As we continued our way to Shanford, the sun dipped under the horizon and soon the moon was out. Hours have passed since that incident with Amelia and Chris and it seems like their tension isn't dying down. Even being in the front of the carriage, I could hear the two bickering and arguing. It even got on Lilith's nerves as I could hear her smacking Chris on the head or pestering Amelia to stop her teasing. As of right now, it was quite quiet in the darkness. It seemed like everyone inside the carriage had fallen asleep. There were no lights on the trail, only the lanterns that Kale lit around the carriage was our light source. Even with the moon out, it was extremely hard to see far out. I remember seeing the trees glowing a color back when we traveled to Prusha, but there were no trees out there. Just Grass plains. even if they were glowing, it would've been near impossible to see.
"So how far till we get to Shanford?" I asked, looking at Kale. He seemed more focused on the road when I said that. His green eyes darted across the vast darkness.
"I'd say about the afternoon? That de-tour some time ago has delayed us a bit." He muttered.
I noticed the way he tapped his feet amongst the bottom of the wooden floor that something was going on. It's something I would notice when Amelia was upset about something. His lack of saying much also furthered my thoughts.
The silence in the night was one that could be fearful. Only the faint noise of the wind blowing the shadowed grass and the horses trodding along with the noises the carriage made kept everything from being near silent.
But here I found it quite calming, I always did enjoy the calmness that came with this world whenever it was night. No cars or anything, just the occasional noises.
Even at these hours, I couldn't find any reason to sleep. Might as well see what's in Kale's mind right now.
"So…" I slowly started. Kale slightly turned his head towards me, Indicating that he was listening. "What's on your mind?"
"What?" He fully turned his head towards me. "I-I'm fine. Just a little stressed from the…Night creatures. You know…Usually out here, the wolves come out and hunt in the plains. Just kinda tense with…Everyone in the back."
"You? Tense? Come on, I've seen Edward take down some wolves on his own."
That was some excuse Kale was trying to make. If anything, we haven't seen any wolves come towards us just because of him. Pretty sure the guy emanated some sort of killer aura that the wolves could feel.
"Erm…" Kale shrugged, looking back towards the trail. "Believe me, nothing's wrong right now."
I decided to push him on this. "There's something up. You haven't talked as much, is it about what happened earlier today?"
"…No."
I kept on staring at him, noticing him fidget the reins of the horses. The longer I stared, the more he tried to ignore it.
Some point, he let out a sigh and scratched his hair annoyingly. "Come on, enough with the staring. Man, am I really about to have a serious conversation with you again?"
With another sigh, he finally turned towards me. His right leg crossed his left as he adjusted himself. His hands were still holding the horse's reins.
"Alright, Let's talk." Kale then hesitated, perhaps gaining composure before continuing on. "…you want to know what's going through my mind right now?"
"Of course." I said. "Seems like this whole job we're doing is putting a strain on you."
"I mean, yes. It's…been quite a handful for me to babysit kids while a kidnapper is on the loose. But that isn't it."
"What is it then?"
Kale clicked his tongue, tapping his fingers against the wooden frame. "…The thing that happened recently. The way I dealt with the situation has been bugging me. It's easy for me to boss around the others. But I can't do that with Lilith, at least not in the same way as Amelia or Chris."
I gave a look of confusion. What did he mean by that?
Kale continued. "You know…That day when you told me about how I was already starting to treat Lilith differently, I thought a lot about it. I still am."
"…And? What do you feel about it? Was I right?" I asked.
"I'm not entirely sure. But earlier today got to me when I couldn't even look at Lilith properly." I saw Kale tightening his grip on the rein. "Like…What's got me like this?"
He fell silent after that, his gaze looking out to the darkness. I felt like I was witnessing someone venting out and I was the therapist. Starting to feel like one with how much he's been saying to me.
Kale is a good person, I've seen it. He's a good worker who helps the people in Prusha and the guards. He willingly took me and Lilith in under Gerald's request. He's King ranked in Fire King style. And at this point, he's trying to do better with his relationships.
