episode_0087

The carriage carrying the disguised merchants Christie and Chloe, and a man named Andre who was presumed to be related to the woman they had been searching for, Jeanne Arsoul, was moving along a deep mountain road. Chloe, who had been given the setting of being mute, and the man and woman sitting in the front seat did not say much, so the only sound that broke the silence was the sound of the metal horseshoes hitting large and small rocks.

“Sorry, I’m sorry!”

“No problem. Oh, this time I’ll be the one to excuse myself.”

Occasionally, when passing through a rough road, the carriage would rattle and their bodies, which had been kept at an appropriate distance, would come into contact, but whenever that happened, Christie and Andre would politely and courteously apologize to each other.

Of course, in Christie’s case, she felt a burning desire to immediately hug him by the side and pull him toward her, but her reason was constantly nagging her that she should refrain from doing anything that might arouse his wariness more than necessary while laying the foundation for the distant future when she would swallow him whole. So she desperately suppressed that desire and rode her horse, looking only in the direction that he occasionally indicated with his fine, slender finger.

“Do you see that white rock? If you turn right there, it will be fine.”

“Which rock are you talking about?”

Christie asked, bending down and leaning toward Andre. At the same time, her side, covered by a thin shirt, was pressed against Andre’s shoulder, and Christie could feel him flinch and pull away from her slightly.

“Is that it? The one behind the vines.”

But she asked again with a calm expression, as if she didn’t even know that the contact had just occurred.

“Oh, uh… . Yes, that’s right. We’re almost there now.”

Andre felt embarrassed at the thought that he was the only one who had been conscious of such trivial things one by one. As a body that serves his wife, it was natural to protect oneself from other women, but it was also possible that he had been the only one making a fuss about it up until now while the other person had not paid any attention to it at all.

The carriage jerks again, and this time Andre is thrown towards Christie, causing unintended contact.

But this time, he felt that his behavior was a bit cold, so considering that the ladies were doing him a favor, Andre decided not to worry about such trivial things. Somehow, he felt that Christie had less of the instinctive tension he felt from strangers of the opposite sex. Of course, at the time, he could not know that it was largely because Christie had small breasts, so she did not feel the squishy sensation that he felt from ordinary women.

‘It’s thrilling.’

Christie was trying her best to keep it a secret and enjoying the moment to the fullest. No one could match her in the way she put on a show, so it was impossible for her to reveal that from the moment she saw Andre’s bare face, she had been imagining dirty things in her head that she absolutely could not let herself be caught. Her imagination was so wide that it sounded regretful when he said that she had come this far.

As he said, if you go deep behind the white rock, a wide lake that was previously hidden will appear before your eyes, and right next to the lake, there will be a shack that is about to collapse.

“How can I express my gratitude to you, who went through such a rough road on purpose… .”

As if they had reached their destination, Christie stopped her horse at an appropriate place when Andre opened his mouth. Without saying anything, she jumped out of the carriage, smiled, and headed to the luggage compartment.

“… … So, where is this place? What is that guy’s relationship with that woman?”

When Chloe, who she met there, whispered to her, Christie quickly wiped away her smile and put her index finger to her lips. While Chloe reluctantly shrugged her shoulders again, Christie jumped down, carrying a large wooden barrel from the far corner of the cargo hold.

“Please, give it to me! From now on, I’ll take it.”

“What are you talking about? Should I just put it in the cabin you see over there?”

While Andre and Christie exchanged a few words, Chloe stretched and rubbed her worked up butt and back from the long ride in the not-so-comfortable cargo hold.

A quiet hideaway in the mountains. What a perfect place for a royal family whose life was in danger to hide away. Christie felt her reasoning gradually turning into certainty. Just as her anticipation for what kind of person Jeanne, who was once mentioned as the next king, could be, grew, the door to the cabin opened wide and a woman appeared.

“This voice! Where the hell did you go leaving me, honey! I thought I was dying to see you!”

