Chapter Two: Thank You For The Inn
Estelle
"This is so strange," I mumbled to myself as I walked together with this man I'd bumped into minutes ago.
"You are strange," he said.
"Keep your opinion to yourself."
"Yes— wait, who are you to say that to me? And by the way, mind if you stop following me?" he said as he stopped walking. Since I was behind him, I almost hit his back once again but luckily, this time, I was fast enough to avoid it.
"You were the one who dragged me," I replied and blankly stared at his raged phase. It would've been best if I brought my phone with me. His expression is worth a space in my gallery. If I captured it and showed it to Sophie, she would surely die laughing.
"It was reflex!" He's so red now. "And you have my permission to go now. You can now stay out of my sight." I was taken aback.
Permission? Who does he think he is?
I clenched my fist but before I landed it on his face, I took a deep breath and smiled at him. Thinking back, this day I have accumulated a lot of deep breaths. A lot of strange things keep pushing me to my limit. Is this my life challenge?
"No. I decided that I would pay my debt to you which is 76 rias. Is that right? I don't like owing someone," I firmly said as our eyes both met each other but seconds later, he's the one who broke off the eye contact and cleared his throat.
"As you wish. So lady, how will you be able to pay your debt?"
I roamed my eyes around. I realized that we are at the center of a market. If I'm not mistaken, this is some kind of a night market. It was all chaotic with all the people chattering: men from inns were drinking, ladies were dancing, street musicians, sellers trying to sell something, and kids playing... yet one thing summarizes and comes to my mind. This place has much potential for me to earn money and cover my debt!
"Hmm, but how should I start?" I mumbled to myself.
"Come on," he said and started dragging me. See? He's the one who's dragging me as long as he likes.
I could not stop my mouth from opening so wide when we stopped at a stall tent that sells clothes. After a few minutes of walking, he was finally satisfied when he saw a much bigger tent. The other ones that we checked out don't have any dressing rooms at all and are too small that only the seller can fit inside. He was so picky! They're all the same dress from this world anyway, what's the big deal?
As I scan the stall tent, I can't help but be amazed. Wow, the clothes to choose from here are like something you can wear at the Ren Faire and much classier than the clothes displayed earlier from the smaller stalls. Speaking of which, most of them wear these kinds of clothes outside though this one's fabric seems more sturdy than the others. Imagine how the seller eyed me from bottom to top when she saw me in my pajamas.
"Choose something. Your clothes are rather... strange," he said as he pushed me inside.
"Will the bill be added to my list of debt?" I asked while looking for some clothes. He didn't answer me but just kept staring at my clothes. Creepy.
"Fine, I'll take this." Without much thought, I just picked any clothes from the rack.
"That fast?!" Now, he is looking at me as if I won a world record for being the first lady in this world who has done shopping in less than a minute. When I looked at the lady beside me, who was the keeper of the stall, her eyes were also in shock.
"W-Why?" I said confused and looked at the clothing that I picked. It was just a simple white dress made from linen with a brown corset. Nothing fancy.
"Are you sure, madam? That is just your first pick. There are a lot of options here that would look good on you. Don't you want to try them?" the lady asked as if she was nervous.
"Y-Yeah, yeah. I agree with the lady," he said but I just frowned. All of the dresses here look fancy in my eyes since there were no designs like this in my world and it looks just similar to the other ones. Plus, I have a debt to settle so the simpler the design, the cheaper the price.
"No, I want this," I firmly said and the two of them couldn't do anything and the man beside me just bought it. After that, I went somewhere private to change my clothes. Good thing, the lady is kind enough to lend me a fabric to where I can wrap my pajamas.
"Don't you have any plastic bags?" I asked. When I looked at them, both gave me that confused look, "You know, so I can carry this with ease?"
"P-Plastic bag, my lady? What is that?" she asked with confused eyes as if it was the strangest thing she heard today.
"Yeah, what plastic bag?" he also asked confused.
Oh? Plastic bags are not a thing here? So, it's just the fabric?
