Betrothed to My Sister's Ex

I laid out the "three items" on the counter table and muttered to myself.

"…Hmm…"

One was the brooch I finished yesterday. It turned out quite well.

Another was the lipstick, also from yesterday, gifted by that mysterious high-spirited young lady.

And the last one… a pair of black-rimmed glasses. They had been entrusted to me by a certain frivolous man, who asked me to fix the warped frames.

"…Ugh…"

I groaned, resting my chin on the table.

The work to straighten the distortion was long done. That frivolous man, despite his flippancy, seemed serious about his job, and said he'd be busy for a while, so he would pick them up in a few days. Several days had already passed. In other words, soon—maybe even today.

"Hmm… huh? Huh?"

I tilted my head over the table while groaning, then quickly raised my face.

"No, it doesn't matter."

I stood up, grabbed the brooch and lipstick, and left Button Shop Norman.

The royal capital Central Market was broadly divided into three sections. Closest to the royal palace was the Artisan District, where I lived including Button Shop Norman. Heading toward the city center was Tool Shop Street, mainly selling daily necessities and men's clothing. There were many food stalls there, which I frequented often. Beyond that was the Ladies’ Street, full of women's clothes and miscellaneous goods, but I had no business there aside from deliveries.

I went to the usual spot in Tool Shop Street, my regular customer's store. Biting into a skewer from the usual food stall, I said as always,

"Hey, Naji Lu, I brought the stuff you ordered. Here you go. By the way, can you buy these from me?"

"What’s with the sudden fast talk? You hiding something?"

The familiar shopkeeper, speaking in the usual Ips merchant dialect, replied. She could speak the kingdom’s language but since she knew I understood Ips language, she chatted casually.

So, I knew it was just a joke—our usual banter. I grinned as usual.

"Ah, it’s nothing important. Just appraise these, okay?"

With a brusque motion, I handed over the freshly made brooch and the lipstick I’d just received.

Naji Lu’s store might look shabby from the outside, but the goods were top-notch. The owner had a keen eye. She frowned as soon as she saw the shell-shaped item, opened it, and chuckled wryly.

"Arthur, where on earth did you get something like this… This is quite the treasure."

"It was a gift from a big customer. So it’s valuable, huh?"

"This isn’t something you get as a tip. What noble lord gave you this? Even if I bought it, my funds would be empty. I wouldn’t have change left."

"If I sell it, I’ll get the money back."

"That won’t sell. Customers who can buy this don’t come through this market. Besides, this is a men’s shop."

She waved her hands and pushed it back. I was at a loss but tried to press it on Naji Lu once more.

"You can underprice it if you want, just take it… I'll even give it to you as a present if you like."

Her eyebrows twitched at my words. Those deep-set green eyes gleamed sharply. Normally a friendly lady, now she looked serious.

"W-what?"

Startled, I stepped back, but my hand holding the lipstick was grabbed. Naji Lu whispered in a low voice,

"Then, Arthur, you should try using it once. That way you can sell it as secondhand at a low price."

"Huh!?"

What kind of joke was that—no, Naji Lu wasn’t smiling. She leaned forward and looked under my hat at my face.

"Come on, it’s fine to go out like that once in a while. If you want, I’ll lend you our cosmetics and women's clothes."

"Ah… d-don’t be silly! I’m a man, I don’t want to play pervert games!"

I brushed her hand away and bolted.

I ran at full speed through the market and returned to the workshop.

Right in front of me on the counter was the black-rimmed glasses. I was so furious that I grabbed them tightly.

"—Because of this damn thing…!"

It was here, and because of it—

I kept thinking about when that person would come to pick it up, whether today or tomorrow—!

The urge to crush them battled inside me for several seconds.