# 41
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Ian tapped the heel of the shoe that wasn't on my foot on the floor and I said.
“They say that giving someone shoes as a gift means you want them to go to a good place.”
After a short pause, Ian asked
“What do you mean by a good place?”
“Ah, good job, good house, good person… in the broadest sense.”
Isn't that why the male hero sometimes gives his girlfriend a shoe when they break up in old movies? I shrugged lightly, thinking of the sayings associated with shoes and flowers.
“I've never heard that before.”
“Where I lived, there was a superstition that good shoes would lead to a good place.”
“I thought you were from DC.”
"… Yes."
correct.
“I lived somewhere else for a short time when I was younger!”
“I understand.”
Despite my awkward excuse, Ian nodded easily, as if he had no intention of asking any more questions.
It wasn't that he really believed me, it was more like, "Here we go again repeating nonsense."
'Lucky for me, he's so good at ignoring me.'
He seems to dismiss half of what I say as nonsense. I secretly patted my chest, feeling relieved.
After a moment of silence, he spoke again, “So, are you planning to go to the ‘Good Place’ now that you received these shoes?”
huh?
I turned my gaze from wandering aimlessly around the room to look at Ian.
He had been staring down, but now he was looking directly at me, holding one hand on a pair of yellow shoes and the other on my ankle.
"I didn't hear you. What did you just say…?"
“I asked you if you were planning to go to a good place, whether it was a good house or a good person.”
“…What’s with this kind of question all of a sudden?”
I was the one who spoke without thinking, but now I was the one who felt confused by the question.
Ian, on the other hand, was looking at me with a somewhat persistent look, as if he wanted a real answer.
His deep blue eyes, illuminated by the indoor lighting, shone particularly brightly.
“Good place”, huh?
'Of course, when Diana returns, I plan to get rid of this position as Duchess and leave to find my own happiness.'
But maybe that's not the answer Ian is looking for.
As I wrestled with the question, Ian's hand on my ankle remained firmly in place, making me more aware of his touch. My body stiffens involuntarily.
...No, seriously, is this normal? Grabbing someone's ankle and staring at them while asking them this question?
My face flushed without realizing it, and I quickly looked away.
“Um…no, I haven’t really thought about it.”
I forced myf to answer calmly, even though the end of my voice was shaking.
Even though I turned my head completely away, my mouth was dry.
Why must he be so handsome!'
“...Can you leave me now?”
I finally made a request that was more like a plea.
After a short pause, Ian turned his gaze without hesitation, put the other shoe on me, and stood up.
“It's over. You can stand up now.”
He offered me his hand, his demeanor calm as if he had forgotten the question he had just asked.
I felt confused.
'What's the matter?' 'Is this the end?'
If he was going to respond so carelessly, why did he ask that question in the first place?
She stared at him in disbelief, then took his hand and stood up.
‘Oh right, Ian Cloud was always like this.’,
Once he was sure I was standing, Ian let go of my hand and called the clerk to pay.
After a few minutes, he finished the transaction, looked at me and said
“This is a relief.”
Was he comfortable that the shoe fit me?
Eloise is very pretty, even if she's not as stunning as Diana.
"What do you mean?"
She asked sharply, annoyed, but of course, he didn't bother to answer.
Instead, Ian mechanically escorted me out of the shoe store just as he had escorted me inside.
“The car is close.”
He walked slowly towards the carriage, not looking at me even once.
It was only later that I realized that his comment was in response to something I had said earlier.
❖ ❖ ❖
At dusk, when Ian returned to the duchy, he headed straight to his office.
As was his custom, he took off his jacket and leaned back in his chair, but then he stopped.
He then rummaged in his breast pocket and pulled out the rhinestone that had fallen from Eloise's Mary Jane shoe earlier. Then he raised his eyebrows slightly.
'Did you keep this on the whole time?'
He picked up the decorations that had fallen while taking off Eloise's shoes.
Ian leaned back in his chair, lifted the finely crafted rhinestone and looked at it calmly.
The light of the chandelier was streaming through the jewel, creating a rainbow shimmer.
Over the past two years, Eloise has always been very meticulous with her appearance.
Not only Ian, but even the servants who took care of her cloy had never seen her untidy appearance.
However, today the Duchess was strolling through the bustling streets without noticing the rhinestone dangling from her shoe.
Moreover, she rudely asked Ian, the Duke, to carry her things and even put his arm around her waist.
“I really don't understand.”
Ian naturally remembered Eloise showing up at the shoe store a short while ago.
“...Can you leave me now?”
Her face had turned red, and she had turned her gaze away – such a reaction was certainly unusual.
Recently, Ian found it surprising to see the different expressions Eloise showed.
Eloise, who once resembled a well-made porcelain doll, now frowns, smiles, cries, or even…
“Your Highness, did you enjoy your outing… huh? What on earth happened?”
At that moment, Kyle, who had just entered the office, rushed into a state of panic.
Ian, who had been staring at the rhinestone all this time, looked at Kyle indifferently.
“What's wrong?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing.”
Kyle looked at Ian seriously, examining him from head to toe.
“You were smiling...!”
“…Were you like that?”
At Ian's cold question, Kyle trembled exaggeratedly.
“Do you have to be so serious then?”
With a frown, Kyle turned his gaze to the rhinestone in Ian's hand.
“By the way, what is this you are carrying?”
Only then did Ian lower his hand, which was hanging in the air, and place the rhinestone.
"…nothing."
But Kyle wasn't the type to ignore such things. His sharp red eyes narrowed.
“It's like nothing.”
“You were just staring at the rhinestone and smiling alone – this must be some kind of cursed thing. Let me take it and check it with magic right away…!”
“You have a long tongue.”
“Ick.”
Kyle put his hands over his mouth. But even this did not last long.
Kyle glanced at Ian, then removed his hands and raised an eyebrow.
"You know, you've been acting a little strange lately, haven't you? I'm starting to worry about you."
“In what way?”
“Well, you, who had never done this before, suddenly became serious about yourf, and now you were smiling while staring at the rhinestone...”
Kyle glanced at Ian, then smiled slyly.
“Ah, it's like you're acting like a girl in love.”
At Kyle's rude and rebellious remark, Ian's expression twisted menacingly.
“When do you plan to stop talking nonsense like this?”
“You can call it bullshit all you want. But you know you only call it bullshit when you're put at a disadvantage, right?”
Kyle said with a sigh, placing a pile of documents on the desk.
"Anyway, take a look at this. It's the quarterly report from the Duchy."
“Is that all?”
“Yes. There have been no major incidents this quarter. The weather has been good, so the people in the duchy are quite fine.”
“That's good to hear.”
“Yes, it is. I have just delivered the same report to the capital as well. Oh, and it seems that His Majesty will be requesting an interview with you both soon.”