“No, why don’t you cowardly attack me from behind while I’m distracted? By the time I felt a presence behind me and turned around, it was already too late. So, ah… They say you’re going to die like this. “Just then, a savior appeared.”
Natalia closed her eyes in ecstasy, recalling the moment when a girl wearing a hat with a white lace ribbon appeared in front of her. Even thinking about it again, it was a wonderful scene, like the climax of a play.
“A girl who must have been thirteen or four years old appeared brandishing a dagger… The cowardly pirate who tried to attack her day was defeated with a single blow… Even when I saw it with my own eyes, it felt like I was dreaming.”
When she finished her story with a dazed expression, everyone exclaimed “Oh,” as if they were amazed.
Except for just one person, Roderick.
A girl who is thirteen or four years younger, and a dagger. A powerful person who can instantly subdue pirates.
It was because those three keywords reminded her of Ayla.
“… … “That girl, what does she look like? What color is her hair? What color are her eyes? Where does she say she’s going?”
When Roderick suddenly asked excitedly, Natalia was embarrassed but reflexively recalled the girl’s appearance.
“uh… … I couldn’t see the hair because the hat was pressed down so deeply. The color of the eyes… … It was blue. Dark sea color. We couldn’t talk about it. I was about to say thank you, but it disappeared while I was talking to the captain.”
She answered as best as she could remember, and Roderick seemed not satisfied with that answer and started asking questions again.
“Where did that ship start from and where did it go?”
“Oh, that’s… … “It was a trade ship departing from the Peles Empire and heading to the Inselkov Kingdom.”
Inselkov Kingdom.
Roderick fell into his thoughts without saying a word.
Is that girl Ayla? Then, did Byron smuggle herself into the Kingdom of Inselkov? What is the reason?
One question after another came to mind.
“… … Roderick, what’s wrong? Strange.”
Seeing that suspicious appearance, Candice stabbed Rodrick in the side with her elbow, but Rodrick made no response.
Ophelia thought her husband’s strange reaction strange at first, but it seemed as if she was gradually realizing something.
“Well, by the way.”
At that time, Austin cautiously raised his hand, saying he wasn’t sure if it was okay to join in.
“I… … “I caught a glimpse of the girl going into her cabin. The back of her hair was peeking out from under her hat, and she had silver hair.”
Silver hair and blue eyes.
There was silence in an instant. Everyone realized it except Austin, who didn’t know what was going on.
That child might be Ayla.
* * *
It was the day she decided to go to the festival with Gerald.
Ayla got ready to go out by putting on a bonnet that covered her entire head. Laura tied a ribbon as always and left a request never to take off this hat.
And when she came out of the annex after seeing Cloud off, Gerald, dressed quite fancy, was waiting with a fancy carriage.
“… … Have a nice trip, lady.”
Cloud said, holding Ayla’s shoulder so tightly that it hurt. The eyes looking at her were full of worry.
He didn’t know what he was worried about. It doesn’t suit her, but is she apprehensive about her, or is she suspicious?
“Yes, I will come back.”
Ayla approached the carriage, leaving behind Cloud, whose thoughts were still unknown.
As she approached, Gerald smiled brightly and held out his hand. He meant to escort her to the carriage.
However, Ayla pretended not to notice the touch and climbed into the carriage by herself.
As a princess, she had experience learning the etiquette of nobles, so she knew that her actions were not polite, but she had no desire to be polite to people like Gerald.
Gerald’s eyebrows twitched as she ignored his favor. It was clear that his pride was hurt.
However, he smiled and got into the carriage after her. He couldn’t let the opportunity he had worked so hard to get after a long hunger strike go to waste by getting angry just because he barely refused the escort.
Gerald, who was sitting across from Ayla, gave a signal to the driver, and the carriage immediately started moving smoothly.
“The weather is nice, isn’t it?”
As she was looking out the window with her chin resting on her hand, Gerald spoke to her as if she was embarrassed.
He couldn’t figure out when it was so annoyingly soggy and why it kept going inside and out again.
“… … okay.”
It was true that the weather was nice, so she answered briefly.
