"I thought all of these were provisions."
"Half of them are."
Alexander glanced at me before turning to the Knight beside him.
"Thank you so much for granting my silly request, Sir Sigmund."
"It's my pleasure."
With that, he bowed and left. After making sure Sir Sigmund was out of my sight, I moved my feet and faced Alexander who was leaning against the wagon.
"Why was there weaponry among the provisions? Is the Emperor planning to use the refugees as soldiers to participate in the war?"
However, Alexander gawked at me in stupefaction before cracking up a laugh. He shook his head and watched me as if I was a clown that behaved comically.
"Remember what the Emperor said, 'The Empire isn't short of men's power.'"
His laugh lessened and he wiped his tears.
"They're just escorting us to the Refugee Camp. Once we get there, we will part with them and they will continue marching towards the Northwest Naval Base to deliver the Elemental Shells."
Alexander gestured his hand for me to follow him and he started walking. I shadowed him along with Fedel.
"They're still going to march?"
He nodded.
"Sir Sigmund said it was worth two days of horseback to reach the Northwest Naval Base. After delivering the shells they will return to the Refugee Camp."
I could feel the energy within my body drop drastically just by hearing it. I would never be able to do that. It took 3 days to cross the Sverre Plain to reach the Refugee Camp.
Then, they needed to continue their journey for two more days to deliver the Elementals Shells to the Marines and resumed the match for another two days to return to the Refugee Camp.
'That's just crazy.'
"What's so special about those Elementals Shells?"
I had never seen or heard any of it. I assumed that was a new product created by the Arcanist Tower.
"I will show you when we arrive at the Refugee Camp."
Wait. For some reason, it confused me. Didn't he say that the shells would be delivered to the Marines? Why did he say, 'when we arrived at the Refugee Camp'?
I clenched my head as it started to swirl in pain. Now that I think about it, apart from answering my question with a question or vague answer, the way he spoke was somehow uncanny. I couldn't comprehend his words at all.
Nevertheless, he halted his step and spun toward me. He made a thinking pose and eyed me from top to bottom several times. Annoyed by his rude manner, I snapped at him.
"What?"
He tilted his head.
"I believe that I have told you that you should eat more. Guess, you ignored my words."
I scoffed at him. He didn't know how my mother sent me cookies almost every hour and stuffed my mouth with food every time we met.
Not only that, but I also noticed that Fedel had increased the proportion of my meal. Grandpa and Count Andreas were no different, they always brought food for me.
I ate all of it, yet they kept telling me that I should eat more. How ludicrous of them.
"Here."
He took my hand and placed a bag of cookies. He grabbed a cookie and ate it.
"See? There's no poison in it."
I frowned at his attitude. Although he had said that I could trust him many times, his behavior and words always left me in doubt.
An hour had passed since our break after we joined the Supply Party at the entrance of the plains. Knights mounted their horses and we now officially entered the Sverre Plains.
A vast meadow was presented, outlining the sky and the flat land that appeared through the windows. Colorful wildflowers that bloomed beautifully garnished the grassland.
It hadn't been a day and yet I felt like my back was being scorched. Perhaps it was due to my first trip, not to mention it was a long one. Unable to endure the pain, I laid my body on the couch and gazed at the carriage ceiling.
"Are you okay?"
"...yeah."
I answered without taking my eyes off the canopy above.
"Just sleep. I'll wake you up once our break for lunch is ready."
"Alright."
As time flew by, drowsiness devoured me little by little. I tried to urge myself to remain awake, but this sleepiness weighed down on me.
'He won't kill me in my sleep, will he?'
And my eyelids gradually shut down.
.<strong>..</strong>
I stared at the boy who was lying on the couch across from me and soft snoring could be heard. I clucked when I saw his skinny body. I should feed him more from now on.
I eyed him earnestly, somehow looking at his serene face brought back memories and my lips lifted involuntarily. Recalling how silly he was back then. I took out a blanket from my magical sphere and put it on him before returning to my seat.
'Even now and then, I still think of you as my little brother.'
However, my smile dropped as horrified memories abruptly rushed into my head. I could vividly see how my trembling hands that were covered with blood filled my vision--No.
All of it was in the past now. I hurriedly closed my eyes to get rid of the memory. I exhaled and inhaled slowly to dispel the nightmare.
After fully collecting myself, I opened my eyes and wiped away the cold sweat from my face. Rather than drowning in the past, it would be better if I could make adequate plans for the accident that would occur in the Refugee Camp.
Foremost, I need to prevent that brat from jumping into danger because I was certain that he would undoubtedly hop into it when the accident unfolds. But how?
--Tuk --Tuk --Tuk
I tapped my finger on my knee. Should I knock him out and hide his body in the forest? Wait. I think that was a plausible idea.
It was easy to turn him unconscious, but the first-world problem was how to separate Ian from Fedel and Sir Ulrich. It wouldn't be an easy task to do.
Like hell, one was a professional assassin and the other was a Swordmaster. I wasn't even confident about it. Not in my current ability.
But there was also another problem. I had no idea why that imp always looked at me warily. Even though I told him many times that he could trust me, it seemed he just dismissed my words like air.
Not only that, I even saved his ass yet he was still gazing at me with eyes full of distrust. I shook my head in disbelief. I wondered what made him feel that way.
Knocks on the door terminated my train of thought. I just realized that the carriage had stopped. I opened the door and Fedel came into view. He blatantly glared at me and switched to Damian. I quickly cut him before he could say anything.
"Ian just fell asleep a few minutes ago. He's tired, let him sleep some more."
With that, I got on my feet to exit the carriage, however, Fedel just stood there unmoving. Bothered, I hissed at him.
"What do you want?"
Unexpectedly, he bowed his head to me.
"Thank you so much for saving Prince Damian's life two months ago."
He straightened his back and stared at me with his ferocious eyes. Just looked at him, saw how Fedel brandished his fangs at me when that little brat wasn't looking.
"Please pardon my rudeness, but may I know the reason why Your Highness saved Prince Damian?"
I stared back at him nonchalantly.
"Her Majesty also told me about the Elemental Oath."
I clicked my tongue and twirled my body. I walked toward the other door and opened it.
"That's none of your business."
I stepped down from the carriage and shut the door. Why did people keep asking me the reason why I saved him? Did that really matter?
I always cherished him whether in my previous timeline or this time around and it stayed the same. I always wanted to save him even then, I--
I stopped walking and clutched my head. I staggered a bit but quickly regained my footing.
"Your Highness, are you alright?"
I glanced at the voice from the tail of my eyes and two Knights were seen. They were just my Knights. I breathed out a long sigh to ease my mind before resuming my stride.
"I'm fine."
Even though I had seen how the world crumbled, it didn't frighten me a bit. The most dreadful memory was the fact that I failed to save him, the fact that I killed him with my own hands.
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