But I understood the meaning from his next words.
"You're my fiancée. You need to behave appropriately as one."
"..."
"Besides, if you go out alone, other nobles will judge the Platine family as one that lets their daughter go out without even a guard."
I sighed inside. So it was for his own reputation. When it came to the Platine family, no matter what Seratina did, they generally disapproved. Whatever she did would be criticized anyway.
Seratina didn't bother responding to Schwartz's words and instead threw a question back at him.
"What about you Lord Schwartz? What brings you to town alone?"
"...I heard there were good cookies..."
All by yourself? I almost said it but held back, responding with disinterest. "I see."
Schwartz going alone to buy cookies... I didn't need him to say it. The recipient was obviously Lucia. Even if Duke Grigio wouldn't give permission, there should be plenty of ways to convince him. Especially for Schwartz.
"I was thinking of giving them to you..."
"Huh?"
If I heard correctly, Schwartz said he was giving the cookies to me. Seratina blinked several times and unconsciously mentioned Lucia's name. The gray eyes that had been looking awkward suddenly sharpened when Lucia's name came up.
"Weren't you giving them to Lady Lucia...?"
"...Not Lucia. But you."
"..."
All the gifts Schwartz had given me so far were just the bare minimum to fulfill his role as a fiancé. At evening parties and official events, it was customary for fiancées to wear dresses and jewelry in their partner's colors. Seratina had been given dresses or jewelry in the color of her eyes. Since Schwartz's hair and eyes were gray, that made sense, but if that were the case, he should have given her purple to match his magical power.
It was always Lucia who wore that. I'd seen the scene many times where Schwartz and Lucia standing together looked like the real engaged couple.
I wondered what to say to Schwartz, but if I didn't speak, the awkward atmosphere would continue. The best I could manage was the typical "Why me?"
"Why? Is it strange for a fiancé to give gifts to his fiancée?"
"It's not strange, but... when you says it, it becomes quite strange..."
"..."
Schwartz must have been aware of it too. He awkwardly looked away.
"Yesterday, weren't you having a secret meeting with Lady Lucia? Are you giving me cookies the day after because I witnessed your date?"
"..."
"If you're being considerate, it's unnecessary. I've known about you and Lady Lucia since before our engagement. Whether Lord Schwartz loves Lady Lucia or anyone else has nothing to do with me, so the cookies aren't needed."
Especially not now.
"Seratina, you..."
He cut off his words mid-sentence, opening and closing his mouth as if trying to speak. It was unusual for him, who normally said whatever he wanted. Today's Schwartz was full of unusual things. As I watched, thinking this, our eyes met.
"You've looked lonely since the first time we met."
"?"
I wondered what he was talking about and tried to listen without interrupting, but a small bird flew between us. The bird that landed on Seratina's shoulder was the same one that had brought news from Lance this morning. It was his familiar. I was stunned by the message it delivered, thanked the bird, shared some magical power with it, and sent it flying into the sky.
"Seratina...?"
I bowed my head to the bewildered Schwartz.
"I'm sorry! Something urgent came up, so I'll excuse myself!"
"W-wait! Where are you going?"
"It's urgent! I'm sorry!"
"Seratina!"
The bird had brought news.
That Feres was at the guild right now. That he was visiting Lance and was in the private room where I'd been earlier. I wanted to see him so badly that even when Schwartz called after me, I ran off. I hurried back to the guild, climbed the stairs, and stood in front of the private room. I took a deep breath to calm myself.
"Calm down, calm down."
To Feres, I was someone he was meeting for the first time. I couldn't act like I knew him. I steeled my resolve, made a fist, and knocked on the door.
The door opened vigorously. The person who appeared embraced the surprised Seratina. From inside came Lance's panicked voice.
"Hey Feres! Even if I said a beauty was waiting for you, she has a fiancé!"
The shimmering silver threads reflected in Seratina's blue eyes and the gentle perfume scent I'd grown accustomed to in my past life were the same as the Feres of old.
"I missed you, Sera."
Seratina's past life name. Feres used to call me by the nickname Sera because Seara was hard to pronounce. Her current name, Seratina, could also use the nickname Sera, but unfortunately, no one called her by a nickname.
----
"Sera. I heard you were looking for me and I couldn't sit still. I wanted to see you so badly that I came."
"H-hey Feres! That young lady is a noble lady named Seratina Platine..."
"I know. I've been looking for a chance to meet her ever since I sensed her presence."
Lance was still speaking in a panicked voice when he let out a stupid "Huh?", Seratina was being embraced by Feres and did the same. She stared intently at Feres's face as he finally separated from her.
It was exactly the same as the figure she had burned into her eyes until the moment of her death. His deep blue eyes that held the moon were slightly moist, and Seratina felt her own eyes grow hot in response.
"You were looking for me?"
"Of course. I cast magic because I wanted to see you again. Just before you died."
So being reincarnated with memories of my past life was thanks to Feres's magic.
"Seratina... is that your name now?"
"Yes. Seratina Platine. That's my name."
"Seratina. It sounds like a name befitting a noble's daughter."
Seratina smiled wryly. "I actually am a noble's daughter."
She was invited into the private room. She had to explain the situation again to Lance, who still couldn't grasp what was happening.
"I'm sorry Lance. The reason I told you I wanted to meet Feres, that was a lie."
"Ah, yeah... watching you two, I was starting to feel something was different."
Though he was in a daze, he seemed to retain the mental capacity to understand the conversation, so she began explaining slowly. She told him that Seara, who had been Feres's wife about fifty years ago, had been reincarnated as Seratina. Because she had memories from when she was Seara, she wanted to meet Feres and go to the empire.
"B-but you didn't seem like you were going to tell Feres you were his wife."
Originally, she had just wanted to meet him under the assumption that Feres wouldn't realize who she was. Wanting to give fairy dust to her fiancé was also just an excuse to meet Feres. In other words, it was a lie.
"Fiancé?"
Feres's eyebrow twitched in response.
"...You have a fiancé?"
"Yes. I'm a noble. Political marriages are part of the territory."
"...What's… your relationship…. with your…. fiancé?"
Feres left long pauses between each word he spoke, making Seratina smile wryly. She shrugged, wondering whether she should be grateful or disappointed, and told him that her fiancé was mutually in love with another woman and she seemed to be the villainess who would tear the two apart. Feres's handsome face twisted.
"That's ridiculous. You!? being a villainess?!"
"Bad timing, I guess..."
If there hadn't been the engagement between the empire's second princess and their country's crown prince, Lucia would probably be by the crown prince's side as the future crown princess by now.
Even though Schwartz was engaged to Seratina, Lucia couldn't abandon her feelings for him, and took advantage of the fact that the engagement with the crown prince was completely off to be in mutual love with Schwartz. Normally, Seratina would want to confront Schwartz about his infidelity and request to break off the engagement, but she couldn't do it on her own decision.