35화
Chesha had intended to just let it slide and pretend she didn’t care.
But after hearing Ishuel’s story, her pride was bruised.
‘And how dare they steal what’s mine!’
They’d even taken Hata’s hats, so there was no way she could let it go.
She didn’t know which family it was, but she had to outshine them with even better clothes.
Not the outfits they’d already worn—completely new ones.
‘If I run into those thieves at the ball, they’re in for it.’
It wasn’t purely an emotional decision.
‘Going to the backworld with the twins is necessary too.’
If she tagged along to the hat shop and boutique under that pretense, she might uncover clues about how the Basilian family was tied to the backworld.
So, the next day, Chesha sought out the twins on her own.
“What’s this? The baby’s here?”
“Our little sibling came to us first?”
Karha and Ishuel were thrown off by the unusual situation.
Normally, the twins were the ones who sought out Chesha first thing in the morning to pester her.
Standing before them, Chesha raised one hand and declared, “I wanna go too.”
“Go where?”
“Where big brothers are going today.”
“Uh… the backworld? You want to go too? That place is dangerous.”
Karha nudged Ishuel with his elbow, signaling him to talk her out of it.
Ishuel tried earnestly to persuade her.
“No way. A tiny kid like you could get into big trouble in a place like that.”
That dangerous place was where Chesha, as the notorious enchantress, had made her name.
Feigning innocence, she said, “But my big brothers will protect me, right?”
It wasn’t an exaggeration.
Chesha had seen Karha and Ishuel’s skills firsthand.
Together, the twins could handle most trouble in the backworld with ease.
If anything happened, they could wrap it up and get out without much fuss.
The twins seemed to share the same thought.
“Well, yeah, that’s true,” Karha admitted.
He and Ishuel exchanged glances.
Seizing their hesitation, Chesha put on her most pitiful expression, drooping her eyes and pouting.
“I really wanna go… I wanna go on an outing with my big brothers…”
“Ugh…”
Karha groaned under the weight of Chesha’s sad-puppy attack.
After much deliberation, he made up his mind.
“Let’s take her!”
“Are you crazy?” Ishuel balked.
Karha pressed his case. “What’s the big deal? Think about it—we’ve never taken the baby on a proper outing.”
“Her first outing being the backworld…?”
“It’s pretty Basilian, don’t you think?”
“Haa.”
Ishuel let out a heavy sigh.
He wasn’t thrilled, but he didn’t seem entirely opposed either.
Deep down, Ishuel seemed to want to go out with Chesha too.
“It’s better to try the hats on in person.”
He reasoned that while he knew Father’s and Brother’s hat sizes from past orders, this was Chesha’s first, so he wasn’t sure about her fit.
As Ishuel leaned toward taking her, Karha circled Chesha, inspecting her.
“Hey, little sibling.”
“Yes!”
“Where’s the dog?”
The puppy had gone to open the shop.
He was probably busy preparing hats right now.
Chesha grinned and lied, “I let the puppy out to play for a bit!”
“Oh yeah?”
Karha subtly hinted he wouldn’t mind if the dog disappeared for good.
Though he’d agreed to keep it for Chesha’s sake, the grudge from Hata’s paw smack lingered.
“It’s a stray we picked up, so it must feel cooped up staying in the mansion.”
Ishuel added his own analysis of the puppy’s outing.
Chesha enthusiastically agreed with his logic.
Karha, uninterested in dog psychology, yawned and then widened his eyes.
“But taking the baby to the backworld? Belzeon’s gonna flip.”
“…Yeah, Brother will chew us out.”
The twins looked at each other.
Then they grinned mischievously.
Identical troublemaker smiles spread across their faces as they said in unison, “Just don’t get caught!”
As luck would have it, Belzeon was out that day.
Kierne, as usual, was away from home.
The twins had mentioned their outing in advance, so they strode confidently out the front gate.
The servants, flustered by the young masters taking the little miss, didn’t dare stop them.
But they looked at Chesha with pleading eyes.
She could almost hear their inner voices: *“Say you don’t want to go, miss!”*
But Chesha, bursting with excitement to go, pretended not to notice.
Instead of the Basilian family’s private carriage, the twins used a hired one.
When they boarded a bit down the road, the driver looked startled.
He hadn’t expected his passengers, booked for the backworld, to be two young boys and a baby who looked barely born.
Though all three wore hooded robes, their small statures were unmistakable.
The driver kept glancing back, clearly wanting to say something.
But when he saw the two swords at Karha’s waist, he shut his mouth and drove on.
“You can drop us off here.”
The driver let the tiny passengers off at the backworld’s entrance.
Even as he took their coins, he kept sneaking glances until he drove away.
Karha shrugged. “Must be staring ‘cause the baby’s cute.”
It was a lame joke.
They were all hidden under hooded robes—how could anyone tell she was cute?
But it seemed Chesha was the only one who thought it was a joke.
“Obviously,” Ishuel retorted, as if it were the most natural thing.
He walked on, holding Chesha in one arm and a parasol in the other.
Even with a hood, using a parasol was so very Ishuel.
Karha trotted behind him.
The backworld was a vast, circular district.
As if sliced cleanly, the path of wildflowers and weeds gave way to barren wasteland the moment you stepped into the circle.
No sign marked it as the backworld, but the stark, dry ground made it clear the moment you entered.
This was the backworld.
The shops began opening one by one as the sun set.
With dusk just beginning, people slowly started appearing on the streets.
Shopkeepers were lazily preparing to open.
“Follow me.”
Karha led the way confidently.
Held in Ishuel’s arms, Chesha closely observed the twins’ demeanor.
Both walked the streets with calm familiarity.
To first-time visitors, the backworld’s streets were bound to be shocking and fascinating.
The atmosphere was entirely different from the outside world.
Bizarre, strange, uncanny.
The backworld was a place that fit every odd descriptor.
The shops’ appearances were just as unique, unlike anything outside.
Except for Hata’s hat shop.
The twins stopped in front of it, looking up at the sign together.
<Hata’s Hat Shop>
Decorated to Hata’s taste, the shop stood out with its cute vibe, unlike the other backworld stores adorned with menacing iron bars.
Its oddly out-of-place exterior made even Ishuel blink rapidly, his lashes fluttering in surprise.
“Here?”
“This is it.”
While Ishuel inspected the shop’s facade, Karha flung the door open.
The small bell above jingled wildly, nearly breaking with the force.
The twins stepped inside.
The once-messy shop was now neatly organized.
Ishuel’s eyes widened at the sight of the displayed hats.
“Anyone here?”
Ishuel’s voice rose slightly, and a hesitant reply came from the back.
“Welcome…”
Hata cautiously opened the inner door and stepped out.
Chesha had to stifle a laugh the moment she saw him.
Trying to look like a dapper shopkeeper, Hata wore a tuxedo, bow tie, and top hat.
A small moonflower boutonnière adorned his chest.
Since Karha had a beastly sense of smell, Hata used the flower’s scent to mask his own.
Made with Chesha’s fairy powers, the flower was far fresher and more fragrant than ordinary ones.
It was enough to cover his scent, yet Hata’s eyes darted nervously.
He was clearly worried about being caught.
“Huh?”
Karha’s eyebrows shot up the moment he saw Hata.
Striding forward, he loomed over him.
Despite being taller, Hata froze with a small squeak.
After staring at Hata for a while, Karha suddenly spoke.
