[Ch. 44] Another Celebration (Past)

Mona adjusted the medallion displayed proudly on her chest before fiddling with Raylon's.

Raylon sighed as he let her mess with it. She had already fixed his medallion for the umpteenth time. He pushed away her hands with a forced smile, "Why are you acting so finicky?"

"I just want to make sure everything is perfect."

"Don't be so nervous, sister. This is Moao we're talking about. She won't care how we look."

She stomped her foot, "That is exactly why I'm nervous! I want to make a good impression in her Kingdom and with her."

"Why?"

"Because she is my future sister-in-law!"

He rubbed his head in exasperation, "Not this again. I've already told you that there is no way that will ever happen. She's not interested in me."

She clicked her tongue, "The future is uncertain, good brother. You might be surprised."

I stood in the courtyard beside Korph and Amanda. I noticed Mona and Raylon walk over seemingly in a deep conversation. I narrowed my eyes as I watched the two of them. Korph noticed my attention had shifted and followed my gaze. His face lit up when he noticed Raylon. Korph stuck out his tongue at him, "Took you long enough."

Raylon mumbled, "Sorry. Someone had to check the luggage several times."

Mona tugged on her hair in embarrassment as Amanda giggled at her. Korph turned to me, "So, this parade. You said there would be drinking afterward?"

"Mmn."

Korph grinned ear to ear, "Then I challenge you to a rematch!"

"Mmn."

"Excellent! I've been practicing. I know I can beat my record by even more this time!"

I watched as the drivers finished placing our bags into the carriage storage. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small paper packet. I handed it to Korph, "For your motion sickness."

He opened the small envelope and let the contents drop onto his hand. He held up the two circular objects. "What is this?"

"Pills."

"Pills?"

I nodded, "Medicine."

Seeing their confused looks, I realized that I had momentarily forgotten that they didn't have this kind of medicine here. They relied solely on magic to treat sickness and wounds.

I tapped my mouth, "You need to swallow it."

He nodded, quickly popped it in his mouth, and gulped forcibly. He stuck out his tongue, "Ack! That was dry."

I blinked, "It's easier if you swallow it with water."

"Why didn't you tell me that!?"

I shrugged. I ignored his expression and looked at Amanda, "Amanda, you will ride in the carriage with Mona. Korph and Raylon are with me."

Amanda opened her mouth to protest, "But-"

I interrupted her before she could complain, "I trust you to protect her."

Amanda stared at me with her starry eyes, "Y-You trust me?!"

I ignored her starstruck attitude and climbed into the carriage. Korph placed his hand on his stomach and groaned once the carriage started moving. He made a face, "Ugh. When will it kick in?"

I watched him carefully, "In a second."

After a few minutes passed, Korph collapsed against the window and began to snore.

"What did you give him?"

"Sleeping pills."

Raylon chuckled, "I thought you said they were medicine for motion sickness."

I shrugged, "Haven't figured that out yet."

"Why didn't you just use magic then?"

"I want to try selling it to people who can't use magic, but I needed to test it first."

"Test?" He looked at Korph, "Did you use him to test it?"

"Mmn."

He poked Korph, "Sometimes you can be so scary."

I looked out the window with a frown. For some reason, my chest felt a bit heavy after hearing that.

After a few hours of silence, Raylon spoke up again, "Why did you put Amanda with my sister? Can she really protect her?"

"No."

"Then why?"

"They'd be alone."

"Huh. So you do actually care about other people."

Did he really think I didn't? Most people believe that I don't care about anything, but I always thought he was different. I guess I shouldn't be too upset. It's not like I make it easy for people.

Seeing my downcast expressionless face, he stuttered, "W-Well, it's j-just that... You know... Sometimes y-you... U-Uh."

"It's okay." I gazed into the distance with the familiar sinking feeling in my chest. I muttered, "I know what other people think about me. I'm not stupid."

"I-I didn't mean it like that… I..." He stopped talking as he couldn't find the right words to say. He lowered his head with a sigh.

The rest of the ride was silent.

Once we arrived, we had to drag out the sleeping Korph. Raylon threw him over his shoulder as if he was a feather. Mona and Amanda got out looking extremely happy. Mona gasped and poked Korph who didn't even stir, "Oh my! What happened to him?"