"Haha, that's right. No plastic bags. Plastic bags are bad for the ecosystem. Good for this world, wohoo!" I said as I faked my laugh and dragged away this man while struggling to bring my pajamas which are wrapped around the fabric.
"Give me that," he said as he snatched away my bag and pajamas. Carefully, he tied some knot or something on it which created a bag, and put my pajamas there. Woah, how did he do that? That's so handy. It was so fast that I wasn't able to get it.
"This is how you do it. It isn't really necessary to tie some knot on it but I think it would be easier for you to carry since I think you're not accustomed to this kind of pouch. Now that I think of it, are you perhaps of nobility from another continent?"
"Ha?"
"Ha?" he blankly asked back. I almost burst out laughing. Do I look like someone who owns a castle? With those pajamas I wore earlier? Is he dead serious?
Wait, but this is a different world so his meeting me is as confusing as I dwell in this world. Let's handle this situation like a serious adult. Don't laugh at both of our stupidity!
"I'm not! I'm just a normal citizen of this country, haha. Ah, what's your name? I'm Carla Estelle Chavez," I changed the topic and handed my right hand expecting a shake. He tilts his head to the right as if he's questioning what I am trying to do by reaching out my hand like that.
Is hand shaking not a thing in here, too? Also, good heavens. Why did I also blurt out my full name like that? Nervous? I forced a smile and contemplated. If I am in a reality show right now, for sure I will be the laughing stock and clown of the show.
But before I could completely pull out my hand out of embarrassment, he suddenly grabbed it and the next thing I knew, I felt a hot sensation on my cheeks. My eyes also widened to what he did. He kissed the back of my hand!
"Sorry for the late introduction, my lady. You can call me Azval," he politely said and directly looked into my eyes.
I already noticed this before but his eyes are very beautiful. No, beautiful cannot weigh the eyes that I am seeing right now. It was full of passion and hope. A dream. He wants to fulfill something and it can be seen in his eyes.
I was about to feel some butterflies in my stomach when suddenly he fixed his posture so proudly and gave me a smirk.
"Heh, so you really are a princess or a lady heir from somewhere, huh? You're still trying to hide it and you're bad at lying. Is this your first time sneaking out?" He put his right hand on his chin and started to rub it as if he was now scanning, not just my appearance, but my whole soul's existence.
"I told you. I'm not—"
"Even from neighboring countries— no, the whole world. Only those in nobility can have surnames. Carla Estelle Chavez, you say? House Chavez, hmmm? I wonder what continent is that from." He leaned closer to my left ear. "Unless you're saying that the teacher who taught me about this fact is insane enough to misinform me about this keen detail."
I let out a deep sigh. I think that is just the fact in this world and I realized that it would be troublesome and a waste of time to argue. I am not from here anyway and I'm just learning my things.
"Fine. Think what works for you."
"Hah, see! I'm right. I'm so smart." With that, I can't help but roll my eyes. I noticed it earlier but he seems to be full of himself. As if things go on his way and if not, he'll do anything to still make that he'll get the last laugh. He seems to be that kind of creep.
As we were walking towards the crowd, I was surprised when he suddenly grabbed my hand and started running. Later on, I just found myself outside an establishment. There's an 'inn' sign on the top so this is somewhere I can rest.
He's something, huh? Just casually dragging me and not telling me where we are off to. I will just suddenly find myself in front of a door of something.
"This is where you will be staying."
As soon as we entered the place, the smell of alcohol and the loud chatters of big drunk men being served with alcohol by some women welcomed us. Later on, a small chubby woman in her mid-50s approached us and hugged Azval.
"Haha, Azval! My favorite mercenary. It's been a while since I saw you. How many months has it been? Will you rent a room tonight?" she jokingly said and patted his shoulders as soon as the both of them got loose from the embrace.
Hmm, so he's a mercenary? I wonder if he's the good or bad one. He got tons of money. He must have killed a lot.
