The horses were the most muscular ones Cecily had ever seen. Charlotte had gone on about not wanting to be attacked by bandits, but unless the bandits’ own horses were sprinting, they would have had a hard time catching up. And even if they did, these macho horses could simply use their snouts to swat the bandits away.
At this rate, we’ll be home by tomorrow morning.
Zeke had taken seven days off. They had planned for six days of round-trip travel, and had thus only intended to stay in the village a short while, but at this rate they would be in the village for five whole days. Cecily remained overwhelmed by the carriages, but she was grateful to Charlotte.
“By the way, Lady Charlotte. Why did you ask to come with me?”
The carriages had left the royal capital, and the horses were now galloping through the forest. In response to Cecily’s question, Charlotte pursed her lips.
“So I am just trouble for you, then.”
“Not at all. It’s just that there are many men outside the palace. I was wondering why you’d force yourself to come.”
In fact, you would find men living on practically every street. Should you be somewhere with women in the world outside the palace, then surely, at least one of those most hated men wouldn’t be too far away. It was the same with all animals—if you spotted a female dog, then it was highly likely a male one was sniffing around nearby. Basically, once they were out of the castle, it would be impossible to avoid encountering men.
Cecily was sure Charlotte was aware of this, but she was still worried. Charlotte merely turned her head down and answered Cecily’s question in a whisper.
“After all, it’s...” Charlotte murmured, but the rest of what she said was too quiet to hear.
“What did you say?” Cecily said.
In the next moment, Charlotte’s face turned beet red. She screamed her next words.
“A-After all, it’s the place where my best friend was born and raised—of course I’d want to visit at least once!”
The feelings behind Charlotte’s words seeped into Cecily’s heart like spring water. Cecily put her hand to her chest as she said, “Lady Charlotte, that’s the loveliest thing I’ve heard.”
“That it is,” said Maria, who was next to Cecily.
“Quiet, both of you! Don’t you tease me too,” Charlotte said, before letting out a huff and turning to face the carriage window. She probably wanted to hide her blushing face, but she wasn’t aware that her ears were bright red too.
Just then, she let out a gasp and pointed out the window.
“Cecily! Cecily! What is that?” she said, excitedly calling for her friend.
Cecily herself peered out the window, but the carriage had passed the object by in no time at all.
“That’s a waterwheel, Lady Charlotte,” Cecily said.
“Oh, yes, I know. They’re used to draw water from the river, to be used in irrigation ditches for the fields! And what’s that?”
“That’s an old farmer.”
“Incredible... I never thought I’d get to see an old farmer’s loins.”
Charlotte excitedly pushed her face closer to the window, practically glued to the view outside.
“This won’t do! The carriage is so fast that I can’t see him anymore!”
The gentle autumn breeze tickled Charlotte’s dimpled cheek.
I almost forgot. Charlotte’s a princess—she’s never seen anything like this before.
Listening to Charlotte call every man she met a “pair of loins” with an absolute abundance of energy, Cecily could almost forget that she was a princess of the Carzenia Kingdom. Raised without any firsthand knowledge of the outside world, everything outside her palace was sure to pique her interest. Cecily was sure that Charlotte wasn’t lying when she said that she wanted to visit Cecily’s hometown, but she thought that Charlotte probably also wanted to see the towns and villages where her countrypeople lived.
The anxiety Cecily was feeling about her first trip back home gradually lessened as she watched Charlotte display her excitement about their journey. A gentle smile found its way to Cecily’s lips.
“This is fun, isn’t it, Lady Charlotte?”
“That it is! I know—we can go on an all-girls trip next time. We can invite Mrs. Greta too!”
Cecily chuckled. “Let’s do that.”
As they chatted merrily together, Cecily pulled something out of her bag. It was still a while until their planned rest stop, and so she began working her hands while continuing to enjoy her conversation with Charlotte and Maria.
“Is that the embroidery you were working on before, Cecily?”
“Yes, it is. Please continue to keep it a secret from Zeke,” Cecily said, placing her forefinger to her lips.
“Of course,” Charlotte said, hurrying her own hands to her mouth and nodding her understanding.
Cecily had intended to finish it after arriving in the witch village, but since Zeke was now riding in a separate carriage, she could work on it without having to worry about him finding out. Thanks to the smooth journeying of the carriage, she could work without the concern that her hands would be jolted around.
