15

"My Lady, take care.", Mina said from behind.

I looked ahead to the muddy road caused by the heavy rain. The wind fluttered my dress, feeling the sudden cold of the weather.

I turned to Mina.

„Do not worry, Mina." I smiled, knowing that she still was worrying about me disappearing.

Again.

I wished for it. But I knew— I had a hunch, that I wouldn't disappear from here so easily.

The carriage was set in motion once I entered.

Luan came in after me.

The horse hooves strongly stomping in the mud, the sound of rain dropping onto the roof, and the smell of rain. I closed my eyes. It felt so real.

"My Lady.", Luan called.

"Yes." I said quietly, still enjoying the way I sensed this reality.

"Why are we heading to such a place?", He asked. He genuinely seemed to question it.

He was right about asking. A lady such as Zephyra appearing in a village, where barely the people could be seen as alive.

Their health condition so bad, that it's hardly distinguishable who is alive and who isn't.

The sanitation so poor, the smell of corpses and the sick could be smelled from far away.

It was the description of the book over the village in the outskirts of South Kalindi.

I thought about an answer. I honestly didn't know.

Did I try to approve the way Aelia described the situation?

Did I try to see it myself, that this was now my reality?

I simply smiled at Luan. He wanted to ask further, I could see it. But it was inappropriate for a merely knight to bother a lady with questions anyway.

Somehow, I was tired. I closed my eyes and dozed off for a while.

"My Lady. We have arrived", Luan gently woke me up. I noticed that the carriage has stopped.

I stretched and nodded.

I looked out of the window. Oh what a scenery. The sky darkened and rumbled. I already could see how bad the condition of the village was.

Aysgarth.

It was a village in the south east of Kalindi. Although it was in the south, as an average sized village, it was strangely cold.

We got off the carriage and all of a sudden, an insufferable disgusting smell materialized.

Although we were dressed as commoners, no commoner would come with a stable carriage. But no one seemed to notice.

Or they hadn't had the power to do it.

Luan covered his nose and furrowed his eyebrows. He looked at me to see what my next move was.

I looked around. The people walked around like zombies, those who had the power to do so. The village reeked so horrific, my sight was hindered. I got a headache.

The people were rotten. The village was rotten. And for so long, that even if all of this suddenly disappeared, the reek of the smell would still be here for another century.

I looked down.

It is worse than Aelia described.

"I have seen enough", I said and returned to the carriage. I would've thrown up, if I stayed here any longer.

The man who drove us immediately turned into the direction we came from, I could hear the rambling of the horses.

"Take a day off for tomorrow.", I said to Luan.

He nodded and kept his gaze on me. He was observing me.

What an unpredictable lady, he probably thought.

I have to get in contact with Aelia before my coming of age ceremony.

I opened the window. While the whole ride, the weather changed completely. The wet grass was shining, and the air got fresher. The sun was now around the horizon.

It was hard to realize that all of this was from another world, another reality. I let the breeze touch my skin, I felt every little brush against it.

I thought about Aelia. Although I haven't read much of the book, I read enough to have moments where I was admiring her, questioning her actions, and hating her.

Sometimes her caring side was suffocating. She wanted to save the people, the empire of this tyrannical reign. She planned on saving every single one of them.

Something impossible.

Yet, while she was trying to be a heroine, she was seen as the villainess. Her caring and selfless side was so evolving, that she might had been the cause of her own death.

But she was still the only one who could have brought it this far.

They need her.

To prevent her head landing on the Guillotine, I have to reach out to her. Prevent her from being so selfless and being a villainess.

Almost 3 hours went off returning to the mansion. Since I slept the time we got to the village, I hadn't had a clue that it took us so long.

As we arrived, it was already evening. The lights of the mansion gave off some lighting for the trees around.

"Luan.", I called.

"Yes my Lady.", he said.

"What are your honest thoughts about this trip we had?", I asked.

He waited and thought for an answer.

"My Lady, I honestly didn't understand the reason for your visit there. I was confused as of why a lady would do such a thing."

"It's understandable. Well, you may take your leave now. We will see each other a few days later. Visit your family." I said, taking my leave.

I did some research about Luan and his family.

He lives in a pretty average family, in an average environment for commoners of an higher status.

"You should bring some bakeries next time", I added.

His parents work in a bakery.

He widened his eyes and said : "If my Lady wishes". He then disappeared.

"My Lady, you are back.", Mina smiled.

As I was walking in I started: "Yes, finally. It was an exhausting ride and way too long. Would you mind making a relaxing tea? Make one for yourself too."

"Yes, of course. Should I call Marriel too? She already wanted to talk to you." , Mina said.

"Oh, does she have any kind of news?"

"Yes, she actually seemed slightly troubled..."

"Alright, tell her to come to my study. While you are at it, just bring the whole tea pot." I smiled.

She nodded and made her way to the kitchen.

I walked up the stairs and felt a peeking from above. At first it was frightening but I soon realised, it was the youngest son of the duke.

Zack Newsburgh.

I tried to hide my laugh because of his terrible hiding spot.

I slowly walked towards him.

"Are you hiding from me?" I asked, trying to look upset.

He seemed scared at first, but he relaxed later on.

"I wanted to see you sister." He looked up to me.

It suprised me. "Oh, why is that?"

"Why didn't you join dinner again?", He asked.

It suprised me that he called me sister. That he was curious about me.

"Hm…I was not in the mansion at that time. Is it boring for you here?"

"Kind of…" He looked down.

I felt a warmth. He was adorable.

I kneeled down, faced him and asked:

"What about hanging out tomorrow? You can choose what activity we could do."

His face lit up in an instant and he nodded shyly.

"Now if you'd excuse me, I will be in my study." I said and left.

I closed the curtains and Mina came in with a tablet.

We talked about the weird weather, the situation in the mansion and about the grand duke.

"My Lady, it's me, Marriel." A voice called behind the door.

Mina let Marriel in.

She looked at me stressed. She ran up the stairs, it appeared.

She handed me a letter.

I widened my eyes. It was quite hard to breath.

The imperial seal was on it.

'For Lady Zephyra Newsburgh' was what was written on it.

"Do you know who sent me this?", I asked not daring to open it.

Mina looked at me with curiosity and Marriel searched for words.

"The imperial letter carrier said it was from the second princess personally." She finally answered.

What?