Chapter 14

“Please take your time eating.”

“No, I’m finished.”

Rudbeckia, feeling rushed, put down her spoon and cleaned up her place. Irene handed water to her hurrying friend while asking Benedict.

“Do we need to ride long today too?”

“We’ll need to ride longer than yesterday.”

“What about meals?”

“We’ll have to eat on the road. If we’re lucky, we might find a restaurant.”

Benedict looked at Irene, seemingly asking if she had any more questions.

Irene shook her head and turned to ask Rudbeckia.

“Rudy, do you have any questions?”

Questions?

Rudbeckia furrowed her brows thoughtfully and turned to Benedict.

“Did you sleep well?”

Rudy asked in a lowered voice with her characteristically serious gaze. She wasn’t making a belated morning greeting but genuinely wondering if he had slept well the previous night.

For a moment, he couldn’t hide his bewilderment and frowned, but soon broke into a slight laugh.

Though he pretended not to hear his sister’s giggling beside him, reflecting on her behavior at this point, it was clear she saw him as someone who cowered before the Emperor.

Benedict answered while holding back a sigh.

“As you can see, I’m fine. Did you sleep peacefully last night?”

“I slept well, thanks to you.”

“We didn’t get much sleep. What? It’s true.”

Next to Rudbeckia, who answered politely, Irene cheerfully corrected her friend’s response.

Benedict looked at her clear eyes and spoke deliberately.

“It’s going to be quite physically demanding from now on.”

“Yes. Thank you for your concern.”

Rudbeckia stared at him intently while giving an appropriate and proper response.

“Then I’ll head out first.”

Benedict, with an unpleasant expression, turned and left the inn first. Even from that simple action, Rudy read his mood.

Rudbeckia whispered to Irene.

“I think he’s angry. Why?”

“Huh? My brother always looks like that though?”

“He usually does look like that, but something’s different now.”

“Really? Looks the same to me. Is there something only a wife can see? Ah, okay, okay.”

Rudbeckia gave a prim sidelong glance at Irene, who raised her hands in surrender after saying everything she wanted to say. If she didn’t, she felt her face would turn red first thing in the morning.

“Ladies, please come out.”

“Coming!”

Rudbeckia and Irene quickly cleared their plates and went out to the front of the inn.

Wearing riding clothes like the knights, they could mount their saddles more comfortably than yesterday.

“Priest, how are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. How are you, sisters?”

“We’re fine too.”

After exchanging brief greetings with Raziel, they also exchanged quick eye greetings with the rest of the group.

Thus began their second day’s journey.

Though Rudbeckia tried to appear relaxed, in reality, she was tense from the moment she mounted, sitting bolt upright.

Today, because the knights’ formation had switched between front and back rows, Benedict was behind her. The mere fact that he was riding directly behind her made her extremely nervous.

Just then, Aaron turned around and quickly scanned his sister. When she nodded at his questioning look asking if she was ready, Aaron called out.

“We’re departing!”

“Yes!”

Rudbeckia urged Sharon forward, following him. She thought that if she galloped mindlessly, she wouldn’t be conscious of him riding behind her, but that wasn’t the case at all.

She continued riding with stiff shoulders and back.

Just as that was becoming burdensome, the group, who had been riding on the wide road after leaving the village, encountered a forest path.

Since they had to move between trees, they naturally dismounted and moved in single file.

When Hugo stood behind Rudbeckia, her muscles noticeably relaxed.

However, there was another problem.

The densely wooded area felt so eerie that she reacted sensitively even to the fluttering of forest birds.

When a snake slithered past her feet, she had to cover her mouth to prevent herself from screaming, and it was common for her to grip the reins tightly when insects suddenly dropped in front of her.

Each time, her clever horse Sharon would snort as if mocking her owner. It was fortunate that at least the horse was unfazed.

“Sir Idris, could you please look forward?”

Irene, who had been walking carefully, finally spoke up.

Because Idris kept looking back, Irene had made eye contact with him countless times.

“I’m just checking if everyone’s keeping up well, what’s wrong?”

Idris quickly looked forward while responding in an embarrassed voice.

Irene herself was already focusing on Rudy who had fallen behind. Derek, who stood behind Irene, whispered quietly to her.

“Hugo is with Miss Rudbeckia. She’ll be fine.”

“Yeah. I know.”

She knew well that her friend who could handle monsters just fine couldn’t deal with reptiles, let alone insects.

Of course, Irene, worried about her friend, had been getting goosebumps herself since earlier.

While Irene tried her best to walk normally, Rudbeckia was also walking hard between Raziel and Hugo, catching her breath.

