Berne, the capital of Leafs, is the imperial capital. The characteristic of this city is undoubtedly white. The streets are white. From the walls of the buildings to the cobblestones and the stairs, it's all white. It's like the Greek islands of Mykonos and Santorini.
　At the center of the town, which faces the sea like a port town, you can see the white Leafy's Castle in the center. It was a very beautiful city with the blue of the sea and the white of the streets. The reflection of the sun was so bright that I wanted to wear sunglasses, though.
　Well, I didn't come here today for sightseeing, so I quickly headed to the bookstore. I've been here once before "Tsukuyomi" opened, so I arrived at the bookstore without any hesitation.
　I opened the heavy door and walked in. It's a decent-sized bookstore with both old and new books on display. There was only one woman with dark hair sitting at the counter. A woman, huh? No, even a man can't resist buying this kind of book, though.
　Anyway, I'll ask this shopkeeper to collect them all.

''Excuse me, I'm looking for a book.
Yes, tell me the title and I'll find it for you?
It's about this.

　I take a note out of my pocket and hand it to the clerk at the counter.

''Um, 'Order of the Roses' and 'The Butler's Secret'...''

　Gradually, the clerk's voice became quieter and she began to glance at me. They didn't give me a bad look, but they had the same look in their eyes as the women who entrusted me with this list in the Moon Reading. Glittering. Glittering.
　Huh? Do they think you're "that kind of person" even if you don't by any chance?

'Well, you see. The book was ordered and I'm looking for it.
I see. Yes, I understand.

　Wait a minute. What do you know? I'm not making excuses. I'm not making excuses. That's a fact.

"I'll get it for you, just be patient.

　With a very gentle smile, the clerk disappeared into the back stacks. You definitely don't understand, that one.
　I don't want to wait in front of the counter all the time, so I pick up the basket and rummage through the books. I'll have to get the regular genre stuff in, too. If I don't, that stuff is going to erode me.
　I go to the story section and put the adventure stuff, the war stories, the 'normal' romance stuff, the bizarre stuff, etc. in my basket.
　I turn around and come back to the counter to find a pile of books. I wondered if they had it all together. But the clerk and a female customer are having a problem with something.

Sorry, sir. We are sorry, but this is the last of our stock.
Oh no...

　A woman is held up against the counter as if she were about to fall apart. She's a little over twenty years old, her bright chestnut-colored hair is braided into a single braid and fastened with an expensive looking barrette. She's wearing an unassuming but expensive looking cardigan and skirt. I wonder if she is a nobleman. The clerk noticed me and gave me a smile.

''Ah, sir, we have all the items you ordered. Would you like to purchase that one as well?
'Oh, yes. Together, please.

　I stack the books I had on the counter.

'What? Is this the man who bought the Rosemaj?

　The woman who had been holding it at the counter gets up with a bang and stares at me. 'Rosemaj?' Yeah, it's called Rose-colored Magical, and it was in the note.

What's going on?
''Ha... this is the last volume of Rose-colored Magical that the customer ordered, but this is the last one in stock, and you came to buy this one as well...''

　Oh, I see. So you missed out on buying it at the right time on paper.
　Well, I'm sorry, but you'll just have to give it up. I couldn't leave myself in a situation where I couldn't be the only one who didn't have the last volume of the book.

I'm sorry, could you give me the last volume of 'Amazamaji'?
No, I just came to get this.

　The woman, who apparently didn't give up, bowed her head towards me, but of course I refused.

''This is the last one. All the other bookstores are sold out...''
But that's why...

　The woman in front of me suddenly stops to look at the pile of books I've bought.

''Did you also buy 'The Order of the Rose'?''
'What? Yeah, well.

　She checks the other titles in the pile of books. Eventually, she turned around and her eyes were sparkling just like the clerk from earlier. This guy's got it wrong too, right?

You seem to have a pretty good eye for detail.
No, I'm not. There's been some misunderstanding. This is a request. It's not my thing.
Yes, I know. I know.

　You definitely don't get it. Don't grin. The female customer thought about it for a while, but eventually she went to the corner of the counter and beckoned me over a little bit.

'What is it?'
'Here's the deal. If you're willing to give me the final volume of The Rose Magi, I'll sign all the volumes of The Order of the Rose, how about that?
What?

　What's that? Why is that a deal breaker?

What's in it for me?
That's because I'm Lil Riflis, the author of The Order of the Roses!

　Ahem, said the woman, puffing out her chest. ...Quite a lot........as much as a double.......not.

''Heh... that's it,''
Oh, you don't believe it, do you?

　That's right. What are the odds that someone I met in a bookstore is the author of a book I bought or something like that? And I know the author from Yumina. Hmmm, let's throw a fit.

"So you're Princess Liriel.
What?

　The author of the self-proclaimed "Order of the Roses" gets a scowl on his face. I knew it was a trick.
　But then, he started to open and close his mouth like a goldfish, with sweat pouring from his face in a lazy manner. Huh?

