Is It Easier If You Give Up? (7)

One of the ways for people to get closer to each other is to find out what that person likes and enjoy it together. This can often lead to positive outcomes, such as matching their hobbies, food preferences, or giving gifts to curry favor.

But now, Ariel is asking about the opposite – the type of person he dislikes. What could this mean?

Reinhardt couldn’t understand at all. Could it be that Ariel really wants their relationship to sour?

Her attitude was too ambiguous to say that was truly the case. To put it bluntly, if she really wanted to make Reinhardt lose his affection, she could just act like the Ariel from before she lost her memories. She herself knows well enough that he disliked the Ariel from that time.

When Ariel lost her memories, Reinhardt had decided to cut ties without hesitation if she returned to her previous self. That thought hasn’t changed even now.

But Ariel didn’t do that. She was sticking to her post-memory loss self while doing somewhat clumsy things.

Reinhardt didn’t yet understand what this meant. But one thing was certain: at this rate, Ariel would never return to her previous self. Even if this current appearance was clumsy and foolish, he much preferred seeing her like this.

“There’s no need to answer.”

“W-Why not?!”

“Think about it yourself.”

Reinhardt unconsciously let out a chuckle at Ariel’s expression, which looked like she had been caught off guard. Was she really serious about asking that? Good heavens, asking her fiancé not about what he likes, but what he dislikes.

‘I can guess the reason, though.’

Ariel is trying to somehow sour their relationship and insert Mari in her place. Once he realized this fact, almost all of her strange actions up until now were explained.

Needless to say, it’s a ridiculous notion. Unless she does something extremely crazy, there won’t be any breaking off of the engagement, and there’s no reason to fill that position with a commoner.

“I see…”

Ariel responded weakly, as if she had no choice. Her visibly dejected appearance naturally evoked sympathy.

But that was only for a moment. She took a bite of the macaron in front of her, and her expression immediately softened. In a way, it’s quite simple… or perhaps it wasn’t that big of a deal if she could be cheered up so easily.

“It’s delicious.”

“…Is that so. I’m glad you like it.”

“Yes, thank you for introducing me to such a nice place.”

Her politely expressing gratitude with a genuinely pleased look showed no trace of the strange topic she had been talking about just moments ago.

‘It seems there’s a need to investigate…’

What could she have seen to make her believe so blindly and act this way? This was something that needed to be looked into, even if it meant using the power of the imperial family. So far, it had ended as minor incidents, but what if she starts taking strange actions for the sake of that future? Then it wouldn’t be something to brush off so lightly.

‘I’ll have to act as soon as I get back.’

Reinhardt reaffirmed his resolve as he watched Ariel happily savoring her dessert in front of him.

After that, Reinhardt and Ariel wandered around various parts of the city. Ariel, who didn’t know what a proper date was, and Reinhardt, who was trying not to express his opinions to accommodate her. Naturally, their schedule was progressing so awkwardly that anyone watching would feel frustrated.

Going to the cafe was good. Although several unavoidable topics came up in between, at least going to the cafe was successful in the end.

But the problem started after that. Because Ariel didn’t know where to go and Reinhardt remained passive, they ended up spending too much time at the cafe. Of course, that time wasn’t entirely unsatisfactory, but still, they had gone out to play, so wasn’t this too much?

In the end, Ariel, sinking into decision paralysis, had no choice but to follow Reinhardt’s lead, tracing the same route as yesterday without saying much.

And so they found themselves back at the department store. Ariel wryly smiled, thinking she never expected to come to a place she had barely visited before two days in a row.

The fortunate thing for Ariel was that this time, Reinhardt didn’t go out of his way to offer to buy her anything.

‘Yesterday’s sudden gift was enough.’

Although she lives so frugally usually, Ariel is still a duke’s daughter. There’s no way she doesn’t have money. In fact, because she rarely spends, she has an enormous amount. Therefore, shopping alone at a department store is nothing.

So Ariel started deliberately looking around the department store and scooping up everything that looked decent to her. Clothes, magical tools, books… she even bought trivial accessories just because they caught her eye.

While this was partly to avoid Reinhardt’s gift-giving, there was actually another plan. Namely, planting an image.

All the things she had been doing for show to Reinhardt so far had failed spectacularly. Except for the plan she would execute tomorrow, everything else was a blank slate.

From the start, she didn’t even know what she should do to make him dislike her, so her future looked bleak. In this situation, Ariel remembered one thing that Reinhardt had clearly stated he disliked in the original story.

[Is living such a wastefully luxurious life enjoyable? It’s an area I can’t understand.]

Living a luxurious life. It was something he said when he saw the original ‘Ariel’ wasting money with her followers at the department store. Considering the value of the necklace he bought yesterday, it was a statement that didn’t make much sense, but for the current Ariel, it was her last hope.

Luxury. Yes. Luxury. If she could impulse buy an incomparable amount of things compared to usual and show that image to make him lose affection, that would be enough.

‘I have to lower it even a little bit more somehow!’

Ariel desperately started picking up items. It was perfect timing as she needed clothes with simple designs that matched her taste, and she still had plenty of money left.

This was a golden opportunity to make up for her previous failure. And the timing was perfect.

‘It seems there’s a sale too, which is just perfect.’

A sale. A sale! What a sweet sound that is. Expressing deep gratitude for the existence of the concept of sales in this world, Ariel began scooping up items without hesitation.

It was a level of waste unimaginable for the usual Ariel. But Ariel didn’t know what Reinhardt, who was watching her, was thinking.

‘She’s more frugal than I thought.’

While she seems to be buying this and that in what she considers luxury, when you actually look, none of the prices are that expensive. Of course, these were items that could be bought cheaper elsewhere, but considering it’s a department store, she’s actually choosing only the cheaper items.

‘And it seems she’s buying everything with the intention to use it.’

Reinhardt dislikes excessive waste. He has no intention of saying anything about spending money itself, but if she were buying things she wouldn’t even use, he wouldn’t have been able to hold back from saying something.

But Ariel was showing a careful examination of each item and making prudent purchases. As he felt at the cafe, Ariel approached everything with sincerity. Showing such an attitude can’t help but create a good impression.

‘Is she doing this intentionally, or is she doing it unconsciously without realizing it…’

If she’s doing this to give him a bad impression, he wants to tell her to stop right away. She’s not deliberately wasting money, just buying things she’ll use, so he has no intention of saying anything.

To put it bluntly, even if you add up all the items Ariel has bought now, it doesn’t even amount to half the value of the necklace Reinhardt bought yesterday. No, there’s no need to go as far as half. It’s not even a tenth. If she’s trying to show a wasteful image with just that much, it can only be said that she has failed.

“Lord Reinhardt.”

“Did you call?”

“Yes. Actually, could we go to the place we went yesterday again?”

The store they went to yesterday. She was talking about the place that sells accessories.

“Is there a problem with the necklace?”

The first thing Reinhardt thought of was the necklace Ariel was still wearing around her neck. Did something happen to it overnight? It would be troublesome if it wasn’t worth the high price he paid for it.

But fortunately, Ariel slowly shook her head, indicating that wasn’t the case.

“I found something I want to buy, is that okay?”

“I don’t mind.”

Is she thinking of buying more accessories? After all, she is a woman too. But thinking of how she was choosing yesterday…

Reinhardt followed Ariel with mixed feelings. He was somewhat looking forward to seeing what she might be thinking.