The carriage vanished into thin air just like that.
The group still loitering and chattering around the lighthouse looked at the empty space for a moment before turning back to each other to finish their gossiping.
"Oh, so Duke Mado is in this city right now? Like the Duke Mado? That Simon?"
"Yes, it must be him! There aren't any other pink pearls being sold right now and he's the one who bought the pearls today! Isn't it amazing? Which lady do you think will be the one who receives the pink pearl from him? I think, like the rumours say, it's got to be General Kalia, right?"
"The rumours are false! My cousin, who works in the palace, said that it's strictly friendship between the two but because their relationship runs so deep, there are many rumours about them being more than friends."
"Oh my, you don't really want to believe that, do you?"
The gentle sound of laughter filled the space. Soon, the other party they had been waiting for arrived and the chatter stopped. Using a scroll, the combined groups teleported to their next destination.
Soon, the teleportation spot was empty, as if no one had ever been there.
***
After tearing 3 teleportation scrolls 2 days in a row, something went wrong.
Unexpectedly, it was Humming not Kalia who wasn't feeling well.
"I- I think I'm going to throw up," Humming blanched.
Though the scroll places the greatest burden on the person who invokes them, the people involved and moved with the spell are also affected by the magic. After travelling hundreds of kilometers in such a short time with the scrolls, Humming started to suffer from motion sickness.
Seeing the state Humming was in: face a deathly pale and too nauseous to move, Kalia decided to stop the carriage.
Originally, she had intended to travel by carriage in between the teleportations but she was so urgent that she used so many scrolls in succession.
Allen gave Humming motion sickness medicine and they were able to make it to the city of Anticra by nightfall.
The city was about 570 kilometers from the island, Kalia's final destination.
The city mayor was the elderly pacifist, Marquis Carpetio. His family had been overseeing the town for three generations without much trouble.
In short, it was a quaint, old city that had neither any fuss or anything special about it.
It was a very suitable place to stay overnight.
Kalia passed through the checkpoint with the noble ID she had bought at a high price.
After she had obtained the ID of the unfortunately missing Baron Organ, she had used the ID to buy the ID of a Baroness Collins and a Countess Natia for herself, Allen and Humming. (1)
Afraid of any possible pursuit, Kalia had used great effort to prepare this change in status as a precaution.
The three of them entered the city safely with their IDs and headed towards the central plaza where the inns were concentrated.
"Wow, look! I've never seen such a huge tree before. What kind of tree is it?"
"It's an old Poporico tree. In the summer, it blooms magnificent white flowers," Allen, who was steering the carriage, explained while looking at the tree in the central square that caught everyone's attention with its sheer presence.
The tree blossomed in the summer and in autumn, bore round fruit which looked similar to cherries. The fruit was popular with people of all ages and gender due to its sweet and fragrant taste.
Kalia looked out the carriage window at the beautiful tree. Thinking of the sweet and sour fruit, she couldn't help but to drool a little.
How many fruits could a tree of this size bear…. Her thoughts trailed off when she spotted something peculiar.
"Why are there children out at this time…" Kalia's eyes narrowed and she frowned slightly.
The sun had long set but there were still three children playing on the tree.
All the shop lights had long been extinguished and most of the city were asleep yet, these three kids were out playing in the plaza at this late hour.
"Kalia, what are you looking at?"
"The children playing there. It looks dangerous…. Will they be okay?"
"What? Children?" Humming poked her head out to see what Kalia was talking about.
At that moment, the carriage that had been running smoothly, rattled to a stop and the jolt caused Humming to accidentally bite her lower lip when her chin hit the carriage's window.
"Argh," Humming groaned in pain and covered her lips with her hand.
The fishy tang of iron filled her mouth; it seemed the accident had caused her mouth to split open and spill blood.
"It hurts! It really hurts! Ah, ah! Hurts!" Humming made a big fuss. She really, really hated being sick.
Worried about Humming, Kalia's cool fingers gently touched the tip of the chin that was still moving as she whined her woes. Taken by surprise, Humming's mouth stopped mid-woe to stare in amazement at Kalia's eyes that were framed by long, delicate lashes.
