Chapter 19 –– Felixia Village

A week after I got back home from Caninus Village, I received a letter from my other suitor, Moshe Assad. He invited me to spend a week in his village for an annual Felixia tribe celebration called the “Redfyre Carnival.”

Seriously, what’s up with these tribes and their celebrations? Why are they conducted one after another consecutively?

A palanquin carried by a badgermore from Felixia Village came to my house earlier this morning. They came to pick me up to take me to their village. Unlike what Caninus tribe did, this time there was only one badgermore and one coachman who came to pick me up. However, the palanquin was drastically more extravagant and luxurious than the one who came from Caninus Village. More of a quality over quantity kind of thing, I suppose.

The route to Felixia Village started off similar to the one to Caninus Village. However, the tunnel was divided into a Y intersection halfway. Technically these two villages were neighbours and even used to have an interconnecting tunnel. However, due to a never-ending conflict of rivalry between the two, the tunnel had been closed up for good a few decades ago. Now, one had to go to the Y intersection in order to go the other village instead of just crossing over the border. Such a shame, honestly.

After long hours of travel, I finally arrived at Felixia Village. The travel took about half a day. Since I departed early in the morning, I arrived a few hours before the first nightstone. In front of me there stood a big tall gate. Behind it, there was a humongous manor with a wide front yard and some flower gardens. The flowers looked vibrant and beautiful, even the scent reached my nose which was yards away.

A servant opened the door of the palanquin and helped me descend from it. Unlike in Caninus Village, I wasn’t greeted by anyone apart from the staff of the manor. I didn’t see my suitor nor his mother who visited our village a few weeks ago. I guess they had different ways in terms of treating their guests.

The servants helped me carry my stuff so that I didn’t need to bring anything in my hand. Upon entering the manor, I was greeted by a familiar female voice.

“Welcome, Lord Noam.”

She was the owner of the manor, Chieftain Zara. Beside her was her son, Moshe Assad. He was completely silent and not showing any facial expression whatsoever, just like how I remembered him the last time we met. His tail moved calmly like a river. I could never tell what was going on in his head.

“Come on, greet him, Moshe,” Chieftain Zara whispered to him, asking him to be more polite.

“Welcome,” he said briefly.

Just as I expected, he was exactly like an emotionless doll.

“Thank you for having me,” I told them.

“You must be hungry. Come, we’ve prepared something for you.”

Lady Zara took me to the dining table for an early supper. Since I skipped lunch, this would be a great time for me to fill my hours-empty stomach.

“Come, have a seat.”

The staff prepared us a 3 course meal. For the appetizer, we were served some mushroom soup with some bread on the side. It was delicious. I have never tasted a mushroom this good before; even better than the one I had in Dawoud's mansion. Next, for the main course, we were served grilled underdeer ribs glazed with kohlrabi sauce. This was my first time eating underdeer meat and who would have expected how tender the meat was, most likely due to how it was prepared. It just melted in my mouth the moment the meat touched my tongue. The sauce was a perfect combination too. I didn’t know kohlrabi could taste that good.

For the dessert, we were served some rhizanthella cake, which was made from a native flower that only existed in Felixia Village. I didn’t even know that this flower–– or any flower, for that matter–– was edible. It tasted sweet with a little bit of acid to it, a great way to cleanse the palate after a greasy dish. This whole dining experience felt almost like a five star restaurant. I personally think that Felixia tribe has better food than Caninus tribe. They really take their food seriously.

Since it was still bright outside, Lady Zara told Moshe to take me somewhere outside before it got dark. Honestly, I’d prefer to stay and rest in the guest room after long hours of travel in order to unpack my things, but since the staff already took care of my belongings, I had nothing else to do anyway. After I got changed into a more Felixia tribe clothing, Moshe and I headed outside. We got on a carriage on the back of a badgermore with curtains covering the window from outside. We then went to the place Lady Zara told us to go.

Inside the carriage, we were sitting right across each other. Moshe was looking at me, but he didn’t say a single word. It was hella awkward. I don’t know why he’s not saying anything. He just calmly sat in front of me in silence to the point that I thought he might not be interested in me.

I tried to evade his piercing gaze by looking outside the window; only to be reminded that the curtains were covering it. Why so mysterious?

“Hey, what are these curtains fo––”

“My Lord!”

The coachman shouted to call Moshe out of the blue. The carriage abruptly had a turbulence that shook us inside it. During that moment, before I could even finish my sentence, Moshe grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him. He then pushed me against the wall of the carriage, with his back facing the window. Our faces were just an inch from each other. I could even feel his warm breath breezed onto my skin.

Okay. Bold move. I didn’t say that I didn’t like it, though.

Right in a split moment, a fucking arrow just pierced through the window and got stuck inside the inner wall of the palanquin. The glass from the window shattered and scattered everywhere on the floor of the carriage.

So that was what the curtains were for.

“You ok?” Moshe asked me.

Shouldn’t I be the one asking him? Thanks to his incredible reflex, if it weren’t for him, I could have literally died.

“I’m good. Are you okay? The arrow might have gotten your back....”

After bringing the carriage to somewhere safer, the coachman stopped the carriage and stepped out. He then opened the door to the carriage to check on us.

“My Lord!!! Are you alright???”

He was worried as hell that he literally stopped whatever he was doing to check on us.

“I’m fine. Continue the journey,” he said, commanding the coachman.

