WHCTA 26

Chapter: 26

Time passed quickly, and at last the day to depart for the territory arrived.

On the morning of our departure—

“My lady! It’s time to wake up.”

Frowning at the morning sunlight filtering through my eyelids, I slowly pushed myself upright.

As I blankly watched the maid busily drawing back the curtains, I turned my head toward the bed beside me. It was empty.

“His Grace left early this morning.”

Noticing what I was looking for, the maid promptly told me where Evan had gone.

He really was diligent.

Every single day, he never missed his dawn training. I couldn’t help but admire his incredible stamina.

“My lady, please wait just a moment. I’ll bring some water for you to wash.”

“All right. Thank you.”

While waiting for the maid to return, my eyes suddenly fell on the flower vase by the window.

The last gift Mei had left me.

“I should at least ask them to keep changing the water while I’m gone.”

Picking up the vase, I tried to move it to a sunnier spot by the window.

Thud.

“Ah…!”

My foot caught on the travel bag I had left on the floor, and I nearly lost my balance.

Fortunately, I didn’t fall, but the water inside the vase splashed out, soaking the bed.

“…”

I stared speechlessly at the flower petals scattered across the wet bedspread.

Anyone who saw it would surely think something very dramatic had happened there the previous night.

“What am I supposed to do now?”

Flustered, I hurriedly picked up the petals, desperately trying to clean up the mess.

Knock, knock.

Just then, the maid returned with the basin of wash water.

“Oh my, my lady! What happened?”

Seeing me in a panic, she rushed over.

Startled, I forced myself to remain calm and pointed at the bed.

“Could you… change the bedding? The vase tipped over and made quite a mess.”

“O-Of course…!”

As her eyes followed my finger to the soaked sheets, I watched her cheeks gradually turn red.

I had a pretty good idea what misunderstanding was running through her mind.

I almost tried to explain, but gave up.

“Trying to explain would probably make it seem even more suspicious.”

If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve just left the flowers where they were.

“Ahem… Don’t worry, my lady. I’ll take care of everything.”

The experienced maid quickly composed herself, flashed me a bright smile, assured me not to worry, and carried the bedding away.

Leaving behind my lingering embarrassment, I headed toward the mansion courtyard.

Looking around, I spotted Evan talking with one of the knights beside the carriage.

“Good morning.”

When I greeted him lightly, he simply nodded in response.

I watched him for a moment before climbing into the carriage.

Soon, Evan mounted his horse, and the surrounding knights began preparing to depart.

“We’re leaving.”

I had already boarded the carriage, expecting him to join me, but when I saw him riding his horse instead, I opened the window.

“Aren’t you riding in the carriage with me?”

“The road ahead is difficult. There may also be unexpected dangers, so I’ll travel this way.”

“I understand.”

Nodding, I rested my head against the window frame.

A few strands of my hair drifted outside in the breeze.

“It’s dangerous to lean out like that.”

Just then, a large hand suddenly reached through my hair.

One by one, he gathered every strand that had blown outside the window and gently tucked it back inside.

Caught completely off guard, I instinctively looked up.

Our eyes met at incredibly close range.

He also seemed visibly flustered, apparently only just realizing that he had naturally reached out and touched my hair.

“…We’ll depart now.”

He quickly withdrew his hand, turned around, and practically fled from me at lightning speed.

Watching his retreating figure grow smaller, I murmured softly to myself,

“Why does he keep looking so adorable?”

The more I thought about it, the more I realized it had all started three days ago.

The day he got angry over my slip of the tongue and stormed off.

No…

More accurately, it had begun the moment I saw his face flushed bright red despite the terrifying expression and icy voice that had made my knees nearly buckle.

After that day, Evan acted as cold as ever, as though he’d never blushed at all.

But inside me, unfamiliar feelings continued to quietly pile up.

“I want to see that face again.”

The desire to see that expression one more time kept creeping into my thoughts, startling even me.

Just then, I saw Evan approaching the carriage after finishing his inspection.

Even though there was no way he could possibly know what I’d just been thinking, I felt strangely guilty and quickly ducked back inside the carriage.

“We’re moving.”

A moment later, Evan’s voice rang out from outside.

Rattle… rattle…

About six hours had passed since we’d left the capital.

Outside the window, all I could see now were endless green trees.

At first, the lush forest had been soothing to look at.

But after staring at it for several hours…

That was a different story.

“Ugh…”

Having never ridden in a carriage for so long before, my body was loudly protesting.

I immediately moved to the window and knocked on it.

Evan, who had been riding beside the carriage, saw my pale face and instantly reined in his horse.

“Stop the carriage!”

As soon as the carriage came to a complete halt, I practically leaped out and grabbed onto a nearby tree, trying to calm my churning stomach.

“Are you all right?”

As I caught my breath, rubbing my chest, Evan walked over from behind.

“Yes… Just standing on solid ground already makes me feel much better.”

I dropped onto a nearby rock as I answered.

“We’ll rest here for a while before continuing.”

After silently studying my exhausted face, he turned back toward the carriage.

A moment later, he returned carrying a thick blanket.

“The sun will set soon. It’ll get cold.”

“Thank you.”

Smiling without thinking at his thoughtfulness, I accepted the blanket.

As expected, he replied in his usual indifferent tone.

“If you catch a cold, it’ll delay our schedule. That’s all.”

“Sure. Let’s go with that.”

“I’m used to this now, so it doesn’t even surprise me anymore.”

Wrapping the blanket around myself, I casually asked,

“How much farther do we have to go?”

“At this pace, it’ll take about five more days.”

“Five days… in the carriage?”

Just hearing it made my back and hips start aching in advance.

“Sigh…”

I groaned as I pounded my sore lower back with my fist after six hours of being battered by the carriage.

Evan, who was still standing beside me, called over one of the passing maids.

“Bring a long hot-water bottle filled with warm water. She’ll wrap it around her waist.”

“G-Got it! I’ll bring it right away!”

The maid looked back and forth between Evan and me.

Then, suddenly blushing bright red, she hurried away as fast as she could.

Only then did I realize she was the very same maid who had come into my room that morning.

Evan frowned slightly and looked after her in confusion.

He clearly couldn’t understand why she had reacted that way.

“I think I know why…”

“Ahem.”

But there was no point telling him about the misunderstanding I’d caused that morning.

It would only make things awkward between us.

So I wisely chose to remain silent.

After resting for about thirty minutes, thankfully both my nausea and my aching back had improved considerably.

Since we still had a long journey ahead, I forced my recovered body back onto the carriage.

Some time later—

Just as the sky was beginning to grow dark, the carriage came to another stop.