Chapter 70

“This is also really delicious. After all, southern fruits are the best!”

Kitty took a big bite of the juicy mango and chatted livelily.

Seeing that, I pushed the plate of mangoes towards her. I also did not forget to give a piece to Arfie, who barked and protested for it, too. We were now in a large city in the south, where an abundance of goods, cheap and good fruits were overflowing.

“You weren’t from the south?”

“Yes.”

Kitty nodded her head at my question before continuing.

“I’m from the Capital.”

“…You must’ve known me already, then.”

“Yes.”

She did not deny it.

“I assume you thought I’d be better.”

“….”

I glanced at her.

Kitty, who even told me before that Cassius gave her a lot of money, pleaded to come with me when I left. Why…? Although I thought she was annoying, I could not get rid of her easily.

“You can leave me and go to the Capital at any time.”

“I’m going to stay by your side, Young Lady.”

I let out a sigh. It was the next moment I was convinced of a very unwelcome conclusion.

“…Did Lord Cassius make you do it?”

“Oh, did I get caught?”

A bitter feeling arose at her words.

…That was right. Cassius would not have let me go so easily.

Meanwhile, seeing the expression on my face, Kitty smiled and opened her mouth, “I’m kidding. He never said a word to me.”

“Then, why did you follow me?”

“I want to be with the Young Lady. I don’t really want to go home… Actually, I ran away from home!”

“There’s no need to call me young lady, you don’t even have to serve me.”

Kitty laughed out loud.

“That’s why my conscience is a bit pricked. I received really, really good money. Hmm… enough to eat and play for the next five years?”

Hearing her answer, I could roughly understand why Kitty was so devoted to me.

“That much amount of money is enough to establish a business. Anywhere is fine, so go and get settled. You don’t need to think about taking responsibility for me.”

“Oh, when did I say I’d take care of the Young Lady? You’ve to take responsibility for yourself. Don’t even dream of touching my money.”

“….”

Even though she was saying that, Kitty was actually paying all the cost of the accommodation we are staying at now.

‘I’ll have to settle down quickly.’

Selling my accessories would give me a lot of money. It was a meager amount of money to start a business, though it would be enough for me to settle in a small country town.

“Thank you.”

“As expected, the Young Lady recognizes my charm.”

As Kitty grinned and ate all the mangos on the plate, I rose up from my seat.

“I need to buy a map.”

“Oh, I knew you’d want it, so I bought it in advance. Would you like to see it?”

“Really?”

Saying so, she handed me a huge rolled-up map. Apparently, it was a map of the entire empire. It was too big to spread on a small table, so I had no choice but to spread it on the bed.

“I bought a large one because I thought the Young Lady might go to another area. Did I do well?”

“Good job.”

I stared at the map meticulously, answering half-heartedly.

‘First, it has to be away from the capital… A nice place to live that’s not too harsh on outsiders.’

The northern part was excluded from the beginning because it was a region with strong regional color and was rumored to be reluctant to outsiders. That means that all that is left is the west, the east, and the south. Since there was no reason to spend money to move around too much, naturally, the destination was narrowed to the south.

“Do you know anything about the south?”

“No way. If I were a southerner, I would’ve recognized where the island was. Do you think the Lord would’ve brought me here?”

“That’s true, too.”

In the end, it all seemed to depend on my decision.

“Hm…”

After a painstaking examination, the result of the places to settle has been narrowed down to three — a small fishing village on the coast, this big city we are staying in, and finally, a village in the mountains that has just begun to be explored.

“Where do you want to go?”

“You’ve to decide.”

Since I could not decide, I decided to ask Kitty, but only rebuke words came back.

“Shall we go here…”

“A pioneering village?”

Kitty asked back, seemingly surprised.

“Yes. You don’t like it?”

“No. I’m fine, but I wonder if a lady like you can get along well in such a place…”

“If it doesn’t work, we can go somewhere else. We don’t have to live here for the rest of our lives.”

“That’s true, too.”

After saying that, Kitty turned around and washed her hands.

“Well, shall we go right away?”

