After a few hours of travelling, they had now arrived at the closest town.

As they rode through the street, Rose was surprised at what she saw. With an extremely medieval like atmosphere, the town was in a very lively state. There seemed to be many activities being undertaken by the townsfolk, from washing clothes, to carting goods, with even the children being involved in such tasks.

Sir Romance looked at Rose. “Welcome to Aoser,” he said.

While they continued to be escorted by the men on horses, several of the townsfolk began to depart from what they were doing and gathered to greet them. Just like the rider had called him earlier, Rose heard them refer to Sir Romance as ‘King’.

The level of admiration they showed him somewhat shocked Rose, as she had never seen anyone greeted with such genuine love from so many people. Where she was from, maybe a few celebrities would get such a warm welcome—but even so—this felt completely different. Rose wondered what kind of King he must be to receive such a unanimous reaction.

They were eventually surrounded by dozens of people excited by his arrival. But soon, the crowd began to whisper as they looked at Rose atop the horse.

“Who is that?”

“I never thought I’d see the King travelling with someone again...”

“I’m so jealous.”

Sir Romance got off his horse and helped Rose down. As the people around continued to talk, he was approached by the other rider who also got down.

“After we found your horse, we guessed something might of happened to your carriage,” he said. “We’ve prepared you a new one, and stocked it with your usual requests.”

“I am more than grateful,” Sir Romance responded, with a slight bow.

As his attention then turned to Rose, he lifted and kissed her hand.

“It was a pleasure meeting you Rose,” he said. “You’ll be in good hands here. But be sure to rid yourself of that coat. It’s best to avoid unnecessary attention.”

Just like the first time, she blushed again. “Y-Yes. Thanks for everything you’ve done for me.”

Sir Romance looked at the rider. “Be sure that she’s taken care of.”

The rider nodded.

“Will I ever see you again?” Rose suddenly asked.

But as Sir Romance was about to answer, it appeared something behind her had caught his attention. Whatever it was, it made him lower Rose’s hand and caused him to walk back to his horse.

“I fear that you will,” he whispered.

He quickly got back onto his horse—which was now attached to the new carriage—and prepared to set off across the snowy road.

A girl—who was clearly out of breath—suddenly emerged from the crowd behind Rose, and then moved her to the side.

“Sir Romance! It’s me, Dahlia!” she yelled. “Has he sent me anything!? Anything at all!?”

But with how loud the crowd was, her voice was being drowned out. Appearing to not hear her, he set off and travelled toward the town’s exit.

As both Rose and the girl watched him leave, the crowd’s enthusiasm suddenly disappeared.

 They then dispersed, and did not pay much attention to Rose. The other men on horses rode away too—leaving the area around her mostly empty. The rider who had escorted them to town walked up to Rose and the girl. But his high spirited energy had slowly withered away, and he now bore an exhausted look.

“Dahlia, I’ll leave this girl to you,” he said.

“Why? Who is she?” the girl replied.

“Someone the King helped out.”

He then walked away before she could say anything else.

It wasn’t obvious to Rose at first because of the man’s past enthusiasm, but there were clear heavy bags under his eyes.

With only two of them now standing there, the unknown girl turned to Rose. There was a small window of silence as she stared at her. She passed Rose the same confused look everyone else she’d met had given her.

“Have we met?” she asked.

Rose nervously shook her head, implying no.

There was another window of silence.

“So you rode in with the King?”

Rose nervously nodded.

There was a third window of silence.

“What’s your name?”

“R-Rose...”

The girl squinted as she scanned Rose.

“Okay…Rose. I’m Dahlia. Come. We can talk more at the Inn.”

She then began to walk off, prompting Rose to follow closely behind her.

When they made it to the Inn, there was only a few people inside. Dahlia took Rose to a seat at the counter, where an elderly man who appeared to be the Innkeeper stood. As he cleaned some cups—he looked at Rose—then at Dahlia.

“Who’s this one?” he asked.

“Someone the King helped out,” she said, while taking a seat herself.

The man took a moment to look at Rose. “Seem’s familiar.”

“Maybe she’s come here before,” Dahlia replied.

“Perhaps…well, did you manage to talk to him?” the man asked.

“No, I missed him. Again. And today was my last chance too. I get the feeling he’s been trying to avoid me lately...”

The man then poured a drink into a cup and handed it to Dahlia.

“There just might be a lot on his mind right now,” he said. “The King will eventually come through here again.”

“Yeah, I know. But how long has it been since I’ve received a letter? With those rumours that are going around, I’m worried that something has happened.”

“If anything ever happened to him, I’m sure the King would tell you right away. Protecting the castle might be taking up much of his time, especially since the bandit’s have been moving around a lot more than usual.”

Dahlia looked down. “B-But, it’s just one letter….”

There was a silence. Then, Dahlia drank whatever it was the man had put in her cup.

“How about you?” the man asked, as he faced toward Rose. “What do you drink?”

Rose had just taken off the bandit’s coat she had been wearing and paused for a moment. She didn’t know if he was talking about a normal soft drink or something with alcohol in it. But, the times she had been invited to a club, there was a cheaper drink she always preferred to get.

“Do you have lemonade?” she asked.

“Lemon?” the man said. “Let me check the back.”

As he went into the back room, Dahlia began to twirl her cup around. He then returned with another cup.

“Here. The Yellow Sting we call this.”

Rose took it and had a drink. She immediately shivered from how tangy it was, but still enjoyed the taste.

“That’s why it has sting in it’s name,” Dahlia said.

There was a short silence as she continued to drink.

“So Rose. What town are you from?” Dahlia asked. “Wait, let me guess. Quatim Port right? You definitely feel like a Quatim girl to me.”

“I’m actually not from here,” Rose replied.

Rose proceeded to explain what had happened, and how she had met Sir Romance.

“Really? You don’t remember how you got here?” Dahlia asked. “How’s that even possible?”

“Maybe she hit her head,” the Innkeeper said.

Dahlia began to tap the counter as she pondered. “You said you woke up in a flower field with a large tree right? Did you see a woman there?”

Rose nodded.

Dahlia and the Innkeeper looked at one another. They both then stared at Rose for a moment— eyeing her with a hint of suspicion. Rose began to grow nervous, as she wasn’t sure what the problem was.

“How about we get you something to eat?” the man said, breaking the silence.

“Anything in particular you’d like?” Dahlia asked.

Rose looked around. “Um….I’m not really sure what food you make here.”

“That’s fine. I’ll just make one of my specialities then,” Dahlia replied as she got up. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”

As Dahlia went to the back room, the Innkeeper looked at a man sitting and sleeping near a burning fireplace. He grabbed an ice cube from inside a jar nearby and threw it at the man’s head. Right after, the man snapped out of his sleep and grabbed a small lute from the floor. He then began to play some music.

“That should help with the wait,” the Innkeeper said to Rose.