The sun started to set, we took a break before dark..Everyone was so busy with their role..I watched Louis and Zoe build the tents, Darryl and Aldea searched the dry wood for fire, Elpis followed Aldea to find some herbs, Aalis and Ame prepared some ingredients to make food, and Cail helped them. But me, I just sat in the stair of the carriage.
I looked at Louis and the other one, their clothes were so flexible and light, and I looked at mine. I wore a gown on this trip, it made me a bit out of place for the trip. I walked toward Aalis, and asked her about other clothes.
"Aalis, is there any clothes that I can wear beside gowns??" I asked Aalis
"Is there something wrong with the gown?"
"It's just out of place, are there any clothes that like Aldea wore?"
"I'm afraid there are no clothes like that in Your Highness' suitcases."
I saw Aldea come towards me, and heard about what I had talked to Aalis.
"Your highness, if you want clothes like this, you can try it with my clothes in my suitcase." Aldea offered me..
"Are you sure, Aldea??"
"Yeah…"
Aalis was nervous "But…Your highness, is it really okay to wear clothes like Aldea?"
"It's okay…"
Aldea took her suitcase from top of the carriage..She brought it to me, and opened it in front of me..
"So this is the clothes that I always wear." Aldea said..
I saw the clothes were plain colored and with cheap garments…and I chose clothes like Aldea with white colors, and pants too. I went to the carriage so I could change the gown to the clothes. Aalis came with me because the gown was so painful to undress.
In the carriage, Aalis seemed didn't want me to wear the clothes
She tried to undress the corset "Your highness, are you sure you want to wear this? You are a noble right?"
"The gown is not comfortable on this trip, it's better with these clothes."
"Well if it's what your highness said."
All the gown had been undressed, Aalis gave me the clothes.
I saw some cheap garments, and they seemed uncozy.
"Do all people wear these?"
"I think these clothes are a bit more special than usual clothes."
"These?"
"These ones have a bit more garment than the usual, it's more expensive than the usual."
I heard what she said, I looked at the gown and thought how expensive the gown will be.
Aalis liked to remember something "....oh…..I think these clothes are the clothes that Sir Louis ordered."
"What do you mean?"
"I believe Sir Louis ordered some clothes for others."
"Why did he do that?"
"I don't know about that, how about Your highness ask it to him?"
"..If.. there is some time I will try to ask it ... .why does he spend some money on this?"
I wore the clothes and the pants, they were a little bit loose because they were different sizes from mine.I opened the door, and saw Aldea waiting in front of it.
Her face was stunned…
"Aldea, is there something that makes you wait here?" I asked her.
She was back to reality "Ah….yess….I have another pair of boots, If your highness pleased, I can give it to your highness." She showed me a pair of brown boots.
"Thanks, Aldea. I will receive your gift."
I immediately tried the boots…while I tried the boots, Aldea had some talk.
"Does your highness take a liking to the clothes? And are they fit for your highness?"
I saw Aldea's face like a child, it seemed she had a childish nature about friendliness, she was strong and had a childish nature, what a person.
"Yes, I started to like it, and they are still a little bit loose from my size, but it still can fit."
"It makes me happy, if your highness started to like it."
The boots got all fit in my feet.
"Where do you get these clothes, pants and boots, Aldea?" I asked.
"About those….Louis gave them to me, two for each one…"
"Hoooo…." It seemed what Aalis said was true.
I saw Louis from far away, his face was stunned like Aldea's face.
I, Aalis and Aldea went to the front of the tents, there were 4 tents in a circle, 2 were already done, 2 were still in process. Aldea brought a mat to the ground for me to sit, after that she went back to help Louis to build tents, Aalis went back to prepare food with Ame and Cail. I was just idling around, I saw Louis, and in my mind, I wanted to ask him about these clothes that he gave to Aldea.
Did he buy these clothes for everyone?
After some time, Darryl, Zoela, and Elpis went back from their search. They spotted me without the gown but the clothes they wore. Zoela immediately approached me, after her first glimpse of me. In front of me, I could see her face was so curious.
"Your highness, What happened to your gown? Why do you wear that outfit?" Zoe asked
"My gown, I took it to the suitcase, and this one….I borrowed it from Aldea…"
"So that Aldea's outfit…"
"Yes.."
I saw Zoe looking at Aldea, and behind her I saw Elpis, Darryl and Louis seemed to be talking about something.
"So your highness…" Zoe took a seat beside me "Why did your highness wear that clothes?"
"Maybe….because the gown is out of place for this trip…"
"Out of place???" Her face was more curious than before.
