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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: A Familiar Face
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Calius was worried about what he would do if Chloe refused to wear the practical clothes of the North.
After all, the people of Arental placed great importance on ornate, decorative clothing.
Anyone who hadn't been to the North couldn't imagine how fierce the winds were there.
It would be a problem if she thought it was similar to an Arental winter.
Calius and his men, who had once spent a winter in Arental, had thought the place had no winter at all.
The winters in Arental were warmer than the summers in Ronheim, so much so that they had unknowingly wandered around in summer clothes they'd acquired there, becoming a laughingstock.
*In an outfit like that, she'll get frostbite the moment we leave the magic circle.*
Calius was deeply concerned about Chloe's dress, which covered her neck and arms with lace that was utterly useless for warmth.
If she walked around in a skirt open at the bottom like that, she might have to have her entire lower body, blackened by frostbite, amputated by morning.
In fact, a significant number of travelers who came to the North unprepared often lost fingers and toes to frostbite, or in severe cases, had their legs amputated.
If Chloe stubbornly refused to change, he would have to force her. For her own safety.
That was why everyone was watching her, waiting for her to give her consent.
But unexpectedly, Chloe offered a gentle smile.
“Thank you for your concern, Marquis Rodrian. Where would be a good place to change?”
Far from refusing, Chloe thanked him.
All the people of Ronheim gathered there glanced at one another, their eyes filled with surprise.
*She said thank you for our concern?*
*It seems so...*
*I thought there'd be a huge fuss.*
*Maybe she's not as difficult as we thought...*
The knights, who had been tensely and sharply watching Chloe, awkwardly relaxed their gazes at her polite demeanor.
The quick-witted Ronda promptly led Chloe away.
“The accommodations are humble, so it would be best to change in the carriage. First, you'll need to choose an outfit you like. Would you come this way, my lady?”
Ronda led Chloe to a stall display just a few steps away.
Chloe seriously scanned the leather garments displayed on wooden planks.
Calius watched her with a peculiar expression.
*Thank you for your concern.*
Earlier, too, when told it would be an arduous journey, she hadn't shown any anxiety or worry, but instead said she would persevere. For some reason, she had even thanked him.
And then she had smiled brightly.
That smile lingered in his mind.
She was a truly strange person.
She looked as precarious as embers that might scatter with a single gust of wind, yet the determination within her was as solid as a rock.
Calius's gaze remained fixed on Chloe.
Brentian spoke to him coolly, as if to snap him out of it.
“We don't know yet.”
“What?”
“She hasn't even set foot in the North. She might be enduring the situation and complying now that she's come this far, but once we reach Avene, she might demand to go back.”
Brentian hoped Calius wouldn't give his heart too easily to Chloe.
Wasn't this whole affair concocted to find out whether Cavalla possessed the Sacred Relic?
Simply getting her consent to the marriage was enough to turn suspicion into certainty, yet he hadn't stopped there and was pushing the marriage through to the end?
*Why?*
And what on earth was Princess Chloe thinking?
Was she acting on Cavalla's orders to find the key to awakening the Sacred Relic?
*That must be it. Otherwise, there's no reason for her to have so readily agreed to the marriage and followed him all the way here.*
Brentian believed this marriage would end soon.
Until now, the marriage had somehow progressed due to the tangled schemes of both sides, but he predicted that once Chloe reached Avene, she would break down in tears and demand to go back.
Brentian secretly hoped the marriage would fall apart. No, it had to.
*Now that we've figured out the location of the Sacred Relic, we need to get rid of the princess.*
Chloe was surely a spy planted by Cavalla.
The only reason Brentian had been concerned about Chloe's clothes was that they couldn't send her back as a frozen corpse.
*That would cause another bloodbath. We have to avoid that.*
If not for that reason, why would he care about some Idellian princess?
But why was Calius, who should be thinking the same thing, looking at Chloe as if he were in love?
*This is unsettling...*
Could he have actually given her his heart in that short time?
