CH 43

7. Choice

The morning of the last day spent at the hunting ground was bright.

Canaren woke up early. Roana was sleeping with her belly exposed on her bed. She was nervous and suspicious about everything because of the pressure she had to replace Yulif, and it wasn’t until the dawn of the day that she barely fell asleep.

She put the blanket over her and stepped out of the tent when a familiar voice rang out.

“Why are you going out alone? Orcard?”

“She’s… a-sleep. Don’t wake her… up.”

Canaren stuttered and spoke in the imperial language. Her tongue was hardened and her pronunciation did not flow smoothly, but she was able to convey her intentions.

Yulif frowned at her words.

‘Ah, he didn’t want to hear it because I stuttered.’

Canaren bit her lip, but she didn’t want to speak in Hwira. Yulif also does what she doesn’t like, but it’s unfair that he only cares about himself. She spoke firmly in the imperial language.

“In front of, Miss Roana, you’re good……. Only, me.”

「If I speak in Hwira, you will also speak in Hwira.」

Canaren’s shoulders twitched slightly.

“I…… hate. What you, say in. Hwira, uh. I don’t want to hear it.”

「Because I didn’t set you free? Saying that I’m going to let you go and deceiving you?」

Of course, that was the biggest reason. But there was a whisper in the corner of her heart that that wasn’t all.

To be honest, Yulif never deceived her. He said he would help her get out of the imperial palace, but he did not say that he would give back her freedom.

Canaren didn’t want him to know any other reason why she didn’t like to hear him speaking in Hwira.

No, she didn’t think he should know.

“That’s. right, I don’t want, you to speak, in Hwira.”

“When you are severely traumatized, you often lose your ability to speak. When the shock subsides and becomes stable, the function naturally returns.”

“Am I, unstable? Am I, weird?”

“I don’t mean that.”

Yulif sighed deeply. Canaren looked at him with resentment and shot back.

“I was made like this. Two people.”

“Yes, you are right.”

“I was, good at, the imperial language. Although it was because of you.”

“You was good when you were younger? You didn’t say my name properly.”

“Now, what…?”

For a moment, a feeling of embarrassment crossed Yulif’s face. She quickly captured his expression calmly, but Canaren had already sensed a strange nuance in his words.

‘Did you meet me when I was young? When? Where?’

Questions that came to mind quickly did not form a proper sentence.

“Orcard.”

“Yes, yes! Lord!”

“If you let Canaren go alone again, you’ll have to be prepared.”

“I’m sorry. I will correct it.”

Behind her back was Roana’s hardened voice. It seemed that Roana, who had woken up from her sleep, came out to find her.

She wanted to bury Yulif and she wanted to defend Roana. Canaren chose her latter. It was because she was grateful and apologetic to Roana for her hard work until dawn.

“I couldn’t, sleep. Why don’t you, scold me?.”

“I won’t scold you. You don’t deserve that.”

Yulif left the place. Roana walked over to Canaren, scratching her head.

“I’m really sorry. It’s my fault.”

“No, it’s not. I…… came out on my own. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, don’t apologize! I was wrong! But, um…. Miss Canaren. I overheard the two of you talking.”

Canaren blinked her eyes. She wasn’t anything special, so it didn’t matter much to Roana.

She overheard the conversation and thought she’d apologize, but what she said was unexpected.

“I think the Lord is more concerned about Miss Canaren than he thinks it is strange.”

“He doesn’t care about me.”

‘Wow, she is very determined.’

A drop of cold sweat ran down Roana’s temple.

“Why do you think so…?”

Yulif was taking care of her for the one he loved. He felt obligated to her because that person is from the Hwira tribe.

Again, unexplained sadness came over her. Canaren shut her mouth and shook her head. Nngh. Roana made a groan.

“For now, well…… If you think so, I have nothing more to say. As the Lord said, you don’t have to try too hard to use the imperial language.”

“You don’t know, Miss Roana. Hwira.”

“I can learn it. I’m a genius, so I learn things quickly. Haha.”

‘Actually, every time Miss Canaren speaks in the imperial language, she looks so ill. The Lord seems to have the same feelings as me.’

Roana sighed in secret. Today, there was nothing but complaining to the lord who had made Canaren feel down in the morning because he wasn’t honest.

‘Why don’t you talk openly?’

