Crossing the Elacon border did not mean that we could quickly reach the capital, Veloster.
It was a short ride from the capital of Ronta to the border, but it took several days of horseback riding to get to Veloster.
Me, Rhodnes, Ephero, and Victor found ourselves in the same carriage a few days after starting our journey.
“Not far. The Great Shaman’s path.”
“Since he said he would advance south from near the capital if he drove south while we drive north, we will face him.”
“You’re not hunting, you’re just bothering me.”
Elacon was famous for its rugged mountains and labyrinthine forests, but fortunately, we were in the south where we didn't have to climb mountains to find them, and everyone was relieved and couldn't believe how lucky we were.
“Didn’t the King say he was being held captive?”
“If he was a great man who would just sit there and be held captive, there would have been no need to look for him in the first place.”
Ephero shrugged and answered. I looked at Rhodnes with a slightly depressed face.
He placed the map on the carriage side table and stared at it intently.
“Come out. Look over there?”
“My brother is a genius, so he can do everything better than you.”
“You’re smart. Me too.”
“Oh my. If you had read as many books as you did to build muscle, you wouldn’t have made it halfway through the academy.”
“Don’t do it. Ignore it.”
“I’ll do it because I can do it.”
I would glance at Ephero and Victor, who were bickering every chance they got, and wish that Victor would hit that redhead one day.
“Stop the carriage.”
“So, do you usually read books...? Yes? Brother?”
“Stop the carriage.”
At Rhodnes' command, Ephero opened the window without saying a word and shouted for the carriage to stop.
Rhodnes held up the map and looked at it alternately through the window.
“Search from here.”
At the firm voice of Rhodnes, Ephero opened the carriage door like a loyal knight and stepped out.
Outside the wide open door, a forest of baobab trees appeared.
I paused for a moment, overwhelmed by the trees that boasted extraordinary height and thickness, and only took a step forward after everyone had gotten off.
“Ah. The Princess is here.”
"What?"
“Stay here, Princess. The servants will take care of everything.”
Wherever Rhodnes' fingertips pointed, knights were moving in unison, and Ephero and Victor leading them.
The heavy carriage door slammed shut right before my eyes.
As I opened the window, feeling goosebumps and groaning, Rhodnes's upper body rushed in as if it had been waiting for me.
“If you kiss the Princess’s chief chamberlain here, I can find it for you right away.”
The world's most arrogant chamberlain spoke, baring his white teeth.
“You, you, what are you talking about, Princess? If I hear you say Princess words in front of others...”
“Don’t worry, Princess. Our master-servant relationship is a secret. But there’s a price to pay for keeping it a secret.”
“I’ll find it myself. Come out quickly.”
“How can I send this small, precious, and cute Princess out into such a harsh forest?”
Ah.
It was an answer that was so natural that it wasn't awkward at all.
The face he spoke on was half-playful, and his sparkling eyes were dripping with a rich honey that would make your tongue tingle if you licked it.
“Save your energy, Princess. I told you to tell the Prince that he can’t stand it tonight.”
We only spent a few nights together.
It's scary to learn about theft late in life.
It was really embarrassing because when the two of us were left alone, he would stick his lips anywhere he could find, whether it was my head, my forehead, or my mouth while eating.
“...Really? Then will you tell the Prince? If he doesn’t find that damned sorcerer by the end of the day, don’t touch him even once during the rest of your journey.”
The gaze that had been tracing my lips with eyes full of longing for a long time quickly turned to the work that had to be done.
After that, the people waiting for the advance party started to unpack, and Jonah, who was outside the carriage, looked at me with a shocked expression.
It seemed clear that she had heard our conversation.
“Oh, shit. Did I just say 'fuck'?”
"Yes."
“Oh my God, I just said 'shit' again!”
“Madam, do you know that?”
Jonah whispered quietly to me as I was clutching my head in self-loathing.
“It seems that you have already become very attached to His Highness the Second Prince.”
What the hell!
***
It wasn't long before the advance party discovered human traces in the forest.
Before the sun had even set, they had found signs of hunting, and by dusk, they had discovered a hut with a smoking chimney in the middle of a giant baobab forest.
As the advance party fired a red light, the remaining escorts and I, who had been waiting, headed towards it.
I drove along the unpaved, bumpy road with the sole purpose of arriving before nightfall, and by the time I arrived, I couldn't help but feel motion sickness, even though it was the most luxurious carriage.
I got out of the carriage, holding tightly to the hand of Rhodnes, who had been waiting.
The red-roofed cottage stood out all alone, out of nowhere.
Along the roughly put-up wooden fence, glass lanterns containing fireflies were flickering and glowing, and while it was beautiful, there was something eerie and bizarre about it.
As I opened the short wooden gate outside the fence, the fireflies trapped in the glass lamps creaked and flew up into the air all at once.
Everyone stood there with their mouths open, and as the light flew towards the entrance to the cabin, illuminating it, the door opened.
“Who are you, coming here at this hour of the night?”
A neutral voice that is neither male nor female.
