Conquering His Cold Heart
Chapter 480 - 480: Bunny Candies

[A few hours earlier in Silver Keep]

The carriage slowed down and stopped at the entrance of the town.

Anastasia got out of the carriage and looked at the town in front of her.

'It's been quite a while since I last came here,' she thought back to the time when she was rushed to this town by Caspian. It wasn't really a pleasant memory. She had fallen sick and the only place she visited was the doctor's clinic. To add to that, it was night time and she didn't get to see around much.

'I haven't really explored much, have I?' She took in a deep breath as her sad pair of eyes darted around.

When her sworn guards stood behind her, she slowly began to walk forward.

Now that she was walking down the lively town, she felt a sense of warmth running down her body. Maybe it was the warm sunlight that graced the land today, maybe it was the humans around her, or maybe the laughter and cheerful chatter that felt like music to her ears.

She didn't feel as gloomy as she did until a while ago.

"Milady, would you like to buy anything?"

Anastasia's attention was suddenly grabbed by the voice of a polite old lady who had set up a small stand on the road.

The stand sold a variety of inexpensive candies that the children of the town liked to buy as snacks.

Anastasia was intrigued by the attractive shapes and colorful nature of those candies. She had never tried anything like that before.

So, she pointed at the candy that looked like a bunny and asked the old lady, "Can I have one of those, please?"

"Here." The lady gave a kind smile and handed the candy to Anastasia.

Anastasia took the candy in her left hand and then slipped her right hand inside her tie-on pocket that sat underneath her gown.

She fished a coin from her pocket and handed it to the old lady. "Thank you for the candy."

The old lady, however, looked reluctant to take the coin. "The candy only costs a bronze coin. I don't have enough coins to return them to you."

"Oh, umm… I don't think I have a bronze coin." Anastasia pressed her lips into a thin line and knitted her brows. She never had to buy anything before, so she didn't know what to do next. She just kept on standing there while looking at the delicious candy.

John and Isaac were busy keeping their eyes on each and every people around them. They failed to notice their Queen's dilemma.

The old lady looked at the confused young woman and said with a smile, "No worries. You can have the candy. Think of it as a gift from me."

"Oh, no…" Anastasia shook her head. She didn't want to take things for free. "It alri–" She was about to hand the candy back to the lady when a small kid suddenly bumped into her.

"Oi, kid, watch where you're going!" John shouted at that boy.

"Sorry!" The kid ran away without even looking back.

Soon after, a few more children ran after that kid as if they were chasing him.

Anastasia looked at that group of small children who ran past her. They looked free of all the worries and problems. She even envied them a little because she never got to experience that kind of freedom in her whole life.

Always being bound to the huge castles, whether it was in Orsenia or Sorvando, was very lonely.

She pursed her lips and thought to herself, 'Well… maybe in the next life… if I am born into a normal human family.'

Anastasia heaved a sigh and then asked the old lady, "Can you give me six more of these candies please?"

"Of course." The old lady handed Anastasia six more of those bunny candies.

Anastasia then handed the gold coin that she was holding.

"It's still more…" The old lady didn't hold out her hand to take the coin.

So, Anastasia took her hand and said while placing the coin, "Please keep it. I wouldn't want you to make a loss."

"Ah! Thank you, young lady." The old lady laughed merrily and then threw in one extra candy because Anastasia was kind to her. "Have a good day, dear."

Anastasia smiled ear to ear and nodded. "You too. Have a good day."

After bidding goodbye to the old lady, Anastasia looked in the direction where the kids had run earlier. The kids were laughing and shouting not too far away from the candy stand.

Anastasia went to greet those kids. After chatting with them for a bit, she cheerfully asked them, "Do you all want to have candy?" She shook the candies before them.

However, unlike what she had expected, the children who were smiling and talking to her until now suddenly looked wary of her.

"My mom said not to take candies from strangers," one of the kids mumbled.

"Oh, is that so?" Anastasia couldn't help but giggle at their innocence. "Your parents taught you well. You shouldn't be taking candies from strangers."

She then crouched down to their level and said in a whisper, "But do you all want to know a secret?"

The kids looked curious and came closer to her once again.

Anastasia smiled and whispered again, "I am the Queen of this Kingdom. So, that doesn't make me a stranger to you all, does it?"

The kids looked at one another. It looked like Anastasia's persuasion was working.

After a while, a little girl took the initiative to hold out her hand in front of Anastasia. "I like that bunny candy. It's so chewy and sweet."

"Aww…" Anastasia's heart melted when she saw that girl's puppy eyes and heard her talk in the sweetest voice. "Here. You can have one."

Soon, the other kids also followed suit.

Anastasia was finally left with a single candy which she unwrapped right on the spot. Then she followed the kids' example and bit the bunny ears one after another.

After finishing the candy and saying goodbye to her little friends, Anastasia resumed walking down the road, looking at the variety of items on display, buying everything that caught her eye, and enjoying the walk.

"Your Majesty?" John looked at the Queen over the heap of bags and boxes that he was holding in his arms and asked, "Shall we head back to the castle now?"

"Uh…" Anastasia looked somewhat guilty because though she had bought a lot of items, she hadn't found anything special that could possibly be considered the ultimate gift for Caspian. "Let's look around for some more."

John couldn't deny her because she looked happy right now.

Anastasia looked at the pile of bags that were almost covering John's eyes now and asked awkwardly, "Is it heavy? I'm sorry I couldn't decide on what to get and ended up buying a lot of things."

"It's alright, Your Majesty," John mumbled.

The goods weren't heavy but it sure was obscuring his view. And if someone were to attack the Queen, his reaction time would be delayed. Thinking that, John said to the Queen, "I think I will keep these in the carriage and come back."

"Okay. That sounds good." Anastasia felt somewhat relieved because her guards weren't forcing her to go back yet.

John looked at Isaac, who also had a few items in his hand, and asked, "Give those to me."

Isaac stacked everything on the pile of things that John was holding. And he whispered to John so that he wouldn't alarm the Queen, "Be back soon. And make sure that there is no one suspicious lurking around. There's a chance that we were followed."

John nodded and said before running towards the entrance of the town, "I got it. Make sure that you don't leave Her Majesty's side even for a moment."