Next Town

Ah, the outskirts, in the wilderness, the road. Freedom and safety felt almost within reach. I could just run away out there in the green grass and the tall green trees, and vanish on the horizon. But of course, that was just not possible at the moment. I glanced at Alaric, who was yawning, bored out of his mind. My dear brother would chase me all the way to the horizon to bring me back.

Besides, it would be a bit dangerous for me right now to be all alone out there in the wilderness. Monsters were foes to be concerned about. Surprisingly, no monsters had yet come across us. Was it because we were not far from the capital city yet? Roads close to the capital city were typically made safer.

I imagined we’d be facing monsters as we went further away.

“Hey, Avenelle, still mad?”

I frowned. “Why do you keep asking me that?”

“... Just want to know.”

I let out a sigh. “... Listen, brother… I tolerate a lot of things that you do. I accept you for who you are. But there are just lines that annoy me.”

“... And that is?”

“This day is a big deal. I worked hard to prepare for the occasion. And what did you do? You overslept, didn’t wake up on your own, and I had to go out of my way to wake you up. It almost feels like you’re not taking this seriously.” I looked away, staring outside with visible frustration.

Honestly, it’s frustrating to see that someone who was supposed to be your teammate just doesn't take the job seriously.

“I’m sorry, okay?! I-I messed up. Please don’t be mad anymore.”

I ignored him. But then he suddenly moved and sat beside me, grasping my hand.

“I’m sorry, sister!”

“S-Stop that.” I pushed his hands away.

“Please, what can I do to make it up to you?”

“I already told you, didn’t I? Behave! Now get back to your seat.”

He let out a sigh and returned to his seat. “At least you’re not giving me the silent treatment.”

“Why? You want me to?”

“Definitely not.”

“Hmph. Just act decent… Stop displeasing me any further.”

He slouched. “Fine…”

***

We were arriving in a small town, which was surrounded by tall brick walls for protection. But given that it was merely a small town, the scale of the wall was not that massive. As we made our approach, I looked outside to see fields of grain, fields of what appeared to be vegetables, and I could see trees and shrubs of fruit. Small town as it may be, ‌it was interesting to see how much stuff they were growing.

This town was truly valuable to the kingdom.

“So, sister, should we hang around the town first, or go straight to business?”

“Straight to doing the ritual.”

I couldn’t afford to waste time idling around, eating or feasting or anything. We had more places to go this year, and I feared it might take over three days if we took it slow. At the very least, I perform the ritual twice a day, which I believed to be the most practical.

“Well, that’s fine.”

The time I spent here I could have spent working on myself and my puppets. But alas, as a princess, I had to do my job.

The convoy rode through the gates unhindered, they would immediately recognize who we were, of course. The guards were all lined up on the side of the road near the gates, a warm reception to our arrival, as it should be.

As we moved along the road towards the town hall, the people quickly gathered to see the convoy. They all appeared so excited about our arrival, so happy. Well, they quite knew what we were doing here.

“They’ve arrived!”

“The Divine Envoy!”

“The royals have come to bless our land!”

“Thank the Great Hand!”

“Our saviors!”

Aside from adoration, there was reverence towards us. Although I and Alaric were not exactly Divine Envoys, a lot of people seemed to believe it. Like we were some kind of divine beings or something. That was why we couldn’t just casually go out in public, people would start running towards us.

They might ask us to bless them, to heal their sickness, and to pray for them. Of course, considering my ability, I could never heal someone. I was just a useless puppeteer.

I watched the people with a blank expression, but Alaric was grinning widely, pleased by the attention.

I was not really one for this amount of attention…

I saw the people start throwing colorful petals of flowers in our way. Which was nice.

A moment later, the convoy came to a stop. It would seem we have arrived. Looking through the window, I saw a tall building made of wood and bricks, and it had two stories. There were people waiting just outside, one man in particular was standing in the middle of the path leading to the town hall. He was a thin and plain-looking middle-aged man, bald as well.

“Should we get down, little sister?”

I nodded.

Alaric opened the door and got out first. He presented his hand to me, which I graciously accepted. I slowly stepped outside. As I did, I could hear faint gasps of astonishment, which I assumed to be from the town hall staff.

I looked around, seeing the knights quickly moving into a protective formation.

My brother and I stepped forward, and as we got close, the town mayor and his staff instantly genuflected, their heads lowered.

“Princess Avenelle, and Prince Alaric,” said the town mayor. “It is a great honor and pleasure to be in your presence. I am Bardo Zane, the town mayor. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving blessings to our crops and soil.”

I stepped forward with a stoic expression. “You all may rise.”

“Yes, Your Holiness.”

They all stood up. But there was something that bugged me.

“You shall address me, or any royal children, as Your Highness, not Holiness. That is not our title to take. Be sure not to make that mistake again.”

He should be thankful that it was me and not Vivienne, she would be more annoyed by it. Holiness belonged to our grandmother. Using it on us would be a cause of displeasure.

The mayor’s eyes widened, and his hands trembled, panicking at the mistake. He frantically bowed his head deeply.

“I-I d-deeply apologize, Your Highness!”

I waved my hand. “That’s fine. At least you’ve learned.”

“T-Thank you so much!”

To make this kind of mistake, this mayor must be new to the job. Honestly, not like something like this could be completely prevented. They were oblivious to a lot of things. They wouldn't know the weight of titles. And to fix that ignorance was to correct and teach them. But some of us were just more patient than others. Alaric though, didn’t seem to mind very much. He was just staring at the women.

I subtly elbowed him and directed a scowl at him. He quickly looked away.

I looked around to see the common people started gathering from a distance, staring towards us. There were even people going up on rooftops, all just to take a peek at the royals of the kingdom.

“Your Highness, would you like to take a rest for the time being?” the mayor asked with a smile. “We’ve prepared food and beverages for your arrival inside the town hall.”

I shook my head. “No. First, I will perform the ritual. Is it ready?”

“O-Of course. The center of the town, yes?”

“That is correct.”

“It has been cleared and decorated to your pleasure.”

I never mentioned in any way that the ritual area should be decorated, only that there was appropriate space. But it would seem they wanted to make it beautiful. Which didn’t matter to the ritual, but was nice to have, regardless.

“Very well.” I looked up at the sky. “Quite sunny…”

“We have parasols if you so wish.”

“No need.”

Alaric glanced at me. “Are you sure, sister? You’ll burn your skin.”

I frowned. Was he trying to be a gentleman or something after his debacle?

“This heat is of no concern.” It was actually quite cool here, unlike on Earth. The heat index in my city was terrible! “Let’s get on with it.”

“Fine, but we’ll be moving on foot. Stay close to me.”

“Sure.”

Alaric coordinated the knights into a different formation. The knights formed a circle around us, preventing anyone from coming in close.

Alaric pointed at the mayor. “Bring us to the ritual grounds.”