Chapter 81

“Looks like I have to go.”

Louis was the first to leave the reception room. Vivian quickly finished her preparations and came down from her room. Everything was ready, and all that was left was for Vivian to board the carriage.

Louis, standing in front of the carriage Vivian was to take, watched her coming out of the mansion and frowned as if something was not to his liking.

“Aren’t you dressed too lightly?”

“Raspol is warmer than the capital, so this should be enough.”

Despite Vivian’s explanation, Louis’s frown did not disappear. He removed the scarf he was wearing and wrapped it around Vivian’s neck.

“You really don’t need to!”

“It takes quite a bit of time to reach the capital gate, so it’s better to wear this.”

Louis began to wrap the scarf around Vivian’s neck, then unwrapped it and wrapped it in the opposite direction. Dissatisfied, he unwrapped it again and clicked his tongue.

“I’ll do it.”

Feeling that they might end up standing there all night, Vivian took over. Although she was clumsy, she was better than Louis.

Though it was a mess, Vivian managed to successfully wrap the scarf around her neck and fiddled with the ends of it.

“Vivian.”

Louis called out to Vivian, who was looking down at the scarf he had given her. When Vivian looked up, Louis awkwardly rubbed his nose with his finger.

Gone was the image of Louis as a languid lion, the king of the wild, now he seemed nervous, circling around like a lion trying to impress a lioness he liked.

“If anything happens in Raspol, contact me.”

After hesitating several times, he finally spoke.

“…Yes.”

“Rayden will accompany you, but still, always be careful.”

Not knowing what she should be careful of, Vivian simply nodded.

“And… ahem. Hmm.”

After a brief pause, Louis started to clear his throat unnecessarily.

“Ahem. I have something to tell you when you return, so keep that in mind.”

Perhaps because of the cold weather, the tips of Louis’s ears were red. Behind him, Rayden, who was supposed to go down to Raspol with her, nodded with a satisfied expression.

* * *

Winter was ending, and spring was approaching. Perhaps because winter was jealous of the upcoming spring, the carriage shook from the unusually cold wind.

An hour had passed since they left the capital mansion. Tia complained about wearing thin clothes and shivered.

“Here, Tia, use this.”

Vivian handed Tia a magic stone that emitted warmth, which she had been holding.

“Oh my! How can I use such a precious thing?”

Tia shook her hands vigorously, looking serious. Watching her, Vivian pointed to the messily wrapped scarf around her neck.

“I have this.”

At Vivian’s words, Tia reluctantly accepted the magic stone with a smile. Feeling the warmth spread quickly, Tia kneaded the magic stone and smiled broadly.

“Does it make you that happy?”

“Huh? What?”

“You haven’t taken your eyes off that scarf since earlier.”

“When did I?”

“You even sniffed it…”

She got caught.

Vivian buried her face in the scarf to hide her reddened face. Tia, watching her with an affectionate gaze, looked up at the sky outside the window.

“The weather doesn’t look good today.”

Vivian also looked out the window following Tia. When they left the mansion, the sky was clear without a single cloud, but now gray clouds filled the sky completely.

“Will it snow?”

“We still have to go further to reach the gate… If it snows, we’ll be delayed, which is concerning.”

Vivian also looked at the sky with worried eyes. Although the gate was not heavily affected by the weather, it would be a big problem if they didn’t reach the gate on time.

At that moment.

‘Thud. Bang!’

With a loud noise, the carriage was lifted and began to shake violently from side to side.

“Young Lady!”

Tia quickly threw herself to shield Vivian. As the carriage tilted to one side, Tia and Vivian’s bodies slid. After a tremendous impact, Vivian closed her eyes tightly.

Fortunately, the carriage regained its balance. It came to a sudden stop, and Rayden flung the door open.

“Lady! Are you alright?”

At Rayden’s voice, Vivian opened her tightly shut eyes and saw Tia, who was shielding her.

“Young Lady, are you okay?”

“T-Tia…”

Blood was streaming down from Tia’s head. However, Tia, seemingly unaware of the bleeding, began to examine Vivian with worried eyes.

“You’re not hurt anywhere, are you? Right?”

Vivian held Tia’s hands, which were turning her this way and that.

“Tia, you’re bleeding from your head.”

“What?”

Only then did Tia swipe her forehead with her hand. Her hand came away with quite a bit of blood. Tia stared blankly at her hand and blinked rapidly.

“Young Lady! Are you alright?”

Rayden, who entered the carriage, asked Vivian. Shaking her head, Vivian took out a handkerchief and pressed it firmly against Tia’s forehead.

“I’m fine, but Tia is badly injured. She’s bleeding a lot…”

Vivian wanted to act calmly, but seeing the handkerchief quickly soaking with blood made her hands tremble.

“Are you sure you’re unharmed, Young Lady?”

Rayden asked again. Vivian nodded quickly, and Rayden placed his hand over hers.

“I’ll hold it. Please step outside the carriage.”

At Rayden’s words, Vivian withdrew her hand and stared at the blood lightly staining her hand. Clenching her fist tightly, Vivian was the first to step out of the carriage.

“Young Lady! Are you alright?”

The coachman, who was inspecting the carriage, asked urgently.

