Over the next few days, we went around to several shrines.
At last, the last shrine was reached, and we were being rocked up the mountain road by carriage to get to it.
“…This journey is almost over, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It seemed both long and short…”
“But I’ve really enjoyed traveling with you, Cecilia-sama!”
“Me too, Nina.”
We smiled at each other.
“I got to experience a culture I couldn’t get from the literature either, it was a very good time.”
Then Ghislan, sitting next to me, nodded with a satisfied look on his face as he pushed up his glasses.
Just then, the carriage slowly came to a stop and the door was tapped lightly, and Viktor called out to me from outside.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve just come to a good place to rest, so let’s take a short break here.”
When I heard Viktor’s words, I looked out the window, and sure enough, we were out of the forest that had been going on for a long time before, and out into the open grassland.
I looked at the view and thought that it was indeed a very pleasant place to take a break.
So we got off the carriage and took a rest.
Hmmm! The wind feels good! The air is delicious!!!!
As I stood tall and looked around to take in the nature, I noticed that there was a gentle slope at the end of the meadow and a small lake beyond.
I glanced around and saw that everyone was busy talking and preparing for a break, and then I quietly left.
Then he came alone to the gentle slope and slowly sat down in that spot.
I knew it was going to be a great view sitting from here! Sometimes it’s nice to take in the view by yourself.
When I was in the castle, I had a lot of time to be alone, but as you would expect, I was always with someone else during the trip, so I wanted to take a break.
While I was enjoying my alone time and looking at the lake below me, I heard the sound of stepping on the grass later.
“Oh my, Viktor has found me.”
“Princess… please don’t go away so quietly and all alone. I’ve been worried about you.”
“I’m sorry…I just needed some alone time.”
“I see… I’m sorry to interrupt you. In that case, I’d better leave.”
“Oh, no, the fact that Viktor found me means it’s only a matter of time before someone else finds me, so you can stay here if you want. Oh, why don’t you sit next to me?”
“No, but…”
“Because Viktor, you haven’t had any rest at all during this trip, have you? Then get some rest!”
“…Okay. Then, if you’ll excuse me.”
With that, Viktor sat down in a position that put a little distance between him and me.
“How do you like it? Don’t you think it’s a nice view here?”
“…Indeed. I chose to come here because I knew that in this open area I could take care of you if anything happened…I didn’t realize that there was a view like this.”
“Hmm, well, if you say it’s a typical Viktor idea, it’s a typical Viktor idea. But for now, just take a little rest and look at this scenery. I’ll keep you company in the meantime.”
“…Thank you.”
Then, after the two of us had been silently gazing at the scenery for a while, Viktor spoke up in a whisper.
“…My territory also has beautiful scenery like this.”
“What? Viktor, did you say have a territory?”
“Yes. When I was appointed Commander, I was given a small fiefdom as well.”
“Oh, really? I didn’t know that.”
“I’ve been too busy lately to go check on the territory…but I’m thinking of going over once after my term as Nina-sama’s bodyguard is over… Princess, if it’s okay with you, would you like to come with me to check out my territory then?”
“…Yes, if I can go, by all means, at that time. To be honest, I’d like to see the territory Viktor is ruling over too. But if Viktor is the lord, it must be a wonderful place.”
I looked at Viktor with a smile.
…After Nina’s term…I hope I’m okay then…
As I was thinking this in his mind, I suddenly saw a white object in Viktor’s bosom.
“Huh? Viktor, what is that white thing?”
“Hmm? Oh, this…”
Viktor noticed my gaze and took the white object from his pocket.
“This is my good luck charm.”
“This is…”
I recognized the object I was shown.
It was originally a pure white handkerchief, although partly stained reddish-black, and even more beautifully embroidered with roses.
“Could it be…the one I tied to Viktor’s injured hand back then?”
“Yes.”
“It’s not a very good charm…”
“It’s a very important amulet to me that I wouldn’t trade for anything.”
Viktor said and held it to his chest as if it was very important.
“Huh!”
Seeing Viktor’s condition made me feel somewhat uncomfortable.
No~! It’s like I’m being hugged! That behavior from a handsome man is foul! Because everyone is thrilled to see it!
I spoke to Viktor while managing to cover my pounding heart.
“Yes, thank you for taking such good care of me. But…when you have a girlfriend, as expected, you shouldn’t do that.”
“…”
“Because…under normal circumstances, I think she would feel bad if you treasured something given to you by another woman, claiming it was a good luck charm.”
I said this to Viktor with a wry smile, and for some reason Viktor stared at me with a serious expression on his face.
He turned to me and held my hand with his handkerchief.
“Then…isn’t it okay if it’s not from another woman?”
“What?”
“…I’ve been confused for a long time because I didn’t know what this feeling I’ve always had was, but…now I see clearly! Princess, I—”
“Cecilia! Where are you? We’re ready for a break, okay?”
In the middle of Viktor’s words to tell me something, when suddenly I heard such a voice of Kaiser from the distance, Viktor huffed and hurriedly let go of my hand and stood up, putting his handkerchief in his pocket.
