Chapter 19: The approaching dawn

"We should reach the capital soon." The fat guide of the royal family who had come to pick Lily up at the far edge of the kingdom smiled at her with his white washed teeth.

His teeth were perfect, as if he had them reconstructed to be perfect. One of them was also made of gold... he was quite a showy person. And, greed wasn’t his worst vice.

Ever since he saw the attractive face of the person he was bringing to the castle with him, he had been licking his tongue, his lust as obvious to her as the good weather outside their carriage.

The carriage they had hired was being pulled by a familiar looking horse and the one driving it also seemed to be a familiar individual, but the fat guide could not tell where he might have seen them.

He was a noble of (Viscount) rank either way. Not only could he use the magical powers of his blessed bloodline, he was carrying expensive items, magical things that had helped them fight the monsters and bandits that appeared in their paths throughout their journey.

"Miss, if you’d like, we can rest in the town before the capital-."

"There’s no need."

Lily couldn’t help but be cold to him.

She was going to the castle as someone receiving the price for their honour, and yet, here was a pig, with golden teeth, and a fat round nose, wearing clothes that seemed to be made of actual gold threads, trying to hit on her despite the clear declaration of her marriage status.

She had dealt with pigs like him before. She had cut, skewed, and barbequed quite a few of them as well.

She was well versed in the art of cooking the things that she hunted herself. In fact, she was one of the handful of people of this world who had hunted down draconic creatures just to eat them.

A gourmet chef. Andrew and her team alone had a thousand stories from their older days.

And she had been thinking about those golden days throughout this trip, ignoring most of what the pig said outright, clearly glaring at him whenever he tried to cross his limits.

’What a trash.’

She knew he wouldn’t do anything foolish to a royal guest. The decree that had allowed her to go to the palace also granted her protection under the kingdom’s laws.

Right now, along with the pig that was travelling inside the carriage with her, there were several hidden escorts looking after them, ones that the passengers themselves shouldn’t be aware of. ℯ

And yet, the lady with silver eyes had measured their powers a while ago already. She knew how strong they were, and she knew just how futile their struggles would be if all of them were to jump at her together.

Still, she wasn’t supposed to hurt these people.

According to her made up backstory, she was a veteran mercenary who played a crucial role in the recent demonic invasion which took place in the county of Batcher.

The count himself gave her the medal of honour and she had requested her reward to be something from the royal family... but she wasn’t certain what the reward would be.

Being from the countryside, she had never been to the capital and now, she was being escorted there for the first time. And for the first time, she was going to see the royal palace and the glorious capital of Mayn.

It was a made up cover, but she certainly was looking forward to it.

The palaces were a familiar place to her, places that never really suited her taste, but she has had the best fights of her life in those lavish, marvellous places.

’I’ll be there soon, darling.’

She was looking forward to this: not just to go to the capital, but to also fight the people from Elision and the Theocracy.

"The sun’s rising, Miss. Look~."

Outside the carriage window, as they crossed a mountain path, the clear sky above them was transitioning from a subtle gray to a subtle blue.

Slowly, as the sun rises above the horizon, the blue sky will become bluer, and as the day come to a close, it will slowly start turning orange, red, golden, and before the sun dives under the horizon with a burst of green flare, we will see the light of the day along with the moonlit starry night covering the world from the other end of the world.

The night will grace them again and the stars will shine like the tinkling dream. She will be with her family by then... and, the very castle she’s visiting right now will be looking out for them, searching them frantically, hunting what will then have become ghosts.

She believed that’s how things would be... and perhaps, some of it, at the very least, will come true this time.