Chapter 027

“It seems we’ll need to camp here for the night.”

They said we wouldn’t reach the nearest village until the day after tomorrow.

When Evan told me to rest in the carriage until everything was ready, I shook my head and stood up.

“I’m fine. I’d rather look around than just rest.”

It was my first time camping in the middle of a forest, and everything felt fascinating to me.

“Then go ahead. Just don’t wander too far.”

He responded with an understanding nod and a brief warning before he quickly left for somewhere.

After that, preparations for camping began in earnest.

‘Everyone seems to be experienced.’

On one side, a fire was being lit, while on the other, knights and maids were quickly preparing food for a late dinner.

As I looked around the campsite, filled with curiosity, I spotted a familiar figure.

“Roman!”

“Ah, Madam.”

Roman, who had been inspecting the carriage with his head down, stood up and greeted me.

“What were you doing just now?”

“I thought there was something wrong with the carriage wheel, so I was checking it.”

As I shifted my gaze to the cart he pointed at, I locked eyes with two knights who were helping him fix it.

At that moment, a loud voice pierced my ears.

“Ah, hello! Madam! I’m Vero, from the Knight Order.”

“Hello! I’m Caelan.”

As I looked into their sparkling eyes, which seemed to shine like stars, I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

It almost made me wonder if the entire knight order was filled with people whose personalities were the complete opposite of their master’s.

“Nice to meet you, Vero, Caelan.”

“Oh, it’s an honor to meet you as well…”

Caelen replied, placing a hand over his heart, his face filled with emotion as I greeted them with a smile.

Their warm attitudes made me burst into laughter.

“Hahaha… Huh?”

Just then, I accidentally made eye contact with Evan, who had been inspecting the campsite from the opposite side.

Whoosh.

Evan disappeared so quickly that I almost thought I had imagined our brief eye contact.

While I was dazedly staring at the spot where he had vanished, Caelan, who was beside me, spoke in a serious tone.

“Hmm… Captain. I think we’ll need to replace the wheel. It seems that the fixed part was damaged because it got caught on a large rock a little while ago.”

“Oh dear. Then we’ll have no choice but to unload everything from the carriage.”

After quietly listening to their conversation, I hesitated for a moment before cautiously speaking up.

“I can help with that. You don’t need to unload the carriage.”

“Pardon? You, Madam?”

Everyone looked at me with puzzled expressions. They seemed confused about how someone much smaller than them could possibly help.

‘It’s been so long since I’ve done this. I hope it works out.’

After clenching and unclenching my right hand a few times, I felt an intangible energy gathering at my fingertips. I then grabbed the rear of the carriage with one hand and lifted it effortlessly.

At the same moment, the heavily loaded cart floated into the air as light as a feather.

“Gasp…! She lifted the carriage with one hand!”

“I thought only the Duke could do something like that…”

The faces of the three people in front of me turned to shock as they witnessed the scene.

I called out to them in a loud voice, “What are you doing? Aren’t you going to fix the wheel?”

“Y-Yes! We’ll get right on it!”

The moment I spoke, they snapped to attention and quickly replaced the carriage wheel.

Thud.

After confirming that the wheel had been replaced, I set the carriage down and rolled my shoulders back a few times. Thankfully, I still had some strength left. Though, in two years, it will completely disappear.

As I looked down at my hands with a somewhat bittersweet expression, I heard a trembling voice calling me from behind.

“M-Madam.”

When I turned around, all three of them stood there with eyes shaking as if an earthquake had struck, their faces looking like they had a lot to say.

It was just a small thing, but seeing their awe made me feel somewhat embarrassed.

“I just temporarily cast a lightening spell on the carriage.”

At my words, they approached me with even wider eyes, asking, “Madam, can you use magic? Does that mean you’re a magician?”

I waved my hands dismissively at their enthusiastic reaction. “I’m not a magician. I do have some magical power, but it’s very faint, almost at the level of an ordinary person. Even when I do manage to use magic, I can’t keep it up for more than a minute.”

True magicians could wield power beyond imagination, but compared to them, I was just an ordinary person. 

Magicians were such rare beings that many people lived their whole lives without ever seeing one. So I understood why these three were so surprised.

Moreover, a magician’s abilities aren’t inherited, so if someone could use a certain level of magic freely, they would be treated as a state guest in any country.

And the most famous magician in the Empire right now was…

“Oh, come to think of it, I heard that the Second Prince is also a magician, or…?”

“Hey, Vero!”

I saw Roman sharply poke the side of the knight next to him, but I pretended not to notice.

That’s right. The reason Delos could become emperor despite being called a fool was that he could use magic.

It was only because he possessed the power of magic that the Emperor’s hard-to-accept last will was honored.

‘Even though that guy was a complete mess of a person, his magical skills were impressive since he was young.’

Thinking of Delos, who loved to show off his power at grand feasts, left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“Still, it’s really impressive that you can use magic!”

At that moment, Caelan, who was next to me, clasped his hands together and spoke with an admiring gaze.

“Thank you.”

I smiled faintly in response to his pure and innocent reaction.

In fact, when I was younger, I could use a wider variety of magic than this. Back then, my parents and many others praised me, saying I would surely become a genius magician…

‘But at some point, I became worse than an ordinary person.’

In contrast to me, Delos grew into a magician who could wield more complex magic as he got older.

Of course, despite having such power, he ultimately misused it and ruined the country later on.

“I should get going.”

Not wanting to reveal my suddenly gloomy mood, I hurriedly excused myself, saying I had other matters to attend to.

Looking around, I noticed that a decent campsite had already been set up.

I returned to the carriage I had come in, relying on the light of the campfire in the middle of the forest where darkness had fallen.

‘Where’s Evan? It’s dark, so I can’t see well.’

Just then, as I was turning my head around looking for Evan, I heard a voice.

“If I keep doing that, you’ll break your neck.”

Evan appeared out of the darkness, carrying a load of items in his hands. Upon closer inspection, it was a newly filled water pouch and a steaming pot of stew.

In response to his words, I fiddled with my neck and replied, “It won’t break that easily.”

“Well, that’s a relief.” Evan let out a light snort at my comment and handed me what he was carrying.

‘Could he be joking with me right now?’

I closely observed Evan’s face as he stood beside me.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing.”

However, there were no signs of him joking on his nearly expressionless face.

“Eat before it gets cold. It might not suit your taste, but we’ll be in the carriage for a long time tomorrow, so please eat a little.”

I curiously examined the stew and bread he handed me. The stew contained large chunks of potatoes, carrots, and other ingredients that seemed easy to prepare and unlikely to spoil during the journey.

I took a spoonful of the stew and tasted it, my eyes widening as I looked at Evan.

“It’s delicious!”

Even though it was made with nothing special, it was far tastier than any stew made with precious ingredients I had ever had.

T/L: Just a guess but I think Delos was stealing Dahlia’s magical power or something. Hmm?