#25. To Solaine

“Today we need to go meet the Chloe in Solaine.”

After a brief pause, the Duke spoke while meeting her eyes again.

Of course. Why would the Duke avoid the eyes of a mere attending servant?

“You’re going today? I’m worried you’d experience travel fatigue as you haven’t fully recovered from yesterday’s journey.”

If they were going to go right away, they should have stayed in Kinden and gone straight to Solaine from there. Why did they make the exhausting trip back to the mansion yesterday?

From Kinden, Solaine was only about 2 hours away. So if they had stayed in Kinden yesterday and visited Solaine today, they could have saved unnecessary time and reduced fatigue from the long journey.

If not that, since they made the forced march yesterday, they could rest today and go tomorrow. What’s the rush?

Of course, that was just her simple thinking, she couldn’t really know the Duke’s true intentions.

“Travel fatigue?”

The Duke repeated as if hearing an unfamiliar word. As if saying, do you experience such things?

Yes, yes. You tireless Duke, go ahead and search for ‘Chloe’ with such an inefficient schedule.

“Ah!”

While thinking about the ‘Chloe’ the Duke was searching for, Chloe suddenly remembered a forgotten report.

“Your Grace, someone from the information guild came yesterday to report their investigation results!”

“Oh? What did they say? Did they find anything new?”

“Well…, their findings weren’t much different from what Sir Joyce investigated.”

“I see. Well, I expected as much. It’s hard to be more capable than Joyce.”

The Duke nodded and muttered.

The information guild man’s words about beast-people and dogs and cats flashed through Chloe’s mind. But she kept her mouth shut, fearing she might be called foolish again like yesterday. She already knew the claim about her being a beast-person was nonsense.

The Duke was already having a hard time chasing shadows, there was no need to add impossible information about her being a beast-person.

“We’ll depart right after breakfast, so hurry up. First, you should… wash up.”

He’s really criticizing me for being dirty. And avoiding my eyes again. Ah! Earlier too, maybe he wasn’t avoiding my eyes but just couldn’t bear to look at my dirty face?

“Yes, right away…! Wait, what?”

Chloe’s eyes widened.

‘You too’? I’m going too?

“Me… too?”

“You’re my attending servant, shouldn’t you come along? You may have rested yesterday, but today you need to work.”

What is this…. Me too, necessarily? All the way to Solaine no less?

It was an unexpected order she hadn’t anticipated.

Chloe almost questioned why she had to go there but managed to hold her tongue. As an attending servant, she couldn’t object when her master told her to follow. After all, an attending servant was someone who followed their master wherever they went.

But Solaine was 7 hours away from Roizen one way. He had rarely asked her to accompany him on trips before, yet now he wanted her to come along to such a distant place.

Though he’s a gracious Duke, he seems to have quite capricious tendencies…

“Yes, I understand. I’ll prepare.”

Swallowing her bitterness inside, Chloe bowed and left the Duke’s room.

She already felt motion sickness coming on.

About an hour later…

Chloe blinked several times when she went out to the mansion’s main gate.

“……!”

Because of the three horses standing in the front yard of the mansion’s main gate.

Horses.

Three of them.

So… the transportation to Solaine would be by horse?

Good heavens! I can’t ride horses!

However, showing no interest in her questions and concerns, the Duke and Sir Joyce mounted their horses.

“What are you doing? Get on quickly.”

Sir Joyce said gruffly.

“Um…, I can’t ride horses? I haven’t learned horseback riding yet.”

“……”

Sir Joyce and the Duke both looked at Chloe simultaneously. Their eyes were intense, seemingly asking what nonsense she was talking about.

Actually, among commoners, it was natural that few could ride horses except for some wealthy ones. Not only owning horses but even maintaining them required enormous costs.

However, there were some unexpected commoners who needed to know how to ride horses. Commoners with jobs that essentially required horsemanship skills, like mail carriers, messengers, and horse trainers.

There were also some jobs that people didn’t easily associate with horses.

For instance, attending servants, sometimes called personal servants. Attending servant and horsemanship…

It seemed like putting horseshoes on a dog’s feet, but since they had to follow their masters on trips and serve them, it was an essential skill for attending servants who served masters who frequently used horses.

However, most attending servants couldn’t ride horses when they were hired. So they usually learned horseback riding using their master’s horses whenever they had time after being hired. So in a way, the Duke and Sir Joyce’s bewilderment at Chloe’s inability to ride wasn’t completely unreasonable.

However, until now, Duke Wulfaz rarely took his attending servants with him when riding horses. This was natural since he was a Duke who didn’t entrust many tasks to attending servants even at home.

