Beyond the square frame, the emerald-colored eyes dimmed.

‘Are you embarrassed by my sharp question?’

But it was for a mere moment. He laughed weakly.

“I am just a regular customer.”

His pale face was as calm as ever.

“The reason I found out that the lady likes apples is.. because the bakery is full of apples.”

“.....”

“Apple tart, apple crème br?lée, the jam bread is also only made with apple jam, and the apple pie is baked every week. I couldn’t help but know.”

“....!”

I became a little embarrassed.

I was kind of preoccupied with what I liked. Like a lighthouse.

“The rest was just coincidence. I’m glad that it was perfect for the lady’s taste, and I feel like I was responsible for a good meal.”

He put a hand on his chest and laughed. With a heartfelt expression of joy

Well, it couldn’t have been a more perfect explanation. It was understandable enough.

Besides, he was very calm.

Usually, he blushed and panicked easily, so since he kept that calmness, he should be really innocent, yes?

If it was acting, then he’s not a human, but a fiery fox, right?

‘He helped me, but I’m suspecting him.’

—How ungrateful of me.

I smiled and apologized quickly.

“Sorry. I was oversensitive, right? Haha, please understand. This happens sometimes.”

Frankly, if you live as a person on the run for over 10 years, you would be suspicious of even the people living in the house next door.

At first, I was even suspicious of Noah, who told me everything.

But no matter who I doubted for over ten years—

‘They were all good people. The people of Bayonaire’s.’

To the point I seemed ridiculous when I got suspicious.

‘Honestly, I’ve never seen anyone chasing after me. Maybe he’s given up now?’

It was one of the two. Either the chaser was not using as much power as expected, or the phantom thief boy of Circe was able to erase the trail well.

Considering Gerard’s personality, the latter was more likely.

Anyway.

If he was planning to kidnap me, it would be weird to go, ‘Kekeke, I’ll give you your favorite apple’ or ‘Before kidnapping, I’ll feed you a lot of lemon ice cream and delicious steak..!’

Let’s not needlessly doubt a good person.

Then he said,

“I totally understand, lady.”

“.....”

“I might have looked suspicious. Ever since I was little, it was like that.”

With his head bowed, he continued his speech with a slightly sorrowful expression on his face.

“I wasn’t particularly likable. Wherever I went, I was on the outside.. I wasn’t popular.”

His handsome face was like that of an innocent stag immersed in the depths of the water.

His ears were red as if he was making a shameful and embarrassing confession.

It was a sad face.

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Rustle, rustle—

He quietly arranged the groceries in a state of low spirits.

I raised my eyebrows.

‘He looked like that, but he wasn’t popular?’

‘Is that scientifically possible? Most people have eyes, Mister.’

Still, to say that he was an unlikeable person..

I felt sorry and pity for him.

‘I doubted him for no reason and made it even worse.’

The figure of him, who quietly cleaned up, seemed to overlap with a sad golden retriever who had been deprived of snacks, and I was always weak to people with that kind of atmosphere.

It’s been like that since I was very young.

In the end, I put down the eggs I was packing away and said,

“Mr. Kine seems like a really nice person!”

“.....”

“You make people feel comfortable. You are so gentle.”

“..Is that so.”

“Yes. And when you speak, your accent is really charming and nice.”

Rustle, rustle—

He continued to organize things without much reaction, but upon closer inspection, the back of his neck was absolutely red.

He was feeling very shy.

‘Fufu, it’s cute.’

I thought I should get closer to him. If we get close, he might come to buy bread more often.

“Hey, how long are you going to call me ‘lady’?”

‘Lady’ was an honorable title, and you would not be called that unless you were a regular noble.

Strictly speaking, I was not even a noble, so it’s an undeserved title for me. It’s burdensome to listen to.

“I’m not a lady.”

“Then.. what should I call you?”

“You can call me Annette.”

“How dare I.”

“Or, people usually call me ‘bakery owner’ or ‘boss’ or something like that

“.....”

“Call me comfortably.”

He hesitated a little, then lowered his fine eyelashes over his square-rimmed glasses and parted his lips carefully to call me.

“....Owner, Miss.”

“....?!”

Badump.

‘If you don’t use the prefix of ‘bakery’ before the title ‘owner’, I’ll be very misunderstood, Mr. Kine!’

Why omit the most important word?

I think he thought it was disrespectful to call me ‘owner’, so he added the title of ‘miss’.

‘You could’ve just used ‘boss’.’

With his innocent handsome face blushing to the fullest, he jutted his lips again.

“Owner.”

It sounds weird.

But I couldn’t bring myself to point it out.