"The inside of your lips were busted a little. I have a good ointment for wounds. Apply it and it'll be fine. Does it hurt a lot Humming?"
'….I can't tell if it hurts anymore but I can't breathe Kalia. If you come this close, I'm so overwhelmed that I can't breathe. Does my breath smell bad? What do I do? What if it smells bad? Looks like I won't have a voice anymore.'
Despite her inner ramblings, Humming held back what she wanted to say and simply nodded her head.
Kalia smiled in response and Humming felt her face heat up at the mere sight of her smile.
'Crazy. When I'm this close to her, I can go crazy because of her beauty.'
Kalia had a unique air about her that captivated and commanded everyone's attention; it was not the doll-like, fragile beauty of a princess but instead, she gave off a feeling of transcendence, as if she wasn't a being of this mortal world. Humming was entranced now, vowing in her mind that she'd be utterly loyal to the end.
Unaware of Humming's thoughts, Allen gestured with his chin to a hotel opposite to the window Humming and Kalia had just been looking out, "I'm thinking of staying at this hotel, is that okay?"
The entrance to the building was old, evident by it's old-fashioned style but it was clean and neatly kept. Above all, business seemed quiet as there weren't many people around. Seeing as everything seemed satisfactory, Kalia said no more and simply picked up her luggage and got off the carriage.
***
After checking into the hotel, Kalia immediately washed up and got into bed.
The bed was softer than she thought it'd be and the bedding made a crispy sound as if it had spent all day drying out in the sun. The fragrant scent it gave off enveloped Kalia in a comforting warmth and made her feel as if she could fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Sadly, she was wrong. She thought it would but….
"...I can't sleep," she groaned.
No matter how much she tossed and turned, she couldn't fall asleep.
She had lived on the road more than once or twice and had no problems falling asleep then but unfortunately, she couldn't fall asleep now in an actual bed. If it was before, she would have done light physical exercise to relieve her restlessness but, the situation was different now. (2)
Kalia changed her posture a few more times and her thoughts turned to Simon. 'Tomorrow is the day he returns…'
Will he feel sadness for the her who left without a word?
She felt a little stuffy thinking about this and in her heart, she was a little sorry but nonetheless, Kalia still thought this was for the best.
Reflecting on everything that had happened until now, she suddenly felt she was a little weird. Why did she believe so intensely that she would not be able to protect her child if she didn't leave?
In fact, no one would be able to stop her from giving birth to the baby if she put her mind to it. Nevertheless, Kalia had decided she had to move as far away as possible to protect her child.
It wasn't just for the child though. From the moment she knew she was with child, the scenery of a small city always came to mind. Although it was a faint gut feeling, Kalia somehow felt compelled to leave the capital for the small city.
It was simply intuition.
This vague and strange intuition of hers came from somewhere deep inside her heart.
'Come to think of it, I think he had said he had something to say to me when he got back…' she recalled.
Though she was curious about the matter, it was already too late now.
'I'll ask when I return later.'
Now that she was on this train of thought, she recalled that recently, Simon had brought up marriage quite often.
He'd mentioned that a lady had proposed marriage to him…
To him, if a couple loved each other, then it was okay not to have children. He'd be happy simply living together. Since he had no intention of succeeding his family, he didn't need or want children…..
He had looked at Kalia with fiery eyes when he said he didn't want a marriage constricted or revolving around children. (3)
'You hate children this much huh.' Kalia couldn't help but think.
He really didn't like babies.
He had said they were annoying, clingy and whiny; the sound of their crying scratched at his nerves and drove him insane.
If she had told such a guy, 'I'm having your child…..'
'Abort it. I think it's better to abort it.' (4)
"Ugh," Kalia gasped out loud. For a second, Kalia thought she heard Simon's voice spout bullshit. With a frown, she sat up in her bed and huffed in anger.
"That son of a…..!" Unknowingly, Kalia clenched her fists and glared daggers at Simon in her mind before belatedly coming to her senses and patting her reddened cheeks.
