Chapter 72

As is often the case with every big event, there was a lot of fuss in the house since morning, even from dawn.

Today, three days before the day of the founding of the country, carriages pulled up to the capital.

As it was a huge event with nobles from all over the place, I had to go to the capital in advance to prepare thoroughly.

Although the Duke’s residence was geographically located right next to the capital, we would still have to ride a carriage for more than half a day to reach it.

How much would my butt suffer again today? This damn big empire.

Angry at the large piece of land, I got on the carriage.

The people heading to the capital this time were me, Brother and my parents, as well as Aiden, Lucas, Ian and Jane.

Since I didn’t like strangers, Jane especially came with me.

Hearing the news that she was going to the capital, Jane was delighted and her eyes lit up.

By the way, although Ian joining in was a little unexpected, I soon accepted it, remembering that my family’s worries about me had not yet been fully resolved.

It was unavoidable.

Their worries would continue until the day I died.

I was sitting alone in the empty carriage, tapping my toes for no reason.

My parents and brother, who would be riding the carriage with me, were working outside the carriage for final checks and so on.

With nothing to do, I was the first to get on the carriage.

After all, incompetence helped, sometimes.

If the former Selena had realized the convenience of her incompetence, she wouldn’t have felt so jealous.

Ho-ahm, I yawned and sat with my head against the wall next to me.

Actually, I had one concern.

If I tossed and turned a little, my family would be terribly worried.

Well, it was just a matter of maintaining an attitude as stiff as my expression, but I was too tired from getting up in the morning to prepare.

I didn’t have the confidence not to toss and turn. Besides, my butt would hurt a lot.

Oh, let’s stop talking about butts.

Anyway, I looked out the window while thinking in many ways, and again exhaled a long breath somewhere between a yawn and a sigh.

As I was waiting for my family with the carriage door wide open, someone knocked on the carriage wall.

The carriage door was open, so it appears that they knocked on the wall instead of the door. As I slowly turned my head, Aiden was standing in front of the carriage.

“Aiden?”

“Miss.”

Aiden was wearing a tailcoat that I had chosen as a gift.

Because of his status as a servant, he probably wouldn’t have had a chance to try on such a formal outfit… Aiden’s clothes matched him very well, like someone whose job was to attend parties.

But why did he pull out this shirt so soon to wear on the party day? Well, did he like it that much?… Ah, I was kind of proud. I nodded my head in satisfaction.

“What’s going on?”

Aiden, who looked at me with a silent and blank face, was startled when I asked him that.

Why was he suddenly so surprised?

“I’m here to give you this.”

Aiden reached out and handed me something. He had it in his hand from the moment he called me in front of the carriage.

“A cushion?”

A cushion that was light blue like my hair. After rubbing it a few times with my hand, the soft feeling felt quite good.

“Yes. There is a magic that minimizes vibration. You must have had a hard time riding in a carriage. When I was in the Magic Tower, I asked my master to make it.”

“Ah…”

On the day of the incident, even in the carriage with Aiden, he made me roll up a blanket and use it as a cushion.

I took the cushion that Aiden had put out, looked at it for a bit, and then sat down. As there was no vibration at the moment, it seemed to have no effect.

“Thank you. I will use it well.”

Aiden smiled pleasantly when I thanked him.

It wasn’t the polite service smile, it was the smile he often had when he gave up his acting.

I looked at him and gently brushed his slightly messy hair.

It was so annoying that only three strands were floating on top. As I was constantly concerned, I felt relieved after tidying up his hair.

Aiden’s eyes, which were blindly following the direction of my hand with his eyes, went the wrong way and met mine.

No, maybe it was my eyes, not my hands, that he was looking at. I just had that thought.

Aiden’s eyes, which had been blinking slowly, rolled around.

“Miss. Thank you for the gift.”

I glanced down at his clothes with my round, white eyes as I traced his collar.

A thought crossed my mind, perhaps he was wearing that because he wanted to say thank you.

‘Shall I ask…‘

“Of course. Aiden.”

But I chose to send him back instead of asking. It wasn’t even a big question in the first place. So, whatever.

Besides, it was now time to depart. Aiden said his final goodbye and he walked back to the back of the carriage he was riding in.

“Call me if anything happens.”

“If anyone sees it, they would still think you are my exclusive servant.”

Unfortunately, the effects of the occupational disease seemed to be lasting a long time for him. He still sometimes talked like he was my exclusive servant.

“I think it would have been better to have an exclusive servant by your side.”

“What?”

