"I will tell the scribe to prepare it."
Lionel answered quickly.
If it was Viscount Irwindale, who was obsessed with honors, he would surely be happy to receive such trash and keep it like a family heirloom.
"Let's reduce unnecessary baggage and take advantage of the situation. Let's kill two birds with one stone."
Carlyle took a cigar from the wooden box that Lionel handed over and grinned. Then, as he lit it, he noticed that Asha was looking at him with a strange expression.
"Why? Don't you like my way of doing things?"
"How can I have the right to say anything about Your Highness's work? I just thought that the distance between Your Highness and the people who are happy with your visit is too far."
Carlyle snorted and laughed again.
"Then should I pity them? Should I get off my horse and shake each of their hands?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Well, that's a relief. In fact, they don't want me to approach them either."
The smoke he exhaled quickly obscured Asha's vision.
Beyond that, Carlyle, faintly visible, spoke with a charming smile.
"The more distant I am, the happier they are. I need to be a god to them, and I'm happy to do so."
In a word, he was putting on a play to meet the expectations of the ignorant people, and he didn't see any need to deny it.
'It doesn't seem like something to blame.'
It may seem deceptive at first glance, but no one is harmed in this play.
The people get the joy of knowing that a high-ranking person has paid attention to them, and Carlyle gets national popularity with just this much effort.
Asha suppressed a chuckle and simply nodded.
'Yes, this is better. A human being who shows compassion is even worse.'
It was something that could be clearly understood if one thought about it in terms of Pervaz.
If it was indifference or contempt, it could be laughed off. After all, the humans who ignored or despised Pervaz were the ones who deserved to be ignored and despised.
However, compassion....
'Those who made Pervaz what it is are now showing compassion? They want to be good people even after doing such despicable things?'
Everyone in the upper class of the Empire knew that Pervaz was fighting a long war against the Lure tribe, despite suffering from a huge numerical disadvantage and a lack of supplies.
And it was also those humans who had pushed Pervaz to the brink.
If they suddenly showed compassion in the face of this changed situation, it would be something that would be difficult to forgive.
***
Rustle, rustle.
The sound of cicadas chirping was loud all around.
"We'll be camping here tonight!"
As the sun began to set, the procession escorting Carlyle to Pervaz stopped its weary steps in a clearing near the forest.
They had passed all the territories where they could rent an inn or a lord's castle, and from now on they had to pass through areas with a small population and few houses, so they would have to camp all the way.
"Prepare His Highness's bedchamber first!"
"Gather firewood! Light a fire to make a stove!"
"Set up a two-shift fire watch around the luggage Carriages!"
The size of the party heading to Pervaz was large, but Carlyle's knights prepared for the camp as quickly as if they were on a battlefield.
Carlyle could just sit back and get off the carriage when everything was ready.
'It's uncomfortable....'
Thanks to her great husband, Asha, who was provided with a comfortable place with him, looked around with a guilty conscience.
Carlyle might be comfortable receiving a table setting that was only fit for royalty since he was born, but Asha was not.
"Why is that?"
"Oh, it's nothing."
Asha couldn't answer anything but that when Carlyle noticed her discomfort.
She was, in name only, Carlyle's wife, and she knew that she was in a position where she could not do hard work with the lower class.
But Carlyle seemed to have figured out Asha's feelings.
"I know you're uncomfortable just sitting around, but bear with it for now. Don't make yourself look more down on."
It was the same light-hearted sarcasm as always, but Asha felt like a heavy weight was on her chest today.
Although she was only in name, she was Carlyle's wife. However, no one recognized their marriage.
Even the lower-ranking servants in this procession were secretly looking down on Asha.
[They say the people of Pervaz are no different from savages....]
[Look at that woman. She's a Countess, but How is she a noble?]
[If I can just survive three years in Pervaz, I can go back to Zyro? After all, she'll be getting a divorce in three years, right?]
Asha could hear whispers looking down on her and Pervaz everywhere.
Of course, she didn't expect to be treated as Carlyle's official wife, but she did wish that they would at least show some courtesy to a 'strategic partner'.
'I think there could be bigger problems than I thought when I get to Pervaz.'
After finishing the meal brought by the servants and drinking three or four glasses of honey wine for dessert, Carlyle muttered in a slow voice.
"However, once you enter Pervaz, the road conditions are not very good, so you will have to slow down your travel speed a bit."
Asha was happy to know that she would arrive in Pervaz in just a week, but she was also a little worried.
After all, the roads in Pervaz were so bad that they could hardly be called "roads".
Carlyle, who had been through countless battlefields, quickly understood what Asha meant.
"Can you tell the difference between the road and the mudfield?"
"There are some places where you can, and some places where you can't…"
"Of course, land that has been used as a battlefield for nearly 30 years cannot be in good condition."
Carlyle nodded. Then he asked Asha out of the blue.
"But… is it really you who cut off the head of the Lure tribe leader?"
"Yes? …Yes, I'm."
"Really?"
"Is that so strange?"
Carlyle, on the other hand, realized that Asha was being serious when he saw her looking at him in wonder.
"The leader of the Lure tribe shouldn't be weak, right…?"
"His skills were not bad, but he was not as good as my father. However, the numerical inferiority was so great that my father and brothers were killed."
Asha replied nonchalantly, sipping her honey wine.
"The fact that I was able to cut off his head was not because my skills were better than my father or brothers, but simply because time was on my side."
"Time was on your side?"
"As time went on, I grew, and Lakmusha, that bastard, grew old."
The leader of the Lure tribe, who was a hot-blooded young man in his mid-20s when the war began, was in his mid-50s by the time the war ended.
And Asha, who had participated in the war since she was sixteen, had grown into a young warrior with skills that everyone recognized during that time.
"Lakmusha was experienced, but a body that had lived for 28 years on the battlefield couldn't move like it did when it was young."
"Ah, right. After all, the whole body gets old quickly on the battlefield. So, in that sense, he held out for longer than expected?"
"It's thanks to the 'Necklace of Death' that he possessed. The magic power that came from it was enormous."
Only then did Carlyle remember the 'Necklace of Death' that Asha had offered as proof of victory and war booty.
"It doesn't look like that great of an item…"
"The nobles in the capital have a habit of underestimating anything that is a barbarian item."
They always find fault with me. Anyway, you're bold."
"I didn't tremble and hold your hand just because you said a word."
Carlyle tried to hide his laughter, which was bubbling up at the sight of Asha, who was being cheeky but at the same time indifferent.
He didn't feel bad about it, rather he felt refreshed. Maybe it was because he had always liked fearless people.
"Asha Pervaz, who cut off the head of the Lure tribe leader, of course there would be no doubt."
Once again, the conversation between the two disappeared, and only the sound of them drinking could be heard.
However, thanks to the noisy sound of insects and the low murmuring of his party, there was no uncomfortable silence. Rather, a pleasant sense of fatigue numbed their nerves.
Then the servant in charge of Carlyle's quarters approached.
"I have moved your luggage to the tent. Please let me know if you need anything else."
Asha was the first to react to his words.
"You mean 'our' luggage?"
"Yes…? Ah… Did you need me to move someone else's luggage as well?"
"Oh, no, it's not that, but I'm not with His Highness…"
She was about to say that she should use a different tent, but Carlyle cut her off.
"Don't worry about it. I'll call you if I need anything."
"Yes. Then I'll take my leave."
The servant left with a trembling expression, checking Asha's reaction.
"Your Highness…?"
"Why?"