Raylon forced out a chuckle, "He fell asleep."

I waved my hand, "Put him down."

Raylon did as asked, expecting me to use magic to wake him up. Instead, I walked over and smacked the back of his head with all my strength.

"OW!" Korph shrieked, rubbing his head. He looked around wearily, "What happened?"

"'We've arrived." Raylon said, holding a silent vigil for Korphs lack of intelligence.

"Oh." He stood up rubbing his head, "How'd we get there?"

Everyone ignored him and moved into the villa. The servants were already waiting and bowed once they saw us. I cast them a glance and shooed them away, much to their relief. I looked at Amanda who nodded in understanding. She turned to the others, "I will show you to your rooms. We put Sir Raylon and Prince Korph into the same rooms as last time. Princess Mona, your room is close to mine."

Mona blushed heavily and it was very obvious her mind was filled with immoral thoughts. Mona suddenly remembered something and pulled out two wooden boxes. She held them out with a warm smile, "I almost forgot!"

I raised an eyebrow as I took them, "What's this?"

"They are gifts." Seeing the look on my face, or lack thereof, she continued. "It is customary in our culture to bring gifts when we visit somebody's home."

"Mmn." I glanced at Raylon, "He didn't give me anything last time."

Mona shot Raylon a glance who put his hands up, "Brother! How rude!"

"What? It's not like I gave consent when I came the first time."

She shook her head in disappointment, "Still. It brings our country shame."

He pouted as he was scolded, "It's still the Baron's estate."

Mona turned to me apologetically, "I am terribly sorry for my brother's rude behavior, Lady Moao. I promise he will make it up to you. Please open your gifts Lady Moao."

I opened the first one and pulled out a necklace. It had black beads strung together with ancient writing on it. It was tied in knots around a green jewel with a red tassel hanging from it. I recalled a pleasant memory from my first life. It looked just like the prayer beads I once received at a temple.

Mona noticed I stared at it for a while and hesitantly spoke, "I hope you like it. I made it myself."

She made this herself?

I gave a nod in appreciation, "Excellent."

Mona blushed from my compliment. I wrapped the beads around my wrist.

Mona made a complicated expression, "...It's supposed to be a necklace."

I opened the other box and pulled out a white yukata. My hand delicately traced the expensive fabric as I inspected it closely. The design had pine trees with a crane flying past in silver.

Amanda looked at it, "You got her… A funeral outfit? What are you trying to say?! That she is going to die soon?!"

Raylon sighed, "She was very insistent on the color white."

I was so excited to have received it, I quickly placed the yukata over my dress like a robe. Ahh! I bet it looks so nice on me. Doesn't it look nice?

I held my arms out waiting for opinions.

Korph burst out laughing, "Even I know you don't wear it like that!"

I tilted my head with a frown, "Mmn."

Mona sighed, "It's alright Lady Moao. Later, I will show you how to properly put it on and how to care for it."

Amanda grabbed the gifts from me and gave them to a servant. She motioned to the others, "Now that the fun is over, let me show you to your rooms. You can put your things down."

Seeing that they were heading to their rooms, I turned to leave. Korph shouted after me, "Where are you going?"

"The garden."

"Wait for me!" He ran after me as he threw his head back, "Ray! Take my stuff up to my room!"

"Oi! I'm not going to carry your things!"

"I can take it." Amanda said, picking it up with ease.

After they were all situated, Amanda showed Mona around as Raylon came to watch Korph play with my plants. After dinner, they all retired to their rooms. Korph was pleasantly surprised and thrilled to see a hammock now set up in the room. He jumped in it while laughing in a childlike way.

The next day, I skipped breakfast leaving behind a pale-looking Amanda. Korph and Raylon had seen the look before and knew not to ask. Mona, however, was concerned, "What is wrong Miss Amanda?"

"It's... It's Lady Moao." She answered meekly.

"Where is she?"

Amanda made a disgusted face, "She spent the night in a different room."