"Wake up. Simon didn't say anything. It was an absurd thing to think. Let's not accuse an innocent man."
Whoo. With an exhale, Kalia rose from the bed, habitually stroking her flat stomach. Taking deep but short controlled breaths, she tried to calm down. After drinking a cup of warm milk, she opened the wide window in her room which overlooked the square. (5)
Although it was dark outside, the tree was illuminated beautifully by the soft glows of numerous small light bulbs that had been hung all over the tree. A gentle wind blew through the room as Kalia gazed at the tranquil sight before her. However, her gentle smile deepened into a frown as something strange caught her eye.
For a second, she wondered if she had seen wrongly but the scenery remained the same before her even after she had rubbed her eyes.
"….children?" she muttered confused.
The very same group of children she had seen just before entering the hotel were still playing by the tree.
She stared at them for a moment longer before leaving her hotel room.
***
The streets were peacefully quiet.
Five different streets led into the square but not a soul could be spotted.
She strode slowly past the servant dozing at the front desk, and swept her hair up to be tied loosely in a ponytail.
She had covered her hair with her hat during the day because the vibrant and unusual colour was easily noticeable and she couldn't dye it. But, right now, it was still in the dark early hours of morning and she felt safe enough to leave it uncovered. Kalia freely stepped out into the square.
– Giggle!
The clear sound of the children's laughter cut through the square's tranquil darkness and rang like little bells.
Kalia walked up to the base of the tree, attracted by their tinkering laughter.
The small children, who couldn't be older than 7 or 8, were playing up in the branches of the tree, moving freely around the huge tree as if they were squirrels.
Looking up, Kalia quietly observed them.
The children that had been bouncing around in the large expanses of branches and leaves stopped moving when they noticed Kalia standing under the tree. Their twinkling eyes were full of curiosity.
– Look! I think that human can see us!
– Yeah. Is she half elf? Look at that hair colour. Don't you think it's like a lemon?
-Yes, yes! It's very pretty!
Kalia, who was still listening to the children, asked in a quiet voice, "Are you fairies?" (5)
Footnotes
(1) Nothing too important but a general refresher. The order of nobility is as follows: Duke → Marquis → Count/Earl → Viscount → Baron
Above, I had said that Kalia bought IDs for a: Baron Oregan, Baroness Collins & Countess Natia. The raws had said Baron, Baron & Count (all male titles) but considering that Humming and Kalia are female, I changed the last 2 to their female counterparts to make it make more sense. Kalia has Countess Natia since it's the highest-ranked title. If there are disparities with these names in the future, I'll come back and change it accordingly.
(2) Referring to her pregnancy
(3) The word (지우) has a few meanings:
To erase (something)
To erase/wipe (smth from someone's mind)
To have an abortion.
Now, the form used (기억) indicates that it meant to erase something but, given the next sentence and context of the conversation, I translated this as "abort it" instead of "erase it." While more shocking, it does make more sense (sorry author if I got it wrong QAQ)
(4) Let's do a quick recap. This part might have been a bit confusing to some. Simon had said he didn't want kids (he has his own reasons that are not the ones mentioned in this chapter. Idk if 1-17 explained it but if not, it'll be explained further in the story. I don't want to give spoilers) and Kalia thinks it's because he doesn't like children. She suddenly and bizarrely thinks she hears what his reaction would be if he found out he's a father; she then reassures herself he didn't say that.
(5) Both the word (엘프) and (요정) are used in the chapter. The first one translates to 'elf' while the second one can be translated into 'fairy, pixie, elf or sprite'. Obviously, in western culture, fairy and elf are two different species of creature but I can't tell if the author, when using both these words, are referring to 1 singular species or if there are actually two supernatural species of elf and fairy.
Thus, the children ask, "half elf?" while Kalia's question can be translated to either "Are you fairies?" or "Are you elves?"
For now, I'll keep it as is. As the story progresses and everything unfolds, I'll come back to change these terms if I have to. Sorry for the unclarity and confusion. I haven't translated this from the start so I'm not 100% sure.