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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: The Utar Tribe
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We pressed on, taking only the briefest of rests.
We navigated a narrow cliffside path and then rode across a vast, snow-covered plain.
Though I was merely being held as we rode, I quickly grew exhausted.
My head ached, and I felt nauseous.
Gasping for breath, I couldn't fight off the sudden wave of drowsiness and dozed off, leaning against Calius's chest.
Calius shook me awake.
“Chloe, are you short of breath?”
I looked up at him, my eyes still heavy with sleep.
“Yes…? Why do you ask?”
“Your breathing is labored.”
“Is it?”
My words were cut short by my ragged breaths. Only then did I realize I was panting.
“So I am.”
“Do you have a headache? Or feel like you might vomit?”
“A little…? I think I’m feeling motion sick again, haah.”
At my words, Calius’s expression grew serious.
He suddenly reined in his horse.
“We need to rest.”
“Why?”
“You seem to be showing signs of altitude sickness. It’s a common symptom when traveling to high elevations.”
“I’m… I’m fine…! I can endure it.”
I didn’t think a slight headache and shortness of breath were such a big deal.
But Calius insisted it was not something to be taken lightly and brought our party to a halt.
“It seems we have a welcoming party.”
He pointed to the top of a nearby hill.
Someone was waving at us.
* * *
“My king, you’ve returned!”
A boy with a striking face, skin the color of rich chocolate, with deep black hair and sparkling dark eyes, shouted cheerfully.
The boy slid down the hill as if gliding.
He held a rope tied to a black sheep, and the young animal bounded down the grassy slope, careful not to lose sight of him. It looked remarkably clever, stepping only on the patches where the snow had melted.
“Bihare. Slowly now.”
Calius waved to the boy.
Then he explained to me who the boy was.
“Bihare is a child of the Utar tribe. They are nomads. There are many nomadic tribes living in Ronheim.”
Ignoring the instruction to take his time, Bihare darted over and stood before us.
“It seems you’re always the one to greet me when I return to Ronheim, Bihare.”
The boy chattered, his face filled with pride.
“We made camp here this morning. Lassa urged our chieftain, saying the king would return and stay here tonight!”
Calius whispered in my ear.
“The elder named Lassa is the prophet of the Utar tribe. It seems she knew we would be staying here tonight.”
Then, as if bothered by Bihare’s use of the title “king,” he added.
“Many of the nomads still haven’t accepted that Ronheim is a vassal of Arental, so they still call me king. They have trouble accepting new things, so please understand.”
Then he asked Bihare.
“Did Lassa not tell you who I would be with?”
“Your bride! She said you would be with a very beautiful lady!”
Bihare’s eyes sparkled as he looked at me, nestled in Calius’s arms.
“She said you would be the one to make flowers bloom in Ronheim and bring it prosperity!”
It felt strange to be described that way. It was the kind of thing one often says to new brides, but still.
*To make flowers bloom and bring prosperity.*
Calius looked down at Bihare from his horse and spoke in a stern voice.
“This is the princess of Arental.”
“Huh…?”
The sparkle in Bihare’s eyes vanished in an instant.
He looked as if he couldn’t believe that the bride Lassa had praised as the bringer of flowers and prosperity was a princess of Arental.
I could clearly see the wariness creep into the face of the boy who had just been praising me.
His expression alone was enough to guess how much the people here despised Arental.
It seemed Calius had revealed my identity so that Bihare wouldn’t get into trouble for his slip of the tongue in front of me and my maids.
“How insolent, to call the governor-general of Arental ‘king’ in front of Her Highness the Princess. Apologize at once.”
At Calius’s cold voice, Bihare’s face went pale, and he immediately threw himself to the ground, begging for forgiveness.
“I-I’m sorry! I was ignorant! I didn’t realize my mistake!”
It pained me to see Bihare, who had been smiling as brightly as a spring sprout, trembling with fear.
