jillian knelt before the girl.
The girl gave Jillian a flower, Jillian happily accepted the flower and asked the girl to put it in her ear. The flower was placed in Jillian's ear and they embraced.
While Dion was watching Jillian, suddenly another girl came up to Dion. "The Crown Prince is the husband of the Crown Princess, right?"
"Yes, technically so," Dion replied.
"Does the Crown Prince love the Crown Princess?" the girl asked again.
"Huh?"
The girl looked innocently at Dion who was also looking at her but with a confused look. The green-haired girl explained that her mother once said, people get married because they love each other, hence the question.
Hearing those words, Dion momentarily turned to Jillian. Love? Him for Jillian?
Their marriage never had the word love in it.
There was only compulsion and a deep burden.
Not wanting to disappoint her, Dion knelt down and clasped her hands together. "Yes, I love her very much. But... You're too young to understand this. You'll understand better when you're older."
He was forced to lie so that the girl would not feel confused by the real answer. It was not yet time for her to understand about a marriage that was not based on love.
Jillian turned to Dion who was smiling while holding a girl's hand. She unconsciously smiled at that too.
The children were ordered to go into the house because the sky had turned dark, black clouds covered the sky and rain was about to fall. Dion and Jillian decided to return to the palace before the rain fell.
They said goodbye to the others and left. Unfortunately, they were too late and the rain was soon pouring down. Forced to take shelter so as not to get wet, they took shelter in one of the straw storage bins on the side of the road.
"It's going to rain for a long time," Dion complained.
"Then we'll just have to sit and wait." Jillian sat on the haystack behind her and went back to eating the rest of the strawberries she had. "You want some?"
"Is it sweet? I don't want it if it's sour."
"It's sweet if you eat it right out of my mouth," Jillian teased.
Dion frowned at the joke. Jillian laughed at his response and told him that she had read in a book that women were made of sugar and candy, hence their sweetness.
"There's no way that's real."
"It's just a fairy tale, but many of them believe it. I think it's quite interesting to believe."
The man just cleared his throat quietly and sat next to Jillian waiting for the rain to subside.
However, suddenly there was a thunderous sound of lightning. It startled them both so much that the strawberry box Jillian was holding fell to the ground. The rumbling sound also intermingled with each other sounding so terrible.
Seeing the fallen strawberry, Dion immediately turned to Jillian. But he gasped at the sight of Jillian who was looking down with her trembling hands squeezing the dress she was wearing, as if she was holding back her fear.
'She's afraid of thunder, apparently...' Dion thought.
"Lian..." he called out.
The silver-purple-haired woman turned her head slowly and looked at Dion with a different gaze than usual. Dion slowly grabbed both of Jillian's ears and covered them with both hands. Blocking out the rumbling sound that frightened her.
Not only that, Dion even hummed softly and made Jillian focus on his voice.
For a moment, the woman was silent, staring at Dion and remembering her childhood when her mother did the same thing when she was scared. Jillian's eyes closed, listening to Dion's soft voice.
Until finally she sank into it.