"I... I love you mom."
"I love you too, sweetie... You guys wait here. I'll get this log out of the way."
As Katherine jumped out of the wagon, Alex suddenly felt a little relieved despite wanting to confess the truth earlier.
His mind quickly realized he was most likely treated as insane rather than having someone understand that he was from another world.
The log was soon pushed aside by a strong gust of wind and buried in the nearby ditch, just like Alex's willingness to bring it up.
"Okay, hang on tight. I'm going to try to make it to the capital in a single day."
With a loud crank sound, the wheel began to move faster and faster until it reached peak speed.
Even the cloth covering the wagon was pushed back by the wind as all three of the kids held onto the ledge of the wooden wagon.
But despite going the fastest they had ever been, they still needed to camp outside for one more day.
"Dang it. The horses are too burnt out," Katherine complained as neither of the horses moved.
"But the sun isn't even down yet." Sophia pointed out as the three of them ran to the front.
"Too bad. I guess we just have to set up camp early."
As Katherine began setting up the camp on a plain field a few steps away from the road, the three kids started watching the road in the wagon.
People were occasionally passing by with their horses, with some even driving some sort of vehicle down the road.
All of them were busy as they headed straight in the same direction as where they came from, with fully equipped gears and everything.
"So many knights," Mary murmured as they counted the hundredth person riding a horse past them.
"Barely any mage," Sophia concluded after seeing only three people wearing robes among the groups of travelers.
Alex quickly noted to himself that a mage was a rare class, but he was more curious about where they were going.
But none of the travelers stopped a single time to let him ask the question as the sun set on the horizon.
"What are you all looking at?" Katherine curiously asked as she dragged them over to the campfire.
"Just groups of people going past... Mom, do you know where they are going?" Alex asked back.
"They are probably going to the border to deal with something happening there. Anyway, let's eat our last meal before going to sleep."
---
The next day.
After waking up the horses and eating a short breakfast, the four of them headed back into the wagon.
The road became much smoother as they continued traveling ahead, with bumps being almost completely gone.
Soon, the three kids at the back peeked their heads through the curtain as Katherine announced the capital was just thirty minutes away.
"Wow..."
All three were stunned.
They could see a giant wall in the distance, with no end on either side, surrounding a massive city ahead of them.
More impressive was the river outside of the wall, as it looked extremely wide from the distance.
Besides that, the road ahead of them was now almost completely smooth, with tons of carriages and wagons ahead of them.
"Here comes the worst part—the fun waiting game," Katherine complained as the wagon came to a halt.
As the three kids checked outside again, the road was now almost ten wagons wide.
But despite the empty lane being right there, everyone was on the right side, waiting in a line.
"Mom, why don't they let people use the other lane?" Sophia curiously asked.
"Because those are reserved for nobles... Here comes one."
An entire vehicle that looked similar to a car quickly drove past them on the left, going ahead into the capital.
"Damn express lanes..." Alex murmured to himself as a little bit of dust flew through the cloth before he could close it.
The three kids quickly got bored of looking at the scenery around them as they sat in place for almost ten minutes straight.
Just as they moved a little, it stopped again.
It repeated until they finally made it to the draw bridge as the road quickly began to narrow down.
After waiting for almost one hour, it was finally their turn.
"Name and reason, please." A guard asked as they stopped the wagon.
"Katherine Reid. I'm here to visit my parents."
"Reid... Why does it feel like I heard this surname?"
As the soldier stood still thinking about the name, another soldier quickly dragged him aside and signaled Katherine to go.
"Thank you."
---
Driving past the gates, all three of the kids were amazed by the structure around them.
They could see a massive cathedral located right by the entrance, with thousands of people standing on the open field listening to sermons.
Almost every structure was two or three stories tall, compared to their one-story tall town back home.
Even Alex was a little shocked, as some of them looked to be practically floating in the air with a single support beam.
"Is that building floating?" Mary excitedly asked as she pointed to the sky in the west.
"Yeah... That's one of the Archmage residences. There are only three of them in the capital."
Hearing Katherine's explanation, Alex suddenly felt motivated as he started having a dream of being an archmage himself.
"What is that building?" Sophia asked, pointing at a massive castle in the middle of the city.
"That's the Emperor's palace," Katherine replied as she pulled the horse reins to the left.
As the wagon turned left, the three were once again shocked by an insanely tall building, almost reaching the cloud.
"Mom! What is that building?" Alex curiously asked.
"That's where I'm staying tonight... I'm just kidding. Anyway, that building is the Mystic Academy of Seraphel."
"Is that a school?" Sophia asked.
"Yeah, it's a school exclusive for bad mages like me. You guys don't want to go to that one."
"Mom, you're the best mage I've ever seen." Alex immediately complimented Katherine.
"Thanks, sweetie. But I know my capability. Anyway, we're finally almost at your grandparents' place."
The three waited patiently, double-checking their clothes to make sure everything was normal.
After waiting for five minutes, the wagon finally came to a stop.
"Okay, you guys can come out."
As the three walked past the curtain, they were stunned by the building ahead of them.
It was a massive mansion surrounded by iron fences, with a giant grass field in front of it.
In the middle was a road made of some mysterious material that looked extremely smooth as the sunlight slightly reflected from it.
"Who are you——M-Miss Katherine?"
Four of the guards were in shock, as they couldn't believe the person before their eyes.
"Where's Fredrick and Ava?" Katherine asked coldly.
"They are in the living room right now." One of the older-looking guards nervously replied.
"Great... of course they have to be home. Take good care of the horses, and don't take stuff out of the wagon."
"Yes, ma'am."
As two of the guards guided the horse away, the three kids still hadn't covered from the fact that their grandparents lived in such luxury.
"Mom... Is our grandparent a king or something?" Alex nervously asked.
"No, your grandparent is just a duke. Hurry up and follow me. Stop standing there."
Katherine forcefully dragged the three past the gate, making them snap back into reality as they followed behind her.
After arriving at the porch, Katherine gently knocked on the door and waited.
The door slowly opened, revealing a familiar person that all four of them could recognize.
"Miss Amelia!" Sophia and Mary both excitedly ran up to hug her.
"Hey, kids. Welcome to the capital."
As the hug ended, Amelia turned her attention back to Katherine.
"You finally decided to come to the capital..." Amelia said out loud as she excitedly hugged Katherine.
But Katherine didn't say anything back, pushing her back as she stared right into Amelia's eyes.
"Confess. I don't like to hear when people lie." Katherine asked coldly.
After a short silence, Amelia admits defeat as she couldn't endure Katherine's stare.
"Okay, you caught me... I may have followed you guys on the whole trip." Amelia replied as she awkwardly scratched her hair.
"You disappoint me, Amelia. I thought I could trust you."
"What? I was just making sure you would arrive here safely. It's not like I force you to come here——"
"Amelia, who's out there?" An old man's voice yelled from the inside.
"Your daughter finally came here with your grandkids," Amelia yelled back as she ran back inside the mansion.
With the four of them standing by the door, the three kids looked up to Katherine, waiting for her to take the next step before moving.
After a long consideration, Katherine finally took her first step forward into the mansion.
"Let's go see your grandparents."