Just Hold My Hand

gh idea of how she felt.
After a while, Sonidor rose from her knees.
She let out a deep sigh as she thought to herself with a troubled expression on her face. 

She looked rather serious. 

She was agonizing over whether she should say a final goodbye to her one of her only friends before leaving. 

Giorgio.
A Descencian tribesman like Sonidor, he would constantly get into fights defending his people and had been angry at the Imperial monarchy from an early age.
Compared to Sonidor, who tried to solve problems as smoothly as possible, he was a man of unbreakable steel.
From the old days, whenever he would be ignored or discriminated against, he fought hard, gritting his teeth and throwing fists.
He recently founded the Revolutionary Army for The Artisans’ Freedom with like-minded tribesmen, and she heard it was growing in size… 

‘If I contact Gio, he’ll tell me to stop doing this crazy thing right away and join the revolutionary army, or run away at night.‘ He would vomit blood and nag at her, saying how she betrayed the will of her ancestors 500 years ago by helping the enemies of their tribe.
If it was her ancestors’ will, it was obvious that he would say she should just let the Crown Prince die under the curse.
Or maybe she should give him a dagger to kill himself on the spot. 

‘Hmm… Let’s not contact him after all.‘ 

She made a quick decision and turned to Christian, wiping off her previous troubled expression in an instant. 

“What food do you like, knight?” 

“What?” 

“His Majesty commanded us to become friends, but as expected, there’s nothing like eating food to get closer.” 

“Alright.” 

“Because I think it’s the last time, there are many things I really want to eat.
Did you see the dessert shop across from the office? The Schwartzwalder Kirschtorte* [*t/n: German name for ‘Black Forest cake’, which is a German dessert.] there is amazing.’ 

‘Shuba, what? Kill what?‘ Christian, who couldn’t keep up with her rapid change of emotions, looked perplexed.
Seeing that she is at a dessert shop, she must be talking about dessert.
Sonidor, who previously was like a wilted flower, suddenly became lively when she talked about food. 

“Can’t you eat something like that in the Imperial palace?” 

“Oh, right.
If it’s made by a chef in the Imperial palace, it must be delicious beyond comparison.
Then, how about food that can only be eaten here? If you go to Mrs.
McRan’s pub over there, the braised chicken is very…”

She started chattering incessantly about the food they must eat before leaving.
She was a crazy woman.
Christian didn’t answer well except for the words he needed to say, but she talked well enough on her own.

While they walked, she ordered Christian to buy two bags of red bean bread that was made by pouring batter into a fish-shaped mold.
He carried a full bag on both arms and made an uncomfortable face. 

“Haha.
You didn’t bring any money.” 

“Don’t laugh.” 

“Yes, yes.
Ooh, the candy over there is delicious too… There won’t be cheap candy like that in the imperial palace, right?” 

“Wait here.” 

If it hadn’t been for His Majesty’s order, he wouldn’t have even noticed the candy store full of kids.
As he entered an unknown world he had never been to before, Christian’s expression became mystified.
He was covered by his hood so no one could see his face properly, but he looked like he wanted to run away.
He told her to wait, but Sonidor, who dared to follow him, stuck her head out through the crack in the door and asked for some specific snacks. 

“Get me some eyeball candy and cane candy.
Ah, now that I think about it, I want some caramel too!” 

“Eyeball candy?” 

‘Why are they making candy out of it?‘ Coming from a prestigious aristocratic family, he had never seen anything other than snacks made by his family.
In the first place, he didn’t like sweet things such as sweets or candies, so he couldn’t understand the types of snacks commoners usually ate.
They eat even eyeballs, so what on earth can’t they eat? Christian’s face was frozen by such a shock. 

While Christian was stuck in shock, the host, who heard Sonidor’s voice, took out each type of candy and put it in an envelope.
Looking closely, it was just an eye-shaped candy.
Sonidor stepped in, hugged the bag of candy to herself, and handed the lemon candy she had received as a service to Christian. 

“Oh, do you have no hands free?” 

Then, remembering that Christian was holding an bag of taiyaki bread* [*t/n: Japanese fish-shaped bread, often filled with red bean paste.] in both arms, she opened the rolled up candy and held it out to him. 

“Ah.” 

“It’s not actually eyeballs, so don’t worry.” 

“You knew…”

Embarrassed that he thought it was a real eyeball, he started to say something as if to make an excuse, but he couldn’t finish his sentence.
It was because Sonidor had waited for his lips to part and popped the candy into his mouth.
The sweet taste he loathed spread throughout his mouth. ‘Be patient.
It was His Majesty’s order to grant that woman what she wanted and bring her back safely, ‘ he thought to himself, gritting his teeth.
He was too embarrassed to spit out the candy, so he swallowed it whole. 

Sonidor ate half a bag of taiyaki by herself.
After that, she ate all the candy, and then begged Christian for them to go eat dinner.
‘How the hell did she fit all that food into her stomach?,’ he thought to himself, baffled.

Christian suddenly found himself in a pub, about to eat braised chicken with Sonidor and Terry.
He had no choice but to take off his hood if he wanted to eat.
Throughout his meal, the tavern owner stared persistently at his face. 

“You’re handsome, knight.” 

Sonidor said in such a carefree way and tore off a chunk of the chicken leg.
It was a pure admiration without any hint of lies, and somehow, Christian was starting to feel embarrassed.