Duh, duh, duh, how did you do that? Even your father didn't know about this...!

　Oh, really...? Are you sure it's him?

What are you going to do when you find out who I am... Threaten me, use me as a stepping stone to get close to my little brother, the next king, and take his innocence and take this country for yourself...!
Stupid!
Ow!

　I gave him a chop as hard as I could to the rotten head that was dripping with delusion. I don't care if she's an imperial princess or not! Slap him again!

'Ouch! What, what?!
Shut up! If I wasn't listening to Yumina, I would have completely ignored her! This is the princess of this country, or is this country okay!
'Yumina? Yumina is from Belfast! What the hell are you...?

　Princess Lirielle held her head with tears in her eyes and looked at me with a strange face. She is a year older than me, but for some reason I had lost the desire to use the honorific term anymore. I'm not sure why I didn't want to use honorifics anymore.
　I took a deep breath and calmed myself down.

I'm Fuyuya Mochizuki. I'm the fiancée of Princess Belfast and Princess Yumina. It's still unofficial, though.
'What? Hey, fiancé, fiancé, she's getting married!

　He was looking at me with a sincerely surprised look on his face, but eventually his eyes started to swim and he began to think about something.

'Huh? But Yumina is a girl... Um, fake marriage...? What do you really want, like His Majesty the King?
No!
Ow!

　It's time to get out of there, man! Oh, it's so annoying!
　I go back to the counter and pay for all the books. It was quite a bit, but it was cheaper than the reward for defeating the crab and the fee for selling the materials, so it wasn't a problem.
　I stowed them in my 'storage' and walked out with Princess Liliel. There was a large, fine carriage out front, but it was probably the attendants and guards.
　He opened the 'gate' in the shadows of the shop and brought Yumina and Amber with him.

''It's been a while, Sister Lili.
'Yumina! Huh? When are you going to be on a leaflet!
I'm sorry. Youmina, tell me what's going on. Amber, cover me. I'll be in touch if anything comes up.
All right, sir.

　Leaving Yumina and Amber behind, he now flies to the "Workshop". I pulled out the last volume of the Rose Maji from the Storage and copied it, then returned to Yumina and the others with it.
　I hand the book to Lirielle, who is surprised at my sudden appearance.

'See, this should be no problem.
Oh, really? I wanted...
'That's why I said no! I'm here to buy for the store's shipment in the first place! I'm not interested myself!
It's a waste of time and... no, it's nothing.

　Lirielle held her hand sword at the top of her hand and kept her mouth shut.
　Enough, let's go home. Opening the 'gate' to her home. Ember jumped in ahead of me and crossed over to the other side.

'Well then, Sister Lili, take care of yourself. I'll see you again.'
Youmina too. You must invite me to your wedding.

　I'd prefer not to come, but I wouldn't even bother with such a thing, so I put on my expressionless mask.
I went through the Gate and returned to my house. I sat down on the sofa in the living room and slumped down.

"Ugh, I'm trapped...

　It's not the crabslaying that's causing my fatigue.... Linse brought a glass of ice water in front of me.

''Thank you~''
No, thank you for your help.

　We drank the water you brought us all at once. Kaa~, it's delicious. I was savoring the chilled water softly, but Linse was squirming and refusing to move from her spot. What is it?

So, um, did you get the book?

　Oh, okay. You want to read it. I took the day's harvest from 'storage' and stacked it on the table.

'Ask Rosetta to make a few copies of each book for me. If there's anything Linse wants, you can tell Rosetta to get more.
Yes!

　I gave a good reply and Linse left the living room to call Rosetta. Rosetta has the ability to transfer to the Workshop, and Babylon has a "gate" to this house strung up, so she won't need my magic.
　I went to the kitchen and gave Claire the leg of the Bloody Crab that I defeated, and she was very pleased. It's crab casserole today.
　I need to get some rest until then. I went back to my room, collapsed on my bed and closed my eyes, and a pleasant sleeper hit me fast. Gulp.



　The next day, "Tsukuyomi" was in full swing as never before. I heard that some people had already lined up before the store opened, perhaps because they had heard the rumors. All of the new arrivals were so popular that I had to rush to make a few copies of the books.
　It's nice to see the store's popularity growing, but I can't help but feel that it's not working.
　Hmm... I guess I should let Lindsay run this shop and I should open a second one.
　Incidentally, a few months later, the author of "The Order of the Rose" has released a new series of books.
　Apparently, it's about a man with all-powerful abilities who wants to take over a country, and in order to do so, he takes on the country's knights, a beautiful princess, and her brother, a prince, one by one, and rises to the top. Linse showed me the book, and the illustrations subtly resembled mine. It must be harassment. If I ever see her again, I'll give her rotten head a "Gravity" chop. Get ready for it.