The Road to the Witch’s Forest (2)

From early morning, the carriage carrying four passengers and one coachman ran continuously for about six hours before briefly stopping in a quiet meadow.

Being flat land, it was good for getting off the carriage for a while to catch one’s breath, and with open surroundings, it was terrain that could be defended against sudden attacks.

It was in many ways the optimal place to combine the horses’ rest and lunch.

“We will rest for about an hour here so the horses can rest. I will feed the horses and prepare the meal, so the distinguished guests should also take a short break.”

Colt Sharp. The woman, a former Imperial Palace Knight who accompanied them as both coachman and escort knight, got down from the coachman’s seat and informed me and the others to rest.

She wore plate armor on her hands and feet, but the part covering her body was brigandine, a style of clothing that prioritized mobility over full plate mail.

“Hmm, if Sir Colt says we should rest, then everyone should rest.”

Once the rest was decided, Sir Colt subtly glanced at me and Agnes.

One member of the Imperial family.

One Duke’s son.

One Viscount’s daughter.

And one Baronet’s daughter.

In Sir Colt’s case, as an Imperial Knight, she was generally treated as having a higher rank than a Viscount’s daughter. So, it was a situation where she could naturally ask me and Agnes for help with feeding the horses and preparing the meal.

The problem was that the Prince standing before them had his heart set on that Viscount’s daughter, and I was publicly engaged to Ethan, who was next to me, making it difficult for Sir Colt to easily give orders.

In other words, in such a situation, if the highest-ranking person didn’t take the initiative, one knight would have to handle all the work alone. But it didn’t seem likely that Antonio, who had followed them without any tact, undeterred by Agnes’s gaze, would be the first to speak up…

“Prince Ethan, we need to move the bean sacks and feed troughs from the cargo compartment. Could you help a little?”

“Of course, Prince Antonio-nim.”

“I’ll move the feed troughs, so I’ll ask you to move the bean sacks. …And Lady Rilith.”

“Yes, Prince Antonio-nim.”

“I heard you also serve as Prince Ethan’s exclusive maid at the Academy. If it’s not too much trouble, could we perhaps see your skills at lunch?”

“Understood. We still have a long way to go, so should I prepare something simple to eat?”

“I’m the one asking for a favor, so why would I complain about the food? Anything edible is fine. Oh, and Sir Colt.”

“Yes, Prince Antonio-nim.”

“You should go inside the carriage and rest for a while. I’ll call you when the meal is ready.”

“No, I cannot rest while others are working.”

“If it’s uncomfortable inside the carriage, you can rest elsewhere, but either way, please don’t work during this break. You’ve been driving the carriage alone for six hours already; you need to rest now to drive properly this afternoon. Moreover, we’ll need your help with driving the carriage tomorrow and the day after, so if you don’t rest now and get sick, who will drive the carriage?”

“…Understood. Then, as Prince-nim commands, I will rest for a while.”

…Hmm, he’s more tactful than I thought.

Well, he was originally the protagonist’s helper in the original story, so he was a decent kid.

Although an Imperial family member was suddenly added to the travel itinerary, at least he didn’t seem like the type to throw his weight around and cause trouble in situations like this, so I suppose that was a relief.

“…Hmph.”

Antonio’s willingness to help seemed to have made a good impression on Agnes, as her gaze subtly softened towards the Prince.

Yes, just keep doing that. He had made several mistakes with Agnes so far, but if he continued like this, he could sufficiently make up for them…

“So, what should I do?”

“Ah, Lady Agnes-nim, you can just rest.”

“……Huh?”

“There isn’t so much work that Lady Agnes-nim needs to trouble yourself. If you rest inside the carriage with Sir Colt, I’ll call you when the meal is ready….”

“…Are you indirectly saying I’m useless because I’m weak and can’t cook?”

“…Pardon?”

Ah, dear.

He should have known better.

“Ah, no. It just means there’s no need for everyone to trouble themselves since three people can finish the work. Lady Agnes-nim specializes in magic, so carrying heavy bean sacks would be difficult for you….”

