Chapter 81

Our destination was the Pearching Kingdom to the southwest. Pearching maintained a close relationship with the empire, located in a spot that required ten full days of travel by carriage from the Imperial Capital. I could predict—no, I could declare—that those ten days would be nothing short of hell for me.

 

Not even a full day had passed since our departure, and I was already on the verge of a glorious “battle with death.”

 

Due to severe motion sickness, I eventually scrambled out of the carriage and was currently clutching a tree, retching my guts out.

 

“Are you alright, My Lady?” Winnie asked in a worried tone, patting my back.

 

“I’m fi—urk.”

 

I was not fine at all. The carriage already had poor suspension, and with the luggage carts attached to it, the ride quality was the absolute worst of the worst. I had tried to endure the motion sickness by keeping my eyes closed, but my efforts were in vain.

 

“Ugh.”

 

In preparation for this, I had purposefully eaten light, stomach-friendly food. However, it wasn’t enough to overcome the nausea and dizziness.

 

‘I feel so sick.’

 

It felt as if I were hanging upside down from a single-roped swing high in the sky. To make matters worse, a throbbing headache accompanied the stinging pain in my stomach. If we had used a gate, we would have arrived at the kingdom by now. Regret washed over me like a tidal wave.

 

“How much further… to the village…?”

 

I looked up at Winnie with pleading eyes as she continued to pat my back. Please, just tell me we’re almost there.

 

“At this rate, thirty minutes. Just thirty more minutes and we’ll be in a village called Kona!”

 

Thirty minutes left…

 

No. It’s only thirty minutes. Let’s think positively. I tried to hypnotize myself into a better mood and, with trembling hands, gripped the tree to pull myself up from my hunched position.

 

“Quickly. Please, let’s go quickly.”

 

My rational mind knew we had to move, but my legs felt as though they were shackled, leaving drag marks in the dirt. I forced my feet, which seemed glued to the ground, to move.

 

“My Lady, lean on me.”

 

Winnie supported me as I dragged my heavy steps, helping me climb back into the carriage quickly.

 

Vowing to collapse onto an inn bed the moment we arrived at the village, I leaned my head against the window and squeezed my eyes shut. This moment felt no different from a carriage ride to hell.

 

‘Just hold on a little longer.’

 

 

***

 

 

Those thirty minutes felt like two hours. Arriving at Kona Village toward evening, our party split up and headed for the inn.

 

Creak—

 

As we opened the worn wooden door, the first floor—serving as both a restaurant and a pub—was filled with people boisterously drinking and chatting. The loud noise echoed in my head, causing a sharp sting of pain that made me clench my fists.

 

Winnie stepped forward and held up three fingers to the innkeeper, who was wiping plates near the counter.

 

“Do you have three rooms?”

 

“Two women and two men, but you want three rooms?”

 

The innkeeper looked me up and down with an unsubtle gaze.

 

“I see a noble young lady in the back.”

 

At the innkeeper’s rude attitude, one of Winnie’s eyebrows twitched.

 

“The rooms might be too shabby for a high-born lady; is that alright?”

 

Clutching my head, which was throbbing from the aftereffects of motion sickness and the surrounding noise, I nodded without hesitation.

 

“It doesn’t matter, as long as there are rooms.”

 

I wasn’t in a position to be picky. Even now, I was suppressing the urge to just collapse and rest on this dirty floor.

 

“Three rooms. That’ll be 1 silver and 50 copper. If you want breakfast tomorrow, that’s another 10 copper.”

 

“What about water for washing?”

 

“Cold water is 5 copper; hot water is an extra 20 copper.”

 

Seeing the innkeeper’s arrogant eyes and “take it or leave it” attitude, Winnie wanted nothing more than to shout that we didn’t need it and storm out. However, seeing her lady’s deathly pale face, she suppressed her anger. She stiffly handed over 2 silver coins from her pouch.

 

“Bring the hot water up to the Lady’s room.”

 

Clink—

 

“Here are the keys. Checkout is right after breakfast.”

 

Winnie snatched the keys off the counter.

 

“Sir Derek, here is your key.”

 

Winnie handed a key to Derek for him and the coachman to share. Putting one in her own pocket and holding the last one in her hand, she supported me.

 

“Let’s go rest, My Lady.”

 

“Mmm…”

 

Following the creaking stairs up, I finally reached a space with a bed.

 

“Augh… I really almost died.”

 

I dove onto the bed. The impact sent a cloud of dust rising from the blankets, attacking my throat and making me cough.