“…Viktor?”
“…Now is not the time to tell you. But I will climb to a more deserving position than I have now! So…I ask that you still wait on your marriage to Prince Kaiser!”
“What? Ah well, I don’t know what Viktor was trying to say, but honestly I’m not going to get married anytime soon, okay? And maybe Kaiser can find someone else that he’s interested in, too.”
“Well…that’s a relief to hear. Well, Prince Kaiser wants us to return.”
Viktor smiled a fresh smile as he said that and held out his hand to me.
I didn’t think too much about it, because I didn’t want to force him to listen to something he didn’t want to talk about, so I took Viktor’s hand and got up and walked back to where Kaiser and our friends were waiting for me.
When we finished our break and left again, I started to think to myself, looking out the window in a daze.
Hmmm… Come to think of it… I hadn’t thought of anything in particular until now, but didn’t this holy land pilgrimage event or event have some kind of romantic event happen?
I thought so, and I was remembering the memories of a game I played in my previous life.
…Ah! Oh yeah, the bandit event! As I recall, it was an event where bandits attacked the heroine while she was riding in a carriage… and then was rescued by each capture target! Hmm? But as I recall, that was…Cecilia from the game hired those thieves to attack her behind the scenes. And of course I, the real Cecilia, didn’t hire them…Oh no, so no event this time.
I was stunned to discover this fact, but still, I had no intention of hiring a bandit just to cause an event, so I decided to forget about it.
So we arrived at the last shrine and after Nina finished her prayer without any problems, we finally returned to the capital.
And we were relieved to have visited all the shrines safely, and we were tired from our long journey, so we were completely caught off guard.
It happened when we were walking through the forest, which was a little dimly lit.
Suddenly there was a rattling sound and the carriage came to a sudden stop. At the same time, I heard a struggle and the sound of metal clashing with each other from outside.
“What the hell is going on?”
Kaiser had just approached the door with a look of surprise when Viktor spoke inside from outside in an impatient voice.
“Prince Kaiser! The bandits are attacking!”
“Bandits!?”
“Yes! Therefore, Prince Kaiser will remain inside to protect you both!”
“I understand. Viktor, take care of yourself.”
“Ha!”
Viktor replied back, and then the metallic clang resounded again, and Nina and I both shrank back with blue faces, while Kaiser placed his hand on the hilt of his sword with a serious expression on his face, ready to pull his sword out at any moment.
Huh? Huh? Why did bandits show up!? I didn’t hire them!
I was shivering nervously as I heard the sound of swords clashing outside.
At that moment, the door suddenly opened and a thief tried to get in.
“I won’t let you!”
With a swift swipe of his sword, Kaiser threw the bandit out of the carriage, but the next group of thieves attacked, and Kaiser was struggling to maneuver in the cramped carriage.
But soon the next group of thieves attacked, and Kaiser was struggling to get around in the cramped carriage.
“You’re the rumored ‘Celestial Maiden’! Come on!”
With the voice of such a bandit, one of the thieves grabbed Nina’s arm and pulled her outside.
“Kyah!”
“Nina!”
Me and Kaiser shouted Nina’s name as soon as we could, and then I reached out to Nina, but I couldn’t reach her.
Kaiser knocked out the remaining bandits and hurriedly ran outside to help Nina.
“Cecilia, you must not go outside!”
“Yes!”
When Kaiser heard my reply, he immediately closed the door and rushed in.
As I peeked out of the window, I saw that Kaiser had used his brilliant sword skills to defeat the bandit who had captured Nina and rescued her.
“Wow, good…Ah! Prince Alfeld and Ghislan are fine!”
I immediately looked out the window towards the other carriage that was supposed to be behind me, and there was Prince Alfeld and Ghislan fighting alongside Theo and Douglas.
…Prince Alfeld aside, Ghislan is pretty strong too! That looks fine over there. And… I knew Viktor was strong!
When I turned my gaze towards Viktor, I saw that he was defeating many bandits one after the other with a relaxed look on his face, even though he was confronting them alone.
As I was admiring Viktor’s skills, I heard a scream coming from the coachman.
I hurriedly looked in the direction of where the voice came from and saw the sight of the coachman being kicked down.
“Now!”
“Shit! I thought we had plenty of time for this number of guards, but I didn’t count on them being this strong! But if you don’t at least kidnap the Crown Prince’s fiancée, the leader will kill you!”
As soon as the bandit’s voice was heard, the carriage began to move violently.
“What!? Hey! Wait!”
The carriage was driving through the forest at high speed.
I was unable to stand in the fierce shaking of the carriage, and could only desperately hold onto the chair.
“Cecilia!!!”
I heard someone shouting my name faintly from such a distance, but I didn’t have the time to check it out.
Wow, what on earth is going to happen to me!?!?
I was screaming such a cry in my mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
T/N: Well, it wouldn’t a otome/villainess novel without at least one kidnapping, right?
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