“Miss, shall I carry you?”

“I might faint from embarrassment if you do.”

Rudy walked as dignified as possible with her head held stiffly. Seeing her state, Hugo offered to at least hold Sharon’s reins.

“I’ll take care of Sharon until we get out of the forest.”

“Uh, but…”

Her prized horse, bothered by its owner’s unstable state, immediately moved next to Hugo.

“See? If you insist on maintaining your pride, Sharon might get angry.”

Rudbeckia reluctantly nodded after seeing Sharon’s stable state next to Hugo.

Hugo moved ahead of her, and she followed them slowly with her shoulders hunched.

As she moved while carefully scanning the ground and surroundings with her eyes, the distance between her and those ahead kept growing.

It was just when Rudbeckia, who belatedly noticed this fact, finally stretched her legs.

Something unidentifiable quickly climbed up the tree beside her.

“Ahhh!”

As the startled Rudbeckia trembled and tried to run away, her hood got caught on a low-hanging branch.

The only person who saw this trivial mishap that happened in an instant was the person standing right behind her.

She first looked up while holding her startled heart. She saw the fabric foolishly stuck in the branch.

Holding back a sigh, she raised her hands to remove the hood. After struggling with the fabric for a while as it wouldn’t come off easily, a hole suddenly appeared in the hood.

“Huh?”

What? Why did it suddenly tear?

Rudy, who suddenly found herself hanging from the branch, froze all her movements.

Benedict and Walter, who were behind her, also momentarily stopped moving.

Benedict had been watching her entire performance from the beginning, while Walter had discovered her just after the hole appeared.

“……Shall I help you?”

“I’ll do it.”

Having finally come to her senses after hearing their conversation, Rudy spoke quite resolutely.

“Just a moment. I haven’t asked for help from either of you.”

Red-faced from embarrassment, she began untying the strings with trembling hands to remove the robe completely.

At that very moment, something again quickly climbed up the tree, and she collapsed to the ground without even being able to scream.

“Huh?”

“It’s torn.”

With an ominous ripping sound, her hood was miserably separated.

Rudy only opened her eyes, which she had squeezed shut, when she felt her hair, previously hidden by the hood, falling against her cheeks.

“What was that, just now?”

“A squirrel.”

“……Don’t tell me earlier too?”

“Yes.”

Benedict handed his horse to Walter and extended his hand to Rudbeckia.

Her red eyes looked up at him tearfully. Benedict had his facial muscles extremely tensed as he felt like laughing.

Though Benedict tried to hide his expression, Rudbeckia was uncannily good at noticing such things.

“You just laughed, didn’t you?”

After first taking his hand to stand up, she asked sharply in a deflated voice.

Benedict unconsciously clenched his fist after briefly touching her hand.

“You saw wrong.”

“I did not. Sir Walter saw it too, right?”

“What? No? Our Commander would never laugh at something like this.”

“Huh? But I think you’re laughing right now too.”

“You’re mistaken, Miss.”

Compared to Benedict, Walter’s expression was practically a broad grin.

As arguing only made her more embarrassed, she glanced at her tattered hood hanging from the branch.

Seeing Rudy’s gloomy face, Benedict and Walter each composed their expressions.

“Sigh, I’m sorry. We’ve fallen behind because of me.”

“It’s fine. They’re probably waiting at the waterfall ahead.”

“Really?”

“Yes. When separated from the group, we regroup at the next water source or village.”

Walter kindly reassured her, then turned his head at the gaze he felt from beside him.

Walter, thinking Benedict wanted his horse back, handed over the reins.

“I’ll guard from behind if the Commander goes ahead.”

“I’ll follow if you go ahead.”

“Understood.”

Since it was more burdensome with a superior following, Walter became more focused than before.

Rudbeckia stood between the two men while needlessly brushing back her long hair.

Though she had been on edge enough to be startled by squirrels, after suffering such embarrassment, she actually became less tense.

However, to Benedict watching her from behind, it was all the same.

Rudy still flinched whenever small creatures passed by and took sharp breaths. Each time, her hair moved with her, and Benedict couldn’t take his eyes off the bright light.

In many ways, Rudbeckia stood out too much.

“Your Highness.”

Just then, she turned around. She immediately made eye contact with Benedict, who had been staring at her intently.

As if not noticing his furrowed expression, Rudbeckia asked in a tense voice.

“Don’t you hear something just now?”

Rudbeckia definitely heard it. No, this wasn’t just hearing.

Her body was instinctively warning her.

“The waterfall you mentioned, how much further is it?”