At her appearance, Winfred opened his eyes wide in slight surprise and said. Alexia shook her head.
“If I am not a sinner, then what am I?”
“...Since even my father said he would not punish you, please get up quickly. Unless you are ignoring the Prince’s orders.”
When Winfred spoke with a gentle smile, Alexia finally got up. But her expression was still uncomfortable. It seemed as if she would rather be punished.
“His Majesty has said that he will forgive your sins if I return safely to the Imperial Palace. All you have to do is guard me diligently. Please lighten your face now.”
It was her duty to do so in the first place, but how could she atone for her sins with that? Alexia felt bitter in her mouth, but she had no choice but to answer that she would do so.
In a few days, he would be leaving Agrio and returning to the capital city of Venator. She had to be on guard.
If it had been the original schedule, they would have already left Agrio, but they had been delayed for several days because they were looking for Cloud. As Alexia was thinking that she should quickly return and prepare for departure, the title of the book Winfred was reading caught her eye.
'The Imperial Noble List?'
She wondered what he was reading so seriously. Why was he suddenly looking up a list of nobles?
Winfred felt Alexia's eyes fall on the book cover and quickly covered the list with another document.
It was already suspicious, but seeing him cover it up in such a hurry made it even more suspicious. On top of that, he had a fidgety expression on his face.
“...Look, is there anything left to do?”
On top of that, he was even stuttering.
Alexia narrowed her eyes at Winfred. That expression seemed familiar; it was the one her son Bradley made whenever he had an accident and tried to hide it from her.
But the other party was the only Prince of the empire who was to become the Crown Prince. Since it was something she could not pursue, she left the room with an uneasy feeling.
"Ha."
When Alexia left, Winfred sighed deeply. He didn't know why he was so flustered.
He said it would have been less suspicious if he had played it cool, and he beat his head with both fists.
The reason Winfred was searching the imperial noble list was because of Aila.
He had clearly heard the surname Hailing, so he thought it must be a noble surname. If it were a high-ranking noble, there was no way he wouldn't remember it. So he was carefully reading the list that included even the minor nobles.
'I wonder if Aila is doing well?'
When he thought of that child, his chest started to ache again. He couldn't figure out why. He wondered if there was something wrong with it. Maybe it was his heart.
He was really curious about where she was and what she was doing, but he couldn't imagine it at all. And that was only natural, since Winfred didn't know anything about her, except her name, Aila.
He couldn't even tell if that name was real. If she were such a secretive girl, she could have told him a fake name.
But still, he tried to pronounce that precious name silently. The tip of his tongue tingled again.
'I miss you.'
Sigh. Winfred let out a sigh and looked up at the ceiling as if it were his habit. As if Aila were on the roof above the ceiling.
We'll definitely meet again someday. Because that's what the kid said.
Winfred closed his eyes.
***
Cloud opened his eyes with difficulty. His right eye was wrapped tightly and awkwardly with a bandage, so his field of vision felt very narrow when he was looking with one eye.
Even that was out of focus because it was so dizzy. It was truly an incredible force. Alexia's sword.
How on earth could he have escaped the city? His head was spinning, and blood was flowing out of his eyes without stopping.
He applied first aid to himself with the styptic he had and jumped down the high wall to avoid the guards. Thanks to that, he sprained his leg, but he endured the pain in his swollen ankle and ran without stopping until he reached here.
And then, he lost consciousness. A few days later, as soon as he came to, he sent a letter to his sister-in-law, Capella.
Cloud struggled to get up. He had to join his group as soon as possible.
“Hey, are you going to get up already? I think it would be better to rest a little longer.”
The old white-haired doctor who had been looking after him opened his mouth worriedly. But Cloud shook his head.
“...Well, it’s what you want. Just drink this medicine.”
The old man clicked his tongue and held out a bowl of medicine. The medicine was bitter, but after drinking it all at once, he felt like his mind was clearing up a bit.
“The letter is...”
“I told you. Don’t worry.”
The old man lived in hiding on the outskirts of the forest outside the walls of Agrio and was a quack doctor who would cure anyone who paid for it. He didn't care at all about criminals, so he saw countless suspicious patients.
