"Sarah said that you are currently staying with your relatives. Is that true?"
Grace nodded, giving a faint smile. "And she doesn't seem too happy about it."
"She sounded like that when she told me." Bella chuckled and continued, "But isn't the presence of your relatives supposed to be somewhat helpful given your current condition?"
"It is. He has helped me a lot at home," Grace replied.
"Oh, that's good. But, you know... I hope you're not being too nice to him like you usually are. Haha..."
Finding her words sent Grace to fall silent, Bella cleared her throat and continued, "I don't mean to offend or lecture you, Grace. I'm sorry if you feel offended by my words. But we all know that sometimes you're... well... too kind to people, and without realizing it, you end up being taken advantage of by a shameless and selfish person. I'm genuinely worried about that. Maybe I'm influenced by Sarah? Well... I'm not sure,"
"Perhaps Bella is a bit influenced by Sarah. But as an outsider, I would also advise you to be more cautious," added Raymond, Bella's boyfriend, who was in the driver's seat.
Grace pulled a warm smile. "I know... Of course, I won't be offended. I know you all care about me. Thank you, guys."
The blue car stopped in front of an apartment building. Bella and Raymond helped Grace out of the car. After that, she walked into the building alone. In front of her apartment door, Grace stood still. Her face was lowered. Then she took several deep breaths and exhaled long breaths repeatedly. Usually, she never hesitated to enter her own home because she knew no one was inside. She would see her house in the same condition as when she left it. But now, there was someone inside. Her home might be in a different state.
With a stiff movement, Grace knocked on her own apartment door before actually opening it and peeking inside. "Excuse me…"
"Welcome back," a greeting made Grace slightly startled, even though she had anticipated it.
"Oh, h-hi!" Grace replied as she closed the door behind her back.
"Is everything good?" Adro asked, intentionally giving an awkward smile as he observed her facial expression.
"Me? Yes. I'm fine," Grace quickly responded.
Although his forehead creased, Adro decided to nod once. He didn't know if it was just his feelings or if it was true that Grace looked like she had a lot of things on her mind. She seemed to be facing a significant problem; he hoped it wasn't him.
Grace took a deep breath and looked at Adro, who was still standing there watching her. "Have you had lunch?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Adro raised his brow. "I also washed the dishes."
"You did? Thank you so much! Considering you're a prince," Grace giggled.
"Because I'm a prince, I must show my dignity." Adro chuckled, then he continued, "I can't behave like a king in your house. You're not even my people."
"You're very kind," Grace said. Then she turned to the window, which showed the orangish sky. "After dinner, how about we go look for some clothes for you?"
Adro looked down at the clothes he was wearing and chuckled. "I know it might be troubling you, but I honestly need them, so I won't refuse."
"Not at all. Instead, I'm the one who should apologize for letting you wear the same clothes for two days. There are too many things on my mind lately." Grace shook her head slightly with downcast eyes.
"It's not a problem. You're injured, have to go to school, and take care of a stranger who suddenly has to stay in your house. It's not fair if I ask for more from you," Adro replied.
Grace waved her hand in front of her nose. "Hey... You make it sound excessive. I'm okay. It's nothing."
"I hope I can return soon so as not to keep bothering you," Adro muttered, sitting on the same sofa.
"There's no need to say that, Adro. But have you thought of another way to return?" Grace asked.
Adro shook his head slightly. "I regret hardly studying history all this time. If I paid attention, I might have useful knowledge now."
"Sometimes young people like us underestimate history. But we have to realize that the life we live now is the result of that history," Grace said.
"How is the history of the world you live in?" Adro looked at Grace.
"I don't know much—even about the history of my own country. The quotes I just said are what my grandmother told me, and I never cared about them. Now, seeing you, I realize she might be right," Grace chuckled a little.
"Pfft! You're the same!" Adro laughed.
Grace rarely laughed at herself. She rarely joked with others. Sarah was too serious, and Bella was too busy with her private life. She even almost forgot that she enjoyed talking to people. She didn't expect her laughter to arise because of this stranger.
***
"I can't buy anything too expensive for you. I apologize for that," Grace said before pointing to a row of shirts beside her. "You can choose two or three from here."
"How much are these clothes? I brought money, but it seems our money is too different." Adro took out a small pouch from his trouser pocket. "Do gold and silver work here?"
"Go-gold?" Grace stared at the dark red pouch with wide-open eyes.
In one pull, Adro opened the pouch, revealing its shining contents. Grace's eyes bulged as they reflected the gleaming gold and silver coins. Then she blinked and shook her head. She pulled the pouch drawstring close and covered it with both hands.
Adro frowned and looked at Grace. "Is there something wrong?"
Grace shook her head swiftly and directed Adro's hand to keep his pouch back. She moved her fingers, directing Adro to lower his ear. Adro complied by bowing his back and moving his head closer to her.
"They are valuable here, Adro. Very valuable. You might be robbed if someone finds out you're carrying these things in your pocket at night!" Grace whispered.
"But you said the criminality was low in this city."
"It doesn't guarantee us anything," Grace whispered.
"I see," Adro said, straightening his back. "That's good and bad news. But you don't have to worry about robbery since I can defeat them easily."
Then a broad smile broke on Adro's lips. "But doesn't that mean I'm not as helpless as I thought I was?"
Suppressing the turmoil in her heart, Grace nodded awkwardly. "Yeah, you can buy some nice things with those coins. But silver and gold can't be used here just like that. You have to exchange them for money that you can use to buy various things."
"Although advanced, it turns out that the way of transacting in this world is quite troublesome," Adro muttered.
Grace chuckled. "Believe me, it's not. I'll explain it to you at home. For now, you can choose the clothes first so that we can go back quickly."
"All right. I think I've made a choice."Adro picked up a t-shirt and placed it on top of a stack of two other t-shirts hanging from his arm.
After that, they approached a trouser aisle and chose one pair of jeans and one pair of casual pants before going to the fitting room.
"We can't try on the t-shirts, but I'm sure the size is right for you. You can try the trouser only because the possibility of choosing the wrong size is higher." Grace explained when Adro had just opened the fitting stall curtain.
"Do you ... need help?" Grace asked when Adro had stepped inside.
Adro chuckled at Grace's innocence. "I'm not a baby or a fool. I can take off and put on my trousers by myself."