READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 5 - 2. I’m Part of the Advance Team. (2)
“You already know me. Do you know how many years I wandered the battlefield without a single clue in order to find the holy relic? Compared to that, quarrels between nobles are nothing.”
“It must have been difficult, but it’s amazing. Ahem, your hand on my shoulder…”
“Stay still. Anyway, Io was completely in our Kingdom, right? Do you know where it was? Hmm?”
“W-Where it was?”
“Hmm~”
“That’s… in the Celsius territory! Uahaha! Let’s see what kind of face the Count made after knowing this. You would have laughed if you saw your father’s expression!”
“Mmm.”
“By the way, your father. He ridiculously wanted to have the percentage because the holy relic was found in his land. He doesn’t know how long I’ve been trying to find it. I even captured and tortured that slave’s children and his mother.”
“…”
“It’s useless if he disparages my efforts like this. So don’t even think to do the same things, understand?”
Walking around the street with a light hum, she stopped immediately. As she pondered over the knight’s voice that had been repeating in her head, Fanora stood with her hand on her back.
Is that really the place where he said he found it?
Io. So far, there have been so many people who want to have it. Even the Kings of various Kingdoms formed an alliance and waged a war with the owner of Io to have it. The Kingdom who won the war at that time was Kingdom Kasius, where Fanora lived. Ironically, even though they won the war, they couldn’t get Io, which they aimed for.
They wanted to take Io, so the Kings of various kingdoms formed an alliance and even waged war to have Io in their possession. The Kingdom that won the war at that time was the Kingdom of Kasius, to which I belonged. However, ironically, even though they won the war, they couldn’t achieve the goal they were aiming for.
What fools.
In a chaotic environment engulfed in war, Io’s whereabouts became clear. The last owner of Io, a slave mercenary from foregin Kingdom, must have wanted to take revenge on the Kingdom that abused him.
Maybe I’m the same with him.
The owner of such precious holy relic was only a slave. Fanora was puzzled at first, but after learning more about the holy relic, she understood.
If you try to interfere with the flow of the world with the human body, you will pay the price.
The knight who found the holy relic said that the more he used Io, the more his body got ruined in exchange for gaining superhuman powers. In particular, if you used it frequently in the war, you would only live a short life. So, it seemed to be the reason why the high-ranking people gave it to slave without using it by themselves.
What a pitiful person.
The slave had no choice but to listen to the King for the rest of his life as his old parent and his children were captured as hostage.
“…”
Anyway, it was already over. The war for the holy relic had been over for a long time, and she had no time to pay attention to the detailed history.
“Sir Shuteri.”
“…Lady Fanora?”
Fanora stood in front of the person she was looking for. In the past, she was often locked in her room and looked out her window.
What time do the knights train? Which of them is the most sincere one? Who was fooling around?
Watching those trivial things was her hobby.
“Ahem, this is my first time I have seen Lady Fanora come out at this hour. Huh? Wait for a moment! Did Madam send Lady to scold me?”
“No.”
“Phew. That’s a relief.”
Hiding in the shade of a well out sight, Fanora spoke to the knight who was smoking a cigar leaf wrapped in paper. Unlike his lazy appearance, he was a perfect person to do errands because he would do a great job.
“There’s something I really wanted to say to Sir Shuteri, so I went around looking for you.”
“What does Lady want to say?… W-wait, the way Lady called me was wrong. The title of ‘Sir’ is given only to those who have been formally knighted.”
“…I don’t understand.”
Shuteri was taken aback when Fanora showed a courtesy attitude to commoners, unlike ordinary nobles.
“It’s amazing that Lady regards someone like me so highly! If anyone sees us like this, I will be in big trouble.”
“I’m sorry. I’m still not good at speaking informally.”
“Ahem… let’s just talk like that when no one is watching.”
He smoked for a while even though the young lady appeared, and only when he had to pay attention to his surroundings did he stop smoking. Fanora opened her mouth without reacting to it.
“I have a favor to ask of you. It’s really important to me. I’m only telling this to Shuteri… Last time when I went out to town to get a dress tailored for His Majesty’s birthday banquet.”
“Yes, it will be the King’s birthday soon. Hmm, then?”
“Then…” She said with the expression of a lady who was anxious as Shuteri’s eyes fixed on her. Honestly, she was embarrassed to act.
“Actually, I lost the precious ring that my mother had matched with the dress at that time. It takes time to make the dress, but the jewelry was bought on the spot.”
“!”
“The ring my mother bought was so pretty. But it rolled from my hand on the way back to the mansion…”
“Where did you drop it?”
“Cross the high overpass on the outskirts and go down…”
At her words, the apprentice knight named Shuteri asked in a panic. “No, Lady, you should have told Madam right on the spot! It’s rare for you to go out, so I even remember when it was. It’s already been two weeks, hasn’t it?”