But I don't think he really knows how much he cares about Lilith, or more accurately…wanting a child. As stupid as he was in his younger days, he must have at some point considered having a child. It just wasn't at the right time for him. I'm probably not the right person to really seek advice from, considering I haven't even thought about having a kid yet…Still, it's best to try to do something.
"Kale…" I reached out my left hand towards him. I gently patted the man as he looked back at me. "When you were younger…Did you ever consider being a dad?"
"What?"
"Have you?"
"…well, I suppose. As much as it surprised me when…Triss said she had a child, I was Terrified…I believe I told you guys this some time ago. Actually, Starting to think we're treading the same trail right now with this talk."
"Yeah, but I'm starting to think this is more than just being committed to Tera and a relationship …You wanted kids, didn't you? Maybe not at that time, but at some point." I paused for a moment. From the look on Kale's face, I could see a look of realization of sorts.
"You…Yeah, Yeah I guess so." Kale spoke. "At a certain point in my relationship with Triss, I did bring up the topic of kids. Never really crossed my mind at the time, but looking back…I was probably unknowingly saying I wanted kids at that point to her. Perhaps that's what pissed her off the most when she left…"
"I think she was just pissed that you ran." I said honestly.
Kale let out a chuckle. "Heh, yeah…Probably that as well."
The both of us looked out into the darkness of the grass plains. Silence filling the night again.
Hmm…with this sort of silence after a talk like that, it's kinda weird. Usually one would switch the topic to brighten the mood or something, but neither me or kale are saying anything.
Well, I guess we can focus on the road again. Just this long view of the grassland, no signs of monsters or anything like that. Hell I haven't even seen Grasshorn.
Actually, now that I'm thinking about it…Did we pass Grasshorn? That small town that Mary worked in. If we passed that, then we were almost to Shanford. Didn't Derrick say something about the bridge of Prusha being longer than the shortcut we took?
…Good one Travis. No shit, it's a shortcut. But like how long?
"Uh…Did we pass GrassHorn?" I asked kale.
"Almost there. Give it an hour or so. Why? Miss Derrick and Edward?" Kale looked at me as he said that.
And now that he had said that, something flew over my head for some time now. Where did Derrick and Edward go? Last time I saw them was at the Festival, and that was it. Shit, did they leave without saying goodbye?
"Well with that look in your face, I'm assuming they didn't tell you anything." Kale assumed. "Derrick and Edward left a day after the festival. Those two didn't know where I lived. I guess they probably gave up on looking and headed back to Shanford. Or maybe somewhere else."
Well I guess that's a good excuse for them. They only came here to enjoy the festival and to accompany Lilith's mom. Though it would've been nice if they had actually said a goodbye.
Oh, who am I kidding? I've legitimately forgotten about them, I guess I've been too caught up in what had happened after the festival. All the working for the king's son and now going to a new kingdom to do some work.
"Well hopefully they're doing well. Just wished they said goodbye." I said.
Feeling thirsty, I grabbed a jug of water that kale kept between our feet. I hauled it up to my face and began to drink from it when Kale began to speak.
"Hah…You're a good kid, Kota. Always trying to look out for others.That's a good quality to have."
"Mmhmm…" I hummed in agreement, drinking.
"…You know, I'm starting to think maybe I was right in believing you and Lilith's relationship."
I felt like I was beginning to choke on the water as he said that. Frantically, I pulled the jug down and slammed it onto the wooden floor of the carriage. I began to cough as I proceeded to look off to the side of the carriage.
Who the fuc-Who goes into a conversation like that? Also, you started to believe? What, you didn't even think we'd work out?
"Hah…hah…Who says something like that after a serious conversation?!" I said, looking back towards him.
"Shh!" Kale hushed me. He checked the inside of the carriage, making sure no one woke up before continuing. "Sorry! That came out of nowhere! I guess I was still in the mood to open up. Look, all I meant was that I was a little skeptical at first when you two started to do your little thing together. Actually, I didn't take it as seriously up until recently."
"Haah?" What, you thought me and her were just being all lovey-dovey for no reason?"
Kale shrugged. "I thought you two were just playing around. You know, being kids? Always thought you two were quite young to be into that stuff already…"
"Oh…Well that's reasonable." I slowly began to lower my voice as I said that.