"It's been quite a while indeed. Yes, I'll be renting a room but not for me, but for her." He grabbed my left arm and presented me in front of the woman. As soon as the both of us locked us, my heart started to feel a pang.
"N-Nana?" I blurted out while keeping my tears from flowing down. I was just thinking about her earlier before going to sleep. The woman in front of me looked at me in confusion but still gave me a warm smile.
"Oh dear but Nana is not my name. I'm Cecil, the innkeeper."
"Sorry you look just like someone I know," I said as I wiped my tears which were about to fall. That was so emotional of me. I felt Azval's hand sliding up and down on my back as if he was trying to comfort me.
Well, it's not helping! I feel like weeping more.
"This is her first time running away from home, maybe that's why she's emotional and everyone she sees might look like someone. She's just nervous—" he wasn't able to finish what he was still about to say when I hit him in his right arm as hard as I could.
He was shocked at what I did but he didn't even react like he was in pain. In this case, I was the one whose hands were now aching. Just what is his body made of? Stone?!
But good thing he ran his mouth like that because, at a second, I would've believed that he was genuinely concerned about me. He's not. He just wants his money back for sure even though earlier he seems to not care about it.
"Oh my, such a feisty couple."
"We're not!" both of us screamed but Cecil just laughed.
"All right, all right. You two follow me. The rooms are upstairs," she said and started walking. Even her back looks like Nana's.
No Estelle, they are different people. She only got Nana's face but their hair color and eyes are different. The woman in front of me has light wavy gray hair and deep green eyes while Nana has black hair with strands of gray hair due to aging and deep brown eyes. Yes, this is a different world.
But what if in this world, Nana is still alive and she is her?
I shook off my head to diminish those thoughts. Here I am again overanalyzing things that would hurt me. Such as lousy habits.
"Sadly Cecil, I need to go now. You can just keep her rent on my tab as of now," Azval said but this time, he doesn't seem so calm. It's like he's in really a hurry.
"Alright dear, she's in good hands," Cecil said with a smile and reached my head to pat it. Azval smiled back and turned his back to walk away but before he left through the inn door, I approached him and grabbed his left hand,
"Thank you for the inn," I mouthed looking down on his feet. I feel him leaning down on my left ear and whispered,
"Don't. Run." This— As if I have somewhere I can run to!
When Azval already left, Cecil guided me to where my room was. While talking with her and discussing my stay, I really can't shake off the thoughts of her being my Nana. It's like I'm being taken her of my Nana again.
"Alright, dear. I should leave you now so you can get some rest. If you need anything, I'm just below."
"Ah, before you go. I just wanna ask what time is it already?" I asked out of curiosity since when I roamed my eyes around, I didn't see any clock. It was just a simple room made of sturdy wood and the furniture only consisted of a small table, a bed, a vanity, and a small cabinet.
"It's around 4 in the morning already dear." Ahh, that's why Azval was in a hurry. It's already morning.
"Thank you so much." As I said that she warmly smiled while slowly closing the door of the room. I, on the other hand, lay on the bed and felt its comfiness.
A loud noise from my alarm clock suddenly woke me up in my deep sleep. While rubbing my eyes, I reached out for my phone to see any notifications I had received. While scrolling, I almost threw my phone when a realization hit me. The princess-like bedroom, the beige ceiling, my closets, my vanity, and obviously even my cellphone. I'm in my room.
I let out a deep sigh. It was as if I felt sad to realize the reality.
Last night, it was just a dream. Huh?
To see, I removed my blanket and I was still wearing my favorite pajamas. I rolled it up and I didn't even see any bruises that I got from running over Azval. Even the hand that I used to slap Azval that is as red as a tomato as I remembered and it was tingling that time, it was normal. As if nothing happened.
"Hah, I'm going insane," I said to myself and slam myself to the bed looking at that familiar beige ceiling. Well, at least I got to see Nana— or even though she's not the real Nana, I got to experience the same warmth again. Thank you for the inn, Azval.
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