The limo stops at a corner in town, and Jan opens the door.
I get out of the limo and look around the darkening town.
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(Work went well today, too)
I didn't stray from the schedule for a second today.
Now, standing at the street corner, everything is going according to plan.
[Me] "30 minutes from now, that's perfect"
[Jan] "Yes. This is your free time. However..."
Jan looks a little vexed.
[Jan] "You always go straight home after work, but what do you have to do today...?"
Jan immediately takes the hint and with a murmur of understanding, he says...
[Jan] "Have a nice night"
He sees me off with a smile.
(That's just like Jan. He knows exactly what I'm going to do)
I walk down the hill towards the store I'm heading for. Suddenly, I hear a voice from behind me.
[???] "Prince Joshua!"
(Hm?)
I turn and see Yumi looking up at me.
[Yumi] "Where are you off to? Can I come, too? If I'm not in the way, of course"
[Me] "...."
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(Oh yeah. I forgot that she would be with me. Usually, I would want to spend my free time alone, but...)
[Me] "If you want to, I don't mind"
I say those words for some reason. It doesn't take long to get to where I was going.
[Yumi] "Here?"
She looks up at... A clock store. Once inside, Yumi looks completely taken by all the watches.
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[Yumi] "Wow! This is amazing. It's old, but it's a lovely, artistic place!"
It is a watch store that has been around for generation. It has been used this way for hundreds of years before I was born. I love this place, perhaps because I can feel the history.
[Yumi] "There are so many watches. All of them are antiques"
(I was sure she'd find it boring, but she seems interested in these things)
Thinking this unusual, I head to the back of the store. There, I see the shopkeeper I came for standing in the usual spot.
[Me] "Hello"
[Shopkeeper] "Ah, good day"
He looks up from the watch he is fixing, and straightens up when he realizes it's me.
[Shopkeeper] "Well, if it isn't Joshua"
[Me] "Is the watch I sent it for repair finished?"
The shopkeeper tells me 'of course', and takes a wooden box from the shelf.
I've been coming here since I was a child, so the shopkeeper knows me very well. During my royal training, I had my steward bring me here for a break.
(I feel at home here...)
Holding the watch, the shopkeeper suddenly looks up.
[Shopkeeper] "Oh, that's right, joshua. I mean, Prince Joshua. Congratulations on your engagement"
[Me] "..."
[Shopkeeper] "This is your fiancee, isn't it?"
He says and looks at Yumi with a smile.
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(Oh, yeah. She's with me)
She gives a flustered 'thank you' and nods from behind me. I suddenly feel a little strange that she is here in this special place.
[Shopkeeper] "You're miss Yumi, aren't you?"
[Yumi] "Yes"
[Shopkeeper] "I look forward to the day I will welcome a child here, just like I did Prince Joshua"
[Yumi] "Oh, uh, yes"
Though she blushes, Yumi smiles happily.
[Me] "..."
(Ah... If I were not a royal, then marriage would mean children, and those children would come into town... and those children would come here, and feel at home here, just like their father before them...)
I am startled by my train of thought.
(You idiot... What am I imagining? This is a fake marriage!)
But when I look at Yumi grinning beside me... I feel sort of itchy, sort of happy...
(Idiot! What's happy about it!)
Absorbed in my thoughts, I feel bewildered at my emotions. I don't realize it yet myself. But this is the first time I've ever brought anyone else to this place.
