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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: A Perilous Journey
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I thought Calius was joking and prepared to be angry at his rudeness.
But he really did strap me to his body like a bundle and mount the horse.
I gasped as my body was lifted high into the air.
Being held by Calius was already high enough, but his horse was so surprisingly tall it felt as if I’d climbed to the second story of a building.
The ground felt so far away that my head spun.
“W-Wait a minute!”
I struggled, but the cloth wrapped around me held me fast against him, making it difficult to move.
He said nonchalantly,
“Don't move too much. It's dangerous.”
“We’re leaving like this?”
“From here, we travel through the mountains. We will be crossing a rough and steep path at speed.”
Every time he spoke, his white breath touched me, tickling the tip of my nose.
*Too close…!*
Even though we were both wearing thick clothes, our bodies were pressed so close I could feel his heartbeat, and I was acutely aware of it.
“Couldn’t I just sit up straight?”
“You would be thrown off.”
His voice was incredibly firm.
“But I feel like luggage. It must be heavy to ride like this…”
Even with my bottom resting on the saddle, having me strapped to him must have been a burden on his shoulders.
But as I fretted over the weight, Calius simply stared at me without a word.
Judging by his gaze, he seemed to be asking if I was serious.
His expression was so serene it made my concern about my weight seem foolish.
*Then again, one of his arms looks to be four times as thick as mine…*
With such a difference in our physiques, my weight, as slight as a dry twig, was likely negligible to him.
“If you truly wish to help me, hold on tight.”
“…Yes.”
I silently wrapped my arms tightly around him.
“Is this really the best way…?”
“Yes.”
“But I see a sled over there…”
I pointed to the cargo sled Calius’s men were attaching to a horse’s saddle.
Calius shook his head firmly.
“The ropes on the sleds often snap, causing them to overturn. They also frequently fall into bottomless ravines, never to be found again.”
I pictured myself tumbling down a slope along with an overturned sled and simply tightened my arms around him.
Then it suddenly occurred to me that my precious teddy bear and cushion shouldn’t be placed on such a dangerous sled either.
“Wait a moment!”
* * *
“…”
Alex looked down at the shiny, black, round doll eyes beneath his chin.
He was carrying the teddy bear and cushion, one strapped to his front and the other to his back.
“These are things I cherish as much as my own life. Please take good care of them.”
It was a special order from Chloe.
As if entrusting him with her own children, she repeated two or three times to please take good care of the teddy bear and cushion.
*A teddy bear.*
His youngest brother, who had just turned ten, had long since given up teddy bears.
*My brother hunts bears in the mountains.*
In Ronheim, ten was the age to start hunting.
So, to be honest, it was a bit funny and strange that an adult, a princess no less, was still trembling over a childhood attachment she couldn’t part with.
*She has a naive side to her. But why entrust this to me of all people?*
Wouldn’t it be more trustworthy to leave it with her maids rather than him, who was burly, rough around the edges, and frankly, not the most hygienic?
Chloe’s maids were seated two by two on saddles fitted with handles.
His comrades were holding the reins of the horses they rode.
The men holding the reins were scaring the maids, telling them they could fall off and die if they let go of the saddle handles.
Alex glanced at the maids, who all looked deathly pale, with the exception of the one named Lamia.
*Then again, they don’t exactly look trustworthy in that state.*
Alex adjusted the teddy bear and held it carefully.
Then he heard a small clinking sound from inside the doll. It was the sound of metal on metal.
*There’s a strange sound coming from this doll.*
Alex tilted his head, squeezed the teddy bear’s head, and then recoiled in horror when he saw a stain from his leather glove transfer onto it.
*Gah!*
He huffed warm air on the bear’s head and carefully tried to rub the stain off with his sleeve, but it was no use.
*Damn it, I’m a dead man.*
Worried about the stain, Alex completely forgot about the clinking sound.
* * *
Calius’s warning that I might be thrown from the horse had been true.
“Hiyah!”
Calius, riding at the head of the group, urged his horse on at a tremendous speed.
Just as he’d said, a snow-covered, rocky mountain appeared shortly after we passed the Avene castle walls, and the horse galloped quickly along the rough path as if it knew the way.
We leaped from rock to rock and precariously navigated narrow, steep paths.
With every step the horse took, my body was violently shaken.
*If I hadn’t been tied to the Marquis, I would have been in serious trouble.*
At first, I held on to him tightly, terrified of falling, but my strength soon gave out.
If not for Calius, I would have been shaken about helplessly by the horse’s movements and would have long since tumbled down the dizzying cliff.
I ducked my head to avoid the harsh wind and clung to Calius like a cicada.
One fortunate thing was that being so close to him kept my body temperature from dropping too much, despite the biting winds.
Still, my feet and legs, which were less pressed against him, were as cold as ice, their feeling growing dull.
I was relieved to be maintaining just enough body heat to endure, but I was surprised to see beads of sweat on Calius’s face when I glanced up at him.
“Are you all right?”
Calius asked from time to time.
I was afraid I’d bite my tongue if I opened my mouth, so I couldn’t speak and just nodded.
But the fourth time he asked, I shook my head vigorously.
Calius, who had been riding hard for a while, slowed his pace.
“Is something wrong?”
“M-Motion sickness…”
The world was spinning.
Calius studied my complexion, clicked his tongue softly, and slowed the horse to a walk.
“Please understand that we cannot stop, as we have a long way to go.”
“I’m sorry. Because of me…”
“Don’t worry about it. We must catch our breath now and then to ensure no one falls behind.”
He looked back to check if the rest of the party was keeping up.
Only then did I pull my face away from his chest and look around.
The path we were on was a narrow track carved into a cliff, and upon closer inspection, it was much narrower than I had thought.
*What if someone were coming from the other direction? How would we pass?*
The stone path was narrow enough to inspire such a worry.
*A carriage could never make it through here.*
On top of that, snow was piled up in places along the path.
The ground was visible in the sunny spots, but the shaded areas were far more numerous, so most of it was covered in snow.
Looking at the path ahead frightened me, so I shifted my gaze to the distance.
*Wow…*
The view near the teleportation circle in the north had been spectacular, but the scenery from the mountainside was even more breathtaking.
*To think there’s a place where people live beyond these deep, deep mountains.*
I was incredibly curious about what kind of place Ronheim was.
*Of course, I have a rough idea from the history books.*
History books recorded Ronheim as a small kingdom built on barren land, covered in snow for all but a couple of months a year, making farming impossible.
It was a poor kingdom where more than half the population were nomads who survived through hunting and herding.
The reason the emperors of Arental had tried to conquer such a place was because of a legend.
The legend claimed that the mountain range where the kingdom was situated overflowed with immense treasures hidden by the gods and mystical herbs that could grant immortality.
In fact, stories constantly circulated among travelers who had been to Ronheim that, while they didn't know about the treasures, they had experienced many mysterious things.
According to those travelers’ tales, the people of Ronheim were largely resistant to disease and had long lifespans.
There were even old records stating that the terrible plagues that sometimes swept the continent always bypassed Ronheim.
Because of this, the emperors of Arental believed the stories of the herbs of immortality were more than just a simple legend.
*Just looking at this mystical scenery, I can see why they’d believe it.*
I lost myself in the view.
But perhaps worried by my quiet staring into the distance, Calius asked,
“Are you finding this difficult? Shall we talk about something pleasant?”
“Something pleasant?”
“For instance, about your friend.”
“!”
I looked up at Calius with a slightly wary gaze.
*Why does he keep asking about Kal?*
