I was surrounded by a crowd of bustling people walking in many directions.
"I think I'm lost."
I said like, whispering at myself after the realisation that I had gotten myself lost dawned on me.
I had never left the house by myself before, and this was the first time I had ever gotten lost. To make matters worse, I was lost and in the body of a human.
The buildings that lined the streets were closely packed together and seemed rather old.
I looked down at my feet.
Mud?
My eyes began to take in my surroundings. There were many small stalls set up. Small wooden stalls that were built without windows or doors but had tables that had all sorts of things on them. Some were just tables on wheels, which they could pick up by the ends and take. A few of them had wares on a cloth or mat on the floor.
It was then that it dawned on me that this was a market.
They were selling their wares.
There were vegetables, fruits, meat, jewellery, clothes and fish.
"I've never seen fish like that before." I look at the vendor display filled with a lot of fish I had never seen.
"Are you not from around here?" asks the vendor, curious.
"Pardon?"
"From around here?"
I didn't understand the language that he was speaking. It was just like when I was a cat, and all I would hear was "WaWa" coming out of their mouths.
I just stood there silently, unsure of what to say to the older man in front of me. He had a long white beard and moustache and a shiny bald head. His back was hunched over, and he used a stick to support his ageing body.
"Cod and sea bass for me, twenty kilos." approached someone right next to me. He had a deep voice; by hearing him talking, you could tell he had a dominant ambience.
"Oh! Coming right." says the old man.
He then placed a cod on the weighing machine, then cut and reweighed it until it was the requested weight after wrapping it in a leaf. He folded and tied it, then handed it to the man.
"What do they call a shopkeeper?" I said to myself, trying to remember what I had read in the book.
"Hm? From the Middle East, right? I can tell from your language." suddenly, the man beside me approached.
I was stunned and inquisitive.
I couldn't understand his language, yet he could understand mine.
"Pardon me, I am conversing it out loud."
As soon as my eyes reached him, I only saw his body. He had broad shoulders and was tall.
My eyes slid upwards, looking at the man's face.
From his body and clothing, I could tell that he must have been a hard worker in the construction field or that he was a knight from the palace who was resting with his clothes, which accentuated his muscular physique.
However, when I looked at his face for the first time like this, he looked like someone who had just killed someone last night. Children would cry when they saw him or maybe even pee in their pants.
"Yes, I just moved in a few days ago."
"Well? Judging from your look, pale skin, milk tea hair...mmm, you are with?" ask him again.
"I am looking for my maid. Earlier..." I replied, but before I could finish my sentence, it cut.
"Maid?"
As I looked at him, trying to understand his curiosity about me, I responded.
"Yes."
At that moment, I began to feel the atmosphere around me change; it felt cold as if the people around me were looking at me.
Perhaps this was a small town, and people rarely came to visit. If so, they would make me a target buyer.
The man in front of me then fell silent.
"Then, if there is nothing else, I will take my..."
"L-let me escort you," he says while trying to stop me from walking away, and again, he was not letting me finish my sentence and cut it half through.
"No need."
"Then, you want anything else from the market?"
There was something wrong with his behaviour after I told him I had come with a maid, but from his complexion, he looked more worried than having intensive action.
"It's alright."
If I am right, maybe he only wants to show some kindness toward me.
I could feel the piercing gaze not coming from him but from the people around me.
Honestly, I did not bring anything valuable except for the earrings I wore on my left ear. The clothes I wore were not that expensive either. This was upon the suggestion of the head chef because the place we were going to was not a place we knew.
"I've changed my mind. Can you take me to a place with fewer people?"
"Oh! Of course," he replies quickly.
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"You want some coffee?" ask him gently. The voice he has is unresistible if I'm being candid.
About thirty meters from the market area, there is an old bookshop. It was not the same as what the delivery guy said, or maybe this wasn't the shop he mentioned.
"...or tea?"
I was thinking so hard that I did not realise he was asking me a question. Well, I heard him but forgot to answer.
"I'll have anything. Thank you."
He nodded in understanding and then went to the counter.
I looked around the shop. There were four tables, a counter and a few bookshelves arranged neatly as if it was a library, but upon looking at it again, this was not a library but a drinking place—a cafe.
To get here, we had to pass through a long housing building. I wondered if those two people could find me here or not. It was a pretty secluded shop.
As soon as we got here earlier, he told me to sit by the window and asked if I wanted anything.
The first time, I got lost and felt like I was kidnapped with a body and face like that; who would not feel like they were abducted even though he was only showing kindness to me? Maybe he wanted something in return later on.
The lights emitted in this shop looked dim, the stone floor was reddish, and the stone walls were not worn out. It was as if it was newly built.
After a few minutes of waiting, he came with two glasses.
"Have you ever tried coffee with matcha?" he raised a question as soon as he sat on the chair.
"Coffee matcha?"
"This." while putting the cup in front of me.
Darting at it, it drew a mini fish in it.
"Do you like fish?"
"No, I like beef," he answers with a slight smile on his face.
But why was there a fish in it? I thought.
Then I glance at his cup—nothing but green water.
Then I noticed that he had brought fish earlier, but the fish was not on his arm.
"Did you forget your fish?"
"No, I put it there," tell him while pointing his thumb somewhere.
As I look at where he is pointing at.
"That room?"
"Indeed, a staff room."
"You are working here?"
"Yes," he responded, short.
Well, all I presumed was wrong then.
"I was thinking back then." he was oblivious and opened a new conversation.
"Think? Oh, when you short went silent?"
"I guess you notice, well, for someone like you, It is easy to see by just observing," answered him.
"I see, you know me."
"Not in particular, but I know you in general."
"In general?" I say, curious by the word he used.
"You are the most famous and wealthy nobleman in the country. Mr White, the household of Alistair." assume him.
"...and."
"Oh, nothing else. That's it. At first, I thought you were just someone who resembled him, but you said 'maid', so I wasn't wrong. You are indeed him." explained him calmly while sipping his coffee matcha.
"I see, and you? I am interested to know your name?" while sipping the cup.
"I am Roderick."