CH 32

“What is our expected arrival time?”

Zion opened the carriage door and calmly reported.

Adeline let out a sigh of relief in her heart as she heard that they would arrive tomorrow.

The road to the north was much tougher than Adeline had thought.

Even though they chose the most comfortable and safe path, and they even found accommodations and took a break from time to time, she felt a little overwhelmed.

As time went on, she understood why Kael was scaring her like that.

But still, they were on the road safely for three weeks, and now, the northern castle was just around the corner.

“I think we’ll get to Redden Village by sunset. If we stay there for the night, we will arrive at the castle tomorrow evening; if we don’t stay, we will be on the road the whole night and arrive at the castle in the morning.”

“We’ll spend the night in Redden. It’s impossible to be on the road the whole night.”

If it were only Kael, Zion, and the knights, as usual, they would have gone during the night without hesitation.

Zion would not have considered the choice of spending the night in an accommodation in the first place.

However, there was Adeline, who was unfamiliar with the difficult journey to the north, and Kael held Adeline’s condition as the highest priority.

Adeline also knew this well.

“If you’re going to stop because of me, there’s no need for that.”

Adeline looked at Kael, speaking firmly.

“We’re arriving soon. There’s no need to exert yourself in every situation. It’s only a half-day difference.”

“It seems you have forgotten, but I have a brother who is the commander of the knights.”

Adeline watched the whole process of how Leo operated and trained the knights.

Compared to the other nobles, she was knowledgeable about the knights and their marches.

Kael said it was only a half-day difference, but Adeline knew what that half-day meant.

The march had been going on for weeks.

Half a day was significant for those who would have accumulated a full day of fatigue.

It was much better to move faster and arrive at the destination a little faster than to stop and increase the time.

“It’s not helpful for the knights to stop for a while now that we are so close.”

“…”

Kael stared at Adeline for a moment, her voice firm and unwilling.

“They are strong people. They are well adapted to the arduous march. I’m worried that if you push yourself too hard…”

“I’m also strong. I’m not pushing myself too hard.”

Adeline was serious. She wasn’t bluffing either.

She was really strong, and while she might have thought it was a little too much, she never exerted herself.

She could endure enough.

“If you are thinking of me, we should just go without stopping. I want to get to the castle sooner than later.”

The last time she spoke with conviction, Kael finally raised both hands.

“We’re not stopping in Redden. Just keep going.”

“Yes, Your Grace. We will do that.”

After receiving the order, Zion bowed politely and looked at Adeline with a thankful heart.

He was quite moved by the generosity of the Grand Duchess, who thought of the group’s fatigue and march first.

‘… That’s not a very good sign.’

Adeline was going to leave.

The more people were impressed or fond of her, the more it would be a burden on Vanessa, who would come after her.

“I didn’t mean to underestimate you.”

While she was thinking it was a problem, Kael grabbed Adeline’s attention.

“I know. I also know you’re looking out for me. But don’t put me before everything else. The people are ahead of me.”

Adeline asked sincerely.

It was not a pretense to buy Kael’s favor, nor a pretense to make her look like a plausible grand duchess.

That made Kael even more intrigued.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’m amazed.”

Adeline tilted her head and asked why.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a young lady telling me to take care of others before herself.”

Most of the nobles acted as if title and prestige were the only things that mattered in the whole world.

Values and righteousness didn’t usually interest them.

That was why Kael always despised all the noble practices of the aristocracy.

After staying on the battlefield for a long time, he suddenly realized how absurd and futile things like money and honor were.

Therefore, a group that made a fuss for nothing could not look good.

But Adeline was different.

It was even more fascinating considering that she was a woman who lived in a high-ranking family under the title of Marquis.

“Ah…”

Checking Kael’s shiny eyes, Adeline avoided his gaze and looked out the window instead of answering.

She was thinking hard to end their marriage as soon as she got a chance and run away, but the more she thought about it, the more she felt like she was attracting people.

