~Chapter 14~
“Nothing.”
I cleared my throat. I told him nothing was going on, but I knew that this was the same as me advertising for everyone to see that something did happen.
With all of the strength in my legs, I pushed him away.
“I was scared because I was alone…”
“You were scared?”
As soon as I said it, I almost bit my tongue. What a stupid thing to have said to him.
“No, I wasn’t scared. I was lonely…”
“You were lonely?”
“…”
Why did I keep on saying silly things whenever I stood in front of Calix?
Let’s just not talk.
I closed my mouth and threw my gaze off into the distance. Calix laughed, slipping his hands behind my legs before he scooped me up.
“Let’s go. I’ve got the bath ready for you.”
He headed straight across the room toward the bathroom.
“I can go there on my own!”
“I know. I’m just giving you a ride there.”
I was surprised at his answer, but he shrugged it off and opened the bathroom door. The room was filled with a moderate amount of steam from his usage earlier.
I could see that the bathtub in the middle of the room was filled with water.
“The water is warm, so take a good rest and come out afterwards.”
Calix put me down by the bathtub. Wobbly, I held onto the bathtub and looked up at him.
“And you…?”
“I’m going to go out and meet with the knights. I have some business to attend to.”
“Will it take a long time?”
“No, I’ll be right back. Don’t worry.”
I nodded, to which Calix smiled faintly, rubbing my cheek once more before he left.
After the door closed, I turned my head slowly and took a look around the bathroom.
I could see the steamy bathtub, and to the side of it, clothes lying here and there.
Slowly, I took off my clothes and set them aside. I carefully stepped into the tub, one foot at a time.
As I submerged myself head to toe in the water, my fatigue melted away and my sense of reality returned.
After a few moments of relaxing in the hot water, I stood up. When I slowly reached out and fumbled for the clothes I had taken off, I quickly found what I was looking for.
Hair dye.
I’m glad I didn’t drop it in all that chaos.
‘I almost got trampled to death by a horse.’
I didn’t die, I didn’t get found out, so wasn’t this a pretty good outcome?
If Calix had known, he would have jumped up and not let this rest, so I thought it was a good outcome.
With that, I pushed away my miscellaneous thoughts and opened the hair dye in a solemn manner.
‘This could last me a month.’
What about next month?
‘I’ll worry about that later.’
At the scent of the familiar dye, I began to dye my hair black again.
***
The whole roasted duck served for dinner was very tasty. It was said that this was an inn where many aristocrats stayed, and after staying there, I could tell that those weren’t just empty words. The mushroom soup that was served alongside the duck was quite thick, so I was satisfied just by eating the soup.
It had been a while since my frantic run to the store to buy hair dye and the time I almost got run over by a horse on the street.
As I sat face-to-face with Calix at the room’s table, picking at a duck breast, I asked him questions that I had been curious about.
“How long does it take from here to get to Troxia?”
“It won’t take long. If we leave early tomorrow morning, we’ll arrive by the next morning or evening.”
‘That is quicker than I thought.’
“Ah, so…”
I stuttered, stopping the new thought from coming out of my mouth.
“So what?”
“…Nevermind.”
‘I could never say to him “That’s why you were able to come so quickly on the day my mansion burned down”.’
If I didn’t stop myself from saying that, I would have regretted it for years.
I focused on dismantling my share of the duck instead. Then, I suddenly remembered what I’d forgotten and opened my mouth.
“I’d like to stop by the village I used to live in before we go to Troxia.”
I couldn’t help but look at him as I said those words. Calix set down his wine glass and looked back at me.
“Where you used to live?”
“Yeah. I told you before that I had left some things behind, and I also wanted to see if the villagers were doing well.”
“Ah, you did.”
Calix nodded and relaxed his jaw.
“It would take longer to get to Troxia if we turned around and went back to the village. Would that be alright?”
“How much longer would it take?”
“It’d take another day or two.”
“Well, that’s alright.”
I added belatedly after answering him.
“If you don’t mind.”
“Of course, I don’t mind.”
Calix smiled at me affectionately. It was as if the argument during dinner a few nights ago or the kiss at the start of our stay had never happened.
But I had no intention of criticizing his attitude, nor did I have time to dwell on it.
The thoughts of retracing my steps after five years, of going back to Troxia, of the village, and of the Troxia family’s ring that Calix was searching for were overwhelming.
‘What is he planning on doing after finding the ring?’
I had many questions, and after a lot of thinking, I was back at the beginning.