“Then why are you telling Lillith to prepare lunch but not even asking me? This is just openly ignoring me, saying I’m not needed.”

“Ah, no…. I truly didn’t mean it that way….”

If he had just given her something, anything, he would have earned points with Agnes and moved on. Instead, Antonio, by thoughtlessly excluding the Red Chihuahua from the work distribution, had inadvertently poked her sensitive spot.

I understood his feelings of not wanting to make the woman he liked work, but in this atmosphere, telling her to just rest alone was bound to be an awkward situation for Agnes.

‘He should have just given her even one simple task that anyone could do.’

Before the atmosphere could become even more unsettling because of the tactless Prince Antonio, I quickly took Agnes and moved to another spot.

“Agnes-yang, I’m making sandwiches for lunch, and I think it would be better if the bread was lightly toasted. Since Agnes-yang is good at Fire Magic, could you help me a little by making a fire to toast it?”

“…Alright.”

“Th-that’s fine, isn’t it, Prince Antonio-nim? There’s no particular reason why Agnes-yang absolutely has to rest, right?”

“Ah, u-uh. I, I just didn’t know what task to assign Lady Agnes-nim.”

“…….”

“I-I didn’t mean that there was no work for Lady Agnes-nim, Lady Agnes-nim….”

“……Hmph.”

Honestly, why did he have to add that last remark?

Antonio’s pure devotion to Agnes seemed destined for a rough road ahead.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Thus, the first day of travel, marked by the awkward relationship between Prince Antonio and Agnes, came to an end.

As the sky darkened on the second day of their carriage journey, the carriage carrying five people quietly stopped in a field.

“I apologize, but it seems we will have to camp out here tonight.”

Ah, as expected.

This much was entirely predictable.

While they had been able to sleep and replenish horse feed in a village not too far from the Imperial Capital on the first night, there were no decent villages along the route to the Southwestern Witch’s Forest from the second day onwards.

If they were lucky, they might find a small community of about ten people living together along the way, but even if they did, the fact that they would have to camp out wouldn’t change.

Typically, such places only farmed and lived enough for themselves, so they wouldn’t sell anything, and even if they accepted money, there would be nowhere to spend it. Moreover, communities with fewer than a certain number of people generally had less credibility compared to villages of a certain size.

Having covered about two-thirds of the distance to their destination over two days, we set up the tent taken from the carriage’s cargo compartment and began preparing for their second night’s stay.

Thanks to Prince Antonio-nim, who had learned his lesson from the previous day’s work distribution, dinner duty fell to me and Agnes. Since we had brought some ingredients, we prepared the Cheese Fondue I had mentioned earlier for dinner.

I was in charge of cutting the bread, bacon, and vegetables into bite-sized pieces for dipping. Agnes, of course, was responsible for melting the cheese to the right consistency with her Fire Magic.

“Agnes-yang, do you like cabbage?”

“…Not really.”

“But you should eat a variety of foods. And cabbage is rich in calcium, so it would help you grow taller. Are you really not going to eat it?”

“…Then give me some.”

-Screech, screech.

“…….”

“Agnes-yang, do you like carrots?”

“…Not particularly.”

“Really? But if you boil them lightly, they’re quite palatable, you know? And carrots have a lot of female hormones… no, a lot of nutrients good for women, so they’d be quite helpful for breast growth, wouldn’t they?”

“…Give me a lot.”

-Crunch, crunch, crunch.

“…….”

“Agnes-yang, do you like broccoli?”

“…Yes. And for fondue, I prefer raw broccoli to lightly blanched.”

“But broccoli contains nutrients that expel female hormones… no, nutrients that hinder breast growth from the body. It won’t help your breasts grow at all; it’ll only get in the way.”

“…….”

“So, how much broccoli would you like, Agnes-yang?”

“…Then you can eat all of it, you breast monster.”

After finishing the meal preparations with such conversations, we ended dinner by dipping vegetables, bread, and dried bacon into the cheese.

…Truthfully, it was impossible for her physique to change by eating anything special now, but I didn’t bother to add that, simply because it was fun to tease Agnes.