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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: To Chase Castle (1)
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“It was a terrible place. They were always desperate to devour me. Even after I had you, they never stopped looking at me with suspicion. Their gazes felt like they were strangling me. The citizens of the Eastern Territory are all the same. With a ruler like that, they can’t help but be so suspicious. Every day felt like living in hell.”
Rachel’s face was always filled with revulsion when she spoke of her life in the Eastern Territory.
Because of the stories she’d heard, as if brainwashed, from an age too young to judge for herself, it seemed she still misunderstood the Eastern Territory even now that she had returned.
She had believed the Eastern Territory was a place where everyone eyed each other with suspicion, where they were wary of one another, where travelers were oppressed, and where people constantly sought opportunities to seize what belonged to others.
Given that, she’d expected it wouldn’t be easy to enter the city gates, but the soldiers guarding them not only let her in without trouble but even spoke to her kindly.
“Are you running an errand? Isn’t it hot in this weather?”
Because of her striking hair color, Ariana had pulled her hood low. Ariana clutched her cloak tighter, shook her head, and quickly passed through the gate.
She heard the soldiers conversing behind her.
“Kids that age don’t like being told what to do about everything, they say. My sister, too, struggles so much with her kid not listening.”
“Right. My kid’s also starting to get stubborn lately. Last winter, it was freezing, but they were insistent on swimming in the lake, can you believe it?”
Suddenly, she was seen as a disobedient child, but it wasn’t so bad. It was better than being regarded as a suspicious girl from the Western Territory.
As the capital of the Eastern Territory, Ellus City had well-paved roads. The wide streets, enough for two carriages to run abreast, were clean.
The buildings lining both sides of the road were taller than those in the Western Territory, and most were light gray, giving off a bright impression.
Not far from the gate Ariana had entered, it seemed to be the city center, as buildings and people became more numerous. There were many people hawking to travelers, but they didn’t approach Ariana, seemingly thinking she was just a child running an errand.
Various goods were displayed on the stalls set up in front of the shops, and many people stopped to browse the items as they passed by. But Ariana didn’t even glance at them and kept walking.
Ariana, walking briskly with her hood pulled low, spotted a kind-looking old man and walked towards him. The old man seemed to be the owner of a herbalist shop, arranging herbs on his stall.
“Excuse me, Grandpa.”
“Hmm? Are you here on an errand?”
“Yes. Um, is there a Braden Bank around here?”
“Braden Bank? Braden Bank… Ah, if you’re looking for that, just go straight down that road over there, and turn left at the intersection. Be careful around the bank; there are a lot of pickpockets.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Ariana bowed her head in thanks, then headed in the direction the old man had indicated.
Braden Bank, like the other buildings, was light gray, with a large sign saying [Braden Bank] above its entrance. As she stepped inside, a person neatly dressed in a suit approached her.
“How may I help you?”
“I’d like to check my account and withdraw some money.”
“Certainly, please come this way.”
The bank employee was polite even to Ariana. She went to the spot the employee guided her to, handed over her account token, and stated her password. The employee then checked the documents for a while before speaking.
“There’s a total of 35 gold in the account.”
“What? How much?”
“35 gold.”
35 gold.
Ariana had deposited 22 gold. There was no way interest could have accumulated so much in just one month.
‘Could it be Rui…?’
When Rui lived as Rosalyn, she had given Ariana an accessory each time as payment for errands. If she had converted all of those into money and deposited them into Ariana’s account, it would amount to this much.
While an account token and password were required to withdraw money, only the account number was needed to deposit.
‘Oh no. My debt’s growing again.’
She felt like she had received too much from Rui, and now she even felt a pang of guilt.
When Ariana remained silent for a while, the bank employee asked, sounding concerned.
“Is the deposited amount incorrect?”
“No. I’ll just withdraw 5 gold.”
“Certainly, just a moment.”
Ariana carefully tucked the five gold coins into her pocket and exited the bank.
Remembering the herbalist’s warning about pickpockets, she hurried her steps to get away from the bank. Fortunately, no one seemed to be following her.
Ariana paused for a moment, gazing at Chase Castle in the distance.
‘Now.’
Several towers, built with white bricks and topped with green roofs, came into view. Even from afar, she could sense its grandeur.
‘To there…’
Just as Ariana was about to move, someone brushed past her cloak.
A slight unease made Ariana turn her head, and she spotted the back of a man in a hunting cap hurrying away. Just in case, she put her hand in her pocket, and the gold coins were gone. Ariana frantically ran after the man.
Noticing Ariana was following him, the man quickened his pace. He weaved through the crowd, but Ariana cleverly followed him.
Her breath grew increasingly ragged, and her legs felt heavy. The man’s back began to recede little by little.
