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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: A Leisurely Journey
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Kivrin, misunderstanding why my voice was trembling, blinked.
“Y-You’re scared, aren’t you?”
“No, the reason I want to cry isn’t because I’m scared, but…”
Suddenly, Kivrin sat up and tore a scale from his face.
“Young Lord?!”
I cried out without thinking.
Kivrin nonchalantly wiped the blood from his cheek. Then he held out the piece of scale to me.
“I-If you have this, it m-might help. You s-said you were fine when you were w-with me.”
The bleeding stopped quickly, and there were already signs of a new scale growing on his cheek.
Even so, I was shocked.
Viscount Rose had simply snapped their fingers to produce a feather, so I hadn’t needed to worry.
But Kivrin had to endure enough pain to draw blood.
“You don’t want it…?”
“Of course I don’t! It hurts you, Young Lord.”
“…”
The corners of my eyes grew hot for no reason.
Kivrin waited quietly.
So, without realizing it, I blurted out my true feelings.
“Besides, I’m going to protect you, Young Lord. If I’m like this, it’s obvious to anyone that I won’t be much help.”
It felt like I was drifting further and further away from being the reliable and trustworthy Lady Cheria.
Only then did Kivrin move his lips.
“Even if you don’t protect me… even if you’re not helpful to me… Lady Cheria, you are still Lady Cheria.”
Kivrin spoke very slowly.
To keep from stuttering?
No, that wasn’t it.
He was giving me… time to accept it.
“…”
I didn’t know what kind of expression I was making as I looked at Kivrin.
Kivrin didn’t press further. He simply gave a soft laugh.
He gently patted my head as if he knew everything—that I had nowhere else to stay but the ducal household.
His soft voice reached my ears like a lullaby.
“Someday, there will be a place where Lady Cheria… can be at ease without having to do anything.”
“…”
“And I… I’m not in pain anymore.”
S-Suddenly saying such kind things makes it hard to control my expression…
His ability to tug at my heartstrings was almost frightening.
Kivrin pressed the piece of scale into my hand.
It looked as if it had been plucked from the moon in the sky.
I gazed down at the silvery object and asked quietly.
“Will you be in that place too, Young Lord?”
“Of course… The spot next to you, Lady Cheria, is always mine, isn’t it…?”
Kivrin tilted his head as he answered.
—*From now on, the spot next to me is always yours, Young Lord.*
He remembered what I’d said.
When I hastily nodded my head in agreement, Kivrin laughed out loud this time.
How could Viscount Rose possibly ask me to leave a child like this?
Ugh, I could never do it!
* * *
Three days later, I boarded the carriage wearing a fur coat that Winter had prepared for me.
Because the ducal family was on the Temple’s bad side, we couldn’t bring a large retinue, so our party was quite small.
Not that Menelik needed an escort anyway.
There were four priests in total who had come down to the duchy.
The two holy knights escorting them had bruises on their faces and arms.
It seemed they had decided to conserve their divine power to stay on guard against Menelik.
There had been a lot of thugs that day…
Of course, Menelik didn’t feel the least bit guilty.
As the priests’ request to hurry to the Grand Temple was ignored for the thirtieth time, I swung my arms around.
Why do I feel fine even though I’m with the priests?
Could it be because of the scale Kivrin gave me?
Does it really work?
I had put the piece of scale inside a small locket necklace.
Yesterday, I’d asked Mera if I could go out to buy a locket, but Winter overheard, and the whole thing blew up.
A jeweler suddenly appeared, and then a designer and tailor from a dress shop came, saying I had no clothes suitable for the jewelry…
Thanks to that, I now had a second dressing room.
The fashion show was a little embarrassing, but I did get to learn about Winter and her aide’s firm tastes in dresses.
The carriage, which had been deliberately taking uphill roads, came to a brief stop.
Menelik led me to a wide-open space.
“The view from here is my favorite, second only to the one from the castle. I had to show you since we were out.”
“Wow.”
The exclamation escaped me before I knew it.
A breathtaking view unfolded before me, one that was beautiful enough to be made into a postcard right away.
My heart swelled with emotion.