If it had not been for the bright red hair that was the characteristic of the Arsul family, it would not have been easy to guess that this shabby woman, who ran out barefoot and held a baby in her arms, was a member of the royal family. She ran straight to Andre, threw her free arm around him, and began to shower him with kisses.

“I told you I was going to get you some honey wine! Where on earth am I going? Since you like it so much, I thought you’d like it if I brought it to you… .”

“That’s what it was. But there’s nothing I need more than you. I can’t live without you by my side even for a moment.”

As if trying to make up for the time they were apart, she rubs her cheek against Andre’s. Christie shrugs her shoulders, and Andre looks at her with an embarrassed expression.

“My love. My one and only treasure.”

“Hey, let’s do that since there are guests here, Jeanne!”

And only when Andre shouted did the slurping stop. Christie just smiled silently at Chloe, whose eyes were wide open at the sight of Andre calling the woman in front of him Jeanne.

“You… … … .”

For a moment, eyes filled with tension. Shrunken shoulders. A trembling voice. Jeanne looked up at the two unfamiliar women while holding André tightly in her arms.

“My name is Christie.”

She tapped the cask of wine on her shoulder with a calm expression as she answered. Jeanne, who did not easily let down her guard with that alone, gulped.

“… Are these the ones they sent?”

Jeanne asks in a tone of voice that is the complete opposite of the one she used when she was rubbing her husband’s cheek. Christie looks at Chloe, who is tense and pretends to look bewildered.

“He said he would live in hiding like a dead rat. He said that he would be satisfied with just his family. He said he could take everything else. ”

Jeanne begins to mutter in a hysterical voice, holding the baby and André in her arms even tighter.

“They are the ones who did you a favor, Jeanne. They are just merchants selling liquor, so calm down.”

Then André stroked Jeanne’s red hair and soothed her with his familiar touch. His voice was filled with affection, as if he were soothing his own child.

Christie leaves them behind and strides towards the cabin. She stops looking around the house and turns to the couple to ask.

“Would it be okay if I brought it inside the house? There’s a place that could be called a barn… .”

The cabin itself gave off a strong feeling of being a barn. Andre nodded his head, continuing to comfort Jeanne, who was cowering.

“Wow, my guess was right.”

“As we continued down the winding mountain path again, Christie said:

“I was surprised too. I didn’t know you were hiding in such a remote place.”

Chloe, who was finally able to open her mouth after a long time, said a word.

“But is it okay for you to leave right away like this? That woman named Zanne looked really scared. If she runs away again in a week, it’ll be a big problem.”

As Chloe spoke, she stuck her head out of the carriage and looked back at the path they had taken. However, despite the short distance they had traveled, their little cabin was already completely hidden by the trees and vines.

“Well, then you’re saying it would have been better to just do it on the spot?”

Christie asked.

“No way. When I actually saw that, my heart weakened. They live in a shabby house, and their children look quite young. What should I report to them?”

Chloe muttered with her arms crossed. With such affection, Christie thought that perhaps being a soldier was too much for her from the start.

“Now, that woman doesn’t matter anymore.”

“What are you talking about?”

“There’s a guy who keeps giving them money. As my wife said, I looked around the house and saw grain sacks lined up neatly along one wall. Judging by the slightly different colors of the sacks, I guess they were delivered regularly.”

“Who the hell is that?”

“We’ll find out when the date on this note approaches. My guess is that he’s someone who has the ability to secretly transport supplies to such a remote place, but doesn’t completely trust the commander.”

“Are you saying that there are still people like that… .”

“This means that we won’t have to worry about losing our necks right away. If we track down the insider and report him, we can prove our loyalty.”

“So you’re saying that our lives were in danger right up until then?”

Christie looked at Chloe with a pitiful expression. She didn’t say anything back to Chloe, just tapped her head with her index finger.

“This gives me a new goal in life. It’s a good thing.”

Christie muttered, recalling Andre’s face, smacking her lips again.