“I’m sure the captain’s loins will be overjoyed to receive it.”
“You think? Don’t you think he’ll find it silly?” Cecily said. She couldn’t help but keep worrying about it.
“Of course he won’t! He’ll be jumping for joy with a big smile plastered on his face,” Charlotte said, with a snickering laugh herself. However, Cecily simply stroked her embroidery frame with some lingering anxiety.
✧ ✧ ✧
Around the same time, in the other carriage, a heavy mood had settled over the two men and their male feline companion.
“‘This will be fun,’ she said... What’s fun about two men and a cat cooped up together?” Alphonse said.
Rolo meowed in agreement.
“It’s a picture of absolute misery.”
Rolo meowed yet again, sulking on his seat. It was clear to Zeke that Rolo was in agreement with Alphonse. However, Zeke himself couldn’t bring himself to agree with either of them.
“You think?” he said. “I don’t mind at all.” Clearly, he held the opposite opinion.
“Seriously? I thought you wanted to have a romantic little trip with Cecy, where you could get some private flirting time?”
However, Zeke was completely oblivious to Alphonse’s teasing.
“But Al, we get almost no chances to hang out and relax like this. It’s a rare occasion, so I’m happy.”
Zeke and Alphonse had originally been like oil and water when they had both first joined the Celestial Knight Brigade, but now they were stalwart allies who could trust each other with their lives in battle. Getting to relax and chat without any worries, away from work, was a valuable opportunity that didn’t come along often.
These words that Zeke spoke with no trace of embarrassment made tears well up in Alphonse’s eyes. He was both flattered and embarrassed.
“You’re cruel for being able to say that with a straight face, Captain.”
Rolo let out a meow. He had started rolling about on the soft seat, now evidently enjoying himself.
“Plus, Cecily’s been on her fair share of carriages by now with no issues. I’m not worried in the slightest.”
“Oof—a direct blow of Zeke boasting about his girlfriend!” After a pause, Alphonse went on. “That reminds me—you invited Cecy round to your parents’ place, didn’t you? That means she’s been officially welcomed by them.”
“Yeah, but I need to get Cecily’s father to welcome and accept me.”
“Don’t sweat it! It’ll be fine, so stop stressing,” Alphonse said, patting Zeke’s tense shoulder.
Zeke realized then that Alphonse had been aware of how nervous he was feeling the whole time. He gave a small smile and nodded. “Yeah.” Then, changing the topic, he continued, “How did Princess Charlotte manage to convince His Majesty to let her leave?”
Until they had appeared earlier that day, Zeke hadn’t any idea that Charlotte and Alphonse wanted to join them on their trip.
The king and the princes loved Charlotte an almost unhealthy amount. They would not so easily give their permission for Charlotte to leave the palace without her entourage of guards. All the same, the fact of the matter was that Charlotte was now in their traveling party. Zeke didn’t know how it had come to be.
“‘I’ll call you daddy.’”
“What the hell’s come over you?” Zeke cut Alphonse off, a chill running down his spine.
Alphonse simply shrugged as he continued. “‘I’ll call you daddy if you let me go, so please,’ is what Princess Charlotte said to His Majesty. It practically forced his hand.”
“Oh, I see,” Zeke said, as the pieces finally fell into place. This would certainly have had an immediate effect on the king. In recent years, it was shockingly rare that Charlotte would see her father and brothers. Getting to hear his daughter, who suffered from an extreme phobia of men, call him “daddy”—yes, the king would surely have had no route left to him but to acquiesce to her demands.
“Apparently, the destructive shock of her calling him ‘daddy’ led to His Majesty having to take to bed. It’d be bad news if other nations caught wind of the fact that he’s bedbound, even now.”
A wave of fear passed over Zeke as he thought of the incredible power their princess wielded.
“Fathers, huh...” Zeke said thoughtfully. Just what kind of person was Cecily’s father? Greta was such a free soul that Zeke couldn’t help but imagine Cecily’s father as being similar, but from what Cecily had said, it seemed like this image was far from reality.
Zeke leaned on the windowsill and let out a pensive sigh.
Alphonse was right—there was no point in him worrying about things now. Zeke knew this, but as he remembered Cecily’s worried descriptions of her overprotective father, he couldn’t stop his thoughts from racing.