‘About 5 gold…’
She considered giving up, but with no knowing what might happen in the future, she couldn’t just abandon such a large sum. She steeled herself and pushed harder one more time.
Eventually, she managed to catch up to the man, but she hadn’t realized that the surrounding scenery had changed while chasing him.
When she realized she had entered a sparsely populated alleyway, exuding an eerie atmosphere, far from the bustling, bright streets, the pickpocket turned to Ariana and grinned.
“I didn’t expect you to follow me all the way here. I’m quite skilled, you know, how did you even notice?”
Ariana tightened her grip on the dagger hilt inside her cloak.
Trying not to show any emotion, she spoke calmly, as if this were no big deal.
“If you quietly return my money, I won’t report you to the authorities.”
“What, you were wearing a hood so I didn’t realize, but you’re just a kid? How does someone like you carry such a large sum of money? Are you perhaps an accomplice?”
Ariana didn’t answer, simply gazing at him silently. He flinched at Ariana’s clear, calm gaze, but soon cleared his throat and spoke.
“Ahem. If you’ve lived in this sort of place, you’d know. I don’t know which noble you robbed to get your hands on such a large sum, but in the end, possession is nine-tenths of the law.”
“It seems there’s no honor among thieves in this place, then?”
“If there were, I wouldn’t be doing this in the first place. Anyway, I don’t want to hurt a young lass like you, so just go back. This street isn’t a place for a lass like you to linger.”
It certainly looked that way to Ariana. If she wasn’t careful, she might not only fail to retrieve her money but also have to deal with the ruffians of the back alley.
There was no need to get her feet dirty over a few coins.
‘It’s not worth risking my life for a mere 5 gold.’
Ariana decisively decided to give up the 5 gold.
Just then, the eerie atmosphere of the street suddenly changed. People who had been quietly observing each other scattered with a flurry of hurried movements.
The pickpocket, who had been facing Ariana, also changed his expression and tried to flee, but before he could take a few steps, several mounted knights appeared and blocked his path.
“S-sirs. I haven’t done anything.”
The man immediately prostrated himself, even though no one had said anything. His attitude was completely different from how he’d treated Ariana.
“Done nothing, you say.”
The knight at the very front muttered, sounding amused.
He was a young knight, appearing to be around twenty, and judging by his attire and demeanor, he seemed to be of the highest rank among them.
“Y-yes, yes. I’m just a day laborer, living hand to mouth. I was just loitering on this street today, hoping for work, that’s all. I didn’t do anything.”
“Is that so? Then did my subordinate see wrong? My subordinate said he clearly witnessed you stealing that child’s money just now.”
“T-that can’t be. Why would I steal money from a kid dressed in such shabby clothes? If I were to steal, which of course I wouldn’t, I’d target someone dressed more lavishly than that kid.”
“The herbalist owner said he was worried that a child seemed to have business at the bank. So, I sent one of my subordinates to check it out, and what do you know, he witnessed the scene?”
A chilling smile played on the knight’s lips.
“Come on, tell me. If you didn’t steal it, then I’ll have to behead my subordinate right here for reporting falsely. Of course, after that, I’ll search your body, and for every Ente of money that doesn’t seem to be yours, I’ll slice off a piece of your flesh.”
One gold was a million Entes. Since the money stolen from Ariana alone was 5 gold, it was effectively saying he’d slice off a piece of flesh five million times.
The young knight’s tone was light, but his gaze was sharp, making it sound far from a joke. Even innocent Ariana felt a shiver down her spine; how much more so the guilty man?
He trembled visibly and pulled out 5 gold coins from his pocket.
“I-I’ve committed a mortal sin. Please, please spare my life! Spare me!”
The young knight dismounted his horse and picked up the five gold coins the pickpocket offered. Ariana tensed, worried the young knight might mistake her for one of them, like the pickpocket. But fortunately, he held up the gold coins and spoke.
“Little one. Are these five gold coins correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Wait a moment.”
The young knight gestured with his chin to the knights behind him, and they moved in perfect unison, binding the pickpocket and disappearing.
The young knight approached Ariana. He was tall with broad shoulders, and even just standing in front of her, he exuded an imposing presence.
Ariana stood straight, raising her head to gaze at his face. Only then did his appearance truly register.
‘Indigo hair…’
Her heart sank.
Indigo hair was the symbol of the White family. Though the intensity of the color varied slightly, all those bearing the White surname had indigo hair.
Even though Ariana hadn’t fully inherited that trait and had sky-blue hair, Rachel detested the sight of sky-blue hair, claiming it reminded her of the Eastern Duke.
‘Who is he? I don’t remember seeing this face.’
She would soon meet Russell White, the Eastern Duke, but she hadn’t expected to encounter someone from the White family so soon.
While Ariana scrutinized him, he also observed her quietly. As befitting someone in a high position among the knights, his gaze was sharp and observant.