But most of them were regulars, and it was a mystery how this young man found out about him and came looking for him.
“Thank you. Yes.”
Cloud said, setting down his bag full of gold coins on the table. Now that he was well enough to move, it was time to head back to where his nephew and sister-in-law were waiting.
“...Just a moment. I need to go get my medicine.”
The old man hurriedly handed over the medicine. The patient, who was not very talkative, silently accepted the bag of medicine he was handed.
“Your eyesight will probably get worse than before, but you won’t lose it completely. I think I got my money’s worth.”
The old man looked at the gold coins in his pocket and said, his eyes sparkling with greed.
But there was nothing he could do about the scar. If he had treated it with healing magic from the beginning, it would have healed cleanly without leaving a scar, but it was not easy to remove the scar that had already formed.
The old man clicked his tongue, saying that it was a shame to see such a handsome face. When the old man, who had been happily counting the gold coins, raised his head, the taciturn patient had disappeared without a trace.
***
“...How long do you plan on making me wait on the street?”
The noble lady, her mouth covered with a fan decorated with ornate lace, asked in an overbearing tone. The noble lady sitting next to her, who seemed to be her daughter, also gave him an unkind look.
The soldier in charge of the checkpoint at the Agrio Gate lowered his head with a terrified expression.
“I’m sorry. It’s an order from my superiors...”
The search was considerably delayed because they had been ordered to open and search all the carriages. It was not easy to check the faces of each person who was passing through the gate, holding the portrait of the Prince who had committed treason ten years ago.
It was especially difficult to search the carriage of such a nobleman. No matter how courageous one was, it seemed impossible not to be afraid when looking at the gaze of that arrogant lady.
After such a suffocating time.
There was nothing suspicious in their group. There were some armed men, but he was sure they were a duly authorized mercenary group, so he let the lady's carriage pass.
The soldier sighed as he watched the magnificent carriage depart from the city gates.
And at that moment, the lady riding in the carriage, no, even Capella, sighed. She couldn't express how thankful she was that she was able to escape safely.
“...We will pass through the gates soon, Master. If we go to a place with few people, I will bring you out immediately.”
As she muttered softly, a groan and a moan could be heard from beneath her feet.
“I feel like I’m going to die from this sting. Tell the carriage to speed up.”
Byron answered with a hint of irritation. Again, his voice was so small that it took a lot of concentration to hear it.
Capella, who opened the window connecting to the coachman, relayed Byron's instructions. Then the coachman increased his speed.
After running for a while, the group arrived in a forest with almost no people, and quickly stopped the carriage. When they hastily opened the carriage floor, Byron, who had been hiding inside, woke up with an annoyed expression.
“This ride is seriously the worst.”
He grumbled as he got out of the carriage, stretched out his arms, and his joints cracked.
“...Miss. Miss?”
While Byron was walking away from the carriage, Capella was waking up Aila. She seemed to have fallen asleep due to exhaustion from the prolonged inspection.
Aila, who woke up to Capella's voice, opened her eyes wide and looked around. She couldn't believe it. How on earth could she have fallen asleep in that situation?
She even had a pretty good dream. It was a dream from her childhood. It was a dream from the time she lived with her biological parents at the Duke's house, a time she couldn't even remember.
As she was getting out of Byron's carriage and preparing to camp, surprised at her own insensibility,
“Uncle!”
Laura screamed in surprise. When Laura turned her head in the direction she was looking, Cloud was limping toward her with his face wrapped in bandages.
“Laura.”
“Where on earth have you been! How much, how much have I lost!”
Laura ran to Cloud, forgetting that there were many eyes around her, and hit his chest with her clenched fist. She gritted her teeth, not seeming to say anything about being worried.
Although she spoke bluntly, Cloud was a substitute for her father, who had passed away when she was young. She was so upset when Cloud didn't come back for several days without saying a word.
“...I’m sorry. Could I go and report to the master for a moment?”
Cloud said with an awkward smile. Laura was still looking at Cloud with tears in her eyes.
“Either way, or not.”
“Huh.”
Laura let out a breath and ran towards her mother, who was also looking at Cloud with surprised eyes.
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