“Are you sure? Should we not return to the manor?”

“My guards will take care of the perpetrator. They’re right behind us.”

I tried to take a look through the shattered window, and he was right. There were other carriages following us. But, for some reason, the perpetrator still succeeded in hitting our carriage accurately.

Now that I think about it, the shouting from the coachman earlier must have been a code for Moshe to keep an eye for something incoming. That was why he was so quick on his toes. Did that mean that something like this had happened before? What the actual fuck? How did he live like this? He wasn’t even slightly bothered, which made me even more concerned. Is it actually safe for me to be in this village?

“Let’s go,” Moshe commanded after the coachman hesitated.

“Understood, my Lord.”

The coachman returned to his seat and continued the journey.

What a nerve-wrecking incident.

We then continued our ride as if nothing happened. I was super duper curious about what just happened and how it happened. However, since he didn’t say anything about it, I was afraid to bring it up myself. Moshe didn’t even bother to speak to me throughout the whole ride unless he was asked something. We ended up sitting in silence after experiencing such a traumatic incident.

Now that I think about it, the perpetrator must have been some kind of professional. I mean, just think about it. There were curtains covering the windows, and yet they still managed to hit our carriage out of so many others around us. That could only mean that Moshe had been targeted right from the start. I wonder how long this has been going on?

I was so lost in my own thought trying to figure out the situation that just happened that I didn't realise we had finally arrived at the location that Lady Zara wanted Moshe to show me. I had zero expectation of what was about to be shown to me. I could only hope that it was nothing hazardous or life-threatening like the one I had just now.

Moshe descended from the carriage first. He then helped me descend by taking my hand. I felt like a princess, hehe.

I looked in front of me to see what he wanted to show me.

“Wow.....”

It was a broad and wide flower field. So expansive to the farthest the eyes could see. There were different flowers grouped in different areas. It was such a beautiful and amazing scenery.

“Here.”

I was so mesmerized by the scene that I totally didn’t realise where Moshe went. Turned out, he went out of his way to pick some flowers and arranged them into a mini bouquet for me. How sweet.

“Is this...?”

“Rhizanthella flower.”

Oh wow. That’s amazing. I heard that this flower was so rare because it couldn’t be cultivated and could only be scavenged, like truffles. I wonder how he could get this in such a short time? He must be talented in this. Also, I even though didn’t know anything about flower arrangement, this bouquet looked beautiful. It was as if he’d done this a lot of times before. I didn’t know he had this side in him. He revealed more and more hidden charms the more I got to know him.

“You could eat it if you want,” he said.

“Pfft––”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his joke. What a––

Eh? He didn’t laugh at all?

Did he really mean that?

Seriously, what a––

Suddenly, I noticed something dripping from the stem of the flowers. There was blood. That's strange. I don't see any thorns on the stems, so how did it come about? I looked at the ground and turned out there was a trail of blood drops. I traced it and it led me to Moshe, specifically to his right arm.

I slowly walked towards him while trying my best not to step on the flowers to take a closer look at his arm. I was right. His arm was indeed bleeding.

“Moshe, are you bleeding?”

Moshe was surprised to hear me so close to him and hid his arm by reflex. He didn’t want me to see that he was bleeding.

“Is this...from the arrow earlier?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

I was right. Why did he try to hide it from me? It’s not like it was some kind of embarrassment or something.

I ripped some of the fabric from the T-shirt I was wearing. I grabbed his wrist with all my might and pulled him towards me. I knew that he would resist me if I didn’t go full power. I held his arm so that he wouldn’t get away from me.

“Stay.”

I wrapped the piece of cloth ripped from my T-shirt around his grazed arm. It didn’t do much, but at least it covered the wound. I felt dumb for not noticing something like this earlier. How come he pretended like he didn’t feel anything? That must have been painful, especially being exposed to the blowing wind.

While wrapping the cloth around his arm, Moshe and I made an eye contact. Seriously. His sharp mocha eyes are so hypnotizing. Our faces were so close to each other, even closer than before. It felt like our lips could touch anytime now.

“My Lord! Let’s go back before it gets too dark!”

The coachman surprised us. I didn’t notice that the first nightstone was about to light up. After wrapping his arm with a cloth, I went to the carriage first before him, to hide my embarrassment. What was I thinking. On the first day? Get it together, Noam!

Moshe followed me suit after. We then returned to the manor riding the carriage.

After we returned to the manor, Moshe immediately got his wound treated by one of the servants who also happened to be the family’s healer. I watched him as he got his wound treated.

“Is it from another attack, my Lord?”

“....”

It seemed like this kind of thing happened more often than I imagined. Even the healer knew what was up. Things just got more and more suspicious.

After Moshe got his wound properly treated, he gave me a tour around the manor. For a manor this huge, it was emptier than I expected. Apart from the staff, the only ones who lived there were Moshe and his mother, Lady Zara. The vibe was soo different compared to Dawoud’s mansion. Probably due to differing customs. Dawoud’s mansion was so much more lively and felt more like a harmonious family compared to this manor.

Since I already had an early supper, I didn’t have dinner and just went straight to bed. It was an exhausting day for me; hours of travel and getting randomly attacked in the same day. Well, at least the flower field was beautiful. I also got a mini bouquet from Moshe, which was nice. I put the bouquet on a vase on the table and immediately went to sleep afterwards.