Ch#114
"Kiddo. Aren't your legs hurting at all?"
Veil whispered while shouldering a massive load containing all the members' clothes.
Tie nodded briskly to say she was fine.
But despite her actions, sweat was beading on her forehead.
In the end, Tie lowered her voice and asked.
"Oppa, how much farther to Tie's house......?"
Veil glanced around before replying.
"Hmm, about an hour......?"
Tie braced her nearly buckling legs.
Then she took a deep breath and hiked up her sagging pants.
"Okay! Tie's fine."
Tie turned back around energetically.
She spotted a few people following behind who quickly hid once more.
Some ducked behind nearby buildings, others behind piles of street trash.
"Captain. Why not just ride in this cart here?"
Enzo, pulling the cart with the magic beast cores beside her, asked again.
But Tie shook her head firmly.
"Tie will walk all the way."
Once you decide to do something, you have to stick with it to the end.
Otherwise, people only remember the last part.
Tie panted as she looked around.
The road Agavert was walking now was a mid-sized alley quite far from the main street.
The main streets were too crowded with festival-goers to pass through.
"Waaah—!"
Just then, cheers erupted from the main street.
A cluster of lanterns floated up above the buildings.
As she stared blankly at the sight,
"Uwaaang!"
Tie tripped and tumbled to the ground.
She had been looking at the sky instead of ahead and caught her foot on a cobblestone.
Basto rushed over, and Veil lowered his stance.
Lucarion asked with a worried face too.
"You okay?"
Tie glanced back at the info brokers before nodding steadfastly.
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine."
Truth be told, it hurt enough to bring tears to her eyes.
But she couldn't throw a tantrum with the info brokers watching......
As she breathed in and out, getting back up—
"Where are you headed?"
A luxurious carriage appeared out of nowhere and stopped beside Agavert's group.
Tie stared blankly at the face revealed as the window opened.
"I saw an elderly person in your group. If you'd like, I'll give you a ride to your destination."
Hair like white moonlight.
Even eyes the same color as Tie's.
The adult whose face sparkled got out of the carriage in a black uniform.
* * *
Tie whispered into Veil's ear.
"Oppa. Carriages are banned, so why is this one on the road?"
Veil whispered back into Tie's ear.
"Can't you tell just by looking? It's because he's a noble. A really rich, high-ranking one at that."
Tie swallowed hard and looked away.
'I see......'
Sure enough, she could see inside the carriage, three times larger than Agavert's.
And not just that.
Red velvet seats and gold-tasseled curtains.
The carriage's owner, the handsome man sitting across from her with legs crossed, did seem like a rich noble.
But still.
"Isn't this a little unfair......?"
All other carriages were banned from crossing the river.
Yet this one could roam freely.
Veil pressed a finger to his lips.
"Anyway, we're hitching a free ride, so shh."
Tie nodded reluctantly.
As Veil said, Agavert was currently freeloading a ride in this carriage.
As Tie fiddled with the bag in her arms, having nothing to say—
"I heard carriages are banned due to the Lantern Festival."
A kind voice came from the quiet man opposite.
The carriage's owner was looking at Tie with a faint smile.
"The Holy Knight Order can be inflexible like this sometimes. Heavy luggage is one thing, but carriages with the elderly should be allowed through on principle."
Veil eyed the man warily.
"Ah...... whatever."
But the man smiled good-naturedly and asked Tie.
"Does the spot where you fell hurt?"
Tie was flustered.
She hadn't expected him to ask her.
But she soon looked down at her knee and answered briskly.
"No! I'm okay!"
"Then may I take a look?"
Tie's eyes widened.
She glanced at Veil and Basto before replying nonchalantly.
"Sure."
The man leaned forward as if waiting for it.
He examined Tie's knee closely and furrowed his brow.
"There's a bit of blood seeping through your pants."
The man was right.
Rolling up the pant leg where she'd fallen revealed a scraped wound on her little knee.
"Ow ow......"
The sting hit as air touched the wound.
As Tie whimpered, the man frowned.
Then he lifted the empty seat beside him.
There was a neatly organized storage compartment.
The man took out a bottle of ointment, disinfectant, and clean gauze before saying.
"May I clean it for you?"
Tie nodded hesitantly.
"Just in case, be sure to disinfect it again when you get home. Disinfectant is most important for any wound, big or small."
"Disinfect, okay!"
The man smiled at Tie's reply and soaked the gauze in disinfectant.
He carefully cleaned her wound without hurting her, applied ointment, and covered it with fresh gauze.
"All done."
Tie gaped in admiration at the quick, skilled treatment.
In the meantime, the man was gently pulling her pant leg back down.
With such kind, careful hands.
Tie found herself staring at the man's face.
'This uncle is a really nice person!'
She'd thought he was some selfish jerk riding alone.
And not just that.
He even resembled Dad when he smiled.
'Dad treated Tie's injuries so carefully too.'
As Tie sneaked peeks at the man, feeling strange—
"Commander. We've arrived."
The coachman's voice came from the front.
At the same time, Enzo by the window pointed outside.
"This seems to be it!"
Tie jumped up and rushed to the window.
Sure enough, a brilliantly lit mansion stood by the road where the carriage had stopped.
"This is Tie's house......?"
A garden the size of ten Hanbit Kindergarten playgrounds combined.
And the grand building at the end of the garden path.
"Not a princess castle......?"
Honestly, she'd imagined something like the luxury apartment across from Gold Apartment Complex.
But the building exuded elegant charm.
Ivy climbed the white stone walls, and the pretty blue roof came to a sharp point.
'It's so pretty......!'
And not just that.
The large arched windows on each floor were huge and spotless.
She could even see the warm interior furnished with luxurious pieces.
"Please exit this way."
Just then, the coachman opened the door, so Tie hopped down to the road.
She gawked into the gate.
"Thank you. We arrived comfortably thanks to you."
Behind her, the members getting off were gathering their luggage one by one.
Nordics bowed politely to the man in the carriage.
"Thank you."
The man smiled good-naturedly as if it were nothing.
"Then have a peaceful night."
As the coachman moved to close the door—
"Ah. Wait a sec!"
Tie, who had been engrossed in the mansion, rushed back to the carriage.
The child huffed as she opened her bag and pulled something out.
"Uncle, Tie will give you this."
What the child pulled out was a local specialty from Kaldbain-Ridge.
Specifically, the handmade candy the inn grandma made with honey, which Tie had saved without eating for four whole days.
"Kaldenbai specialty! I have three, giving you one."
The smiling child grabbed the man's hand without hesitation and placed the candy in it.
"Then bye-bye!"
Afterward, the child turned away without lingering.
As the excited child ran toward the mansion, the gate opened as if on cue.
"My goodness, you're finally here! I heard from Adelin."
A woman who seemed to be the mansion's manager welcomed the child and her group with a joyful face.
"Commander, shall we depart?"
The coachman asked.
Only then did the man tear his gaze from Tie.
He unconsciously gripped the candy in his hand as he replied.
"......Ah, yes."
"Yes. Will you have dinner at the mansion?"
"Ah...... Take me to the Medical Corps HQ. I have some reviewing to do."
"Then we're off."
The carriage wheels began turning again.
The man rolled the candy in his hand and looked out the window.
He could see the child's back as she ran across the garden in the distance.
"......Running again. Right after falling earlier."
The man's name was Alexander.
Commander of the Capital Holy Knight Order's Central Medical Corps,
"It might get infected."
and the third son of the Luminen ducal family.
