episode_0268

The carriage, carrying four passengers and one coachman, had been running for about 6 hours since early morning and made a brief stop in a quiet meadow.

The flat land was perfect for taking a breather, with an open terrain that allowed for defense against sudden attacks.

It was an ideal place for the horses to rest and for everyone to have a lunch break.

“We will take a one-hour break here for the horses to rest. I will feed the horses and prepare the meal, so please take a moment to rest, esteemed guests.”

Colt Sharpe, a former knight of the Hwangung family who was accompanying as a coachman and guard, got off the carriage and informed me and the others to take a break.

Wearing a plate armor on hands and feet but opting for mobility over protection with a brigandine covering the body, she was ready to take care of the horses and prepare the meal.

“Hmm, since Colt says we should rest, let’s all take a break.”

With the break decided, Colt subtly glanced at me and Agnes.

One Hwang noble.

One Duke Yeongsik.

One Viscountess Yeongae.

And one Junior Viscount Yeongae.

As Colt was a knight of the Hwang family, she was generally treated with higher regard than Viscountess Yeongae. So, it was natural for her to ask for help from me and Agnes in feeding the horses and preparing the meal.

The problem was that the lady who caught the prince’s eye happened to be Viscountess Yeongae, who was standing right in front of him. And since I was publicly engaged to Agnes who was currently by my side, Colt found it difficult to give orders easily.

In other words, if the person with the highest rank did not step forward at this moment, one knight would have to take care of everything. But would Antonio, who had followed us without hesitation and without regard for Agnes’s gaze, be the one to speak up first?

“Master Edan, would you mind helping me move the bean sack and feed bucket from the carriage?”

“Of course, Prince Antonio.”

“I will move the feed bucket, so please help with the bean sack. …And Lady Relise.”

“Yes, Prince Antonio.”

“I heard that Lady Relise is also serving as Master Edan’s personal maid at the Academy. If it’s not too much trouble, could we see Lady Relise’s skills during lunch?”

“Understood. Since we still have a long journey ahead, would a simple meal be sufficient for you?”

“As I am the one requesting it, I won’t be picky. Any food that can be eaten will do. Oh, and Colt.”

“Yes, Prince Antonio.”

“You can rest inside the carriage for a while. I will call you when the meal is ready.”

“No, I can’t just rest while others are working.”

“If the carriage is uncomfortable, you can rest elsewhere, but during this break, do not take on any tasks. You have been driving the carriage alone for six hours, so you should rest now to ensure you can drive properly in the afternoon. Furthermore, you will be in my debt for driving the carriage tomorrow and the day after, so if you don’t rest now and your body breaks down, who will drive the carriage?”

“…Understood. I will rest as you say, Prince.”

…Hmm, he’s quite perceptive after all.

Well, in the original work, he was originally the protagonist’s helper, so he was somewhat obedient.

Although a Hwang noble suddenly joined the travel itinerary, at least he didn’t seem like he would cause trouble by asserting his authority in a place like this, so that was somewhat fortunate.

“…Hmm.”

Antonio’s voluntary offer to help with the work seemed to please Agnes, as her gaze towards the prince softened slightly.

Alright, just do that. I may have made various mistakes towards Agnes until now, but if I do this, I should be able to make up for the mistakes I’ve made so far…

“So, what should I do?”

“Oh, Agnes Yeongae can just rest.”

“…Huh?”

“Agnes Yeongae doesn’t have too much work to do. Along with Colt, she can rest in the carriage and we’ll call her for meals…”

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

“…What?”

Oh, dear.

Just keep it moderate.

“Oh, no. Since the task can be completed by just the three of us, there’s no need for everyone to work. Agnes Yeongae is a magic major, so she might struggle to carry heavy bags of beans…”

“Then why did you ask Lillis to prepare lunch and didn’t even ask me? It’s like you’re blatantly ignoring me because you think I’m not needed.”

“Oh, no… I didn’t mean it that way at all…”

If Antonio had just asked Agnes to do something, he could have scored some points and moved on. But because of Antonio’s lack of awareness, he ended up creating an awkward situation.

It’s understandable that he doesn’t want to assign tasks to the woman he likes, but still, in this atmosphere, leaving Agnes alone to rest was an uncomfortable situation for her as well.

“I should have at least given her something to do, even if it’s something anyone could do.”

Before the atmosphere got awkward because of clueless Antonio, I quickly moved Agnes to a different place.

“Agnes, I’m going to make sandwiches for lunch, and it would be better if you lightly toast the bread. Since you’re good at handling fire magic, could you help by starting a fire and grilling them?”

“…Alright.”

“I-Is it okay, Prince Antonio? There’s no specific reason why Agnes should rest, right?”

“Oh, um, yeah. I just didn’t know what tasks to assign to Agnes Yeongae.”

“…”

“I-I didn’t mean to say that there was nothing for Agnes Yeongae to do, Agnes Yeongae…”

“…Hmph.”

Anyway, why add that last word?

Antonio’s affection towards Agnes seemed to be heading towards a rough path in the future.

***

And so, after the first day of the bumpy relationship between Prince Antonio and Agnes came to an end.

As the sky darkened during the carriage journey that continued until the second day, the carriage carrying the five people came to a quiet stop on a hill.

“I’m sorry, but we should camp here tonight.”

Ah, as expected.

This was something we had already anticipated.

The first night of the journey wasn’t too far from a village where we could rest and replenish our supplies, but from the second day onwards, there were no more villages on the way to the Northern Witch’s Forest.

If we were lucky, we might come across a small community of about ten people living along the way, but even if we did, the fact that we needed to camp wouldn’t change.

In such places, they only grew enough food for themselves and didn’t sell anything, so even if we received money, it wouldn’t be of any use. In the first place, communities with fewer than a certain number of people had lower credibility in many ways compared to larger villages.

After roughly covering about two-thirds of the distance to our destination over the course of two days, we started preparing for the night by setting up the tent we took out from the carriage’s luggage compartment.

In yesterday’s task allocation, thanks to Prince Antonio feeling remorseful, it was Agnes and my turn to prepare dinner, and since we had some ingredients prepared for once, I decided to make cheese fondue for dinner as I had mentioned before.

I was in charge of cutting bread, bacon, vegetables, etc. into bite-sized pieces. Agnes, on the other hand, was responsible for melting the cheese to a gooey consistency using her fire magic.

“Agnes, do you like cabbage?”

“Not really.”

“Well, you should eat a variety of foods. And cabbage is rich in calcium, so it could be helpful for growing taller. Are you really not going to eat it?”

“Fine, give it to me.”

*chop, chop*

“…”

“Agnes, do you like carrots?”

“Not really.”

“Is that so? But if you lightly boil and eat them, they can be quite tasty. And carrots contain nutrients that are good for women… I mean, they’re beneficial for women’s health, like helping with breast enlargement. It could be helpful for you?”

“Just give me a lot.”

*slice, slice, slice*

“…”

“Agnes, do you like broccoli?”

“Yeah. And I prefer to eat the broccoli in the fondue raw rather than slightly blanched.”

“But broccoli contains nutrients that can extract the substances that enlarge breasts from the body. It won’t help with breast enlargement, it might even hinder it.”

“…”

“So, how much broccoli are you going to eat, Agnes?”

“Just eat as much as you want. You breast monster.”

After such conversations and finishing the meal preparations, we dipped vegetables, bread, and dried bacon into the cheese and had dinner together.

…Honestly, at this point, it was unlikely that eating anything separately would change our body shapes, but I didn’t bother mentioning it because teasing Agnes was fun.