26 'The cold would force you to wake up'

It was already quite late when the duchess and her companions reached the settlement miles past her duchy's mountain border. And to their surprise, the people of the Sunall Village were having a small feast with festive bonfires and their traditional music.

Among the festive atmosphere of Sunallian dancing and chanting, a certain tall man with ponytailed golden hair stuck out from the crowd like a weed in a field of wildflowers. When he turned around and saw Amelia's group, he shouted with his hands extended sideways.

"Lia! You're here!"

"Br-Brother Ayland?!" Amelia's voice cracked as the youngest prince of Bruiles rushed to hug her as soon as she dismounted.

"Everyone, welcome!" the prince greeted the others, leaving the duchess behind.

"Greetings, Prince Ayland Robina," the Whitt siblings and the other knights bowed their heads despite the confusion.

"No need to be so formal here," Ayland waved his hand, and several men came to take care of their horses. He then turned to face the duchess again and ushered her towards the crowd, eager to welcome her with their inviting gestures and broad smiles.

As evening greetings were said, it was not long after everyone blended into the merry crowd.

The Sunall Tribe were the first people who lived in Bruiles before it became a duchy. And when the fifth emperor decided to gift their land to his twin sister as a wedding gift, there was a coup, and a good amount of bloodshed rained down on the duchy.

In the end, the Sunallians fled to the mountains for safety. Over time, they became proficient hunters and fighters and ruled the mountainous region of Bruiles. A few generations after, a treaty was signed between the Sunall Tribe and House Robina, giving the Sunallians the right to rule over the mountains in exchange for safeguarding it against anyone who would want to take advantage or destroy it.

And though the rest of the empire advanced with their daily lives, the Sunallians stayed true to their roots. There was little change in the way of living of the people in the tribe. They kept their beliefs and traditions intact even after so many centuries. And it made Amelia feel proud to be able to be with such people.

"What are you doing here, brother?"

"Well, I received your message early and thought I'd go and surprise you. The chief was kind enough to prepare this small feast, though I told him not to bother." Ayland explained as he stood beside the person who seemed to be the chief by looking at his tattooed arm—hierarchy in Sunall could easily be determined by looking at the arms of their men; the wider the tattooed armband was, the higher their rank.

And as the village still held their traditions close, women were not allowed to be tattooed, except for healers, as the practice was mainly handed down to women. They're determined by the tattoo around their wrists.

"Izz not every day that we get a duchess come by our village—and I still remember you when you were younger. How you've grown…."

"Thank you for the warm welcome," Amelia smiled and bowed her head as she held the hand of the chief in respect. "We're just here to camp out for the night. I didn't think that there would be a festivity too."

"Camp out? I will not allow it!" the chief let out a hearty laugh after he made a gesture of pointing his finger at the sky. "Your knights have helped us more than the duchy's own rulers. This izz the least we could do."

Even though the chief said something negative about the ruling family, Ayland laughed and nodded along with him. Being the youngest out of five princes, Ayland was left to do as he pleased and immersed himself in researching different floras that Bruiles was surprisingly abundant.

When he turned old enough to travel, he left and joined a group of traveling scholars, further widening the extent of his knowledge and skills. He's welcomed and treated like a prince since his research helps House Robina and Bruiles exceptionally, but he's already living separately from them and has given up all rights to inherit anything from his family.

Ayland now lives in a mansion outside the palace walls, in a town near the mountains, and makes a living for himself enough that the money the duke still provided him went to different research institutions that he's affiliated with.

"Ah, Sir Lewis!" Amelia and Ayland looked at each other smiling when the chief greeted her knight.

Sir Lewis bowed his head to the chief, and they were off talking to each other towards the crowd.

"We should eat too," Amelia looked back to tell the assassin siblings who kept a good distance from her. The two of them bowed their heads lightly at the prince, who reciprocated it, smiling.

"Stay here, duchess. We'll get you something to eat. You and Prince Ayland can talk some more."