*******

After a walk with Roana, Canaren had a light breakfast. After getting some fresh air and having a full stomach, she felt a little better.

Even if it was her last day, she had nothing to do in particular. She didn’t want to go out to the lake with a sticky gaze on her.

Inside the tent, she was teaching Roana to practice her native language and simple Hwira words, but there was a commotion outside.

“It’s noisy.”

“I know, right. There are a lot of people walking around. I’ll take a look and come back.”

Roana returned quickly. In her hand was a large sack, which seemed to be empty. What is that? Canaren tilted her head.

“Everyone is preparing to leave. Guess we’ll go back to the Imperial Palace.”

“Ah…….”

The Imperial Palace. Just hearing that made her heart ache. As if it was evident in her expression, Roana deliberately raised a bright voice.

“Do not worry. They say that they just dress up formally and go straight to the territory. Your stay in the Imperial Palace will probably only be a few hours, as the lord will use his magic.”

“What is that?”

“Can I show you something strange?”

Canaren turned her back on her thoughts of the imperial palace, not wanting to do so. Roana grinned and opened the sack. And when she clapped her three times, something amazing happened. The objects in the tent began to be sucked into the sack. She marveled at the sack that swallowed, regardless of size, from vases to large beds.

In an instant, all her furniture, except the chair and table where Canaren was sitting, disappeared into the sack’s stomach.

“Wow.”

“Isn’t magic fun?”

“It’s just magic, isn’t it?”

“Yes. It’s a magic sack. It is the first invention of Roana Orcard.”

Roana patted her chest with her exaggerated gestures. Canaren laughed briefly.

“To follow the lord, I often have to pack my things. But it was too cumbersome to carry them around every time, so I made it.”

Roana naturally changed the subject to Yulif.

If left alone, she was convinced that these two would never tell each other what they were thinking. In fact, they were concerned and interested in each other more than anyone else.

She was quick-witted. That’s right.

Canaren did not notice her intentions and asked naively.

“Is that person, busy every day?”

“Phew, don’t say anything. You don’t know how hard the emperor is. I went north and then I went south. Because it’s not something people do. At least I survived because of the lord, but the others fell out sooner or later. He is a great wizard.”

In response to her openly demonstrating Yulif’s competence, Canaren gently nodded her head.

From a small lake in the forest, he sent dozens of soldiers, hounds, and wolves away at once. She didn’t know much about magic, but she knew that the magic of moving through space was very special.

“Unlike me, who is living an ephemeral life and carries a sack, the lord has a lot of money. He has a magnificent castle. It’s the coolest place in Pionia.”

Canaren imagined a Yulif carrying her magic sack. It seemed to be quite suitable for Yulif, to look at the bag sucking things with a very troublesome expression.

“Then, how about the luggage?”

“Are you going to just throw it away?”

“Throw it away?”

“Yes. I’ve never seen you take anything. There are jewels rolling around, so I’ve picked up a few. Oh, this is a secret.”

“Yulif, I can’t choose. What should I do?”

“Buy everything.”

As if what was the problem, he was sincere in answering.

Canaren erased from her mind the bag-carrying Yulif. It didn’t suit him at all.

What would the castle where Yulif lived look like?

Canaren suddenly wondered.

It seemed that Yulif was not the type of person to be extravagant, but Roana’s words that it was the coolest place in Pionia amplified her expectations. There, the vain hope that she might be able to live more freely than in the Imperial Palace also blossomed.

That’s what it meant that Yulif entrusted her with Roana as her escort.

Not resigned, she didn’t give up on escaping. But she was determined to do her best in the circumstances she faced. Yulif would never give up, and so was she herself. If so, let’s wait by Yulif’s side. Let’s create a chance.

“Usually, you would have just thrown it all away today, but Miss Canaren liked it, so he told me to take it with me. The Lord is special.”

Roana tapped her hilt.

Canaren was a little, really, a little happy. It was a good sign that Yulif cared about her. With a little more effort, she might be able to fix the gap. So she was happy. Canaren whispered to herself as if brainwashed.

‘Your face brightened. It was a good job.’

Roana smiled as she looked at Canaren, whose cheeks were slightly red.

She was not wrong in her idea that it would be better for her to help Canaren first rather than Yulif, who was worse than a piece of wood.