With lunch over, we returned to the port. This time, we perched atop a hill and viewed the entire port below us.
“One day…” I murmured as I looked out at the scenery. “One day, I want to expand this port. Expand our trading. And that way, connect to the whole world via this port. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
Everyone smiled.
“It would indeed, Princess. Bring me some foreign wine while you’re at it.”
“Watch your tone, Dida! Yes, my lady, that sounds wonderful.”
“All right, Dida. You better be excited when that day comes. And Lyle, what would you want?”
“I suppose if I really had to pick something, I’d like to see other countries’ armor and weapons.”
“I should have expected as much. What about you, Rehme?”
“Books from other countries, of course.”
I should have expected that, as well. I couldn’t help but laugh. “And you, Tanya?”
“Well…if there are any rare tea leaves out there, I’d love for you to try them, my lady.”
“I’d be happy to enjoy them with you, Tanya.” I turned my back to them and looked at the port again. I burned the sight into my memory. “It was the right decision to take this trip. I was able to see so many things I’d never even heard of before, and I learned a great deal.”
The documents Sebastian had prepared for me were great, and an excellent textbook for someone like me who knew nothing about the duchy. I learned many things from them, of course. But observing reality teaches you something else. I also felt that, thanks to this trip, I’d found true motivation to inform my governance.
“Everyone, I have to ask you again. Will you follow me? Not on a journey like this one, of course. I mean, will you give me your everything?”
Tanya was the first to respond. “You already had my everything, my lady.”
“Of course, my lady.”
“Sure will, Princess. It’s always fun by your side.”
Lyle and Dida agreed, smiling.
“Quite. I’m sure exciting things will happen if I stick with you.” Rehme answered last, with a smile on her face.
“Thank you, everyone.”
That night, we took rooms in an inn along the main street and rested up. Tanya was always in charge of our bookings, and she’d never steered us wrong. That aside, I should have been exhausted, yet for some odd reason the gears in my brain kept turning and I couldn’t sleep. We had plans early in the morning, so I needed to rest…but it was no use.
I sighed and got out of bed. Perhaps I’d ask Tanya to get me a drink. No, it would be awful of me to wake her this late at night. But there was no way I could lie back down. Unable to think of anything, I stood up and exited the room.
I realized it was quite bold of me to walk alone at night, even if it was inside an inn. The feeling like I was doing something indecorous got me excited. It was like I was a child again. I sat down on a bench and peered out at the night sky through a large window.
Suddenly, a voice came from behind me. “Princess, you shouldn’t be leaving your room at this hour.”
“Dida…”
“This is an inn, not the mansion. You’re not exactly safe here, you know.”
“I’m sorry. I just couldn’t sleep.”
“Rehme said the same thing. Something about being too excited by the sea.”
“Well, that’s not my problem.” I frowned. “I’m surprised. Were you behind me this whole time?”
I hadn’t sensed anything while making my way here. I had genuinely thought I was walking alone down that dark, quiet corridor.
“Of course. Even in an inn, Lyle and I take turns keeping watch. It just happened to be my turn. If Lyle or Tanya found out I’d let you wander off alone, they’d kill me. Although, I’m guessing Tanya would have sensed me slacking off, so you wouldn’t have been alone either way.”
“I see… Well, I apologize again for the trouble.”
“I don’t mind. You could call it a perk of the job, getting to see you before I go to sleep.” He chuckled.
“Say, Dida…”
“Hm?”
“Remember that alley you stopped us from going down?”
Dida looked away awkwardly. “Oh, that.”
“You seemed quite informed… Why is that?”
Dida studied me. His usual aloofness was gone. His eyes seemed to reflect nothing, and it started to unnerve me.
“I’m not suggesting you have any connection to the people there. I don’t suspect you. I just thought you seemed wise to the subject. And because I know nothing about it, I wanted to hear more.” I continued, but Dida made no real response. What was up with him? The silence that had been so comforting a few seconds ago was now strangling—painful.
Abruptly, he spoke. “Me and everyone else, we lived in the slums before you took us in. Remember?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“There, no matter what happens, no one will come to save you. You have to fend for yourself. Not even children are spared.”
“I…see.”
“Which is why my nose is leagues better than the average person’s at sniffing out danger. If you know there’s danger, you can protect yourself better, right?” He was speaking like himself, but his tone was entirely serious. “But…I was an idiot back then. I knew there was danger, but I was a fool… So I got close to a certain kind of folk and acted like their errand boy. Ah, your father and Sebastian know about this, so don’t feel like I’m sharing anything you’d have to keep secret.”
He might as well have read my mind. They knew, huh? Perhaps it wouldn’t have been right for me to say, seeing as I was the one who insisted we take Dida in, but given this, I’m surprised they allowed me to.
“Anyway. That’s probably why I seem…savvy.”
“This may sound like a very foolish question, but…why did you run errands for those people?”
Dida chuckled, a lonely smile on his lips. “For the most common reason of all: money. I regretted it real quick, though. Powerless kids are nothing more than disposable pawns to the likes of them. Dozens of kids just like me up and vanished. By the time I realized the danger, it was too late. Trying to cut ties that early would have been suicide.”
“Thus, ‘Princess’…?”
“Huh?”
I’d always wondered why he called me that. If it was a joke, he was certainly determined to stick with it. I’d also given him permission to call me what he liked, and I had no desire for him to revere me. Perhaps it was his way of saying I grew up comfortably, swaddled in silk. A way to make fun of me for being someone who saw nothing, heard nothing, and knew nothing.
“It’s nothing. Forgive the strange question.”
“The reason I call you ‘Princess’…is because you’re a princess.” He muttered, then grinned.
“Huh?”
“Oh? Did I make you curious?” His grin became gleeful as he cocked his head and approached me. It was quite obvious he was teasing me.
“Step away from her.”
Tanya’s voice cut the air like a knife. Dida doubled over, holding his head. She had hit him, and it made the most remarkable sound.
“Honestly. I thought you were going to bring her back to her room, but you took so long I had to come check on things myself. My lady, it is late. You must leave early tomorrow morning, so it’s important you sleep.”
“Right… I, ah, think I’m getting a bit sleepy now. Tanya, I’m sorry for making you come fetch me.”
“It’s perfectly fine. Give me any order you wish. Shall I prepare some warm milk to help you sleep?”
“Yes, please. And Dida, thanks.”
And so, my mini-adventure—ahem, my walk through the inn—came to an end. I drank the hot milk Tanya brought me and felt the sandman tug at my eyelids. The rest of that night, I slept like a baby.