Chapter 6
A Clue to Returning Home
It was the status window that hovered brightly with vitality. The status window shone blue right before my eyes, as if urging me to look at it.
[Quest: Solve Princess Elise’s refusal to eat and drink!]
[Reward: A handful of clues to return home!]
[Accept / Decline]
A handful of clues, huh? If it was guaranteed, there was no reason not to do it. I reached out toward the [Accept] button at the very bottom of the status window. The button was pressed firmly, and the window vanished.
“Um… Lady Ian. What are you doing in midair?”
Datian tilted his head and asked worryingly. Giggling, I plunged my hands into the remaining dishwater.
The next morning. As soon as I woke up, I jumped out of bed to serve breakfast. My shoulders were stiff as an added bonus, not being used to outdoor living for so long.
“Ugh, grrr…”
I took a nice, refreshing stretch. Stretching my arms out fully, I could touch the ceiling of the tent. Normally, I would have complained that it was terribly low, but today was the day I was going to the royal palace! Just that thought brought a smile to my face.
I picked up my nutritionist gown folded on the table next to the cot. However, it was so covered in all sorts of stains that not a trace of white could be found, rendering it unwearable.
“Ah, geez…”
Smacking my lips, I rolled the gown up, tossed it onto the bed, and headed toward the kitchen tent.
Inside the blue tent, Datian, who must have been there since who knows when, was boiling a clear meat broth in a large pot. As soon as his eyes met mine, Datian smiled brightly.
“Lady Ian. I added plenty of garlic today as well.”
Uh… I meant frying it in oil, though. At any rate, Datian was faithfully executing my instructions. I pulled out the neatly stacked silver dishware and handed them to him.
[Datian’s favorability has reached 32.]
Just from something like this? He said that if favorability exceeds 50, they will blindly worship me as a Saintess. I didn’t know why, but I felt an ominous premonition. For some reason, I really wanted to avoid reaching that number.
Leaving behind Datian, who couldn’t possibly know my thoughts, I began scooping up generous portions of rice mixed with plenty of coarse grains. Before I knew it, groups of knights approached from outside.
“Saintess! I heard you’re going to the royal palace!”
“We’re going to miss you!”
The knights picking up their meals chimed in one after another. Watching them openly display their sadness over parting ways made my heart ache a little. After all, I had grown quite attached to them over the past week.
“Um, ah…”
Asel, standing at the very end of the line, approached hesitantly.
“Um, Saintess. I heard you are leaving today. I believe I have been assigned to be your escort.”
“Ah, so you’re asking for a big portion, right? I’ll serve yours in the biggest bowl, Asel.”
I pulled out the largest bowl from the bottom of the stack of silver dishware and scooped broth with the ladle three whole times for him. His eyes widened at the enormous amount.
“I do not need this much.”
“Patients need to eat well. Are you rejecting the Saintess’s teachings?”
At my shameless words, Asel’s spirit completely deflated. Holding the bowl almost as if hugging it, he went over to where the knights were gathered, flopped down, and began eating. His spooning motion was far from enthusiastic.
Scraping up the scorched rice stuck to the bottom of the rice pot, Datian brought up a topic.
“Then Saintess, how about having some food ourselves?”
“Ah, Datian. Before that. Could you perhaps pack me a few small cooking tools that you can spare?”
Datian tilted his head in confusion at the out-of-the-blue request.
“Small tools, you say?”
“Yes. Things that can be used on the go.”
“There are far better tools in the royal palace, though.”
“Just in case. If we get tired along the way, we might need to take a break and eat.”
A smile spread across Datian’s face.
“As expected of the Saintess. You are worried about Asel, who is traveling with you. This Datian failed to realize the Saintess’s noble intentions.”
“No, it’s not that… I was just worried I might get hungry…”
Before I could even finish my sentence, Datian rushed into the tent.
What am I going to do with this overly delusional guy? I poured a generous amount of clear broth into the scorched rice Datian had scooped out. With this, the meal for the knight order came to an end.
Datian packed a bundle of supplies onto the horse we were going to ride. According to him, it contained a small pot, cooking spoons, a small kitchen knife with a sheath, flint, and a few thin twigs for lighting a cooking fire.
“And I have packed the ultimate secret weapon!”
“Secret weapon?”
“I included pouches of salt and sugar. I also packed a warm, boiled cotton cloth.”
Even a cotton cloth? I bowed my head slightly toward Datian, who was snorting in excitement.
“Even if you didn’t know about nutrition, Datian, you were the finest chef.”
“Ah, Saintess. Please arrive at the royal palace without any trouble.”
Seeing Datian’s tearful eyes, Asel shivered and immediately pulled me toward the horse. It wasn’t like we were parting forever, but Datian followed us with short, quick steps while holding a dish towel in his hands.
“Sir Datian. If you stay that close, you might get struck when the horse moves.”
If it weren’t for Asel’s blunt words, Datian would have stayed right by our side until the moment of departure. Asel subtly moved into the spot Datian had stepped back from.
As he explained slowly yet calmly, a lock of his hair gently slipped behind his ear. The fallen strand half-covered one of his eyes. Between his brown hair that looked as though maple syrup had been poured over it, I could see an iris of the same color. That iris suddenly turned toward me.
“Are you listening?”
“Huh? Ah, yes?”
“Saintess…”
Asel wore a troubled expression. Wiggling my body awkwardly, I replied slickly.
“Oh, it’s just that this is my first time riding a horse.”
“Then I shall explain again.”
Even though he started explaining again, it was useless. Because this was the very first time I was properly looking at Asel’s face, having been too busy checking on the knights until now. Apart from being a bit scruffy from hunting magical beasts in the dirt, Asel was quite…
“Handsome.”
“Pardon?”
Asel narrowed his eyes and pressed his lips tightly together. I hurriedly waved my hands.
“No, I mean… the horse! The horse’s flank!”
“Is that so? The Commander specifically lent this horse to us. His name is Cinnamon. He’s a charming fellow with reddish-brown fur.”
“That is correct, Saintess. He’s an extremely fast fellow that runs exceptionally well.”
As Cassian’s confident voice chimed in, Asel smirked. I forced myself to smile along with him. Asel immediately went back into explanation mode. This time, I moved my eyes busyly, trying my best to listen to his words.
“So, um. The main point is that if a person gets startled, the horse gets startled…”
The words after that failed to register. Because my eyes were locked onto Asel once again.
His long hair, unkempt from being outdoors, covered his eyes just like before. His face, if washed once in cool lake water, was so fine and smooth that it wouldn’t have a single blemish. The dark amber iris bordering his pupil. His straight, unhesitatingly tall nose. And lips resembling the color of hibiscusāred and deep…
“The explanation is complete. Let us depart now.”
When I flinched in surprise, a sigh was heard from behind. Glancing back, I saw Datian and Cassian standing silently behind us, fidgeting around. Having sat through such a long lecture, they seemed restless, tapping the ground with their feet and wiggling their hips.
What a bunch of truly amusing people. When I let out a soft laugh, Asel tilted his head, holding his hand out toward me. Those amber eyes were shining brightly.