*I don’t care what the nomads call Calius.*
But my maids, who were spies for Cavalla, might seize upon it as evidence of preparations for a rebellion.
Cavalla seemed to be looking for any plausible excuse to have Calius executed, so it was best not to give her any ammunition.
So instead of stopping Calius, I gently changed the subject.
“Bihare, that black sheep behind you is adorable. Is it yours?”
With his face still pressed to the ground, Bihare hesitantly raised his eyes to look at me.
Calius prompted the boy.
“Her Highness the Princess asked you a question.”
Only then did the boy hurry to explain.
“Ah, this sheep is one I was looking after, and Lassa told me that the king—ah, no, uh…”
Calius supplied the proper title for the boy, who looked on the verge of tears.
“Marquis Rodrian.”
“Yes! Yes, she told me to bring it to Marquis Rodrian, saying you would need a guide…”
As the boy rambled, Calius clarified for me.
“She sent it as a gift, to serve as a guide.”
“A guide?”
“Further on from here, the path turns to ice, with crevasses hidden everywhere. A crevasse is a chasm of death.”
“A chasm of death?”
“They’re fissures formed by the splitting of glaciers. Some are so deep you can’t see the bottom, and if you fall in, you’ll never get out. They are usually hidden under the snow, and since they can form and disappear unexpectedly, even those who know the paths well fear them.”
It was a chilling story.
The journey was already difficult; to think an even harder one awaited us.
Seeing my darkened expression, Calius looked at Bihare’s black sheep as if to reassure me.
“The mountain sheep raised by the Utar tribe are clever and can easily find crevasses hidden beneath the snow. It seems Lassa sent this one as a gift for our safety.”
“I’m grateful.”
Calius muttered to himself, almost inaudibly.
“She always used to send an experienced old sheep as a guide. This time, it’s a young one… I wonder what that means.”
“Hm? What did you say?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
He gave a small smile and then spoke to Bihare.
“Lead us to Lassa, Bihare. Our party needs a place to rest for the night.”
Bihare kept glancing at me as he nodded uncertainly.
Calius urged his horse to follow Bihare.
The boy climbed the hill without hesitation on his thin but sturdy-looking legs.
Calius whispered to me.
“The nomads have a culture of welcoming any guest who seeks rest.”
He seemed quite proud to be introducing me to the Utar tribe, his people.
Before long, we stood at the top of the hill.
And there, as if by magic, a beautiful turquoise lake, hidden on the other side of the hill, appeared before us.
Its color was so brilliant it was as if a giant turquoise had been set in the valley.
“Wow…”
The natural scenery we had passed so far had been breathtaking, but the view before me now was truly, indescribably beautiful.
“This lake was formed by melting glaciers. It’s a mystical place whose color changes several times a day.”
“It changes color?”
“Yes. Depending on the height of the sun, it can be turquoise, then a deep blue, then jade green.”
At that moment, I felt a deep pity for my past self, who had lived her entire life confined to the capital.
Of course, dying at the hands of the half-brother I had trusted was tragic, but it felt even more hollow to have died without ever knowing such a vast and mystical world existed.
People praise the lavish and magnificent Imperial Palace of Arental as the most beautiful place in the world.
But to me, the natural landscape of Ronheim was incomparably more beautiful than the Arental Palace.
How could I describe this soaring feeling, this sense of elation that made my chest swell and brought tears to my eyes?
Overcome with excitement, I wrapped my arms tightly around Calius’s neck.
“Thank you.”
The words slipped out on their own.
“For what?”
“Just… just for all of it. For everything.”
The tip of my nose tingled. My eyes grew hot.
He would never know.
That in the few days I had spent coming north with him, I had seen and heard more than I had in all the decades of this life and my past one combined.
That I had learned more from him than I ever had in the Imperial Palace.
In the time I had spent with him, I felt the terrible void in my heart, one that had never been filled, finally becoming whole.
It was the first time I had ever felt my soul truly sated.