 

Cough, hack—

 

To think I had expected clean bedding in a low-end inn draped in cobwebs. Still, I was grateful.

 

“My Lady, will you be able to stay here?”

 

“It’s only for one day. And we didn’t have any other choice.”

 

If asked whether I preferred motion sickness or dust, I would choose the latter in a heartbeat. Lying on the bed now brought me such happiness that the discomfort was bearable.

 

“To think I have to go like this for ten more days…”

 

A sigh escaped me. The next nine days looked as bleak as the ceiling wallpaper, which was stained yellow and gray with grease and dust.

 

When I traveled by carriage within the empire, it was either for short distances or in imperial carriages with excellent cushioning. I had completely forgotten that I suffered from motion sickness.

 

Winnie, who had returned after dusting the room and opening the window for ventilation, spoke to me.

 

“My Lady, I will go find some motion sickness medicine before we depart tomorrow.”

 

“If there’s no medicine, then even a sleeping pill…”

 

Because of the cargo and the motion sickness, I couldn’t just use a gate to jump to the Pearching Kingdom by myself. Sleeping pills were a last resort. It wasn’t a great solution, but if I could just stay unconscious in the carriage, I wouldn’t have to feel the sickness.

 

“I’ll get the most effective medicine I can find.”

 

Winnie’s determined gaze put me at ease. Only then did my eyelids feel as heavy as lead, and a yawn escaped me.

 

“Yaaaawn…”

 

Normally, Winnie would have nagged me for going to bed without washing, but perhaps because she had watched me suffer all day, she remained silent.

 

“Please sleep for now. I’ll tell them to bring the wash water tomorrow morning instead.”

 

“Mmm-hmm…”

 

I was in a near-fainting state. Winnie pulled the covers up to my chin and tucked me in.

 

“You worked very hard today. Have sweet dreams, My Lady.”

 

With Winnie’s final words, I drifted off into a deep sleep.

 

 

***

 

 

An indescribable, dark emotion weighed heavily on one side of Nazlee’s heart. Her eyes wavered fiercely with anxiety.

 

“I don’t need to feel guilty. I didn’t personally do anything bad to Lady Lilithia.”

 

She had simply wished for Lilithia Baimery to be absent from the capital. Since the Baimery Merchant Guild frequently traded with other nations rather than just local capital merchants, her father had blocked all capital entry for any guilds trading with Baimery.

 

“…This is right. Lilithia Baimery has to be gone for me to have Prince Freyer.”

 

She hadn’t threatened Lilithia’s life; she had simply made it impossible for her to conduct her guild’s business. Yet, the anxiety would not subside, and Nazlee bit her nails nervously.

 

Knock, knock—

 

“May I come in?”

 

She heard the knock and her father’s voice.

 

“Of course!”

 

Nazlee quickly hid her hands behind her back and flashed a bright smile as her father entered the room.

 

“What brings you to my room at this hour?”

 

Duke Idarand sat beside Nazlee in silence for a moment before finally speaking with a heavy voice.

 

“I came to deliver the news that Lilithia Baimery has left the capital.”

 

“Really…?”

 

At her father’s nod, a faint smile played on Nazlee’s lips. However, her father’s subsequent words left her without an excuse.

 

“I also need a promise from you that you will not personally involve yourself in Baimery family matters from now on.”

 

“I… I’m sorry.”

 

“Fortunately, no one suspected you were the one who started that story. If they had, your social reputation would have suffered.”

 

She had thought that if Lady Lilithia was simply gone, she could take her place. She had offhandedly mentioned that the Baimery Merchant Guild’s products were made of poor-quality fabric. The noble ladies, always hungry for gossip, had inflated the rumor. Eventually, the massive rumor began to be treated as fact.

 

“I only dropped a small hint. I didn’t know it would turn out like this…”

 

“Nothing went wrong, so it is fine.”

 

Duke Idarand reached out and pulled Nazlee’s hidden hands onto her lap.

 

“You’ve made your hands like this again.”

 

He stared with a distant gaze at the dark red wounds on the tips of her pale peach-colored fingers. Nazlee tried to pull her hands away, but she was no match for his firm grip. The Duke looked at the bracelet on Nazlee’s arm and spoke heavily.

 

“Are you that anxious?”

 

‘Yes. Actually, I’m so anxious. If Prince Freyer still doesn’t look at me after I’ve gone this far, I think the despair will suffocate me.’

 

“No. How could I be anxious when you’ve taken such risks for me, Father…?”

 

Nazlee fidgeted with the bracelet on her wrist. The bracelet she had worn her whole life felt unusually heavy, like a lump of lead.