Mona looked at her in confusion and Raylon signaled to her not to ask. After breakfast, Korph and Raylon decided to leave behind Mona and Amanda. They went to room 134 and knocked before cautiously opening the door. I lay sprawled over a desk surrounded by documents. I had fallen asleep wearing a similar button-up shirt and overalls. My hat had fallen to the ground causing my hair to scatter around me. Raylon sighed and picked up my cap from the ground.

Korph started shaking me, "Oi! It's already the afternoon! Wake up!"

I stirred at his touch and pushed him away abruptly. I rubbed my eyes and stretched. Korph burst out laughing, "You have ink on your face!"

I ignored him and rubbed my face before turning back to my notes.

Raylon grabbed a handkerchief and dabbed at the ink to wash it off. As he did so, he peered over my shoulder, "What are you doing now?"

"Research."

Korph snickered, "Of course you are." Korph shuffled through the papers while reading them. However, he didn't understand a thing so he tossed the papers instead. "When is the parade and celebration?"

"Tomorrow around noon."

Raylon looked at my notes, "What is it this time?"

"Better body transformations."

Korph made a face as he pulled out a more complicated set of documents, "What's this stuff?"

I looked over at it and paused. He was holding the documents concerning the dark arts. Luckily he didn't understand my notes on the subject, so I didn't have to worry about any irritating conversation. I snatched it out of his hands and stored it, "Research."

Raylon scratched his cheek, "So, how's the, err, body transformation research going?"

I motioned to my chest, "Better. Not perfect."

Korph shook his head, "I don't understand why you care about it so much."

I threw him a look and he quickly shut his mouth. I felt my body start to tingle and quickly stuffed my hair into my cap. I blinked, "They're here."

I turned and walked to the magic circle in the middle of the room.

"Wait!" Korph shouted walking over, "Where are you going?"

"To the port."

Korph jumped in excitement, "Can we come?!"

I nodded in agreement and they followed me onto the platform. The purple light transported us to the middle of a busy street. People shouted in surprise at our sudden appearance, but when they noticed our medallions they quickly ran away. Korph puked and wiped his mouth, "I don't miss using that at all."

Raylon watched as the curious people turned to watch us before seeing the shining medallion on our chests. Once they made eye contact with the medallion, they gasped in fear and quickly walked away. He looked over at me with a questionable glance. However, I continued to wear my typical blank expression, ignorant of the stares.

As we walked down the road, Raylon and Korph followed closely, looking everywhere with childlike excitement. They were amazed by the tall buildings and stalls littering the streets selling all sorts of items the two of them never knew existed. I felt the familiar breeze and recognized the smell of the salty water. Soon, hundreds of docks and ships lay in front of us. Korph and Raylon's mouths dropped at the sight of the gigantic boats attached to the docks.

Raylon nodded in admiration, "I now understand the appeal of the port city."

I gazed around the docks before locking my eyes on a certain ship. I sprinted towards the ship without explanation. Raylon and Korph flinched before running after me. I jumped over a few crates while dodging the people in my path. Raylon watched my agility in amazement, "Are you sure she's not from the Dragon clan?"

Korph shouted back, "I don't know anymore!"

I arrived at the boat and stopped instantly. Raylon and Korph finally caught up, struggling for breath. Korph gasped, "When did you get so fast?"

I ignored him and looked up at the ship waving black flags with red X's. I cupped my mouth and shouted, "Hey! Fish lovers!"

A head poked over the side of the hull, "It's the white demon!"

The man disappeared from sight and stairs began to appear from the top. Raylon and Korph looked at me in confusion. Raylon asked hesitantly, "Pirates?"

I nodded and quickly made my way up the stairs. Raylon and Korph shot uncertain glances at each other. Korph asked Raylon in a low voice, "Aren't pirates bad?"

"Usually, yes. However, in this case…"

Raylon trailed off as he turned to watch me walk up the stairs. Korph understood instantly and they began to ascend the stairs after me. They both looked timidly at the grungy-looking men with scowls on their faces.

A voice shouted from the hull as it came towards us, "White demon!"

Capítulo 44: [Ch. 44] Another Celebration (Past)

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Capítulo 44: [Ch. 44] Another Celebration (Past)

REFLEXIONES DE LOS CREADORES Nekoru

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