"Yeah..it is out of place.."
"Why???" Zoe asked with a more curious tone.
"Gowns are hard to move, and sleeping in a tent makes it hard…."
"Wait your highness…" Zoe was astonished "Do you think you will sleep in the tent?"
"Ehhhh,Am I?"
"I thought your highness will sleep in the carriage, all the nobles usually sleep in their carriage rather than in the tent."
"Eeehhh…So who will use all those tents?"
"Of course we are, except your highness."
"Really…Is the carriage too cramped?"
"But Is it better than sleeping on the ground? The seat is soft too so it is far better…"
"I see…]"
Suddenly Zoe's face was in front of my face
"Huh?? Is there something in my face, Zoe?"
"I'm sorry, if it makes your highness uncomfortable…..but I want to see closer the noble who dared knighted a commoner…"
"From where or whom do you know the rumor?"
"From Louis, of course, that bastard came to us in the tavern…and said I am a knight suddenly...all of us knew that was a joke so we were laughing…..so we teased him…and suddenly the people in the tavern joined to tease him….Your highness should watch it..his face was so red….We kept tease him…but at some point, we felt different atmosphere from him, do you know what happen after that your highness?"
"What happened?"
"He got angered….he told everyone in the tavern to shut the hell up….and the tavern became quiet…. The atmosphere between us was awkward, Darryl that old man tried to ask him about the knight issue….he said that he was not part of the kingdom knight, but the princess knighted him, and became part of the princess knight….he said a lot of thing about you, your highness….that you will change the tide of this kingdom…so he told everything to us about your situation and the princess knight…that you will not get the royal army because you create your new army, and your first land….and he asked us to join you…after heard all of that….The tavern became so loud to celebrate the first knight of commoner…everyone asked Louis to let them join…but he only invited us…]]
"It seemed all of you knew each other.."
"Well, all of us include that little boy" She pointed to Cail "Knew each other.."
"All of you are different ages, how do you guys know each other?"
"That bastard Louis who started to connect all of us…"
"How??"
"I was the third so I don't know how that bastard started it…."
"The third??"
"When he invited me, there were already Aldea and Darryl so I was the third to know him..."
In the middle of conversation, Aldea suddenly was beside me
"What are you two talking about??" she said and was smiling..
Zoe's face became frowned after Aldea came.
"Nothing…" Zoe said.
"It seemed you and your highness had a fun conversation, let me join…"
"there was no fun conversation, right, your highness??"
"It is no good to deceive your highness, Zoe, right, your highness??"
There was a hot tension between the two…
"If there was a conversation between me and your highness, I think because of you it became sour, right, your highness?" Zoe said.
"It became sour because of how you were talking…" Aldea replied.
The two kept making arguments in front of me, and I saw Louis, Darryl and the others who seemed like they could not stop them..
"I think I will look Aalis about what she is doing right now…" I excused myself to them…
While I was walking to Aalis, they kept making arguments..It seemed Zoe and Aldea didn't get along well..
I saw Aalis with Ame, Elpis and Cail…Elpis was sorting the herbs that she had collected, Cail helped Aalis and Ame cook. I approached Elpis.
"Do Aldea and Zoe never get along well??" I asked and pointed at them, they were still arguing with each other..
"Oh my…they are starting again…I don't know why they don't get along well, but like your highness has seen, they do not get along well…" Elpis answered.
"Is it okay to leave them like that?"
"It's okay, they don't get along doesn't mean they hate each other, they will stop at any moment.."
After some seconds passed, they stopped arguing with each other…
"See…they stop…" Elpis said.
…
..
.
Time has passed, the sun has set…We gathered around the fire…Aalis and Ame were distributing the food to everyone…After that, they sat beside me…
While everyone was eating, Zoe started to talk
"I have encountered some pests on the way before." She said,
Darryl asked, "How many of these pests are there??"
"There were 6 pests…"
"Did you let one pest live??"
"It was a pest, surely I didn't let anyone alive.."
I didn't know what pest they were talking about…
Louis asked Zoe "Where did these pests come from??"
"There was no sign of where they came from…"
"Maybe they were just a mere pest…" Darryl said.
"I hope so…" Louis said.
I started to ask them "What is this pest you guys are talking about??"
I saw their expression dazed.
Aldea immediately "HEII ZOE, KNOW YOUR PLACE WHEN YOU TALKED ABOUT THAT!!YOUR HIGHNESS STILL EATING AND YOU TALKING ABOUT PESTS.."