I couldn’t hear well, so I asked again, but Aiden shrugged his shoulders as usual and went his own way.

What… I looked out of the carriage and returned to my seat. To my seat with the soft cushion that Aiden gave me.

The effect of the cushion was awesome!

Even while the carriage was passing through the forest road, there was no vibration. Even now, as we were running on the main road across the square to go to the capital.

The carriage swayed in the view from the window and my feet trembled on the floor of the carriage.

It was only through these things that I could barely notice the vibration.

I had a cushion, but everyone except me was maintaining a really upright and elegant posture; perhaps their butt didn’t even hurt.

It wasn’t something that all nobles could do.

“Selena, aren’t you uncomfortable?”

While I was thinking about the excellence of the cushion and the difficulties of the nobles, Mother sitting next to me asked carefully.

“No. I’m okay. Aiden brought a cushion.”

Saying that, I fumbled once more on the cushion under my butt. The worried expression on Mother’s face faded, and she glanced at the cushion beneath me.

“Anyway, wouldn’t it be hard with just a cushion?”

“It’s a magic cushion that dispels the vibration of the carriage.”

I pulled the cushion out from under my butt.

The cushion was a little hot because I had been sitting on it the whole time, so I held it in my hand for a while and gave it to Mother.

It was embarrassing to hand over something with my warmth.

Mother looked at the cushion with intriguing eyes, and then tried on the cushion once in a while.

Both Father and Brother’s eyes were on Mother. To be precise, they were looking at the cushion that Mother was sitting on.

“Oh my!”

She let out a small admiration.

“Really. You can’t feel any vibrations? Honey, would you like to sit down too? Oh, Selena, can I give this to Father?”

“Sure.”

Excited like a little girl, Mother held out the cushion to Father. Father, also intrigued, accepted and tried the cushion.

“Oh!”

A profound admiration flowed from Father’s mouth too.

“Yes, it’s great… As expected, there is a reason why wizards are treated the way they are.”

‘What? In this way of life?’

I imagined the image of wizards changing from a magical warrior flying with fire spouting from his limbs to an image of an inventor who put forth real-life inventions.

By the way, no matter how elegantly they sat with their backs straight, they all seemed to have pain in their butt.

“Here, Selena.”

The cushion that had been passed to Mother and Father returned to me. I thought for a while whether I was going to yield to Father or Mother, but today I was still not feeling well, so I used it.

I would have to ask Aiden if he could make more later.

In the carriage we rode, useless and trivial conversations began to come and go between the family, starting with the cushions.

‘When the hunting festival is over in the fall, let’s go on a picnic with the family.’ ‘When is the best time for my brother’s wedding?’ ‘My marriage is still a long way in the future.’

I closed my eyes and opened them slightly, listening to the little stories.

The pouring sunlight, the blue sky. Rattle. The sounds of talking and small laughter.

If there was such a thing as peace, wouldn’t today be an example. I used to always fall asleep in the carriage, but for some reason I didn’t want to sleep today.

It wasn’t that I was really into the story and actively talking, but I just wanted to stay awake because I felt comfortable at this moment.

‘Even if you don’t have a set way to live, you may know how to be happy, or you may want to live longer.’

The voice of Selena, who I had met in that dark space, reverberated in my head.

I closed my eyes slowly and glanced at the family in the carriage with smiles on their lips.

‘Mother, Father, Brother.’

Although Mother and Brother were not related by blood, they were very similar in terms of soft expressions and atmosphere.

And now my face would look like my family’s now, too.

Before I gave up on everything in my previous life, I hated myself for not being like my family.

It would’ve been nice if my hair color was a little darker. I wished my face color was a little darker. I wished my fingers were a little longer… In the family photos, my sense of being different was vivid. As a young child, I seem to have sometimes stared at the pictures blankly for a while.

But now, if we could even draw a family portrait, we would all look alike.

A tingling sensation slammed my throat hard and then disappeared. As I was tinkering with my neck, my family, who I had been talking to, looked at me with worried eyes.

“What’s wrong, Selena?”

“Isn’t the long distance too hard? Shall we take a break?”

“Yes, that’s right. That would be nice.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head amidst all the worries pouring out in unison.

“It’s okay.”

Even though I spoke bluntly, the worries did not disappear easily from my family’s faces. Father was putting his hand on the line where he could call the coachman; perhaps he really wanted to stop the carriage.

‘Look at this, don’t worry. I’m only tossing and turning a little.’ But these little worries didn’t bother me.

“I’m very good now.”

It was all a boring life, but it was really strange.