Twice maybe? She had accompanied the Duke when he went out. But even then, it was just into Roizen city and they used a carriage. So until now, Chloe had felt no need to learn horseback riding.

The butler hadn’t instructed her to learn horseback riding either.

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

The Duke frowned.

“Yes. I’m sorry. I should have learned beforehand…”

Though he had never told her he would take her on such trips, it was true that she wasn’t prepared as an attending servant. Even if the master hadn’t instructed it, she couldn’t blame the master.

“You don’t need to apologize. I never told you to learn it beforehand. However…, hmm…”

As expected, the rational and reasonable Duke didn’t blame her. Though he seemed to be troubled by this situation.

What’s there to think about? Just don’t take me along. There’s no need for her to go all the way to Solaine, a 14-hour round trip.

He hadn’t been one to take attending servants with him until now, so he probably didn’t need her attendance much, and she wasn’t essential for this journey.

Moreover, the Duke and Sir Joyce had made the 10-hour round trip to Kinden in 7 hours. She would obviously just be a burden in their speed run.

And truthfully, though she couldn’t openly state it, she had her own personal circumstances.

Tomorrow was her day off after a month.

Her mother had gotten up from her sickbed… From the moment she heard that news, her heart was already running to her hometown.

How fortunate it was that her day off was right around the corner.

But if they departed for Solaine today, they would likely return tomorrow. Then it would be too late to depart for Bergen, and she would probably only be able to leave the day after.

It felt awkward to ask for an extra day off.

So the best situation now would be to be excluded from the Solaine trip.

Chloe desperately prayed the Duke would make a rational and sensible decision.

“Your Grace, is there really a need to take Clyne along? With me attending you, there shouldn’t be much inconvenience. Isn’t it important to get to Solaine as quickly as possible?”

Sir Joyce said something good in the middle of listening. Though it didn’t seem like he said it for Chloe’s sake. Rather, it was obvious he thought an attending servant who couldn’t even ride would be meaningless on this long journey.

Forget meaning, it would be fortunate if I’m not just baggage.

Actually, Chloe had thoughtlessly assumed they would go by carriage.

These were people who had made the trip to Kinden in 7 hours by riding horses at top speed. She wasn’t a noble lady they needed to escort, just an attending servant, yet a carriage for her accompaniment?

It was too naive a thought.

“……”

However, the Duke said nothing to Sir Joyce’s words and just stared at Chloe while letting out a deep sigh.

As if saying, what should I do with you?

What do you mean what to do? Just leave me behind!

It seemed only the Duke didn’t know the obvious conclusion that Sir Joyce knew, Chloe knew, and even the waiting stable boy seemed to know.

Neeeigh!

Suddenly the horse that Chloe was supposed to ride reared up on its hind legs and made a terrible sound. It was such violent thrashing that even the stable boy holding the reins jumped.

What’s wrong with the horse now? It seemed like it was angry at Chloe, telling her not to ride on its back. Even the horse seems to know the rational conclusion.

“Your Grace, I think my accompaniment would rather hinder the journey. I should wait at the mansion—”

Finally, Chloe carefully voiced her opinion.

“Joyce! Take her behind you.”

But she was cut off mid-sentence.

Chloe’s face turned pale at the Duke’s order. She would have to sit on horseback being jostled for 14 hours round trip? And sitting behind Sir Joyce at that?

“Your Grace!”

“……”

Chloe, who had called out to the Duke without thinking, closed her mouth at his calm and unwavering gaze.

“Then I’ll be in your care, Sir Joyce.”

Chloe bowed her head while slyly shifting her gaze from the Duke to Sir Joyce. Sadly, Sir Joyce’s face was clearly stiff.

Of course. I would dislike it too. Having to ride a long distance with an extra bundle of baggage attached, on top of everything else.

However, Sir Joyce wasn’t in a position to object to the Duke’s orders either. He just nodded slightly without saying anything.

The quick-witted stable boy said he would bring a two-person saddle and promptly ran to the stable with the remaining horse, soon returning to change Sir Joyce’s saddle.

Finally, Chloe gave up resisting and approached Sir Joyce, who had remounted his horse.

“Whoaaa.”

As Sir Joyce’s horse turned its head away from Chloe, Sir Joyce pulled the reins to turn the horse’s head back.

This horse hates me too? Well, horses are quite perceptive. Even one person would be heavy for a long distance, you must be tired thinking about carrying two people.

After gently calming down the horse, Sir Joyce extended his hand toward her. She took his hand with mixed feelings.

But at that moment,

“Wait!”

The Duke suddenly shouted so loudly that Chloe and Sir Joyce flinched.