This was because he looked serious as if he would give his ‘body and soul’ generously, and he was already extremely shy, so I thought he would be very disappointed if I pointed it out.

“..The nickname, do you mind?”

I replied with an expression that was as if I had reached nirvana.

(TL/N: or in simpler terms, she gave up.)

“Yes, it’s nice.”

━━━━???━━━━

Two days later.

It was when the sign of <Little Bakery> was changed to ‘Closed’ after business as usual.

“Annette, are you closed for the day?”

“Oh, Mr. Beaverando! What brings you here?”

A man who resembled a beaver, and somehow even his name was Beaverando, came to me.

He was carrying a thick document.

It was probably an official document dispatched by the lord to Beaverando, who was taking care of the entire Bayonaire island.

It was a small island and a small village.

“Ah, nothing much, just this ‘personal information booklet’.”

“..Personal information?”

‘We have to write it down, this remote little island?’

The Personal Information Department, uhm, was kind of like resident registration.

‘The Fris Empire is really trying to scrap taxes.’

It must have been ordered by the imperial family, not the lord. I saw it in the newspaper a while ago.

In order to more clearly check the safety of the people of the Empire, it’s said that they would create a personal information book.

‘You’re just trying to get money.’

The El Dorado Empire does not collect taxes on small territories ruled by these minor nobles.

As it’s harder to make ends meet in the rural area.

However, it seemed that it had been firmly established.

‘Cruel bastards. Damn it.’

“Can you sign here, Annette?”

“Yes, Mr. Beaverando.”

It was not Mr. Beaverando’s fault.

I smiled and signed the personal information booklet with the name ‘Annette’, the size of the bakery, and the details of the house.

Mr. Beverlando looked up at <Little Bakery> and asked,

“The first floor is a bakery, and the second floor is where Annette lives.. Who lives on the third floor?”

“It’s just an empty room. I’m using it as a warehouse, Mr. Beaverando.”

“Oh, that’s right. Then that red-haired man lives somewhere else?”

“Yes, he is a commuter employee.”

‘You can’t increase taxes.’

In fact, Mr. Um lives nowhere.

If I have to say where he lives.. In my mind?

‘We don’t live together anyway.’

I, the bakery owner, thought about tax-reduction for self-employed people, and as I walked into the bakery, I called out,

“Wait!”

Then, when I came out, both my hands were full of warm bread.

“Eat this, Mr. Beaverando.”

“..Oh, can I get this free bread? I am an honest official.”

Even as he said that, Mr. Beaverando, already possessed by the sweet smell, was swallowing his saliva.

I smiled, eyes curving.

“It’s just bread, yes?”

“Thank you Annette, I’ll eat it!”

“Yes~”

I thought as I waved to Mr. Beaverando.

‘You received something, so write a small estimate of sales.’

Huhu, the more delicious the bread, the greater the sense of fanaticism. And the bread in <Little Bakery> was very delicious.

I shrugged, rubbed my nose and laughed insidiously.

It was a great bribe from the bread lover.

By the way.

“..I signed something for the Personal Information Department, will I be safe?”

After all, I am being chased.

It was good to leave as few traces as possible.

However, if I thought about it, the assumption that Gerard would use the Personal Information Department of the Fris Empire to find me was absurd.

First of all, the Personal Information Department, which recorded the total number of the people of the Empire, was a first-class secret of the Fris imperial family.

It meant that it would never be released until the Fris Empire was destroyed.

It was equal to the probability that an Argentine official on the other side of the world would suddenly get all of Korea’s resident registration information.

‘Besides, there’s no reason to ask for it in the first place.’

‘Gerard, you don’t even know I’m here, do you?’

Since this place was in a novel, it had its own probability.

‘Unless you’re an obsessive maniac, you won’t succeed in doing such crazy things. Such as obtaining a foreign country’s personal information book.’

“Uhh, I’m a little sensitive these days—”

I was being sensitive, right?

I tilted my head and entered the bakery.

Ame:?AHAHAHAHA Annette, you’re really smart, and your thinking is really logical. But you’re in a novel and there’s this thing called ‘plot’ sooooo you’re #Perfectly_Wrong

I just know some of you, including my dear pr Tassie, will go re-read the first chapter and keep an eye out for the words ‘Fris Empire’ HAHAHAHA am I right??!!

Tassie:?This girl... Sometimes, I’m like Wow, you’re really smart and other times I’m like, STOP RAISING THE FLAGS YOURSELF WOMAN!!!!! On another note, IT’S BEEN 6393638393 DAYS SINCE IVE SEEN MY BB SISLIN!!!!!! WHERE ARE YOU MY LOVE!!!

Not ame fully on outing me lol