To find the answer to my question, I had to find the ring before Calix did. Faster than everyone else, faster than Calix.
I spent the rest of the day thinking about Troxia’s ring.
Along with a subtle nostalgia for my parents and my childhood memories.
***
That night, Calix Axel Hertrio rose from the bed at the sound of a cautious knock on his room door.
Regina had climbed into bed with him after dinner and a quick stroll around the inn. It was adorable to see her sharply insist that she could never share a bed before proceeding to fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
He quietly got up and opened the door to the room so that Regina wouldn’t wake up. There stood one of the knights that he had brought with him.
“I have found the man you spoke of.”
“…Okay.”
Calix looked back carefully at Regina, who was sleeping, before following his company out of the room.
Calix walked down a deserted street. It was the middle of the night so there were no passersby. Even if there were any and even if they saw him, they would just go on and take care of their own business. There was no good that came with being associated with a man who made it clear that he was a noble with his every move.
Other than that, no one would be walking at this hour through the dense forest path, which was just a short walk from the inn. Unless they had a specific purpose.
A short walk later, in a clearing, the two other knights appeared.
And between them was a man, kneeling and bound by ropes. Calix’s eyes grew cold as he looked at the man.
“Are you sure this is the guy?”
“Yes. There were witnesses who said that a few people recognized him as the head of the merchants’ union here.”
At the words of the knight, the kneeling man began to tremble visible. He was blinded by the hood, which covered half of his face.
“Your ears should still be able to hear fine.”
Calix muttered and crouched down in front of the man. The cloaked man felt the man in front of him and made a terrified sound. At first, the sound was unintelligible, a muffled “kkuukk”, but at one point, it was as if something exploded and he was able to sound human again.
“Help me, help me. It was all my fault. Money, there’s a lot of money in the house…”
“…”
“I’ll hurry up and get it! Please save me. I… I…”
The man was sobbing and crying.
After watching the scene coldly, Calix finally spoke up.
“Do you know why you were brought here?”
“Help, help me…”
“Tan. Say it.”
“Yes.”
Calix ignored the man’s words and directed his gaze towards the three men standing behind him.
The one named Tan stepped forward and bowed.
“Earlier in the day, there was an incident where he nearly ran over a woman with his horse in the alley next to the inn. Witnesses say there was a bit of a scuffle along the way, and when he grabbed her, that person… it was said the hooded person shook him off and took off running.”
At the end, Tan blurted out his words, referring to the woman as “that person” before trailing off.
It was because he knew the identity of the woman he was talking about. Despite knowing this, Calix did not take offense nor blamed him.
[TL/N: Tan referring to Rena as “that person” is rude]
After listening to Tan, Calix turned his head towards the hooded man.
“Is that true?”
“Yes! Yes, it’s true, but no one was hurt, but additionally, I fell off my horse…”
“What about the woman?”
“Yes…?”
“The woman. She almost got hurt as well.”
When he turned his head towards the knight again, Tan spoke on behalf of the man.
“They say he fell backward when he almost collided with the horse initially. He almost got hit by the horse, but fortunately, it narrowly missed him.”
“And?”
“In the scuffle, there was slight physical contact…”
At those words, the man yelled, trembling violently.
“No, no, no! In fact, it couldn’t even be called a scuffle! I just wanted to have a conversation… no! I was wrong! Please, please save me. Please, I beg you…”
Shaking all over as he pleaded, saying things like, “If you let me go, I won’t ever ride a horse on the street again,” or, “I’ll find that woman from earlier today and kneel down to apologize,”… his appearance was pitiful enough for anyone passing by to turn and look.
However, in front of Calix’s presence, all of it meant nothing. He, who had been quietly listening to the man, opened his mouth.
“What type of physical contact?”
“Yes…?”
The man let out a small groan of embarrassment. He hadn’t been expecting his captor to ask such a question. However, he soon spat out answers one after another in a furious and frantic manner.
“I just grabbed her shoulder lightly because she was trying to leave. I didn’t grab her forcefully. It was just to have a quick conversation… Her arm! I might have held her arm too. Yes! I definitely held her arm slightly. But she definitely-”
“Stop.”
At that moment, Calix raised one hand and interrupted the man as he spoke.
The man instantly closed his mouth and became quiet, letting out a groan that sounded like a sob. Looking at him, Calix stood up.
“There’s nothing more I need to hear.”
The man trembled at the cold words and screamed.
[TL/N]: we’re so back.
