Ch#112
The carriage was bustling for a simple reason.
"Whoa whoa whoa? Kiddo! Can't you hold the reins straight?"
"Tie! Be careful! Whoa, Raoul! Tie's bag is falling!"
"Waaah, the horse is going so fast!"
Because at this moment, none other than Tie was holding the reins.
She had Raoul's assistance from behind, but Astie was literally shaking like a straw on horseback.
Nordics, watching from inside the carriage, clicked his tongue.
"Looks really unsteady."
Veil shot Basto a glare, apparently sharing the sentiment.
"I told you, what can't be done can't be done. Why put the kiddo on the horse, huh?!"
Basto clamped his mouth shut, looking troubled.
Then he hesitated before replying.
"What do you do when she nags nonstop for three days straight? Sitting on the coachman's seat was her wish, and you can't just ignore it forever."
"Why can't you ignore it? You gonna give in to every whine? It's because you keep spoiling her that the kiddo acts up like this!"
Basto shut his mouth tight.
And rightly so—arguing with Veil over this got him nowhere.
Basto, never one for smooth talk, always lost to Veil.
This must be what they call natural enemies among humans.
'But I only permitted it after thinking it through.'
It was then, as Basto felt oddly aggrieved and lowered his gaze.
"That kiddo's definitely gonna demand to ride without Raoul next time. Got way too much adventure spirit for her own good."
Strangely, just as Veil muttered that, an excited voice rang out from outside.
"Waaah—! Wheeheehee!"
"C-Captain! Stop petting the horse so much! Hold the reins! To stop, you ease both sides slowly like thiiis……!"
Unlike Tie, who was giggling in delight,
Raoul assisting her from behind sounded desperate.
No doubt pouring all his effort into preventing the carriage from flipping.
At that moment, Tie turned to look at the members inside the carriage.
"Everyone, look at Tie! Tie's driving the horse!"
Veil sighed.
He stuck his head out the window listlessly and replied soullessly.
"Yeah, yeah, you're doing great."
"Really? Right? Isn't Tie cool?! Better at driving than Raoul oppa and Enzo oppa?"
"Yeah, so please just watch the front?"
"Whehehe, Blackie! Nordics grandpa! Look at Tie!"
But the thrilled Tie showed no signs of stopping.
At her pointing voice, eventually Lucarion and Nordics also poked their heads out the window.
"……The ride quality is truly awful."
"Hahaha, Astie. Could pass for a pro."
Tie wheeheed with laughter before finally facing forward again after a while.
"Raoul oppa. Everyone says Tie's doing great! So until we get to the new house, Tie will drive……."
"Kiddo, you didn't forget our deal, right? Just 10 minutes. 7 left now."
But at that instant.
Veil's merciless announcement shattered the good mood.
Tie unwittingly drooped her eyebrows.
Raoul comforted her softly from behind.
"I'll give you another ride later, Captain."
Tie looked up at Raoul tearfully.
"Really……?"
"Yes. But keep it secret from Veil, okay?"
Tie nodded vigorously.
She was beaming again and looking ahead when—
"Whoa, a river!"
The full view of the river came into sight before them.
Raoul smiled.
"You're right. We're almost there. Seeing the Isera River means."
"Isera River?"
"Yes. The river that encircles the Imperial Palace and the heart of the Capital, also called the Boundary of the Old Capital."
Raoul adjusted Tie's slipping cloak.
"Don't you remember what Nordics grandpa told you yesterday?"
Tie's eyes widened soon after.
"I remember! Old Capital!"
After leaving Kaldbain-Ridge.
Agavert had marched nonstop.
No time to dawdle, and they had to reach the Capital by today to keep the promise with the Grand Commander.
But yesterday afternoon.
The massive side effect everyone feared from the forced march hit.
'Sooo boriing…….'
An unprecedented wave of boredom struck Tie.
Of course, the multi-day journey was far too long for a four-year-old Tie to endure.