“At that time, I was so surprised… Besides, I was afraid to think that my mother would scold me. That’s why I didn’t tell her.” What followed was the acting in tears. Some might find it was difficult to do that, but it was very simple for Fanora.
“This bitch! If it weren’t for you, my life wouldn’t be like this! You bitch! I was crazy to give birth to such a useless thing. Aaaah!”
Even before she returned to her past, Fanora’s life was filled with painful memories that could bring her to tears. Among them, that memory could always bring her tears out as she recalled how hurt her heart was. It happened in the distant past, so she was getting better. But tears that poured out from that memory couldn’t be separated.
“L-lady?”
“Huhu… I spent a lot of time worrying about it because I didn’t know what to do on my own. But if it continues like this, my mother will be furious at the banquet.”
“Don’t cry! Oh dear, Lady didn’t do anything wrong. A-anyone can make a mistake.”
Lifting up her teary eyes, Fanora’s eyelashes quivering.
“The bottom of the bridge where I lost my ring is steep, and there was no grass for animals to eat, so I don’t think anyone looked through there.”
“Hmm…”
“Please, could you sneak me out of town just once? I want to find the ring without being noticed by others.”
No matter how pathetic the lady was, Shuteri knew the rumors circulating in the family he served. How gloomy and timid the lady of the family was. Also, what kind of person the young lady’s parents were. So, the act of trembling from not being able to tell the fact that she had lost only one ring quickly gained Shuteri’s trust.
“But, how can I take Lady outside… when you don’t even have a carriage to go out? Lady should probably get permission from the butler or Madam.”
Of course, Fanora thoroughly responded to his subsequent remarks. “…The reason I decided to ask you for help is because I heard that you’re the only knight in this mansion who hasn’t yet taken vacation this year. So, you can go out for three days at any time.”
“That… Meyer, that light-mouthed bastard must have been talking about that to Lady.”
“If you help me, I’ll give you this in return.” Fanora held out an earring in front of him. It was a drop earring decorated with amethyst and white jade. The design itself was quite modest, but the fact that all of it was made from jewels added its value.
“Ear-earring…”
“It is all real jewels. Whether we find my ring or not, if you sneak me out once, I’ll give you its pair after the work is done.”
Shuteri’s salary was insignificant compared to the amount that nobles spend on luxuries. Besides, Fanora already knew he was obsessed with money.
A gambling addict whose brain is gone. He won’t resist this bait.
He was the kind of man who, sometime in the future, would run from land to land to avoid debtors, staking out huge debts from gambling before the ink on his knighthood was dry. Of course, he was also in a state where he was preoccupied with turning his life around. So, for him, who didn’t have money for a drink to enjoy tomorrow, this temptation would mean a lot.
“If Lady is that desperate, I have no choice but to help you. Hmm, but… even if I can sneak you out, no matter how fast we go, it will take more than half a day to get to the town.”
As expected, as soon as I took out the earring, his neck trembled and his attitude changed. Fanora said not to worry and finally spit out the prepared words. “If that’s the case, I have an idea. I can make sure no one is looking for me the whole day.”
“Is that true? Even at dinner time?”
“Yes.”
“Then, hmm… will there nothing wrong with it? Suppose I have the carriage waiting for me to move my luggage for vacation, and Lady is hiding in that carriage in advance. In that case, we can go outside the mansion…”
Shuteri began to come up with a plan on his own at her resolute words. THen Fanora responded to his words, “I’m relieved that I’m going out with Shuteri, not anyone else. I heard that among the apprentice knights who joined this time, your swordsmanship skills are excellent. Then the preparation for my safety is perfect, right?”
“…yes? Well, uh, I’m kind of like that!”
“It’s not a busy town area, and the two of us secretly look under the bridge, so it won’t be too dangerous.”
“Still, we have to be careful not to fall. If Lady Fanora comes back injured, I will definitely get kicked out.”
“I’ll be careful.”
She must assure him in advance, fearing that he might raise annoying concerns about safety for nobles. Now that the series of preparations were over, Fanora left her seat after scheduling the outing.
“Something feels different… from Lady Fanora today. Was she originally such a nice person?”
Fanora didn’t care what he muttered behind her.
The next day, surprised by the unimaginable vulgar behavior, Countess Celsius gave an order. She couldn’t let go of Fanora’s vulgar behavior, so she forbade her daughter from leaving her room as a punishment.
I didn’t expect I would be so happy when she’s doing this for the sake of scolding me.
In addition, the Countess ordered the servants to forbid her from drinking water and food so that she would realize the value of them.
They couldn’t even imagine that Fanora Celsius disobeyed orders and crawled out of the window. I just need to climb up with the help of the knight to get back to my room.
By now, they would have thought that she was crying inside her locked room.