Chapter 400 - 400 The Journey

400 The Journey

Everard was standing in front of the huge mirror in his bedchamber. A maid was helping him tie his hair into a small ponytail because he thought that they would only distract him if he let them float around his sweaty face.

While the maid was busy tying up his hair, he looked at his relatively pale-looking clothes and asked Jerome, “Does this look common enough? Nobody will recognize me, right?”

Jerome looked at the King’s reflection in the mirror and nodded. “Yes. I think it looks like something an average nobleman would wear.”

“Nobleman?” Everard raised his brows slightly and then asked while staring back at Jerome’s reflection, “But I thought you wanted me to look like a commoner.”

Jerome was the one who had approved the clothes for the King. So, he said, “I thought that if you dressed like a very poor man, others could look down on you if you were to find yourself in any difficult situation. So… I think this looks perfect.”

“Ah! Alright.”

The maid bowed her head to the King when she finished doing his hair and then left the chamber.

Jerome immediately gave a sound to someone who was standing outside the room for all this while. And when that man walked in, Jerome asked that man, “You already secured the route for the King, yes?”

“Yes, Milord.” That man kept his head lowered. He was dressed like a common villager and was also carrying the backpack of the King.

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Jerome looked at the King and then briefed him on that particular guard’s duty, “He will take you from here to the Caransi Village. It will take about an hour and a half to reach there.”

“Got it.” Everard began tapping his shoes on the floor, ready to run the moment Jerome would stop speaking.

Jerome looked at Everard from his head to toe and then said, “If you feel tired, don’t be shy to ask your guards to take a short rest. And if anyone suspicious follows you or tries to pick a fight with you, let your guars handle them.”

Everard nodded once again. “Mhmm. Anything else?”

Jerome thought for a while and then shook his head, “I think that’s it.”

“Okay! Great!” Everard gave a wide smile to Jerome and ordered, “Look after the Kingdom in my absence. I will return as soon as possible.”

Jerome gave a bow to the King.

Everard then looked at his guard and said, “Okay. Lead the way.”

The guard instantly gave a subtle bow to the King and then began running at a relatively slow pace since they were still inside the castle.

However, once they were outside the wall of the castle, the guard looked at the King and said, “I will increase my pace now, Your Majesty. Please tell me if the speed is too much.”

“Sure.” Everard gave a go-ahead to his guard.

And the moment he did, the guard ran at such a great speed that there was a huge distance between the two of them. Everard was amazed by it. He also quickly caught up with the guard and the two of them began running side-by-side.

Since they were still in the town, Everard was somewhat nervous thinking that someone would recognize him and follow him.

However, although he got a few glances from those whose eyes could keep up with their speed, none of them showed any change in their expression. Everard looked at the man who was staring at him from a distance. That man quickly got disinterested in him and looked away.

Everard smiled delightfully and thought to himself, ‘I am practically invisible! No one recognizes me. I should do this more often. This is so much fun!’

For someone who was used to attracting people’s gaze and praises everywhere he went, this was like a boon.

After running for what felt like half an hour, the two of them were now very far away from the settlements. They were running along the narrow paths with barren fields on either side of them.

“There isn’t much going on here, is there?” Everard tried to strike up a conversation with his guard.

The guard looked at the King. He followed the King’s gaze and then replied, “Yes. Since it is winter, there are very few crops that grow.”

“It would have been nice if I could see some trees at least.” Everard pursed his lips.

The guard looked ahead at the path and said, “We could have gone through the forest as well. But I chose this path since I can see if any danger approached. The forest can get tricky at night.”

Everard couldn’t deny that it was great thinking on the guard’s part. “It’s alright.”

He drew in a deep breath of fresh air and then looked at the moon above him. It looked like the moon was following him. He smiled at the moon and thought, ‘At least the moon looks beautiful.’

After an hour passed, the guard finally began to slow down.

Everard could see a few lights close by. So, he asked, “Is that Caransi Village?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the guard replied while his eyes actively searched for the other guard who was supposed to take over the duty of guarding the King.

Soon enough, he spotted a man near the entrance of the village. “There he is,” he mumbled. He looked at the King and said, “He will be with you for another few hours.”

“Thank you!” Everard gave an appreciative smile to the current guard.

The two of them came to a halt when they reached in front of the other guard. The current guard passed the King’s bag to him and said, “Good luck to you.”

That guard gave a bow to the King and said, “I will lead you from here, Your Majesty.”

“Then I will be in your care,” Everard said with a polite smile.

That guard then immediately began to run, closely followed by Everard.

Everard looked around the village as he ran past several houses. It looked like most of the people here were asleep by now. He then looked up at the moon and sighed with a sense of relief. He was feeling as though the Moon Goddess was watching over him.

He looked at the road ahead and then thought, ‘I just hope that she will still be by my side when I reach Orsenia. I want things to clear between me and Alex.’