To soothe the bored-out-of-her-mind Tie, Nordics came up with a clever idea.
'Tie, really bored, huh?'
'Yeees, Tie might turn into a rock…….'
'Then gramps'll tell you some old tales.'
Nordics shared a few history stories about the Empire and the Capital with Tie.
And one was about the 'Boundary of the Old Capital.'
'You know the current Capital is an expanded version of the old one, right?'
'Yees!'
According to Nordics, Talochioum's original Capital was a single independent city.
Like how Korea's capital is Seoul.
But when magic stones emerged, the Emperor expanded the Capital's boundaries.
Like merging Gangwon-do and Chungcheong-do with Seoul.
'But is having Seoul in Gangwon-do and Chungcheong-do even right……?'
She didn't think so.
As Tie puzzled over her kindergarten map puzzle memories,
Nordics continued.
'But expanding the Capital, easy to say, caused quite a bit of chaos.'
'Why?'
'Places that weren't the Capital suddenly became part of it overnight. No confusion?'
Tie nodded with her mouth agape.
Of course.
Even remote Kaldbain-Ridge was officially part of the Capital.
And not just there.
Weaponless districts, Pearl City.
Every place they'd passed through after the checkpoint belonged to the Capital.
'Think about it. Do those places really feel like the Capital to you?'
Tie shook her head.
No matter how she recalled the path, they didn't feel like massive cities like Jongno-gu or Seoul.
'But once you cross the Isera River into the old Capital—the pre-expansion one.'
"……."
'It's completely different from outside the Isera River. Bustling with life, lined with grand buildings…….'
Isera River.
The great river encircling the pre-expansion Capital.
Its other name: 'Boundary of the Old Capital.'
Now serving as the divider between the old and new Capital.
'You'll see when you get there. What it means to be a whole other world once you cross that river.'
And sure enough, Raoul smiled from behind.
"Almost. Just cross that bridge."
Tie swallowed hard.
Indeed, as they neared the Isera River, the city like a giant jewelry box came into clearer view.
Tie calmed her pounding heart and looked around.
By now, carriages of all sorts had multiplied around them.
Entering the bridge over the river, carriages grew even more numerous.
With the crowd, shouts from other coachmen echoed nearby.
Noticing the traffic jam, Basto poked his face out from inside the carriage.
"Tie. You okay?"
Tie nodded eagerly.
And looked around in a daze.
'The 10 minutes must be up by now.'
Seemed impossible to stop and switch to the back here.
"I'll find a spot to pull over briefly."
In the end, at Raoul's suggestion, Tie let go of the reins.
Instead clutching Raoul's arm tight, as they searched for a stop—
"Hiiing—!"
An unfamiliar carriage suddenly swerved right up against Agavert's side.
In the near-collision close call, Veil stuck his head out and pointed accusingly.
"What the hell are you doing, you crazy bastard?!"
But the other coachman just snorted.
"Ah, they're crowding from that side, what do you want me to do? You yield a bit."
Tie's mouth fell open in shock, who'd been quiet.
'This is……!'
Threatening driving?
Her heart raced.
She'd actually seen this in Jongno-gu before.
'Yes~ Four-lane road. Huh? A Morning suddenly cuts in beside? Reporter swerves sharply, oh—crash~!'
More precisely, from the YouTube videos the hardware store uncle at the alley end watched daily.
'The insurance claims 60% fault on the reporter. Alright! Viewer poll time!'
Sitting with the uncle, Tie always ended up glued to those videos.
Because the uncle fumed every time.
'These guys are totally insane! Tie, press this quick. This one.'
'What's igoga?'
'It's the viewer poll.'
Tie had voted multiple times on the uncle's phone that threatening driving was bad.
'But to do this?!'
The child's eyes blazed.
Soon, with a serious face, Tie shouted.
"Mister! No turn signal and what are you doing right now?!"
