In the end, I decided to head back to my family’s home. Having lived at the Grand Basilica from age five until now, I had nowhere else to turn.
Not that I actually remembered how to get there.
I know I’m from House Safka, but...
It had been twenty-three years since I’d last lived with my birth family. I’d been brought to the temple in a carriage with the curtains drawn, so I had absolutely no idea how to make my way through town to the estate.
I can barely even remember my parents’ faces.
Over the past twenty-three years, my parents had never once come to visit me. When Mary visited to flirt with Prince Alex, she occasionally told me about them—mainly to brag about how they doted on her—but...all I could think was Good for you.
Um, I take a right here, I guess?
I started walking at random. With no money for a carriage, I had no choice but to try to make it to the estate on foot.
No clue if I’ll actually get there, though!
Laster, capital of the Holy Kingdom of Snasile, was a bustling city boasting a large population. It housed many buildings that drew crowds: the royal palace, where His Majesty resided; the Grand Basilica, which served as the symbol of the holy kingdom; the Knights’ Academy; the Nobles’ Academy; and more. As a child, I’d likely wandered these streets often, but after more than two decades—perhaps because the districts and roads had changed—nothing I saw anywhere looked the least bit familiar. It made me a little sad.
When finally I reached the main street of the royal capital, one thing became abundantly clear.
This is impossible!
About to be swallowed by the noisy crowds, I quickly gave up. There was no way I could make my way back to the Safka estate on pure instinct like this. Laster was just too vast, and there was no guarantee I’d reach my destination even if I walked for days on foot.
There was only one viable course of action: ask someone for directions.
I just need to find someone who looks like they’d be sympathetic!
I glanced around and decided to approach a housewife who looked like she’d just finished buying vegetables. She had no children with her, so I figured she wouldn’t be too cold to me. I wanted to believe that. I was begging the universe to let me believe that. If she was cold to me now, my tear ducts were likely to collapse again.
“Um, excuse me,” I said. “Could I ask you for directions?”
She raised her eyebrows. “To where?”
“The Safka estate.”
“Oh, the saint’s childhood home. She’s quite popular, isn’t she?”
“Huh?” I tilted my head in confusion. “She...is?”
“You’re her fan too, right? We get a lot of them around here,” she said, nodding sagely several times. “People ask me for directions all the time, like, ‘The saint is so beautiful! I want even just a glimpse of where she was raised!’ and such. Lots of tourists too.”
Is...that true?
I’d never heard of this before. Nobody had told me. And beautiful, really? My face wasn’t known to the public!
During national religious ceremonies, I would come outside—but, as per customs dating back to the holy kingdom’s founding, I’d always had to cover my face with a white veil. And, since I was always at quite a distance from the general population, I’d figured they would have, at most, an idea of my general build. So, in reality, nobody knew what I looked like.
Not that I minded being called beautiful, but it just felt unearned.
They’d be disappointed if they saw my actual face!
I’d always figured I didn’t look that shabby, myself, but no one had ever complimented my appearance. My face would probably shatter the citizenry’s expectations.
“Listen, far be it from me to bad-mouth the saint’s relatives, but that family? Total money-grubbers,” the woman explained. “I hear they extort people—charge ’em a lot of coin just to see the house. So you be mindful of that, all right?”
“Y-Yes, of course...” I replied, nodding, though I had no idea what she meant.
The woman gestured with her hands as she explained, “To reach the Safka estate, head straight down the main street until you reach the end, then take a right. Then you’ll see the sign for a tailor’s shop that says ‘Weltz,’ and you take a left there. Then turn left around the first corner and keep going straight until you see a black mansion.”
“Thank you very much!”
Her explanation was very easy to understand, and the estate seemed closer than I’d thought too! I bowed my head in thanks.
“Are you on your own today?” the woman asked with a warm smile.
“Huh?”
“The city really isn’t safe for a lone young lady. Look, those men over there keep glancing this way.”
With those words of warning, she waved, said goodbye, and walked away. I, meanwhile, just stood there in shocked silence.
“Young lady”? I’m twenty-eight this year!
Just how young had I looked to her? Part of me wanted to ask, but a bigger part felt that was a bad idea.
I managed to somehow recover from the shock and recall the housewife’s warning. When I looked around, I met eyes with several men, who all blushed, looked away, and left in a hurry. How dejecting!
They probably think I’m some clueless country bumpkin...!
Discouraged though I was, I started walking before I could forget the directions to the Safka estate.