Trip to Mond Empire

The Kingdom of Saule covered a great expanse of land, its territory reaching the North-most parts of the Aerim Continent. On the far West, beyond the civil woods, lie the land of shamans inside the Mystical Forest. The central part of the continent is a vast plain, where nomads start out their journey, and where all men are free. Countless small territories and tinier castle keeps, formed by ambitious commoners or exiled nobility, are scattered on the wide central plains. The East shows the ruins of the once great Lost Kingdom, while even its glorious name has been buried underneath the ink-like sand. And finally, on the far South, facing the treacherous seas where the largest magical beasts lurk, is the greatest nation, the Mond Empire.

That's where we must go...

I sighed, my tiny sound clearly heard inside the small, yet comfortable carriage. My nanny, Miss Hestia, turned to look at me with concern and a bit of curiosity.

"What has gotten you sighing for the whole duration of our travel, my lady?" she asked, leaning in towards me with her head rested on a propped hand. Her face was full of bright curiosity, and she spoke with me as though I wasn't a very young child.

"... Perhaps I am only concerned to see my nanny glove-less and not wearing nearly enough skirts," I told her in a pompous tone, looking away with my tall nose pointed upwards.

"Pft!" She quickly covered her mouth as she snorted a laugh. "My young lady has turned from my liege and into my tutor! I must say I am ill-prepared for such rapid growth!"

She started fanning her face with her bare hands. I only rolled my eyes, sporting an amused smile.

Miss Hestia has always been eccentric. She was a daughter of one of the greatest houses, if not the greatest one aside from the royal house, in all of the Saule Kingdom. Yet, she carried herself quite differently from what one would expect from a proper, well-bred lady.

She often left her manor with no gloves, hardly any accessories, and wearing the thinnest of skirts. She was already 28, yet she was unwed while still quite charming. She never did quite care for the rules.

So, I perfectly adored her.

I can only mentally chide my past self for being silly enough that I ended up losing what could've been a great companion. But now, I still had her, and I plan to keep it that way.

"Miss Hestia, how long until we get there?" I asked my nanny, staring through the glass window, watching the sunset on the trees and the farmlands we passed by.

"Hmm... We've already been travelling for three days, so I suppose we still have two more at most, one day and a morning if we're lucky," she answered me, her face in a look of contemplation.

She seems to have a lot of knowledge about the roads. In fact, she was well-known by the owners and workers of the various inns we had stayed at, long beyond the territory of Saule. It makes me wonder if my nanny was an adventurer once. That may explain why she was so confident as a woman.

"Once we pass through these couple of occupied territories, we'll be travelling through the central plains. Our journey will be much faster there, especially with our magic-enhanced speed. After that, we'll be right at the doors of the Mond Empire," she continued, even when I hadn't asked for more.

"You seem to know an awful lot about the Aerim Continent, Miss Hestia," I told her frankly.

She smiled softly, her almond shaped eyes narrowing into thin crescents. "Oh, that I do."

Leaning in and taking the bait in her tone, I whispered, "Were you perhaps an adventurer, Miss Hestia?"

When she heard my question, she suddenly froze in shock. Then, as though she couldn't contain a barreling beast from inside her, she let out a loud string of guffaws, quite enough to be heard by the mercenaries on horseback beside our royal carriage.

"Ah, Miss Hestia," I mumbled, holding up my hands as though to stop her. "Please quiet down. It's getting quite dark and sounds do carry better in the night."

She did finally stop, and I watched as she wipe at stray tears with her bare hand, not even looking at the handkerchief I offered her. I shook my head at her crude display.

Then, she finally said, "Oh, I keep getting shocked by your intelligence, my lady. More so, I even wonder where you get your information. I don't believe your tutors have even taught you about the commoner's popular activity of adventuring?"

I only laughed awkwardly, for indeed, none of my tutors taught me any of that.

"... I just heard it from here and there," I told her, inwardly agonizing at my blatant lie.

"Ha ha! Not too worry, my lady. All of us have our secrets. Although you, in particular, seem too small and too young to even hold such mysteries."

Oh, you just don't know, Miss Hestia. You just don't know.

We spoke and laughed for a bit more when our carriage suddenly stopped. I almost fell into the floor of the vehicle if it weren't for Miss Hestia's quick arms.

Curse this small and weak body!

I was gently propped up into her lap, secured in her hold. A few taps resounded from our glass window. Miss Hestia opened the little curtains to see outside. A mercenary stood at our door, a worried expression on his face. Miss Hestia rolled down our windows.

"I'm terribly sorry for the sudden stop, Ma'am, Princess, but the carriage in front stopped so suddenly and I-" the boy said, his lips quivering in fear.

I doubt he was scared of me, though. I was only five. He probably knew of my nanny's true lineage though, hence his great nervousness.

"It's alright, boy," I surprised him by answering instead of my nanny. "But I do want you to send someone to know what happened to the party in front of us."

He stood for a while, gaping at me, just sitting innocently on my nanny's lap.

Then, an angry voice barked out from above me. "Well? Go on, then! You heard the princess!"

When he left in a hurry, leaving dust in his wake, we laughed heartily.

"Am I really that scary a sight, Miss Hestia?" I asked my nanny.

"Hmm... You do have a habit of frowning a lot," she said, a hand on her chin.

I giggled at her expression. But, then, I remembered the situation we were in. "I do wonder... Is it bandits, perhaps?"

Miss Hestia looked at me in surprise. "... Well, my lady. We still don't know for sure. Even if it were the case, I doubt any bandit group could pass through the royal guard."

I nodded my head, and looked through the window. It was already fully dark, and the stars were shining bright above us. The moon was hidden behind low, black clouds.

Did something like this happen in my past life? I know it was greatly possible for the royal family to visit the Mond Empire, but I wasn't so sure if anything bad had happened in those trips.

Although I personally knew how monstrously strong the royal guards were, I still had a bad feeling deep inside my gut...

"AH!" I shouted, almost making my nanny drop me in surprise.

"What is it? What scared you, my lady?" Miss Hestia asked with great worry, proceeding to look through the window, probably thinking I saw something in the darkness.

Oh, no... Was this perhaps the time when it happened?

I recalled my second brother from the past. He was handsome, just like our oldest, but he always looked so gloomy and angry. What's worse, he had to have that deep scar on the side of his face... Where did they say he got it from? Where, oh, where...

From a bandit's attack!

I suddenly grew worried. I knew my brothers never really cared for me, and I was mostly just ignored, but that didn't stop them from being my brothers. They were only made to act like that because of the society we lived in. In the past, I could still recall small instances when they bravely defended me when they were still young and innocent...

So, no. I won't let them be hurt again, especially because I knew of it. I sighed. Besides, my brothers were still just children right now. Who knows? Maybe I can drag them to my side. Having a prince's leg to hug on to would really help secure my future.

"What are you thinking about, Lady Elle?" my nanny asked, bringing me out from my thoughts.

I took a deep breath, readying myself for what I was about to do.

"Miss Hestia..." I said, trying to portray to her how serious I was with my words and expression. "Something bad's going to happen."

I saw her hazel eyes widen.

Then, I told her, "I need your help."