The sun was dazzlingly dazzling and the sky was extremely clear. Moreover, the cool spring breeze carried the scent of flowers, making it the perfect weather to go out and have fun.
It would have been great if the person she went out with wasn’t Gerald.
“It will take about two hours by carriage to reach the capital.”
“Okay.”
Just the two of us, Gerald, in this narrow carriage for two hours.
It might be a bit annoying, but she had endured hiding on the floor of a carriage with Byron, so this was something she could tolerate.
Gerald kept talking to her, chattering and talking nonsense, but the conversation didn’t last long. It was because she kept looking out the window and giving short answers.
It was quite enjoyable to look at the exotic scenery outside the window while listening to his chatty words.
It seemed like it was the first time in her life that she was enjoying freedom away from the surveillance of Byron and his gang.
Since she wasn’t sneaking out, there was no pressure to get in quickly before being caught, and there was no need to smile to please Byron.
And it was something she didn’t understand, but for some reason, she had a good feeling from the morning. Somehow, it felt like good luck would come, such a good feeling.
When she was with a guy like Gerald, she couldn’t tell how lucky she was getting this feeling.
After some time passed, Gerald also became quiet, probably because he was tired of talking to himself all the time.
She was curious about what he was doing, so she glanced at him from the corner of her eye and saw that he kept fiddling with the inner pocket of his outerwear, looking somewhat nervous.
It seemed like there was something important in that pocket.
Seeing him fidgeting, Ayla felt something suspicious, so she turned around and looked at Gerald.
“Why why? “What’s on my face?”
In addition, when her gaze fell on his face, he seemed to be stabbed for no reason, and the way he started shaking his feet was extremely suspicious.
“… … no.”
She doesn’t know what they’re planning, but it seems like they’re up to something, so she needs to keep a close eye on them.
Meanwhile, the carriage has already arrived at the capital.
Colorful decorations were hanging all over the street, and street musicians were playing exciting songs. The crowd was in a somewhat happy mood, buying food from street vendors here and there and chatting happily.
When Ayla saw that, she realized that she was actually at the scene of the festival she had only heard about.
It was a sight that somehow made her feel excited as well, with her heart pounding happily.
She quickly got off the carriage and wanted to try various things. Look at the things being sold at the street stalls and try the sandwich-shaped food that everyone was holding in their hands.
However, the carriage carrying her passed by without stopping on the festival street.
“… … Don’t you want to get off? Isn’t this the festival site?”
When Ayla asked with a puzzled expression, Gerald responded as if he was shocked.
“I’m not the only one… … ! How can you hang out with commoners? Just wait. “I’ll take you to a nice place.”
What kind of nonsense is this? It was Gerald who asked her to go to the festival first, but if he wasn’t going to go to the festival, why did he bring her to the capital?
She couldn’t figure out where the ‘really good place’ was.
While she narrowed her eyes and observed Gerald’s suspicious behavior, the carriage ran a little further and entered an upscale residential area.
It certainly had an aristocratic and elegant atmosphere, but it felt quite far away from the festival. It felt like a completely different world from the street before.
“… … “Here, get down.”
When the carriage stopped, Gerald got off the carriage first and held out his hand to her again. Ayla stubbornly ignored his escort got off on her own and looked around.
She couldn’t figure out why he brought her to a place like this.
“Hmm, hmm. “Wait here for a moment.”
Gerald, who had been rejected as an escort not once but twice, cleared his throat with an embarrassed expression and left her behind to approach the knights.
Then he lowered his voice and whispered something to the knights while giving them something.
At that suspicious behavior, Ayla pretended not to hear and focused on their conversation.
“Me and him will be here at the cafe, so let’s go and have a drink.”
“yes? Master, that’s a little… … .”
“… … Get this, quickly! Are you saying you’re not going anywhere else? I’ll just stay here. You know that this neighborhood is safe. Are you saying you don’t have to protect it?”
What he was forcibly handing to the knights was none other than a money bag filled with gold coins.
‘… … It’s getting more and more suspicious.’
“Why are you trying so hard to send knights and be left alone?”
