"There, that should do it,"
Merten said, wiping the sweat off his forehead as he emerged from under the carriage.
He stretched his back with a satisfying crack, then turned to address the caretaker, who had been hovering anxiously nearby.
"Your carriage should be good to go now. Just make sure to check the wheel bearings regularly during your travels. If you have any problems with them, you can simply replace them with these spare bearings."
He gestured towards a small pouch containing several shining metal pieces.
"Thank you, thank you so much!"
The caretaker cried, his face couldn't believe the two had fixed the carriage in under an hour.
"With this, we can make it to Aurean City without many stops. Please, take this."
He bowed repeatedly to Merten and offered him a massive pouch filled with silver coins.
Merten opened the pouch chuckling with a massive smirk. "Well, I'd have done it for free, but if you insist, the kid should take it."
He tossed the pouch to Julian, who caught it with ease.
"I know it was a lot to ask of you, but you're just like your mother, always willing to lend a hand."
Julian tilted his head and glanced towards the carriage, where Audrey remained hidden behind the drawn curtains.
"Thanks," he replied with a smile.
"Are you done now, Julian?" Both Ezekiel and Nivel were sitting on a bench by the carriage.
Clank!...
"Yeah, I think I want to sleep when I get home,"
"It must've been tiring,"
Tap…tap…tap…
"It sure was,"
As the two spoke, someone came around from the carriage.
That was when their conversation came to a stop.
"I take it we're leaving, Mr. Driver?" Benard's voice caught the attention of both Ezekiel and Julian.
"Yes sir!, we'll be leaving immediately!" The caretaker took off preparing the horses.
"And for you, Mr. Intruder, I think someone wants to say goodbye to you,"
A figure in a white hooded cloak appeared from behind Benard.
"Julian, who's that?" Ezekiel whispered.
"She's the person from the carriage."
"It's gotta be a guy, right?" Ezekiel felt an eerie, cold presence on his shoulders.
"...!"
The figure unveiled her hood, and it left Ezekiel completely stunned and in shock from her beauty.
That is not a guy!
As she walked towards the two, she stopped in front of Julian.
"Hey…"
"...???..."
Audrey glanced at Julian, who looked confused. She wasn't sure how to speak to him now that he was with his friend.
The tense silence was unbearable for Julian, so he asked first.
"What is it?"
"Oh! Um... You see, I just wanted to ask... if you know who I am."
"I don't know who you are... but..."
Julian paused for a moment and remembered Audrey's struggles with friendship in the original story.
Maybe he could be her friend.
"I'd like to get to know you," he offered.
"...!"
Audrey's cheeks reddened.
What is this feeling...?
Her heart pounded. She couldn't describe the emotions within her, but she wanted to be remembered.
Click!
She removed the snowflake-shaped hair clip from her hair, a symbol of her family crest.
"Here..." She extended her hand towards Julian, offering him her the hair clip.
"What's this?" he asked, confused.
"It's just a customary thing in my family... you should take it," she mumbled, flustered.
"Are you sure?"
In terms of royal family or high noble traditions, when a lady from a high-status family gives a hair clip to a man, it signifies one of two things: The first possibility is that the man must return it to her when he has become an honorable figure worthy of her attention. The second possibility is a promise of marriage. If they don't marry, he must return the clip to the lady.
"Thank you?" Julian hesitantly took the hair clip.
"Promise me... we'll meet again," Audrey pleaded.
"Don't worry, I'm sure I'll see you again," Julian assured her.
Audrey smiled at his answer and ran back towards the carriage.
"It's a promise,"
***
After Princess Audrey's carriage departed, I was left holding her hair clip.
I didn't fully understand its meaning, but I vaguely remembered it was a token of remembrance, something the main character, Kaelan, often received from the heroines.
But that wasn't what I was focused on right now.
I was distracted by the near-death experience I had just faced.
The blade, the movements, the intention everything felt like I was getting crushed by his presence alone.
But I kept going back to that moment when his hood fell back.
Red hair… green eyes… he wasn't old and he didn't look young either.
But I knew exactly who he was.
There wasn't any point in analyzing him given the level in power, because this person is the current era's strongest human.
Saint Alonso Benard.
The Royal Grand General of Aureus and the only person in the world to master all seventy-nine Spell Arts of Magica.
His title of "Saint" was not earned lightly.
It stemmed from his early years as a vice-general in the Aureus military, when he was tasked with scouting the Drakenheim region, primarily controlled by the Kingdom of Pyr.
Their mission to find the ancient dragon king rumored to exist on Velkheim, the highest mountain peak.
While many dismissed it as a myth, I knew the dragon king was definitely real.
On their journey towards the mountain of Velkheim, they encountered dragons in the Skyborne Isles, their main homeland.
They avoided most combat there, but upon reaching the peak, chaos erupted.
They never confirmed the dragon king's existence, but an ancient draconic guardian emerged, fending off the combined armies of Pyr and Aureus, the two kingdoms with the most powerful militaries at the time.
Both armies suffered heavy losses, including their leaders and most elite soldiers.
Just when all hope seemed lost, Alonso Benard, the military's lowest-ranking general, rose to the occasion.
He protected his comrades and fought the ancient guardian to a standstill.
With only his sword, their battle raged on for four days, giving both armies enough time to escape.
When he returned back to the Kingdom of Aureus alive, King Paul Alaric Aureus III bestowed upon him the highest honor, promoting him to the Royal Grand General and the Commander of the Aurean Military.
To commemorate this victory, the eight main kingdoms gathered to honor the fallen and dub Alonso the "Saint" of their generation, recognizing his unwavering dedication to his nation.