Beneath a bright blue sky dotted with fluffy clouds, villages were nestled together on the towering mountains and across the meadows.
Menelik turned my head slightly to the side.
“That’s the Waning Moon Forest.”
I bounced on the balls of my feet.
“I can’t see the end.”
It was called a forest, but the slope was steep and the trees were as dense as a rainforest, making it impossible to see inside.
“If you cross the forest, you’ll find the old holy land of Moritia. It’s in ruins now, though.”
Menelik gave me time to admire it slowly.
The next thing that caught my eye was a lake that looked as if it had been carved into the shape of a full moon.
“How deep is that lake?”
I want to go boating with Kivrin later.
“Deep enough for a drunk Sword Master to almost drown in it?”
“Ah, I see…”
This man is only helpful up to a point.
I stared at the lake with a glazed look.
Just as I was thinking I wanted to take a picture to keep, a white-haired priest called out to Menelik.
“E-Excuse me, Your Grace. Perhaps we should be on our way soon…”
“I suppose so. Winter insisted I feed the child on time.”
“N-No, that’s not what I meant by ‘on our way’…!”
Ignoring the priest’s rising blood pressure, Menelik put me back in the carriage.
This time, the carriage stopped at a three-story restaurant that looked outrageously expensive.
“Gasp…”
“This place looks incredibly expensive.”
“I-Isn’t this the place His Majesty the Emperor visited?”
The priests all marveled in unison, as if they had never complained.
They then proceeded to devour each course of the meal as it was served.
“…Does the Temple starve them?”
Menelik, who was perfectly cutting my steak with one hand, looked dumbfounded.
Since my sister hadn’t started her activities in earnest yet, they probably weren’t well-off, but…
“Excuse me, can I have another serving of this?”
“What do you think you’re doing, Zenon! Put your hand down this instant!”
“But this is the first meat I’ve had all year because of training…!”
I shook my head.
After I finished the strawberry pudding that came for dessert, Menelik took out some medicine.
“This one is a supplement, and this one is… hold on. I’m trying to remember.”
He’s taking such meticulous care of me.
No wonder Yelena wasn’t worried about me having medicine for the long journey. I’d found it strange.
I took the pills Menelik gave me one by one and swallowed them.
He frowned, apparently not realizing I had to take all of them.
“Aren’t you taking more medicine than you’re eating food?”
I avoided Menelik’s gaze.
I-It’s a lot less than a month ago, though…
On the way out, the priests, now full, once again tried to persuade Menelik.
“Y-Your Grace, if we use a warp gate, we’ll be in the capital instantly. Could you please reconsider?”
Menelik replied, his voice laced with killing intent.
“If you mention warping one more time, I’ll take it as you begging me to kill you.”
The priests collectively shrank into a corner.
Come to think of it, Winter had only thought of enchanting the carriage; she hadn’t even considered warping.
Was he so dead set against it because it’s hard on me?
When I warped from the capital to the duchy, I’d suffered from aftereffects for a while.
It took me two and a half days just to get out of bed.
*Ugh.* When will I ever get healthy?
It would have been great if there was any information in about a potion that could restore health.
The carriage moved slowly, as if wary of Menelik, who looked ready to kill everyone if I got motion sick.
We watched a short play before heading to a hotel Menelik had booked in its entirety.
Menelik told the priests to take private rooms, and the youngest one, forgetting he’d been threatened, was moved to the verge of tears.
Menelik’s intention was probably to stop them from gathering and plotting amongst themselves.
But the hotel’s amenities were too good to defy his intentions.
“It really feels like we’re on a trip.”
I flopped onto the fluffy bed and stretched out my legs.
*Ugh*, everything’s great, but I miss Kivrin and Winter.
I’ve already grown so attached to them.
After sleeping next to Kivrin for several days, the empty space beside me felt lonely.
I was just starting to doze off, still lying on my stomach.
Menelik came by, dressed in comfortable clothes.
“It’s time for me to read you a storybook.”
“…You don’t have to read to me.”
Seeing me actively refuse, Menelik held out a notebook.
“It’s written right here. Says your opinion and mine don’t matter.”
“…”
