After waiting for a while, Rosa-chan finally came out of her room.
She wore a dark blue frilly dress that reached her knees, along with short black shoes.
As always, she looked good in whatever outfit she wore.
"Didn't you change your clothes?" Rosa-chan asked after seeing me still wearing the same outfit.
I immediately gave a wry smile and turned my face away.
"I-I don't have any other clothes," I answered.
Rosa-chan turned her body and began walking away from me.
I didn't follow her, since I thought she wanted to do something first.
After a while, she finally realized I wasn't following her. She looked at me with a slightly annoyed expression.
"Lotte, why aren't you following me? Am I supposed to go by myself?" Rosa-chan said to me.
"W-wait!" I replied, running a little to catch up with her.
This girl really is unpredictable. If she wants me to follow her, why doesn't she just say so?
Like, how hard is it to just say "Let's go"? Instead, she makes me guess what she's thinking and what she wants to do.
Seriously, I think it'll only get harder for me to understand a girl's feelings.
——
I walked behind Rosa-chan, because I was a bit afraid of walking beside her.
W-well… maybe Rosa-chan would feel uncomfortable if I did that.
So it was better for me to just stay behind her, to play it safe.
To other people, we might even look like a young couple on a date.
Who knows, really.
I thought we'd pass through the guard post without being stopped, but…
The guard I had talked with the other day blocked the two of us from passing.
He pointed his long spear at us—well, more precisely, only at me.
"Rosalia-sama, who is this man? Did he force you to do what he wants!?" the guard asked Rosa-chan.
Meanwhile, his spear was still aimed at my chest.
I could only raise both my hands, as if I'd already surrendered and had no intention of resisting.
It would be dangerous if I got stabbed by him. Especially since I didn't have any weapon at all.
"Calm down, I really am going out with him. At least he's not a criminal," Rosa-chan said to the guard.
The guard didn't lower his spear right away, but stood still for a moment.
Then he let out a light sigh before finally pulling the spear away from my chest.
Feeling safe now, I also lowered my hands.
"Huh…" I muttered in relief.
The guard finally let the two of us through.
Just like earlier, I still walked behind Rosa-chan. She passed through the gate casually, but I—
My hand was suddenly grabbed by the guard from before. He stared at me with sharp eyes.
"If anything happens to Rosalia-sama, you understand, don't you?" he said, trying to threaten me.
"I won't do anything to her," I replied.
Before he could say anything else, I immediately bolted away from the post.
Without realizing it, I bumped into Rosa-chan.
"AWW! That hurt, you know!" Rosa-chan exclaimed, surprised by my sudden bump.
"I-I didn't mean to…" I said while fixing my posture.
Honestly, I didn't expect Rosa-chan to stop and look at me.
That's why I accidentally ran into her.
Because I thought Rosa-chan would keep walking farther ahead. That's why I ran a little earlier.
Because of that incident, we ended up walking side by side, though the atmosphere was really awkward.
It was actually better before than like this.
——
I just followed Rosa-chan's footsteps, since I myself didn't know where to go.
At least this way, maybe Rosa-chan would become more open to me.
Suddenly, Rosa-chan stopped in front of the door of a store.
I looked up and saw the store's name. The sign said "Men's Clothing," which meant this store sold clothes for men.
Wait, why did Rosa-chan stop here?
This is a store specifically for men, so what is she planning to do here?
"Come on, let's go in," Rosa-chan said.
I followed her into the store.
Inside, Rosa-chan began looking through the clothes on display. From plain shirts to really flashy ones.
She observed them very seriously, like she was searching for something important.
From her attitude, she seemed to want to buy clothes for a man.
And if we look at the current situation, most likely she wanted to buy clothes for Luis.
Well, what girl wouldn't want to buy clothes for her man? Especially since they'd be engaged soon.
Although I'll ruin that later, for now I at least wanted to help her find a good outfit.
Why? Well, because I'm a guy, maybe my taste would be similar to Luis's.
I approached Rosa-chan, who was looking at a plain white shirt.
"Rosa-chan, what kind of clothes do you want to buy?" I asked.
This should've been easy for me.
"Hmm… something casual that doesn't look too flashy, but not too simple either," she answered.
That meant she wanted something neutral. Ordinary, but stylish. In that case…
I showed her a plain brown shirt, which I thought was simple yet cool. (Just my personal opinion, and a bit random, honestly).
"Hah? You're suggesting something ugly like that?" Rosa-chan said, clearly unimpressed with my choice.
"Then? What exactly are you looking for?" I asked again.
"Maybe like a cloak or a coat… because I think it would suit him," Rosa-chan answered.
Oh, a cloak or a coat, huh… I thought she meant regular clothes, but she said clothes earlier, didn't she!? Why did it turn into cloaks and coats!?
Whatever, no point overthinking it.
I looked around the store, checking the cloaks and coats they sold.
There were quite a lot of options, but I thought the colors were too monotonous and plain.
But finally, my eyes landed on a black cloak displayed in front of me.
The cloak had light blue edges, along with a cool pattern on the back.
On top of the light blue trim, there was also a gold line. The combination looked really beautiful.
Looking closer, there were abstract lines all over the cloak. No doubt, this was the coolest cloak I had ever seen in my life.
Because of that, I picked up the cloak and showed it to Rosa-chan.
"How about this one? I think it looks really good," I said to her.
She seemed to examine the cloak very carefully and seriously.
Then, she took the cloak from my hands.
"Do you really think this one looks good?" Rosa-chan asked, looking at me.
With enthusiasm, I answered,
"Of course!" I said.
Rosa-chan brought the cloak to the cashier, and I followed her.
Just as I expected, she bought that cloak. From what I saw, she paid with 15 gold coins.
This cloak must really be something only rich people could afford…
I thought the cloak would be wrapped up in a box to be given as a gift. But I was wrong.
Rosa-chan instead handed the cloak directly to me. Confused, I quickly took it and folded the cloak.
Did she want me to carry it for her? That's fine… really, that's fine.
"Why are you folding it? Are you going to wear it later?" Rosa-chan asked, equally confused by what I was doing.
Actually, I was the one more confused about what she meant.
"Wear it? Why would I wear it? Didn't you buy this as a gift—" Before I could finish, Rosa-chan immediately cut me off.
"Yes, it is a gift… A gift for you, of course, who else would it be for…" Rosa-chan said, turning her face away.
From here, I could see her ears turning slightly red. Was she embarrassed?
I looked at the cloak once again, and quickly put it on.
The sleeves fit just right, and the cloak's hem didn't touch the ground. It felt very warm and comfortable.
I stood in front of a large mirror provided by the store.
I looked at myself now wearing the cloak.
DAMN!!
So cool… I never expected to look this good in a cloak.
"It actually suits someone like you…" I heard Rosa-chan mutter quietly.
I was sure I looked really excited and cheerful, like a kid who just got a new toy.
But I was being honest—wearing such a cool cloak was something I had never imagined before.
I looked at Rosa-chan with excitement and happiness.
"Thank you so much, Rosa-chan~" I said with a smile.
Slowly, I saw her cheeks turn slightly red—not the kind of red from embarrassment, but the kind that looked happy and relieved.
"G-good then!" she said.
I thought she would give this to Luis, but if she gave this cloak to me…
That meant my chances of marrying her were still very big and very possible. Damn!! I'm getting way too excited!!