139 4.1 The Serpent river - Part 1

From what was written on the paper that I was holding, it was a small farming village with a population of four hundred. Since it was mentioned that the paper was submitted in the last harvesting season, the statistics mentioned must be pretty accurate.

The carriage we were in was comfortable to the point that I was barely feeling any exhaustion even though it had been several hours since the journey started.

Princess Anna was asleep in princess Eliane's lap, while Markus was comfortably leaning back and relaxing. He had taken over most of the Duke's work during the reconstruction, so he was finally getting some time to take a break.

The region we were traveling around was a popular trade route. The soil on the road was compact, and there were very few bumps, which made the travel incredibly easy. Although, since the news of the destruction had already spread, we barely came across any travelers.

"Looks like we are almost there," Markus said when the carriage slowed down.

I pushed the curtain aside and looked out through the glass window.

We were currently in the middle of grassland, and I could see sheeps grazing all over the place. There were some farmers wearing what appeared to be a Chinese bamboo hat and holding a long wooden stick. It was apparent that those were the caretakers of these animals.

After traveling a little further from where we were, we took a different route and headed southward.

The village wasn't on the main route. It was a little southward since there was a better water source there, and the land was more cultivable.

After around ten minutes of the ride, a small village came into sight.

It was a village with around 80 houses, mostly made up of wood, straw, and clay. However, despite being small, it had some different kinds of charm, which made me feel like life here won't be all bad.

Once we reached inside the village, the carriage stopped. From the window, I could see the people of the village gathering around us.

Even though the ride was comfortable, sitting inside all day itself was tiring. I raised myself and tried opening the door, but then I heard a knock — it was Garo.

"Everyone, please stay seated for a little longer. We will arrange things and inform you soon."

It was then that I realized that we were traveling as the messenger of the duke, and there were knights assigned to assist and guard us. I wasn't used to this kind of work, so it was kind of awkward to have someone for the task that I could have easily done myself.

However, as they say, 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do,' I guess going with the traditional way of doing things here would be a better idea.

"Alright."

"I guess we will need to wake her up," Princess Eliane said.

Per proper etiquette, it was impolite of a princess to fall asleep in a place like this. But since it was a long journey, and since our influence had rubbed off on her, she was comfortably sleeping.

"Let her be like that for a while. She will wake up soon," I replied.

The four of us then waited there for a while, and after a few minutes, our carriage started moving again. The sudden movement of the carriage woke Princess Anna up.

"Where are we?"

The way she was making a babyface while rubbing her eyes with her hand was kind of cute.

"Princess, we are in the village where we were planning to stay for the night."

Markus replied to her casually asked question in a serious tone. When she heard that, she quickly composed herself. It could be because she realized what she had been doing up to now was not very princess-like.

Our carriage stopped in front of a house that appeared to be the biggest and the only stone house in the village. It had been decorated with several flower vases that were hanging down from the roof.

Soon after it stopped, Garo came and knocked on the door again. "You can come out now."

I was the first one to get out, and after me were the princesses. Needless to say, I assisted them in climbing down by giving them a hand as support.

"Please, this way."

After Garo said that, the four of us followed him inside.

The house looked bigger from inside, although not as big as the dormitory. There were several accessories made up of animal fur as decorations. Just by the looks, one could say that they weren't expensive, but it wasn't like the prices made something more or less beautiful to me.

"Welcome, princesses. I can not explain the joy I am feeling right now. All my life, I never hoped that I would even be able to see royalty, and here I am greeting the princess of this nation herself, that too in my own village."

A well-dressed old man, who appeared to be the village chief, bowed so deeply in front of us that for once, I was scared that his back might break.

"I think we are the ones who should be grateful here. Thank you for letting us stay," Princess Anna replied.

The old man raised his head in surprise. It was apparent that the picture of royalty that he had in his head was completely different. He was probably expecting someone arrogant like the nobles who think they are above everyone else.

It was only a moment later that I noticed the tears falling from his eyes. Those were the tears of joys, but Anna, who didn't understand that, looked confused.

The old man pulled a piece of cloth out of his pocket and rubbed his tears before speaking again.

"Please follow me. I will show everyone their room."

After he said that, we followed the old man. It was a single-story building with around eight bedrooms. The four of us, who were the guests here, were given a room each, while the rest shared the remaining room.

"Please rest until we prepared dinner. We weren't expecting any guests at this time of the day, so it may take a little longer. I apologize for that."

"There is no need for that. We are the ones who showed up without informing you. We should be the one apologizing."

The old man started crying again after hearing Princess Anna's reply. The first time it was okay, but now it was beginning to look too much. So, instead of staying there and watching more of that, I decided to rest inside my room.

"Guys, I think I will rest for a while. See you at dinner."

Princesses replied with a nod, after which I walked inside my room.