11 A Travelling Companion

As soon as we arrived at Herbugh, we directly went to search for a place to stay for the night. According to Hannelle, the beasts are active during the night. So we choose to leave for Achbale tomorrow morning. My body also cannot bear to ride in carriage anymore. The carriage was rocking so much my back hurts.

"Hey, what kind of inn do you prefer?"

Suddenly Hannelle asked me something strange. I don't know the right answer for my situation. So I should go with something common people would search for. I think.

"Somewhere cheap?"

"You sure?"

I puzzled. Why do you want to make sure? What was she thinking?

I want to know her expression. But I cannot see her face clearly since she's taller than me and her face was looking at the opposite direction of me. So I jumped in front of her and lean my face forward to look her in the eye.

"Why you ask something like that in the first place?"

She got surprised and look at me for a second. Then she instantly looks away and scratches her face along with a forced laugh.

"Well, cause you looked like someone who can't stand somewhere cheap."

I petrified. I thought I already have disguised myself properly. Even these clothes were second-handed. I wonder where I do wrong. But here is not the right place to discuss something like this.

"L- let's just go somewhere affordable then."

*****

At the inn reception, I thought I am going to let her deal with the owner but then…

"One room please."

I immediately cut in between her and the inn's owner.

"It's two rooms… please."

She looks at me with a confused face.

"Why? We both girls, right?"

I once again stupefied.

Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh. I give up! I'm defeated. My disguised that I put a lot of effort into, turns out to be a huge failure.

We get into the room to left our things first before going out again for dinner. But I have no intention of going out before I get an explanation from her.

"How? How did you know?"

"Hmm? Ah… that…"

She gave me a perplexed look before her right hand started to strokes her chin. As she takes her time to think before answering my question, she walks to the bed and sits at the side of the bed. I stare at her every move to urge for an answer.

"Hmm... Intuition, I guess?"

My glare becomes sharper. Recognized my discontent, she scratches her head before she adds more.

"You know, I used to have a lot of escorting jobs before. Be it a daughter of merchants or nobles. All of them have some sort of trademark that shows that they are from a high-class background. Then, I thought you are kind of quite similar to them. I just guess you might be one of them. That's all."

It is a pretty legit answer. Now I'm a bit relieved. I thought I have failed completely. It's ok. There are thousands of young ladies out there. She doesn't exactly know who I am yet. Even if she heard the news later, my hair and eyes are completely different now.

"How about I'm being a girl?"

"Hmm… you just look like a girl. Even though you dress like a boy, you act completely like a girl."

I was taken aback. Depressed, I threw myself on the bed. With my eyes fixated on the ceiling, I asked again.

"Why won't you say anything before?"

"You just look too cute while trying so hard."

I look at her disbelief. But she just smiles sweetly at me with her chin rest on her hand.

Are you saying that I was trying so hard to disguise myself that is why I failed? I want to ask her that but I don't feel like I want to ask about that anymore. I don't want her to stomp on my pride any further. Or maybe she's just too sharp from the start.

"Then, is it ok to say that you wanted to help me? Why?"

Yeah. Even if she was kind and justice, she wouldn't help me without wanting anything in return right? Maybe she wanted some kind of reward, now she knows that I'm from a high-class family.

"Because you are just so cute."

Heard the unexpected answer from her, I was dumbfounded.

"Wha-! How is that supposed to be a reason?"

"It is! Oh. By the way, if you were thinking that I want your money? You can just keep em."

"Yeah right, there's no one in this world that are willing to do something without compensation."

Not only in this world, back in my world also. Everyone was blinded by money.

However, Her expression changed from bright to dark for a second.

"Now little girl, even if you were a sheltered girl until today, it's not nice to bluntly judge people just like what your parents and maid told you so, you know."

I want to object but I end up swallowed my words.

She's right on the spot. I was a sheltered girl. I got the courage to get out of my house because I have memories of my previous life's free lifestyle. Still, this world is completely different from my previous world.

And I forget that there are different types of people everywhere you go. I guess I never met genuine people in my previous life. My mind got twisted after getting involved in the company's politics. It's natural when you climb higher, you will be surrounded by more hypocrite people and your friends turns out to be your foe.

"But... you saved my life. I still feel awful if I cannot express my gratitude properly."

"Then, how about call me big sister? I have a soft spot on a little kid like you, you know."

I look at her with disgust. Haahh~ now I get it.

She's just a weirdo. I decided to ignore her demand and change the topic.

"Don't you want to ask me anything?"

"Ignoring me huh? Whatever. So, how old are you Eden?"

"13."

"I'm your big sister after all. I'm six years older than you, you know."

Now she tries to turn back to her previous demand. Like I care.

"I mean, don't you curious about my circumstances?"

"Hmm… I just thought that there is no need to ask. If you don't want to talk then I'll respect your decision. But if you ever want to talk, I will listen properly."

Yeah, she definitely is a weirdo. She's too good to be true.

But there's one more thing that I was curious about. I sit on the side of the bed to face Hannelle properly.

"How did you know that I was being targeted?"

"Actually, they were not targeting you from the start. They've been targeting our carriage since we out from Goxgina. I thought I didn't have to do anything because they don't have any chance to attack us. Then, during our stop, you went alone to sit far away from everyone else and that makes you their target. So I followed you to get rid of the bandits."

"I.. didn't know. I thought I already take extra cautious."

I bit my thumbnail. I honestly don't know. I am so naïve. Before, I only thought of protecting my identity. As a result, I forget about my own safety. This shows how foolish and ignorant of me to the world. Now I've become a burden to nice people like Hannelle. As I thought, running away from home on my own was a big mistake. I should have put more thought of it carefully before.

My heart hurt thinking of my own foolishness. I want to go home. But I can't anymore. My pride won't allow me to give up. Before I know it, my eyes were already covered with tears.

On the spur of the moment, Hannelle stroke my head gently.

"Don't worry. I will protect you for the time being. You also ought to learn something from me, right?"

Ah. I never thought people like Hannelle exist. Thank God for sending Hannelle to me.

"Yes! Please teach me everything that I need to know."

I look at her with brimming eyes while she just continues to stroke my head with a gentle smile.

"Now, let's go take a stroll around the town. And there's a stall that sells delicious churros around here, you know."

My body reacted to the delicious churros. That's something that I never taste yet in this life. But I remember from my previous life, the golden pastry, it's crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Dusted with cinnamon sugar, the amount of sweetness was just acceptable. I want it. I wipe my remaining tears before heading to the front door.

"Let's go. I'm starving."

Hannelle chuckles from my reaction as she followed me out of the room. In my heart, I promise that I will work hard to improve myself so that I can show off my resolution to that blocked head father of mine.