A short, plump young woman appeared.
Her silver hair, braided into thick pigtails, was slightly faded, and the lower part was decorated with a skull-shaped decoration carved from ivory, giving her a somewhat strange feeling.
At first glance, it looked like the attire of a priest of a great temple, but wherever the light passed, purple jewels sparkled, making it splendid even when viewed at night.
Even the yellow petticoat, which seemed to have no concern for color combinations, was shining like gold.
It was an outfit that didn't suit this place, which smelled like grass, but perhaps because of the woman's strange behavior, it seemed to strangely go well with the night.
The woman let go of Rhodnes's hand and stopped walking as soon as she saw me standing up straight.
“Oh my God...”
That one word was her first impression.
***
The backyard, which was extremely large compared to the small cabin, became the campsite for the procession.
Except for Ephero and Victor, who went to lead them, only Rhodnes and I were able to enter the hut.
With a few waves of her plump hands, teacups and refreshments were automatically placed on a small table.
I stared at the teaspoon that was spinning around and stirring the tea until my eyes popped out.
“The reaction is pretty cute.”
A neutral voice calmly unfolded its sentiments.
“It looks like these are the people the King wanted to meet. There are many people with royal aura. I remember the pink-haired one outside because I used to tease him a bit when he was little.”
“I really need your help, so I came here despite the rudeness of meeting you for the first time.”
“Honestly, it does interrupt my travel, but it’s not so much that it’s annoying. It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a handsome man. It’s nice to see you. Keep going.”
“That’s not the face you’re looking at.”
I pinched the thigh of Rhodnes, who answered crookedly, hard. Of course, it was so hard that only my hand hurt.
“He’s quite a handsome man. I’m not really a fan of thorny flowers.”
“Go out, Roan. I’m fine.”
“Why trust that woman?”
The great sorcerer, who had been watching us bickering with her arms crossed, snickered.
“Then why should I believe in you and help you?”
The great sorcerer drank the tea she had stirred like alcohol and wiped the corners of her mouth.
“You have to show proper manners when asking for help.”
“I apologize. Let me introduce myself formally. My name is A... Blie. I served as an aide to His Highness the late Crown Prince of Ronta.”
The whole time I was talking, the great shaman was chuckling as if she found something so funny.
“I am Rossi. Some call me the Grand Sorcerer, others the Grand Witch. What do you want?”
I quickly showed her the list of medicines I had prepared in case Rossi changed her mind.
As soon as Rossi saw it, she was silent for a long time.
“Do you know what medicine those herbs are used in? The many doctors and shamans of Elacon said that only you, Lord Rossi, would know about it.”
“This is not a medicine that anyone can make. It is not a medicine that anyone can take. I have only made it once, and it is not in my possession now.”
An ominous feeling slowly crept up my shoulder. Rhodnes, who had been quietly holding my thigh, grabbed my hand tightly.
“Living death potion.”
The lips that had erased the smile began to talk about medicine.
“The medicine of living death, that is what I call it.”
“What happens if I take that medicine?”
“It makes a living person look like a dead person. It temporarily changes the internal system of the body so that instead of breathing through the mouth or nose, it makes the person breathe with their whole body for several hours.”
The secret was being revealed.
“During that process, all the poison and bad energy in your body will be blown away. However, it is extremely dangerous, so to survive after taking the medicine, you have to be someone who has been continuously poisoned, rather than someone healthy. You also need to have the stamina to endure while your body recovers.”
Strength entered Rhodnes' hands.
“The scent of that medicine vibrates from you.”
“!”
“You must have been exposed to the poison for a very long time. The potion of living death manifests itself as if the person who took it was poisoned.”
My palms began to sweat coldly. This became even more so when my gaze met with those piercing, sliver-gray eyes.
“No one else may know, but I can see it. Your face has rotted and decayed, and there are signs of recovery. Someone didn’t make you drink poison but put it in flowers or incense and continued to choke you. Any idea?”
I barely nodded my head as my hands trembled as they were held by Rhodnes.
A scene that passes by in an instant. And a scent.
The terrible smell of herbs that were always burned, saying they were good for the body.
I would start my day by opening my eyes in the morning, smelling that scent, and I would go to bed smelling that scent right before I fell asleep.
“It doesn’t look like much, but I guess you’re the type to hold a lot of grudges?”
“...”
“Okay, now that you’ve given me the answer I wanted, should I tell you what I want too?”
"What?"
The answer came from Rhodnes, but Rossi's gaze was fixed on me, frozen in place.
“One for one. Everything in the world is based on give and take.”
That was when.
The wooden chair that had been creaking since I sat down began to wobble, and then it slid down on the ice, taking me to the side of Rossi, who was sitting across from me.
Rhodnes jumped up and aimed his sword at Rossi.
“So, would you like to introduce yourself again?”
But Rossi's chubby hand had already grabbed my collar and was pulling me towards her.
“The girl with that face, Blie, was my disciple, young lady.”
The swirling red-gray gaze pierced my wavering eyes like arrows.
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