"But now…I'm starting to just see that you are way more mature for your age. It's odd to say it, but it's like I'm talking to another adult when I'm talking with you. Then I started to think…Maybe that maturity will help Lilith grow."
I gave him a glance of confusion. "Help her grow?"
"She's young. Still growing and learning. I'm hoping your more mature demeanor will rub onto her so that she can be better. I mean, look at her now. I was told she used to be shy until she met you, you took her out of her shell. And she seems more confident that she doesn't really need you when it comes to protecting herself." Kale let out a small smile as he finished.
"Yeah…I did. Well I didn't really try to. It just kinda happened."
"You don't need to try. Just you being there was enough. Soon she'll manage to figure things out without you or me. Go off to the world and explore or something. I mean she'll take you, probably. But she'll make her own decisions without relying on you."
I stared at him for a moment. His long talk about Lilith and her well-being clicked something for me.
"…Man, you really could be Lilith's dad."
"I'm just giving off advice, not like you're the only one who can. Besides, I'm still on the fence about it." Kale turned his gaze back to the trail. Thinking for a moment before he asked another question. "Kota, are you happy that you're going to see your parents?"
"Hm? Of course. I mean, they were the ones that proposed I go to Prusha. Without that, I wouldn't have gotten that far with my Magic or have seen you." I spoke honestly. "I'm just glad to be able to see what they've been up to since I left. Gotta be scared seeing your kid leave for a long period of time."
"Mmm, Gerald's like that. Even when I was training him, he was always careful about how I felt. Always trying to prove he can live up to my standards when he wasn't trying to be a playboy with the girls. I guess that just came with your Detrut family. To be honest, he exceeded my expectations. Not as much as Lilith, but she's a different case."
"Comes with the family?" I asked.
"Yeah, The Detrut Family. I don't think your father talked much about it, but his family is Noble. Nothing major, but still Noble. He just stripped that title away from himself since he didn't want to follow their path. He wanted to be able to explore, fight, and earn the name of being an adventurer…Huh, I guess that makes you Noble too, doesn't it?"
Huh? The Detrut Family being noble? That doesn't sound right to me. I guess Gerald never wanted me to know. Gerald never brought it up to me ever. Neither did Synthia. Hell, I don't even know where Gerald was born, same with Synthia. I guess they didn't want me to know anything about their past. Perhaps out of guilt? I wonder If Gerald or Synthia have any family members? I shouldn't really bring it up to them if they didn't want me to know.
"I don't feel like a Noble, I don't act like Chris. Just kinda feel…Normal?" I said.
"Then I guess your father managed to raise you well. You didn't turn out like…Chris." Kale smiled. "Anyways, you should hop back into the carriage. Benjamin should keep me company. Get some rest. By the time you wake up, we should be near Shanford."
"Yeah…wait, how am I supposed to get in the carriage?" I looked around, looking for a way in. I don't think this carriage had a way to the front of it besides leaving the carriage itself.
"Heh, looks like you'll need to hop off and open the door. Don't worry, the horses aren't going that fast."
"…alright."
With that, I hopped off the carriage and onto the trail. I quickly noticed that he was absolutely correct about the horses, they were slow as hell. I managed to keep up with them with a quicker paced walk. I made my way onto Liliths side of the carriage, opening the carriage door and timing my jump to hop into the carriage.
Inside the carriage, it seemed like everyone was asleep. Chris leaned his head against the wall of the carriage, snoozing his way through his dreams. Amelia and Claire were out as well, Amelia's head leaning into Claire's shoulder. And I saw Lilith sleeping as well, her head leaning back onto her seat.
I gently made my way towards Lilith and sat beside her. I looked towards the front of the carriage, as I heard Kale grunt and take a swig of the jug of water.
I kinda wish that I stayed out there to company kale, but I shouldn't fight with them. He's probably got way more things going on in his head that he'd rather solve on his own, and me being there would probably make it worse.
I leaned my head against Lilith's shoulder, listening to the sound outside of the carriage.The slowly moving sound of the wheels movie slowly moved through my mind as I started to realize how sleepy I was. My eyes slowly drifted into darkness as I just slowly fell into sleep's grasp.