The Villainess Enjoys Her Seventh Life as a Free-Spirited Bride (hostage) in a Former Enemy Country

“I’m really, s-sorry…”

In a corner of Vinleys City, a tearful Harriet bowed her head.

The sunshine at dusk was beautiful against her golden hair.

At Harriet’s muffled apology, Rishe shook her head with a smile.

“Not at all. Don’t worry about it, Harriet-sama.”

“N-No! Your Highness, please reflect on this. You said you wanted to do some shopping in the city before dinner, so Rishe-sama accompanied you, you know? You said you’d prepare all that’s needed. I was so impressed that I left the task to you, and this happened…?!”

The Head Maid’s brow creased, and she sighed loudly.

“Truly, I didn’t expect the maidservant to carry a bag of Fabrania gold coins instead of Garkhain gold coins…”

“Ugh…”

The way Harriet hung her head, it was as if there was a huge weight on top of her head.

The Head Maid shot another blow to her lady.

“We can’t shop in Garkhain stores with Fabrania gold coins. Fortunately, we’ve come to a city with currency exchange offices…”

“Exactly! Since this is a city where money exchanges are located, there will be no problem at all.”

Rishe smiled at Harriet and interrupted the conversation between her and the maid.

“Harriet-sama’s maid can exchange the money for Garkhain gold coins. Once that’s done, we can enjoy shopping until dinner.”

“U-Uhm, thank you very much…”

“Rishe-sama, I’m grateful for your consideration. Please don’t take advantage of that, Your Highness Harriet.”

Smiling bitterly at the sternness of the Head Maid, Rishe turned her head and glanced over her shoulder.

She and the others were waiting for the maid right next to the building where the money changer was located. Even though they were in a corner where they couldn’t be disturbed, they still attracted the attention of passersby, probably because they were a large group of more than ten people.

Five female knights from Fabrania, who said they were recovering from their illness, were accompanying them on this shopping trip.

Naturally, the Sigwell guards that Raul had brought with him were also by their side. Since Rishe didn’t want to stand out any more than they already did, she asked her knight guards to stay at the castle.

There’s no sign of eye contact or conversation between the Fabranian and Sigwell knights.

Apparently, they were aware that they were not working together to protect Harriet, but were just on their own individual missions.

Fabrania’s knights are more skilled than Sigwell’s, which means that the King of Fabrania is providing his fiancée with a solid escort.

Rishe pondered for a moment.

The King of Fabrania gave Harriet a lot of pocket money and told her to spend it freely shopping in Garkhain…And for Harriet-sama’s bodyguards, he seemed to have selected the best of the few female knights.

It was the King of Fabrania’s words that hurt the young Harriet.

However, it could be said that the current King of Fabrania cared for Harriet, if only in deed.

Hmm…

While Rishe was brooding, she felt a gaze on her and looked up.

Then, Rishe saw Oliver standing in front of a money changer, away from where Rishe was.

They spotted each other, but they were too far away to converse. Oliver smiled and bowed, and Rishe returned the bow as well.

Is Oliver-sama, by any chance, on an errand for His Highness Arnold?

Sure enough, Oliver went inside the exchange office. According to Arnold, there were only a few places left to go around.

Nevertheless, Arnold’s workload must have increased because Rishe provided him her own investigation. Consequently, it should have put a burden on Oliver as well. Rishe felt sorry for him.

This reminds me…

Rishe recalled her conversation with Arnold on the beach.

[Are you planning to replace Garkhain’s currency with one that contains less gold and silver?]

[…Yes]

Rishe felt that Arnold’s reply at that time was vague.

Why was that? Maybe Arnold still had a secret in this matter.

Could it be that His Highness Arnold is…

When a thought dawned on her, she heard a voice.

“Your Highness, Harriet. Don’t let your guard down. You’re stooping again.”

“Y-Yeah!”

Harriet hoarsely replied and promptly straightened her back.

However, Rishe could see from her angle that she was not stooping on purpose.

“Seriously, why are you standing like that? I’ve always told you to stand tall.”

“Uh-m, that…”

Instead of paying attention to Harriet’s dejection, Rishe spoke flatly.

“Head Maid, it’s not about persistence that she tends to hunch over.”

“What do you mean?”

“――It’s Harriet-sama’s muscles that will solve that problem!”

Rishe declared in all seriousness, but Harriet and the Head Maid were flabbergasted.