The duchess nodded at her lady-in-waiting before she sat down at a nearby bench, a tad far from the noise so they could talk, but close enough that anyone could get to them immediately if anything were to happen—not that they're expecting something. Still, for Amelia, she should always stay on alert.

"We will leave before the first ray to avoid too many eyes. It'll be about a few hours from here, but the route is what we often used, so it should be a comfortable ride."

"Thank you, Brother Ayland. I know you're busy with your own research, but to help me to this extent…."

"What are you talking about?" Ayland placed his hand on top of the duchess' head, "Anything for you, Lia." The duchess smiled unknowingly at the warm green eyes that softly stared at her. "And that bastard Clement better take care of you, or else I'll poison him myself." He suddenly declared, and the duchess was immediately red up to her ears. Ayland laughed at her stunned expression to the point that his eyes were tearing up.

"H-ho-how did you know?"

"Oh, I have my sources," he answered with a wide grin, wiping the side of his eyes.

*********

She should be sleeping for the early day ahead, but her mind wasn't cooperating. She wasn't sure how much Ayland knew or if he was just teasing her, but it troubled her that the news of her accepting Alexander's proposal might've already been known to others.

If it weren't for the siblings who interrupted them with a plate of food they got for her, she could've asked further. But after they were finished eating, the other villagers insisted that she and the prince, as well as her companions, join them for the last dance of the night. She didn't want to disappoint them, so she obliged and thought she'd ask after the dance. But since Ayland doesn't have a vast energy reserve, to begin with, dancing vigorously on top of riding for hours to Sunall exhausted him greatly. He was already feeling lightheaded even before the dance ended and had to excuse himself to rest.

"I only told Uncle and my ladies-in-waiting," she murmured as she stared at the wooden beams of the room in one of the guesthouses lent to them by the chief. "Ancel knew too, but I'm sure that none of them would betray me and mouth it to others. It must be from Alexander's side."

The duchess turned to her side, annoyed.

How could he be so careless as to let others know about it when he knew exactly what would happen if it reached the emperor before they decided on what to do if he does?

Speaking of which, her advisor knew beforehand too. And thinking ahead, if her advisor knew, it wouldn't be a surprise if Duke Mulford knew too; and maybe a lot more than she could think of. The duke better has a good reason for all of this.

Could the news already spread somewhere else without her knowing? There's a rumor going about it in her duchy. It won't be surprising if other places have reached it too. After all, words fly with the wind

Amelia buried her face on the pillow in the last attempt to comfort herself and let out a short scream of frustration.

-----

Morning came, and the roosters didn't fail to wake up everyone. Before Amelia could open her eyes fully, Arabella was already knocking on her door. When she didn't answer after the second series of knocks, her lady-in-waiting opened the door with the key given to her by one of the village elders who kept the guesthouses livable.

"Are you okay, your grace?" terror stamped on the lady assassin's eyes.

"I'm fine," the duchess grunted as she pulled the blanket over her head. "I want to sleep for a little longer."

"You can't. We can't stay here for long, or we would be behind schedule. We need to be at Prince Ayland's mansion before lunch. You can rest then there."

"But he's already here. It's not like we have anything scheduled for today anyway." She reasoned, turning her back to her lady-in-waiting.

"Yes, but you wouldn't want to burden the village, right? They're currently cooking up a feast of a breakfast for us. If we stayed longer, we'd only be an inconvenience even if they tell us otherwise. Just think about it."

Well, there wasn't really that much thinking to be done. It was as Arabella said. Prolonging their stay would only make the chief extend his hospitality unnecessarily. They could just take whatever's leftover from breakfast to have something to eat on the road.

Upon realizing this, Amelia whined and turned in bed before finally deciding to open her eyes. She sat down and looked annoyed at Arabella, whose smile mocked her. After a few stretches, Arabella helped the duchess with her cloak. She left Amelia for a while, and a few minutes later, two missuses excused themselves and entered the room with a bucket in each hand of freshly drawn water from a nearby fall.