Zion, and even Kael.

***

The carriage headed for the northern castle ran and ran as fast as promised.

Soon, the sun set, the night came, and at some point, it was almost dawn.

However, the carriage that was running without knowing how to stop, suddenly stopped.

Kael, who was awake, immediately stepped out of the carriage and looked at the situation.

“Zion. What’s wrong?”

“I stopped the carriage because it was something Your Grace should never miss. Her Grace as well.”

Zion, who immediately came to Kael, explained the situation with an excited face.

“Something we should not miss?”

“Look behind you, Your Grace.”

Kael turned around.

“…”

The moment he turned around and his eyes filled with the sight in front of him, he could not speak.

The aurora.

A faint aurora was embroidered on the black sky.

Kael now understood why Zion was so excited that he stopped the carriage, and why even the knights escorting the wagon were smiling brightly.

“Kael. Did something happen?”

While he was unconsciously staring blankly at the aurora, Adeline woke up from her sleep and opened the carriage door.

“Nothing happened, but there’s something you need to see.”

Kael reached out his hand to Adeline.

Adeline grabbed the hand he held out, puzzled, and got out of the carriage.

“This…”

“In the north, it’s called Isis. Since a long time ago, the aurora has been regarded as a gift from the Rainbow Goddess.”

Seeing the aurora for the first time since she was born, Adeline completely lost her mind.

Even the slightest bit of haziness that remained in her was completely blown away.

The beauty of the dreamy sky created by a mixture of various colors could not be fully expressed in words.

“Dear heavens…”

“Is it the first you’re seeing it?”

“Yes. It’s the first time. I’ve seen it in paintings before, but I had never seen it with my own eyes.”

Adeline could hardly take her eyes off the marvelous sight before her.

It was as if she had been drawn to the aurora.

“Sometimes I see it when I go a little further up north, but I’ve never seen it so close to the castle. What an amazing night.”

It was Kael’s first time seeing the aurora in a place not far from the castle.

Moreover, it was much more distinct in color than the normal aurora, and in a wide range that covered the sky.

“It’s really pretty.”

Adeline kept admiring it, and Kael kept looking at Adeline’s sparkling eyes.

“Ahem.”

While Kael was staring blankly at her, Zion cleared his throat.

Kael turned his head right away, and he quickly signaled for him to say something to Adeline.

Seeing that, Kael frowned slightly.

He didn’t understand at all what he was telling him to say all of a sudden.

Then Zion made an expression of frustration and eventually delivered the words with his own mouth.

“Isis is a symbol of blessing and luck, Your Grace. When Isis appears in the sky, something good always happens in the north.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Since Isis appeared near the castle as soon as Your Grace came here, it’s not an ordinary sign of luck. Your Grace must be a gift to the north.”

As soon as Zion finished speaking, he glanced at his frustrating lord.

His eyes were filled with reprimand that Kael should have said this, not him.

Kael looked at Adeline again, hiding his embarrassment.

She didn’t seem very interested in Zion’s words.

She just seemed to engrave this moment very carefully in her mind.

“Ah, have I been looking at it for too long? If we have to depart again…”

“There is still time. You weren’t even looking at it for a long time. You can look at it as much as you want.”

When Adeline, who was calmly appreciating it, asked in a little surprise, Kael reassured her that there was no problem at all.

Adeline smiled like a child at the thought of watching the aurora for a little more.

Her large eyes folded nicely, her cheeks, slightly red from the cold air, protruded, and the corners of her mouth drew a pretty curve.

“Kael.”

When Kael was unconsciously bewitched by Adeline, she called him in a low voice.

“The north really is a beautiful place.”

The moment Adeline gave a heartfelt appreciation, Kael’s blue-grey eyes trembled.

It was the first time.

The first time that someone who was not born and raised in the north told him that this desolate land was ‘beautiful’.