(From Blue''s Perspective)


    It was pure bullshit that Dem cared even a bit for Flint or his wife. He surely had another intention to leave the academy but was not telling me for some reason.


    "Haa, alright then," I sighed. "Flint can leave now. There will be a carriage waiting for us."


    "Yes, I will go then," Flint said. "Good night to His and Her Highness."


    "Goodnight," I said.


    "Shall we go to the stores then?" Dem asked after Flint left.


    "You lied, didn''t you?"


    "We need to go back quickly too. It will be time for our nighttime duty," he said, ignoring my question. "Since even full moons don''t scare you anymore, I suppose I can go harder."


    "... Honey, let''s just go..."


    We started visiting all the stores starting from a certain point. It was veryfortable to go with Dem since he was always interested in what I thought about something and never failed to express his thoughts on something when it was just the two of us.


    "It''s a toy store. Why are there so many toy stores now? There weren''t these many even a few months ago," Dem muttered.


    "I guess this business is very profitable," I said. "Let''s check it out. We can find something for Athena and Ava."


    "You like to gift them various toys, huh?"


    "Yeah, they look so happy when they receive gifts. It''s all worth those smiles," I grinned. "Besides, I like to shop. It''s fun. I did not know it is this fun."


    "Well, at first, you did not want to spend any money at all when we have plenty. Even if we make a sea out of all the money we have, we still will have a lot more left. Money is made to be spent. I am d you are spending more now."


    I did not like spending too much money. But after bing the Queen of Querencia, I learned how heinous it was for me to wear the same dress twice. Some special dresses could be worn more than once, but the number should not exceed three times. I had been a Queen for only seven months now, but I owned more than two hundred dresses. It was the count after some dresses were sold in an auction.


    People were very eager to buy those dresses.


    It had been very hard for me to spend too much money on just dresses and essories. But there was no other way. I just had to get used to it somehow. To get used to it sooner, I started gifting the people close to me. It worked out after I managed to get the taste of shopping.


    "Wow, look at these plushies...!"


    "I have seen this youngdy somewhere and the lord as well. Ah, I remember. The lord and thedy were buying toys from my brother''s store the other day," the shop owner said. "It is just one block away."


    "If you are talking about that store one block away, it must be where we bought the whale plushie from," I said.


    "Does thedy like plushies? Or are you buying them for your kid?" she asked.


    "I don''t have a kid. I am buying them for my niece and my friend''s daughter," I replied. "They like toys a lot."


    "I see. Thedy looks too young to have kids anyway. Have you two married recently?" she asked.


    "How nosy...," Dem grumbled. But the woman did not hear it. I nudged Dem on the arm. He was being rude.


    "It has been a bit more than seven months," I said.


    "Oh, it has not been that long then. You two must be on a date?"


    "Yeah, kind of like that," I said.


    "I have a thing for young couples. I will give a discount for anything thedy and the lord buy today," she grinned, giving us thumbs up. She seemed to be a cheerful woman.


    "We don''t need a discount," Dem said.


    "The lord is the moody type it seems. Is he the same with you, mydy?" she whispered to me though it should not be called a whisper anymore.


    "He doesn''t like to talk too much," I said. "But he is a very good husband. I am very grateful. Anyway, I want to see that pet cor over there."


    "Ah, I will bring it to you," she said and went to get it from the rack behind her.


    "For your cat?" Dem asked.


    "Hmm," I nodded. "She needs a new one. Sapphire hates the old one. I think it''s because of the color. Reece gifted it to her. But she has been trying to get rid of it."


    "She is very smart for a cat. It is quite unsettling," he said.


    "Why? She is amazing. Oh, the cor... Look! The cat toy attached to the cor looks exactly like my baby! Right?


    That''s why it caught my attention! Looking at it closely, the resemnce is really too much!"


    "Baby? Isn''t it me who you can call that? Why are you calling a damn cat baby?" he grumbled and that was also so loudly that all the customers and the seller looked at us. He did not seem to care. It was me who got embarrassed.


    "Dem! What are you...? We are in public... I-I will take this cor. Please pack it for me," I said quickly. It would be great if we could get out of here quickly.


    The stares were embarrassing.


    I quickly pulled Dem with me and got out of that store after buying the cor for Sapphire. He sometimes behaved like that, no matter where we were.


    "Dem, don''t do that again. It is embarrassing. Did you see the way those people were looking at us?"


    "Well, they know that we are married, I guess. It is obvious that a couple will by flirty with each other. Besides, rather than being flirty, I was just pointing at a very important matter. Why would you call that cat baby when you don''t call me that?"


    "I call you that sometimes too," I said. "But that''s not the point here. A couple can be flirty with each other when there aren''t others around. I mean, a bit is alright even if there are others around. But not too much."


    "I understand."


    ''You don''t. I am sure you will do it again.''


    We went to other stores and bought a lot of things. I bought a wristwatch for Dem and he got me a hair tie with a rare bird''s feathers. It was blue in color. There was only one hair tie like that, so people were after it. But it was too expensive and Dem bought it right away when he saw it. The watch I bought for him was ck in color with golden patterns on the inside.


    It had some kind of jelly-like liquid on the dial which made the numbers and the hands look like they were floating. The jelly-like liquid was made of a rare stone that would turn into jelly if heated. The stones were so rare that only two percent of people came across them.


    "This item is real," Dem said.


    "Really? It''s real? How do you know that?"


    "Well, I have seen those stones before. I have one too. I know what it looks like if melted," he said nonchntly.


    "You have one?"


    "More than one. Want to see them?"


    "Yeah! Show me after we go back, okay?"


    "Sure," he chuckled. "And thank you for the gift. It is beautiful."


    "Haha, it''s nothing. You keep gifting me all the time. It is nothing," I said, shrugging.


    "You don''t give me any less either. I find candies in my pocket every single day and each one of them is of a different vor. Then, I find new custom-designed pens, and ink bottles frequently on my table. Actually, whenever I run out of something, I find them the next day. If I could all of the things you gave me sneakily, it will go up to a hundred I think."


    "Well... You like sweet things, so I leave candies in your pockets so you can have them whenever you want to. And the other things... I just like to give things to you. It''s fun!"


    ''And you never tell me to stop. You always eat those candies, use the things I give you. It makes me feel better knowing that you like the things I give you.''


    We went to another toy store and I ordered fifty sets of school supplies. They were of different colors and designs but consisted of the same things.


    "What are those for?"


    "They are for Ava and her ssmates. I should gift those kids something," I said. "There are fifty students in her ss. So, these are for them. I will buy them for other kids too. I am looking for another design."