With moving preparations finally complete, the entire McGuine household set off to our new territory.
Leading the group were two members of the Order of Knights. I was right behind them, with Nia’s carriage following me. Tom was driving the carriage while Laura was, of course, inside with Nia. Behind them were another two carriages carrying the other servants and our luggage. Bringing up the rear was another pair of knights.
It was probably quite a small procession for the entire household of a viscount headed to a new territory, especially from a security standpoint. But in our case, we had a lot of people who could defend themselves.
It’s probably worth mentioning that I was on horseback for security reasons. Most might think that the lord of a territory taking guard duty would be a bad idea. But since I was the strongest one here, there wasn’t much I could do about it.
The fact that I couldn’t just relax and chat with Nia inside the carriage hurt, but keeping everyone safe was my top priority, so I just had to suck it up. I was the lord of the territory, after all! Although, come to think of it, even if I was with Nia in the carriage, my bulk might’ve made her feel cramped. That would be the only time I would curse my physique, which was usually a blessing.
Anyway, our rest breaks were some of the only moments I could recharge. Stonegaze was roughly a week’s travel from the capital. If we’d only been on horseback, then we probably could’ve gotten there faster, but the carriages made that impossible. If you wanted a horse to go as fast as it could without straining itself, it could only go about 1.5 times the speed of a human walking. The fact that they could do that while carrying a ton of luggage was a huge plus, though. With all that in mind, we made sure to pad our journey with the occasional break.
“Are you feeling all right, Nia? You’re not too tired?” I asked Nia as I helped her out of the carriage for our noon break.
“No, I’m not. Thank you for worrying about me, Lord Ark,” she replied, smiling in a way that would mask any exhaustion. Her gait as she stepped down from the carriage was actually completely steady, and her complexion looked fine. I was relieved to know that she wasn’t just putting up a front.
“Madam, I believe this would be an appropriate place to sit,” said Laura as she spread a mat on the ground.
...Huh?
“Wait, Laura,” I said. “You didn’t have that mat with you when you got off of the carriage a second ago, did you?”
In these parts, when a servant rode in the same carriage as their master, the servant would disembark first in order to ensure the area was safe before assisting their master outside. So when Laura disembarked from the carriage just a second ago, she hadn’t been holding anything. Yet somehow, in the span between disembarking and helping Nia, she’d prepared a mat.
“Of course I didn’t,” Laura replied. “I wouldn’t store something as bulky as a mat in the same space Madam was sitting in.”
“So how do you have a mat here already?”
“I just retrieved it from the servants’ carriage.”
Seriously? All while Nia and I were talking? I really can’t underestimate her. She honestly might take me out from behind if I don’t pay attention. But wait. She shouldn’t have any reason to. Gotta stay on her good side...
“C’mon, you sit down too, Master! I’ll get a meal ready for us,” Tom said, building something out of a few pieces of metal.
And that is definitely one of the portable cooking stoves the military uses. Look at him, putting it together with practiced ease...
I wondered if I should comment on it but decided to leave it be since the only people around us were members of our household. I sat beside Nia while pretending not to notice a thing.
Continuing his work, Tom said to me, “Well, ‘a meal’ may be a bit of an exaggeration. It’s just something simple.”
“We’re on the road. Just having something warm is already a treat,” I replied. “On the battlefield I had to just choke down hard bread and dry fruit with some water.”
“Ahh, oh yeah, you have experience with that, huh?”
“And because of that experience, it’s hard for me to sit here and just do nothing,” I admitted.
“You’re the lord of a territory now, Master. You’ve gotta let us do stuff for you.”
Tom’s hands never stopped moving as we bantered, and before I knew it, the stove was lit. He did that fast. He must have experience doing stuff like this, I thought, glancing at Nia beside me. She must have taken breaks like these often.
“Is something the matter, Lord Ark?”
“No, I was just remembering that breakfast we had a few days ago.”
“Ah, the picnic? Hee hee, stuff like that is so liberating, don’t you think?”
Though Nia smiled as she said that, I wasn’t sure how to respond. She’d had a hard life growing up in the Sylvarian royal palace. To her, it was probably more comfortable to eat outside; if she was going to have a terrible meal completely unfit for royalty, then she might as well eat it out under the wide sky.
“That’s right. The weather is great today too.”
I looked up at the big, blue autumn sky and mulled about how time had just flown by since I met Nia. I decided to avoid saying anything that might make her remember her past. She wasn’t Princess Sonia anymore. She was just Nia, just one human among the rest.
“How long has it been since I last had a nice day like this to relax? I almost want to nap,” I commented, deep in thought. Or rather, trying my damnedest to block the heavy memories of the days I’d been living up until then from bubbling up in my mind.
“You were quite busy, weren’t you? Then, how about...”
Nia began speaking before trailing off. I looked over to her again, with the passing thought that it was unlike her to speak in such a way, only to see that her face was a little bit red. I waited for her to continue, and a moment later she opened her mouth again.
“Wh-Why don’t you take a nap? Um, you could lie on my lap, if you like,” she continued, patting her lap. Her face was red. Bright red.
Huh? What is this heavenly offer?! Can I really?!
I was thrown into a total panic. I was probably bright red too. I’d never thought Nia would make me such a bold offer.
What was I supposed to do? What I wanted to do was accept. Immediately.
But I could feel Laura’s gaze on me, and it was cold. Subzero, just like His Highness Prince Alphonse. Maybe not cold, actually, but sharp. Not the sort of look you give your employer.
Nia was my priority, of course, but at the same time, I didn’t want to do anything to piss off Laura and, by extension, the other servants. So what was I supposed to do?
It was in the midst of my panic that Tom’s voice rang out, without a care in the world. “Princess, Master, I’ve made tea!”
Both Nia and I straightened right up.
“Hm? What’s wrong?” Tom asked, looking puzzled at how formally we were sitting considering we were on the ground. What, did he not hear us? Or did he hear us and was throwing me a life-saver? Or was he trying to interfere? His expression told me nothing. Though he probably didn’t hear us at all. I wouldn’t pry.
“Oh, nothing. Thank you, I would love some tea,” I said.
“Yes, I would love some as well,” agreed Nia.
And so, both fortunately and unfortunately, I accepted the cup that Tom offered me.