On the Way to the North

On the day of Lucien’s departure, the imperial carriage came by to pick him up first thing in the morning. All of his expenses would be covered by the imperial court for the duration of his trip, and all he had to do was bring himself.

The marchioness gave him a tight hug before he got on the carriage.

“Stay warm, alright?”

Lucien nodded with a smile. Although he was still in his family’s territory, he was already donned in warm attire with a long-sleeved top made out of fleece to make things more practical for himself. He planned to put on his wool coat once he arrived in the north, where it would surely be colder than here.

The carriage then headed towards the imperial palace to pick up Giselle afterwards. All of this was to make sure that Giselle would have as minimal time spent on the trip as possible.

Of course, princess privilege… Lucien thought to himself while looking outside the window. The scenery gradually changed from the familiar sight of his territory to the more hustling and bustling streets of the capital.

Clack.

Lucien didn’t even realize that they’d already arrived at the imperial palace. The door opened before he knew it, revealing Giselle standing outside with her arms crossed.

“You’re late.”

She was clad in thick clothes from head to toe. Under her usual twin-tail hairstyle, her ears were covered by a pair of earmuffs with a drawstring on each end tied into a bow under her chin. She was wearing a long wool dress with white fluff on its hem and a pair of boots that went up to her knees.

In a word, she looked more like a ball of cotton than a person.

Lucien grimaced. Her attire made her look like it was already winter around here when it was still summer.

“Your Highness, will you not get a heatstroke in that attire…?” he carefully asked.

“No. But I will be if you don’t get down here and escort me up there this instant.”

Lucien scampered to get off the carriage and stood in front of the door. He offered his hand to help her up the carriage.

Giselle held onto her skirt with one hand and grabbed Lucien’s hand with the other. The ball of fluff—he meant, Giselle got into the carriage and sat down on the spot Lucien was sitting on earlier, facing the front side of the coach.

That was the better seat in the carriage, but obviously Lucien would have to relent.

He sighed and closed the door before sitting opposite of her. Suddenly, he noticed something was off when he realized there was no one waiting outside aside from one maid and one guard.

“Are you not bringing your maid with you?” Lucien asked.

“No. I refuse to bring her along when she’s new.”

The maid did look pretty young and inexperienced. Younger than Giselle, who was only 18 herself. The maid was even trembling and didn’t seem to dare to look Giselle’s way, opting to just stare at the ground fiddling with her fingers.

Come to think of it, there were also rumors that Giselle liked to mistreat her maids that they kept on getting replaced as often as one would change clothes—

Lucien shook his head. He already decided before that he wouldn’t let rumors about Giselle bother him anymore. All he had to do was observe Giselle with his own two eyes.

Silence enveloped the interior of the carriage as it made its way to the north, where the Karron dukedom was.

Come to think of it, when was it that I stopped feeling like I have to break the silence between us? Lucien stole a glance at Giselle. Was it perhaps because he was getting used to her? He was comfortable enough with her to not feel like he had to keep up a conversation.

He looked away to the window and supported his chin with his hand as he watched the scenery outside change as fast as the carriage’s speed. What a change, he thought to himself, a small smile grazing his lips.

“I wish the Renand Company would quickly finish the car development.”

Lucien’s head turned back to Giselle at the speed of light from what she just murmured.

“Pardon?” he tried to make sure he didn’t mishear her.

“Car—ah, maybe automobile?” Giselle raised an eyebrow at him.

“Both are correct—no, but how did you know about cars?” Lucien was so flustered he forgot to address Giselle with honorifics. No, he didn’t even realize it at all.

Though they might not let it show, the Renand family was very wealthy. They only held the title of marquess, but their wealth alone might just be on par if not higher than the imperial family. The Renand Company, the main business owned by the Renand family, had always dabbled in the field of inventions. Lamps, soaps, makeups—you name it, and its creation probably stemmed from the Renand Company somehow. They also had a hand in various sectors like international trading and mining, with one example being the newly discovered Garet mine.