“I’m fine, but Tia…”

Vivian turned around. Tia was coming down from the carriage with Rayden, who was holding her forehead tightly.

“Are you okay?”

“Of course. It doesn’t hurt at all, but I don’t know why it’s bleeding so much.”

Tia brightly smiled at Vivian, trying to reassure her. Watching Tia smile wider than usual to prevent Vivian from worrying, Vivian’s eyes turned red.

“How’s the carriage?”

Rayden asked the coachman, who shook his head.

“The wheel is broken. We can’t move it in its current state.”

At the coachman’s explanation, Rayden frowned deeply. Scanning the surroundings quickly, Rayden asked Vivian to take care of Tia and walked over to talk with the knights of Duke Dinever.

Charlotte, who had been in the luggage carriage, brought out some clothes and handed them to Vivian and Tia.

The weather was colder than usual, and the sky was dark as if it would snow at any moment. Charlotte anxiously hovered around Vivian and Tia.

Vivian pressed a fresh handkerchief to Tia’s forehead and watched Rayden. Seeing him talking seriously, it was clear that the situation was quite difficult. As Vivian sighed, a white breath escaped her mouth.

The only relief was that the amount of blood flowing from Tia’s forehead was gradually decreasing.

“Just hold on a little longer, Tia.”

Tia reassured Vivian, who was more anxious, saying she was really okay.

After talking for a while, Rayden approached Vivian.

“We’ll transfer all the items from the luggage carriage to another carriage and move to the nearest village. Since there’s an injured person and the weather is unusual, that would be best.”

As Vivian nodded, Rayden continued to explain.

“There’s an inn in that village, so let’s stay there for the night and leave for Raspol once the carriage is repaired. I’ll send a few knights to inform Raspol.”

After Rayden finished explaining, things progressed rapidly. Once all the luggage was unloaded from the luggage carriage and Vivian, Tia, and Charlotte boarded, the carriage started heading toward the nearby village.

“Young Lady, are you uncomfortable?”

“Are you worried about that now?”

Tia kept asking, concerned about Vivian riding in the luggage carriage. Charlotte, who was checking the handkerchief covering Tia’s wound, said the bleeding seemed to have almost stopped and pointed to a medicine box she had taken from the luggage.

“It looks like it will be okay if we wash up and apply medicine at the inn.”

Tia nodded at Charlotte’s words.

“Shouldn’t we see a doctor?”

Vivian asked, to which Charlotte responded with a bitter smile.

“There won’t be a doctor. I know the village we’re heading to because I lived around here, and it’s a very small village. You’d have to go at least 10 kilometers further to find a larger village with a doctor.”

Vivian looked at Tia worriedly at Charlotte’s words.

Fortunately, the village with the inn wasn’t close. It was a pretty village surrounded by mountains at the back and a small stream flowing in front, but as Charlotte said, it was a very small village.

Vivian looked out at the few buildings through the small window of the luggage carriage.

Perhaps because the village didn’t get many visitors, children began to come out of their houses one by one to see the unfamiliar carriage and knights on horseback.

“We’ve arrived.”

At Rayden’s voice, Vivian opened the carriage door and stepped out to find a small two-story wooden house.

“The knights who arrived earlier checked and found nothing unusual. The room is at the far end of the second floor. You should be able to stay there comfortably.”

When the old door, with peeling paint, was opened, the creaking sound of the rusty hinges was unusually loud.

“Welcome!”

The innkeeper, a large man, greeted Vivian’s party with a bright smile, revealing his gold teeth.

“Even though it looks old, my wife and I always keep it clean, so a noble lady shouldn’t be uncomfortable for a night.”

Charlotte and Tia, intimidated by the innkeeper’s size, took a step back.

“One of our party is injured. Could you prepare so she can wash up right away?”

“Oh dear! She’s lost a lot of blood! Honey!”

At the innkeeper’s shout, a woman who looked very similar to him came out from inside.

“There’s a patient among the guests. We need to heat some water quickly.”

“Oh my! Alright!”

Watching the innkeeper’s wife hurry inside, the innkeeper gestured to the stairs.

“If you go up to the second floor, we’ll prepare everything so you can wash up soon.”

“Thank you.”

After thanking him, Vivian headed up the stairs the innkeeper pointed to. Checking that Charlotte and Tia were following, Vivian climbed the stairs slowly.

‘Creak, creak.’

With each step, the stairs made a sound as if they were crying out.

The room in the middle of the second floor was where Tia and Charlotte would stay. After sending Tia and Charlotte into their room, Vivian headed to her room at the end.

Turning the handle of the door, the rusted hinges made a sharp squeaking sound that scratched Vivian’s ears.

However, the room itself, as the innkeeper had said, was clean despite its age.

Once she arrived in the room that blocked the cold wind, the tension finally released, and her legs lost strength.

Sitting on the bed as if collapsing, Vivian turned her head to survey the room. There was a bed, a small wardrobe, and a three-drawer dresser beside it. A few old, worn decorations were placed on top.

Gathering strength in her legs again, Vivian stood up and opened the closed curtains. Although there was a small stream, it was frozen solid, so no sound of flowing water could be heard.

“They’re here.”

As Vivian opened the curtains, a child’s voice was heard, and four children scattered to hide.