My heart began to pound. As I was moving slowly and he did not follow me, it seemed that Cassius had really let me go.

‘I can really live my life now…!’

I had no intention of returning to the Capital, but if I quickly settled down in the pioneer town, I might be able to write a letter to Ophelia and invite her… Now, I was really out of the power of the original story.

I smiled brightly as I glanced at Kitty.

“Yes, we’d better pack our bags and get on the carriage right away.”

ﾟ· : * ✧ * :· ﾟ

Life in the pioneer village was not as easy as Kitty warned. The house built for free for the migrants was sloppy, so Kitty and I had to repair it ourselves. However, it was only with the help of neighbors that I was able to fix it properly.

Nevertheless, it was not without its drawbacks.

Because it was a pioneer village, everything we pioneered as early settlers belonged to us. From the beginning, I had no intention of properly farming here. It was because I had neither the ability nor the strength to do so. Besides, winter was approaching anyway, so now was not the time to prepare for farming.

My goal was to clear as much land as possible and either rent it out to later settlers or sell it altogether.

Just like the Arfie chased birds on the island, here it chased the rats and drove them out of the house and yard.

Kitty looked at it and shook her head.

“Seeing that it is so ferocious, it must be the descendant of a hunting dog.”

“A dog with so much cuteness like this?”

“What cuteness… The Young Lady’s the only one who thinks that! Oh, look at that!”

Arfie, who had been barking and chasing out mice just a while ago, jumped into my arms as it wagged its tail vigorously. I held it in my arms and stared at Kitty.

“It’s the virtue of a dog to be more friendly to the owner.”

“That’s true, but… Oh, my—that vixen!”

I tilted my head.

Of course, Arfie was not the kind of dog that would wag its tail and lay on its back for a stomach scratch for anyone. Still, it was not enough to be called a vixen. While I was thinking that, I could hear someone knock on the front door the next moment.

“I’m going to go check.”

I put down Arfie and hurriedly opened the door.

Wavy red hair was the first thing that caught my eye, I then noticed a proud green gaze staring at me.

‘….?’

Of all the people of the Empire, the one most unfit person for this town stood at my doorstep.

“Your Highness the Princess…!”

Startled, I yelled loudly.

“Be quiet. Do you want to let the whole town know that I’m here?”

Hermia slipped past me and walked into her house. She quickly glanced around the house before opening her mouth again.

“It’s not bad.”

“…Your Highness, what brings you here?”

I calmly asked for Hermia’s business after calming my startled heart. At that, she tilted her head sharply at me.

“Aren’t we friends? You can come to say hello with your friends, right?”

“Th-that’s right, but how did you know we were here…”

“If you wanted to hide, you should’ve hidden the traces properly. Finding the Young Lady and the Young Lady’s maid was not a problem at all.”

“…Didn’t Lord Cassius tell you?”

From the moment I saw her, I had difficulty bringing up the words that came to my mind. Hermia scoffed.

“No?”

“That’s a relief.”

“Why?”

“…Lord Cassius promised never to visit me again or send anyone.”

“Hmm.”

As she made a sound as she was thinking about something, Hermia slowly sat down on the sofa I had just bought. Although she was using it as if it was her own house, I did not feel bad.

“Um, do you happen to know about Ophelia?”

One of Hermia’s eyebrows rose.

“That illegitimate child?”

“Yes.”

“I heard she’s married.”

“….!”

I stroked my chest. I was worried that my escape and Cassius’ pursuit would harm Ophelia, though that did not seem to be the case.

“It’s been quite a topic of discussion. Where her older sister has gone, and the illegitimate sister was getting married first.”

“….”

“Don’t worry, though. Sir David—no, I should call him Viscount Marquell. These days, Viscount Marquell’s making an unprecedented rise in the Duke’s family.”

“Unprecedented rise…?”

I asked back, a little surprised.

Sir David was already commander of the Duke’s knights. Could he be more successful than that…?

Hermia suddenly clapped her hands.

“Oh, I didn’t say this.”

Her green eyes in the sunlight shone sharply, filled with confidence.

“I’ll tell you the news that will make the Young Lady happy.”