"You are so noisy…if it is about that…" Zoe felt upset from what Aldea said.
"Because you are in front of your highness…"
"Because of it, I tell it..are you dumb or what??" Zoe said.
"So what is this pest about?? I asked, so Zoe and Aldea did not argue with each other.
"These pests are enemies, your highness…I have encountered 6 people in a way that could harm your highness…" Zoe answered
"Whose these 6 people?"
"There was no identity about who ordered them…So I thought these people were just mere bandits who rob passersby…"
I looked to Louis and asked him "Is our route not that safe? That there were bandits that she encountered."
"Our route should be safe…I think this is the best route than the other routes." Louis answered
I took back my face to Zoe "Did these bandits have better equipment than normal bandits?"
"I think there was a nor—-" Suddenly her face changed "I remembered about those bandits after your highness asked…"
"What is that??" I asked.
"The equipment seemed like normal bandits but their shoes were the same and different from normal bandits…"
"The shoes?? What is the difference??"
"I don't know exactly the difference, but it may be specially made…"
Darryl joined "If those are specially made for bandits, maybe there are some chance benefits for bandits…Think again…what sort of shoes benefit for bandits??"
"For bandits there is no benefit at all…Unless—" Zoe to know something.
"Shoes are not critical for bandits…" I said.
"Like your highness said, that shoes are not critical for bandits…but what if that I have encountered not bandits, but they were assassins…So their shoes are specially made for muffling their movement…"
All the people's expressions have been changed by what Zoe said, especially Ame was scared…
"Do you have these types of shoes Zoe??" I asked.
"The shoes I wear are the same type…" Zoe stood up and walked in a circle…
While she was walking in a circle, there was no sound coming from those shoes…She came back to her seat…
Darryl made a statement "So they were assassins and their target may be your highness…"
Aldea was concerned "Is it too early for someone to send some assassins to assassinate your highness…."
Elpis joined "Oh my…I think it's not that early Aldea…from the castle…we already have encountered some oddity…" she stroked Cail's hair who was beside her "Cail thinks the same too right??"
"Well, I am curious what Cail thinks about this…" Louis seemed so curious…
"If that little boy, think something about this…I want to hear it…" Zoe seemed curious too..
I saw not just Louis and Zoe, but all of them seemed to wait for Cail to speak about his thoughts, it felt there was something different from this little boy.
"Ehhh me???" Cail said.
But everyone's eyes were towards Cail.
"Huh..fine then.."
Suddenly I felt his atmosphere was different, and I felt he was no longer a little boy.
Cail spoke "Like Aldea said…It is too early to someone assassinate the Princess of kingdom…especially your highness don't have any reputation yet…so these people were sent by someone who your highness offended…but your highness offended a lot of noble from your action to Louis…that action not enough to someone to order assassins…so someone seemed felt so offended by your highness, that they sent assassins…from all of people in the kingdom, only people from that place, that they sent these assassins…"
"That place??" I asked.
"This will make your highness uncomfortable…but the people who sent them are the people from the royal castle, it means there is a big chance that someone from the royal family sent assassins to your highness…from what faction I still don't know…"
"What do you mean about faction???" I asked again..
I saw All of them were dumbfounded, even Aalis…
"Aalis…you know about the faction talking about…"
"Your highness doesn't know it??? There were 3 power factions in the royal family, but from what your highness acted lately, it makes from 3 to 4 factions. The first one is the Queen and the second prince faction, the second is the first prince faction, the third is the third and the fourth prince, and the last one is the princess faction…even the servants and the maids are divided by these factions…" Aalis explained to me.
"How about my father the king??"
"The lineage of the royal family is from the Queen so the king's power is inferior to the Queen…"
That's why the king always asks the queen for approval, when I have an audience with them…
"I wonder who sent these assassins between these 3 factions…" I looked at the stars in the sky "What a painful thing to be a royal family…"
All of them were astonished by what I had said…after that they were giggling..
"Hahahahaha…This is the first time I have seen a noble grumble about being noble and this one is the princess of this kingdom…" Zoe said..
"Oh my…like Louis said that your highness is so different from all the royal family or the nobles…maybe our choice is right to follow your highness…" Elpis giggling..
"Thank God, I give my sword to your highness, because it will be an interesting journey to accompany your highness." Aldea said and smiled.
"I have seen all the nobles' faces and their nature from my mercenary job, but your highness is so unique, this old one will follow your highness no matter what the situation is." Darryl said
We passed the night, I was prohibited by Louis to sleep in the tent, so I slept in the carriage…