Chapter 53

The flower and fruit Melissa pointed to were large enough to fill her palm.

Demius stepped beside her and naturally continued the explanation.

“This is a local specialty. The fruit helps with chapped skin or frostbite, but the smell is unpleasant when used alone. That’s why they crush it together with the flower beside it. I heard it became difficult to find due to the recent surge in monster activity, but thanks to the recent subjugation, people can now enter the mountains to harvest it again.”

“I see!”

Melissa’s eyes sparkled brightly.

Both Demius and Natalianne widened their eyes at her excitement as Melissa exclaimed with pure joy.

“This is amazing! I’ve only ever read about things like this in books. Today is such a wonderful day!”

It was a good thing they came.

Demius and Natalianne both gazed at Melissa with soft expressions before hurriedly looking around.

Then they pointed in different directions at once.

“Look over there, do you see that? It’s another flower that only grows in this region. If you soak it in liquor, it makes a very fragrant drink.”

“And that one, did you see that too? It’s a handcrafted charm made for the local spirit. People carve it from wood and keep it at home or wear it as a necklace like a guardian charm.”

Demius and Natalianne competed to point out every local specialty they could find, especially rare things not found in books.

“These are incredible!”

Melissa clasped her hands together in delight, her admiration endless.

She had seen similar things in books before, but most of what she saw now was completely new to her.

It was wonderful.

Her chest swelled with excitement.

She had once promised herself to see as much of the world as possible before returning home, and now it finally felt like that dream was coming true.

Then her eyes stopped on something in the distance.

A large tent with fluttering flags and colorful fabric waving in the air.

“It’s a circus!”

Melissa turned to them, her face glowing with excitement.

“I’ve seen a play before, but never a circus. I’ve only read about tents that big in books—”

“I’ll get the tickets!”

“Where’s the ticket booth?”

Both Demius and Natalianne bolted at the same time.

Moments later, they returned holding three tickets each.

Melissa’s eyes widened as she looked at them.

“Oh my, I thought it’d be crowded. How lucky that there were still tickets left.”

“Indeed.”

“We were fortunate. It seems three tickets were just canceled.”

They both smiled faintly and nodded.

Of course, it was not coincidence.

The tickets had been obtained after Demius offered five times the price to the people waiting at the entrance, while Natalianne resorted to mild intimidation. Between the two of them, they had secured exactly three tickets.

Then, in front of the large circus tent, a clown dressed in bright colors appeared and shouted,

“It’s time to enter!”

“Let’s go!”

Melissa grabbed their hands and ran with a radiant smile.

Her grip was surprisingly strong, and the two were dragged along helplessly.

In the noisy crowd, the tall Eisenhart siblings surrounded Melissa protectively on both sides.

The crowd was far denser than expected, and to avoid being pushed around, they had to brace themselves and hold their ground.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. What about you two?”

“Of course.”

“I’m good too!”

Demius stood firm, while Natalianne looked a bit strained but managed to pass through the tent entrance without trouble.

Finally, they entered the vast interior.

“Wow!”

Melissa gasped in awe.

It was far larger and more splendid than it had appeared from the outside.

Something felt off.

Demius narrowed his eyes.

The scale of the circus was far too big for such a small town.

‘They can’t possibly be making enough money to sustain something like this.’

While Demius scanned the surroundings with suspicion, Melissa suddenly exclaimed in excitement.

“Look over there!”

Where she pointed stood a shop adorned with colorful fabrics and ribbons.

“It looks like a souvenir shop!”

Her face lit up with pure delight as she dragged the two of them toward it.

“Welcome!”

Staff members wearing masks waved their hands politely.

One of them, wearing a deer mask, spoke in a clear, formal tone.

“Please try on anything you like.”

“Wow!”

Melissa’s eyes sparkled even more as she looked at the masks displayed on the counter.

“Monkeys, elephants, lions… Oh my, what’s this one?”

“A proboscis… monkey?”

While Demius read the tag aloud, Natalianne was already digging frantically through a pile of masks.

‘Where is it? Where is it?’

Damn it. Natalianne bit her lip and moved her hands faster.

‘Where’s my little squirrel?’

The mask that would suit Melissa best was, without question, a squirrel. Nothing else could compare.

And she was determined to be the one who found it first.

Rustle, rustle.

After rummaging through the entire pile, Natalianne finally spotted her target.

“Teacher—!”

She proudly lifted her prize high into the air, but her words stopped mid-sentence.

Melissa was already wearing a mask.

For a moment, Natalianne froze, then barely managed to speak.

“Wh… what is that?”

“I found one that suits me perfectly!”

Melissa smiled brightly and pointed at her face.

“Isn’t this wild boar adorable?”

“It is.”

If it makes you happy, then it’s perfect.

Demius clapped sincerely, eyes shining.

That idiot brother.

Natalianne clenched her teeth, glaring at him.

‘Our teacher is definitely a squirrel, not a boar.’

Then Melissa looked through the pile again and held up a mask toward Demius.

“Oh, this one’s perfect for you, Mimi!”

“I see.”

Demius immediately put it on.

The mask was simple, round in shape, yet its meaning was obvious.

“What in the world is that supposed to be?”

Natalianne muttered blankly while Melissa clapped in delight.

“What are the odds? There’s even a canary mask!”

“You’re right.”

Just like us.

Demius smiled softly beneath the mask.

Impossible.

Natalianne’s eyes widened in disbelief before she shouted.

“M-me too! Please pick one for me, Teacher!”

“Oh, of course!”

While Melissa looked around eagerly, Demius leaned toward a staff member and asked quietly,

“Do you have a deer mask?”

“Deer?”

Natalianne frowned.

“Why a deer?”

“Because it’s noisy. Fits perfectly.”

“Then yours should be—”

She jabbed a finger at his face.

“A cockroach mask!”

“What did you just say?”

“I found one!”

Just before another sibling argument could erupt, Melissa lifted a mask high.

Natalianne turned away from her brother’s face, which in her opinion looked even worse than a cockroach’s, and smiled sweetly at Melissa.

“Wow, that’s adorable!”

“Right? I thought it looked just like you, so I’m glad they had one.”

Melissa handed her a cat mask with a bashful grin.

‘As expected of my teacher.’

Natalianne couldn’t stop her lips from curving upward as she accepted it.

A cat was definitely cuter than a bird.

And cats were natural predators of birds.

‘See? She loves me more.’

Natalianne slipped on the cat mask and hugged Melissa tightly, rubbing her cheek against hers.

The fake boar tusks on Melissa’s mask scratched her a little, but she didn’t care.

Then Demius suddenly pushed her shoulder away.

“What are you doing?”

Natalianne stumbled back with a startled yelp. Demius glared and said irritably,

“Don’t block the way.”

The crowd had grown even thicker, and Demius gently wrapped an arm around Melissa’s shoulders.

“This way to the main tent.”

“Ah, yes.”

Melissa nestled naturally into his arms as they moved through the bustling crowd.

The noise and chaos around them seemed to fade completely in that moment.

‘Oh.’

Melissa blinked.

She had never been this close to Demius before.

His chest was broad and warm, and his heartbeat was so strong it drowned out the noise of the crowd.

‘Mimi must be nervous too.’

Was it his first time seeing a circus as well?

With a faint blush on her cheeks, Melissa looked straight ahead.

For some reason, she felt that if she looked up right now, she would regret it.

At that same moment.

‘…Too close.’