"The cold would force you to wake up," her lady-in-waiting noted, and she threw a glare at her.

But Arabella was right. The cold water from the falls was what she precisely needed to get her worries checked. It did not just wake her straight up, but it also cleared her mind.

At best, with Alexander's reputation, most people would brush the news of their engagement as nothing more than a rumor. There's no reason for her to fret at something that people have no solid basis for.

Yes, there's no point in losing sleep at something she couldn't control. What will come will come, and that's the only time when it's necessary for her to worry her head off.

Amelia nodded as she looked back at her reflection in the mirror, drying her hair. When she was done wiping down her body, she walked out of the bathroom draped in her cloak. Arabella then helped her with her change of clothes—a clean pair of the same style and kind as the one she wore yesterday.

When she was finished, she permitted her lady-in-waiting to leave so she could freshen up too. Amelia then picked up her sword belt from the nearby table and secured it around her waist.

"Good morning," the duchess jolted to find the young prince in her doorway behind her.

"Go-good morning, Brother Ayland. I hope you slept well…."

"I did. Thank you for asking. How about you?"

"Uhm… likewise. Thank you for asking."

"Good. Come outside. The village prepared an early breakfast and some takeaways for us to bring." Amelia smiled warmly at the prince who offered his arm.

Linking her arm with the prince again, Amelia squinted her eyes as soon as they were out. In the center of the village was a long table with various kinds of meat, greens, and fruits. The children were out too, running, playing, and yelling; some were tolerated, and others were scolded. Amelia couldn't help but smile at the scene. Since it was already nighttime when they arrived, only the adults were at the bonfire.

After saying her greetings to the village chief and others that came to help prepare the food, Amelia went ahead and greeted the kids. Since she's been forbidden to roam by herself, she hasn't been into any of the institutions that she supported; most of them catered to children and the elderly.

"I should visit them when I get back…" she murmured to herself.

"Did you say something, duchess?" Ancel asked when he passed behind the duchess, holding the bags they had with them yesterday.

"No, it was nothing. Just remembering some things that I haven't done in a while." Amelia showed a curt smile, both her hands behind her. "Are you preparing the saddle?"

"Ah, yes. But this is the last one." Amelia nodded and watched her knight walk away.

By the time the sun's rays were complete, Amelia, Ayland, and the others mounted their horses and thanked the chief for their generous hospitality. The young prince also promised to bring additional supplies with him next time and that he'd try to bring someone to teach the younger kids to read.

"I didn't know you do that kind of charity aside from your research, Brother Ayland," Amelia said as they started riding out of the village and through the mountain route.

"It's not really charity. It's more of a… responsibility?"

"It's the duke's responsibility to look after his people. You're neither the duke nor going to be the next one." Amelia said, pouting. She never liked the current Duke of Bruiles. The duchess only saw him thrice, the last being in the Gathering, and he always had an air of arrogance around him. Saying that he's a descendant of a former emperor makes him a level higher than the other rulers. In fact, he's just some kind of lowly being. One of the reasons that Bruiles is currently being considered a duchy centered in medicinal research and advancement was his predecessors, with a huge part from Ayland, who earnestly followed in their footsteps.

Though it's a bit of a gloomy thought, it was a good decision that Ayland's living by himself now. There's no point in him living in a palace that barely recognizes his efforts just because he was the youngest—and he was rather sickly when he was younger—son.

Noticing Amelia's sudden change in mood, Ayland said, "If I don't help them, who will? They're citizens of Bruiles, and I'm still one of Bruiles' princes. It's partly my responsibility to help them." the prince smiled sweetly at the duchess and Amelia felt slightly embarrassed. Still, his view of the duke wouldn't change no matter what anybody told her—even Ayland, and he understood that.

But what the prince told her had some weight. Yes, it's their responsibility as the ruling family to do whatever it took to help their people. Even if it's stepping into fire and back.