Hand in hand, the two of them strolled through the crowd, walking along the stone-paved street.
At some point, Cecilia had finally lifted her head.
Wearing her hood, she was like a kitten stepping out of the house for the first time, cautiously observing the world around her.
She saw vendors shouting at the top of their lungs, their cries making it seem like buying their wares was a steal.
She saw people haggling in front of stalls, acting as if saving even one copper coin was a grand victory.
She saw someone performing magic tricks off to the side, bowing in gratitude every time someone tossed a copper coin into his hat.
Her gaze met that of a young girl selling fresh flowers. The girl offered her a smile, causing Cecilia to shyly lower her head again.
“Have you decided how you want to look around?” Lu Mo asked.
“Eh?” Cecilia froze.
To her, Lu Mo’s question was no different from a complex advanced mathematics problem.
She had never been further than the Manor, and at this moment, she was completely in the dark.
Seeing Cecilia’s bewildered expression, Lu Mo gave a helpless smile.
“Then this time, I’ll lead you around. How does that sound?” she suggested.
“Okay,” Cecilia whispered.
The two stopped in front of a snack stall.
“Two portions, please,” Lu Mo said.
“Coming right up! It’ll be ready in a jiffy.” The vendor smiled at them and skillfully began frying the food.
“Miss Lu Mo…”
Cecilia hid behind Lu Mo, speaking with a feline sneakiness. “My family doesn’t allow me to eat food from outside. They say it’s unhealthy, that the ingredients are nearly expired, and they don’t even wash them properly…”
‘How does it suddenly feel like when family says takeout is dirty?’
Lu Mo ignored Cecilia’s concerns. She took the fried food and handed over the copper coins.
“Miss Lu Mo… *gulp*—”
Cecilia was about to say something else when Lu Mo suddenly picked up a piece of the fried food and stuffed it into her mouth.
Cecilia’s small mouth was instantly silenced.
She wanted to refuse, but as the savory, delicious flavor of the food exploded in her mouth, her eyes widened.
‘Is this flavor… actually quite good?’
“Here.” Lu Mo handed Cecilia her portion.
“Th-thank you…” Cecilia replied.
After taking the fried food, she cautiously took two more bites.
The taste was good; she’d have another.
This was really the last bite.
*Munch, munch.* It was delicious.
Cecilia’s mouth was soon moving non-stop like a little rabbit’s.
‘It’s already outside the family manor, so it’s fine to be a little disobedient once in a while, right?’
‘Miss Lu Mo wouldn’t hurt me.’
‘She’s eating it too!’
“Miss Lu Mo, what’s that?”
“Hmm… looks like cotton candy. Do you want to try some?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Miss Lu Mo, what’s that over there?”
“That food? It looks a bit like takoyaki…”
Cecilia suddenly looked at her, her eyes sparkling with intense anticipation.
“I understand…”
Lu Mo pressed a hand to her forehead and led Cecilia to that stall as well.
“Miss Lu Mo!”
The moment Cecilia spoke, Lu Mo understood exactly what she wanted.
Cecilia’s mouth hadn’t seemed to stop moving the entire way.
“Your stomach… can you still fit more?”
Lu Mo stole a glance at Cecilia’s belly, which didn’t seem to have changed at all.
‘Is there a black hole hidden inside this idiot’s stomach?’ she wondered.
Everything at the fair was a novelty to Cecilia.
With Lu Mo’s encouragement, she played the ring toss. Although she didn’t catch anything, she laughed happily.
She dropped a copper coin into the hat in front of a statue. When the statue moved, she jumped in fright and hid behind Lu Mo.
After realizing the statue was actually a person in disguise, she let out a sigh of relief and gave a silly smile.
Watching Cecilia’s rebellious lock of hair bouncing upward—nearly propping her hood up like a tent—Lu Mo thought for a moment. Finally, she went to a hat stall and bought a white dome hat for Cecilia.
She pulled back Cecilia’s hood and placed the white dome hat on her head.
The rebellious hair was pressed down, and the wide brim now completely shaded Cecilia’s face.
“Yes, this looks much more normal,” Lu Mo nodded.
Looking at Cecilia lifting the brim, her eyes watery and her cheeks flushed, Lu Mo added, “It’s very cute. It suits you, Cecilia.”
“Re… Really?” Cecilia asked.
“Really,” Lu Mo replied with a smile.
She continued walking forward and faintly heard Cecilia let out an *ehehe* laugh behind her, sounding happy and filled with a small sense of bliss.
They continued down the street, brushing past the bustling crowd.
On both sides, vendors were shouting.
When they looked up, they could see low buildings on either side with open windows draped with brightly colored cloths.
A breeze blew past, feeling cool and comfortable against their faces.
The strips of cloth swayed in the wind, making soft rustling sounds.
Cecilia heard Lu Mo humming that song again.
It wasn’t loud, but it was very clear.
Cecilia felt a tickle of curiosity in her heart.
She wanted to know the name of that song.
