Father spoke towards the family’s Steward, who bore a smile that did not reveal his emotions to his face.
“While I do appreciate that you have so much trust in me, I do feel uncomfortable and worried.”
He said that, but his snake-like smile made his words hard to believe. However, he was someone that Father trusts.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about, Your Highness. How are you so…”
In the end, Esen just sighed and accepted his fate. He bowed.
“I wish you a safe journey ahead, Your Highness.”
While they were talking Louis and I were arguing in the carriage.
“That’s too much!”
I said, complaining about all the layers Louis wrapped me with.
“We can’t have you catch a cold.”
Louis huffed while I glared at him incredulously.
“It’s still summer.”
“The wind get’s cold at night. This is your first time traveling, no? You mustn't get sick!”
“I’m fine, you worry too much.”
“No, you’re not.”
Louis said, making me sigh. In the first place, this wasn’t an argument that I could win against. I can’t deny that I get sick easily, however I do still think that Louis worries a bit too much.
“It’s going to be a long journey. Be sure to speak if you find anything uncomfortable okay?”
“Okay, okay.”
Louis said for the fifth time today. I nodded impatiently.
“We’ll be moving. Children, are you ready?”
Father asked as he embarked the carriage.
Soon, the coaches got the horses to begin moving. It was the beginning of our week-long journey as we headed to the Imperial Capital.
The travel has been peaceful, except for the fact that we got delayed for another week to arrive at our destination. Reason being, we have to stop by to take a rest more often than we had expected. Of course, because of me.
We had stopped by one of the villages along the road, about mid-way between Aris and the Imperial Capital.
“Cena, we’re here, are you alright?”
Louis asked in worry, as I shook my sleepy and aching head, trying to get out of my stupor.
“Hmmn…”
“Chris, arrange our accommodations.”
Father spoke which Chris replied from outside the carriage.
“Already done, Your Highness.”
“Good. Son, make sure to cover your face, and make sure to stick close to me.”
“Alright.”
Father put on a hood on me to hide my face and nestled me safely in his arms. Only when Louis was done putting on a hood as well, did the carriage door finally open.
“I reserved your usual room, Your Highness.”
The owner of the inn said with a deep bow and led the way. While the village might be small, they thrive in tourism as it’s located in the middle of the main road that many people often use to go between the Imperial Capital and Aris. As such, the village is used to welcoming people, from humble to esteemed, and our Father was a regular at this inn as he stopped by here often.
“We will deliver your meal to your room once it’s ready. Call me if you need anything else, Your Highness.”
“Very well, you may leave.”
“Thank you, Your Highness. Please enjoy your stay.”
Only when the footsteps of the owner completely disappeared did Louis take off his hood and speak.
“Cena, are you okay?”
“I’m alright. Just tired.”
I replied. Nodding off as I fought the urge to sleep.
“Get some rest, my child. We’ll continue our way after a couple days.”
“Okay.”
I only woke up in the evening the next day.
“Did Dad go out?”
I asked Louis.
“Yeah. He had some business to take care of. The village must’ve run into some issues. Are you feeling better now?”
“Yup. All that sleep did its job.”
“Good. But it’s best if you rest some more.”
“I will, mother.”
“Hey!”
I giggled as I got off the bed.
“I thought I just told you to rest.”
Louis scolded me but I walked towards him regardless and sat by his side.
“I am resting. Besides, I just woke up so I can’t possibly sleep again. And I’m hungry.”
Since I slept before having a meal last night, and only woke up in the evening, I missed 3 meals already, causing me to be deeply famished when I woke up.
“Ahh right…”
“I will ask them to prepare a simple meal, Your Highness.”
“Alright.”
Hans said with a bow before leaving the room.
“Hmm, while we wait, aren’t you bored sitting here all day? Wanna play?”
I offered clapping excitedly as I thought of what to do.
“For someone who just woke up, you sure are energetic. But alright.”
“Hehe! Then, let’s play chess!”
We played chess. Louis relented the white pieces to me and he played the black. It was a difficult game as the two of us tried our best to read each other’s minds, predicting our moves. It was a game where there was no definite side who was winning and losing. We spent our time idly like that, until something unexpected happened.
-Bam!
“Ahh shit, why is the bastard Archduke here of all places?”
Someone suddenly barged in from the window. Louis acted immediately and stood in front of me defensively and glared at the intruder, questioning him.
“Who are you?”
“Hmm? There’s someone here? Why am I so unlucky?”
The intruder grumbled under his breath when he noticed us. But when he got a closer look, his eyes widened from behind his mask.
“...White hair and purple eyes? Ha! Aren’t you the two of you Erlain’s treasures?”
It was weird hearing someone call me outside my family a treasure. It implied that this man that stood arrogantly in front of us isn’t someone from the Holy Empire or a believer of the Goddess. Perhaps he was a mage from Fanzheya.
Recovering from his shock, he laughed. Smirking, he opened his mouth.
“Well well, perhaps I’m not so unlucky after all.”
With a dramatic bow, he looked at us with interest.
“It’s my honor to meet you two. I never expected to meet such esteemed individuals in a lowly city like this. Truly, the world is full of surprises!”
Yet instead of replying to him, Louis only pointed a sword made purely of Ether – since there’s no material sword near us at the moment – at the man. He didn’t feel intimidated by it, however. Instead, his eyes gleamed in wonder.
“Ah…to form an object solely with Mana…I’ve seen Holy Knights extend the length of their sword with Mana, but never make an entire sword out of it. The amount of skill and Mana needed to do such a thing…How interesting!”
The two of us flinched and glanced at each other, hearing him cackle so loudly. After coughing a couple times as he caught his breath, he looked at us again and spoke.
“While I want to play with you more, I’m afraid we can’t. There’s a very scary man hunting me down right now, you see? Well, he probably wouldn’t kill me, but I’d rather not have my identity exposed here. Too bad~”
He turned his back and was about to jump off the window before he addressed us once again for the last time.
“Ah. But I wanna pay him a bit for ruining my plans. Scare him a little. You two are precious to him, no?”
“You!”
With a smirk, he lifted his hand, an arrogant smirk still on his face.
“Well then. Goodbye! See you later~!”
He snapped his hand and a magic circle appeared where we stood immediately and activated too fast for the two of us to react.
A bright light blinded our eyes. When we opened them again, what we found wasn’t our room at the inn, but in a dark alley within the village. In the distance we could see the main street bustling with activity and bright lights. It seems like a night market.
“Ha! That…that-that! Ugly! Annoying! Weird! Man!”
Louis shouted in anger, not knowing how to curse.
“Call him a shitty bastard next time.”
I said, causing Louis to look at me in shock, his eyes wide as saucers.
“Isn’t that too vulgar? Where did you learn that? Hey, Cena?”
Not paying attention to him, I assessed our current situation. That man probably meant it as a harmless joke. He teleported us to another place not too far from our previous location, most likely to make our Father panic when he found that we’re no longer in our room.
However, it wasn’t such a simple situation for us as he thought. The alley he sent us too was dark, but not far from the night market. Still, it’s not a place where we would want to stay too long as it’s still dangerous. But the night market isn’t exactly a safe place for us to go to either, in fact, it’s more dangerous, leaving us cornered and stuck without being able to do anything.
“What should we do?”
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