*Impossible.*
Brentian wanted to believe Calius wasn't that foolish.
*I hope my lord doesn't feel any sense of responsibility for this relationship, which could end as soon as tonight.*
But Calius's face was completely unreadable.
He spoke calmly, his eyes still fixed on Chloe.
“She might ask to go back. Or she might not. We'll see.”
“...”
*We'll see? Instead of scaring her and making her life miserable so she'll leave, he's just going to... see?*
*Why, just why?*
Brentian glared at Calius in disapproval.
Sensing Brentian's gaze, Calius changed the subject as if he didn't care at all.
“Any more news about the Sacred Relic?”
Brentian sighed softly and reported.
“As a matter of fact, I gathered some rumors from the imperial palace just before we left.”
“Did anyone claim to have seen the Sacred Relic in that burned warehouse?”
“Fortunately or unfortunately, it seems no one found the Sacred Relic in the wreckage. I looked into it, and that warehouse was used to store expensive jewels. Perhaps the Empress kept the relic somewhere else? To someone who doesn't know its true value, it wouldn't seem like much.”
“Right. It's better to believe it's stored safely somewhere else than to think it might have been lost in the fire.”
“It wouldn't have been lost. If it had, there would have been no point in sending the princess to Ronheim.”
As they thought of the Sacred Relic, the expressions of Calius and Brentian darkened.
“When will we ever get it back.”
As the two men murmured in unison, the teddy bear on the carriage seat behind them toppled over, unable to support its own weight.
***
*I have no idea what I'm looking at.*
I stared in confusion at the Northern-style clothes Ronda was showing me.
*Are these even clothes? Not horse tack?*
No matter how I looked at them, I couldn't figure out where they were supposed to go or how to put them on.
They were all pitch-black and looked frighteningly heavy.
They all looked more or less the same, so what was I supposed to choose from?
In the end, I gave up trying to choose.
“Just recommend something suitable.”
As if she had expected me to say that, Ronda stepped forward as though she'd been waiting.
“Actually, in the North, the most suitable clothes are the ones that fit best. That's the most effective way to block the wind.”
She held up the garments and measured them against my body.
“Hmm, you have a small frame, my lady...”
She held up every single piece of clothing from the stall, which she said she'd made herself, against my body to gauge the size, then murmured in slight bewilderment.
“You're even smaller than you look...”
Then, she quickly apologized.
“I'm sorry, that just slipped out.”
“It's fine.”
I nodded magnanimously.
It made sense. Ronda, a Northerner, was a full head taller than me.
Just as she looked tall to me, I must look small to her. What else could she call small but small?
“Are there no clothes that fit me?”
“Well, it's not that there are none at all.”
“If there's something that fits, show it to me.”
Ronda asked cautiously, looking a bit embarrassed.
“If you don't mind my asking, my lady, would you be alright with wearing children's clothes? It's just... I don't know how this will sound, but Northern children are as tall as Southern adults.”
I nodded nonchalantly.
“Then I'll take those.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Ronda asked for my confirmation so many times it was strange.
*Why does she keep asking? Who cares if they're for children or adults? I won't be able to tell the difference anyway.*
Once the clothes were chosen, Ronda said she would help me change in the carriage.
The alternative was to change behind a screen of wooden planks on one side of the stall.
Before I could even give orders to the maids I'd brought from the palace, Ronda asked a few of them to assist.
But then, one of the maids near Ronda caught my eye.
*That person is...!*
Seeing my shocked expression, the person's eyes widened as our gazes met.
I almost let out a shriek.
But realizing there were people watching, I suppressed my pounding heart and managed to calmly gesture to her.
“You there, could you come here for a moment?”
“Y-yes...”
She swallowed hard, squeezed her eyes shut, and approached.
“Ronda, wait just a moment. This will only take a second.”
The maid and I climbed into the carriage, and I bolted the door securely.
Then I glared at her.
“You're the thief from that day, aren't you?”