Eventually, the two grew a bit tired from playing. They found a deserted set of stairs and sat down on the steps.
They stared blankly at the sunlight spilling across the end of the stairs and a cat lazily passing by.
“Miss Lu Mo,” Cecilia spoke up.
“Hmm?”
“The song you were humming today… it’s very beautiful.”
“Is it?”
“What is the name of that song?”
“Hajimi nanbei lvdouduo…”
“Eh?”
“Wrong, wrong—”
Lu Mo snapped back to reality and quickly corrected herself. “You mean that song? The name is ‘Scarborough Fair.’ It’s a song I like very much.”
As she spoke, she began to sing it once more.
This time, she sang the lyrics.
“Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there,
She once was a true love of mine.”
Lu Mo’s voice was beautiful, clear, and ethereal, leaving Cecilia somewhat entranced.
However…
What language was Miss Lu Mo singing in?
Why couldn’t she understand a single word?
When the song ended, Lu Mo looked at Cecilia and found her staring back with an extremely confused expression.
“How should I put it… the song is beautiful, but I… I don’t really understand it…” Cecilia said with a bit of embarrassment.
Well then.
Lu Mo realized that Cecilia didn’t know English.
“It’s a… well, it’s a very old ballad. It’s normal that you don’t understand,” she said. “I’ll tell you the meaning of the lyrics.”
So, Lu Mo patiently translated the lyrics and explained them to Cecilia.
“Does this song tell a story?” Cecilia asked.
“I suppose so,” Lu Mo answered.
“What kind of story is it?” Cecilia pressed.
“Who knows—” Lu Mo smiled.
“This song has existed for many, many years, and there are all sorts of versions. You could say the stories it carries have long since surpassed the song itself.”
“Some say it’s about a person asking a lover to complete impossible tasks. A cambric shirt without a seam or needlework, an acre of land between the salt water and the sea strands, reaping heather with a sickle of leather… those are all impossible things to do, right?”
“But if they love each other, why ask the girl to do such things?”
“Perhaps it’s because they believe love can transcend everything,” Lu Mo continued. “Others say that parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme represent kindness, strength, gentleness, and courage respectively. It’s the singer’s wish for the girl. They hope she will be kind, optimistic, bright, and brave—facing the sea as spring blossoms.”
Cecilia imagined such a girl in her mind.
Kindness, strength, gentleness, courage…
‘Eh? Why did I suddenly think of Miss Lu Mo?’
“And some say the girl the singer loved has already died. The singer knows those three tasks are impossible to complete, which is why he proposes them. Then, he can wait forever with a clear conscience. The four plants are also four herbs believed to ward off death; they are the singer’s final prayer for the girl. If he stopped singing this song, the girl he loves would truly never return.”
Lu Mo accidentally touched upon the topic of death.
By the time she realized what she had said, it was too late.
Cecilia was visibly stunned upon hearing her words.
Both of them fell silent.
The air between the stairs suddenly became very still.
“Sorry.”
After a short while, Lu Mo spoke apologetically. “I seem to have mentioned something I shouldn’t have.”
“…It’s okay.”
Cecilia offered a smile, showing her strength. “Cecilia won’t cry loudly over this sort of thing anymore.”
She looked at Lu Mo with a smile, her expression softening again. “Cecilia should thank Miss Lu Mo for staying by her side all this time and taking her to such an interesting place to relax. Cecilia had a very happy day today. Thank you, Miss Lu Mo.”
“…It’s what I should do,” Lu Mo replied.
The two of them once again looked toward the sunlight at the end of the stairs.
Today was indeed a pleasant day.
Flowers were blooming, and birds were singing.
There were no classic tropes of being approached by a noble on the street who gets angry after being rejected.
There were no ridiculous plots of finding a peerless secret technique hidden in a tattered book at a street stall.
They simply walked through the streets and alleys, immersing themselves in the mundane life of the world.
That happiness was simple and pure.
Just then, a strong gust of wind swept past them from behind.
It was an unintentional draft through the passage.
“Whoa—”
Cecilia let out a cry of surprise.
Her hat was caught by the wind and flew off in an instant.
Her long golden hair fluttered as she widened her eyes, watching the hat being blown far away. She instinctively reached out and was about to stand up to chase it.
*Whoosh—*
Lu Mo was faster.
Cecilia only saw Lu Mo’s petite figure lightly push off the ground and leap into the air.
Her long hair billowed out, and her skirt danced in the wind, light and elegant. In that moment, she was like an exquisite flower blooming in the breeze.
The dome hat floating in mid-air, Cecilia reaching out, and Lu Mo blooming in the wind.
In this split second, time seemed to slow down.
Slowing to the extreme.
Slowing until… it became eternal.
Cecilia stared blankly at Lu Mo’s silhouette, unable to look away.
Beyond that, she couldn’t notice anything else.
She only wanted to keep watching.
To keep watching forever.
To watch for a lifetime.
A strange emotion was awakening from the depths of her heart, slowly taking root without her even knowing it.
That year, they were both still very young.
That year, she did not yet understand love.