The development of cars was something that was kept under very, very tight wraps. This was because such a vehicle was unprecedented. No one in the company knew whether it would work and whether the people would welcome the idea, but that would never deter the Renand Company from trying anyway. However, the development was currently at a standstill because they couldn’t figure out how to best power it.

Unexpectedly, Giselle’s eyes widened, like she didn’t see his question coming at all.

“O-Oh, right, it’s not known information yet,” she said. A second later, though, she had already straightened her back in a dignified way, as if she wasn’t flustered just now. “Obviously, I got it from the novel.”

But Lucien was too preoccupied to notice that small change.

“Does that mean we’re going to figure out a way to make it work?”

As much as he was trying to play it cool, the excitement was really apparent in Lucien’s tone and expression. He was even leaning a bit forward to Giselle.

She nodded, “Of course. It’s never mentioned how, but you were definitely depicted riding one in the novel.”

“It’s not mentioned where we’ll get the fuel?”

Giselle shook her head.

But that was enough for Lucien. The development for cars actually started because of a question he once asked on a whim in his childhood, so he had always had a soft spot for it. Just knowing that it wouldn’t forever be at a standstill was enough to give him so much delight.

He did wish Giselle would remember more details, but she really looked like she was clueless. In that case, asking further would be useless.

His reluctance to ask more didn’t stop his hands from reaching towards Giselle’s in excitement, though.

“Thank you, Your Highness!” he said while shaking her hands with so much vigor he practically shook Giselle’s whole body. He then let go of her hands as quickly as he took them.

“Have some rest, Your Highness. It’s going to be a long ride.”

Lucien leaned back and smiled. He suddenly felt exhaustion hitting him out of nowhere, as if he just had a weight lifted off his shoulders. Following his own suggestion, his eyelids were starting to close.

“...Why do noblemen always wear gloves?”

Giselle’s question jolted him back awake. He blinked as he looked at her. Her eyes were latched onto his hands, and he lifted his hand in response.

“I was told that it’s to make sure we don’t touch ladies with rough hands…” Lucien mumbled while staring at his gloved hand. He wasn’t quite sure either, but it was just the dress code that was widely agreed upon. It never posed him much inconvenience, so he never questioned it. He then looked back up at her. “Is something the matter?”

What made her ask? Did my grabbing her hand earlier displease her? Lucien was starting to overthink.

“...No. Just wondering.” Without giving a clear answer, Giselle turned away and closed her eyes.

“Your—”

“I’m sleeping. Lower your eyes.”

Lucien zipped his mouth shut. Before he lowered his gaze as she instructed, he noticed how the creases between her eyebrows made it pretty obvious that she was having a hard time trying to sleep.

It took a minute of silence, only filled with the clacking sounds of the carriage, for Lucien to realize he forgot to make sure Giselle had eaten that day. Even though he was—burdened with—assigned the task of taking care of her for this trip!

“Your Highness, have you—”

Lucien covered his mouth with his hand when he looked up and found that the frown on Giselle’s forehead was already gone, replaced with a serene countenance along with a steady rhythm of soft breathing. Her long eyelashes fluttered over her cheeks and her small pink lips were slightly ajar.

He couldn’t believe his eyes. Just a mere minute ago, she was still very much awake, and now she was sleeping without a care in the world. How exhausted must she be?

Still, Lucien was glad to see she was comfortable enough to fall asleep with him there. He couldn’t bear to wake her up just to answer his trivial question, so he let her be. It wasn’t a pressing matter anyway if she was able to fall asleep. He was amazed to see the peaceful face that she almost never showed him. Actually, maybe just straight up never.

Suddenly, he was reminded that she was actually younger than he was. It almost always slipped his mind because of how bossy she had been acting towards him.

He remembered how he always asked for a younger sibling back when he was little. If he thought of the princess’s cumbersome demands as a mere tantrum of a spoiled little sister, maybe he wouldn’t have to be so livid all the time…

As the older one, he should act more lenient with her—he thought as he nodded to himself and watched over her with a fond smile.