“Ah! I messed up!”
“W-What’s wrong, Kent?”
Kent exclaimed loudly after leaving the “Blue Bakery.” Catherine was startled by his sudden outburst.
“No, well, I was so focused on finding an empty shop that I remembered I forgot my original purpose.”
“Your original purpose? What was that?”
Kent had planned to spend a leisurely lunch with Catherine and draw out her worries. However, the crowds in the commercial district made him forget his original goal and concentrate on finding a shop he could enter immediately. The shop they entered only had counter seats with a griddle right in front of them, making it impossible to have a proper conversation. With these circumstances piling up, his original purpose completely slipped his mind. His involuntary exclamation made Catherine realize that Kent had intended to do something.
“Um, well, it might be difficult to talk here. Let’s find a place where we can be alone.”
“Al-alone? Is, is that…?”
Kent thought it would be better to listen to Catherine’s worries when she was feeling more at ease. So, he decided to look for a place where they could talk alone. Hearing this, Catherine blushed deeply and looked down.
“Um, Kent?”
“What is it? Your face is so red, don’t you feel well?”
“N-No, I’m perfectly fine. Um, it’s my first time, so please be gentle.”
“I-I-I-I didn’t mean it like that!”
Kent realized Catherine was misunderstanding and hastily corrected himself.
“I was kind of hoping for something more… What a shame. (´・ω・`)”
Catherine realized her misunderstanding and became dejected.
“When Catherine gets a little older… ahem, ahem. We’ll talk about that another time. Honestly, I didn’t intend to discuss this in such a public place, but you seemed troubled, Catherine. I wanted to hear if anything was bothering you.”
“Ah, so that’s what it was. I do have something I’m very worried about. However, it’s not something to be discussed in a place like this. Let’s change locations.”
Catherine decided to tell Kent about her worries. However, since it wasn’t something she could discuss here, she proposed finding a different place.
“Excuse me, please take me to the castle.”
“The castle. It will be 2000G for two people, is that okay?”
“Yes, please take care of me. Kent, please get on.”
“O-Okay.”
Kent was guided by Catherine to the stagecoach station. From here, stagecoaches departed in all directions, ranging from long-distance routes that took several days to medium-distance routes that took a few hours, and short-distance routes that traveled around the town of Tiol. Catherine spoke to the guide of the route that went to and from the castle. After paying the fare for two people, they boarded the carriage.
“If you have business at the castle, you usually walk, but why are you taking a carriage today?”
“That’s right. If I walked now, it would take too long and I wouldn’t be able to return until late, so I’m shortening the travel time. It’s a bit expensive, but I earn a decent amount myself, so I don’t have to worry about the fare.”
Commoners usually walk when traveling within the town, and unless they are aristocrats or wealthy, they rarely use carriages. Catherine, by her status, belonged to the aristocratic class, but she usually walked outside of her official duties. It was an action stemming from the commoner sensibilities she had acquired throughout her life, and she had no intention of changing her mode of transport to match her social standing.
“Departing for the castle!”
After the bell signal, the guide announced their departure loudly. Then, the carriage, carrying about ten people including Kent and Catherine, slowly began to move towards the castle.
“Unlike the stagecoaches leaving town, the routes within the royal capital feel much calmer.”
“That’s true. The stagecoaches that leave town are full of dangers, so they come with escorts.”
The stagecoach carrying Kent and Catherine had no escort. This was because they were traveling through a safe area. For Kent, who had only ever taken routes outside the town, this felt novel.
“The castle is coming into view.”
“Yes. The carriage is faster than walking.”
The stagecoach carrying Kent and Catherine passed through the gate that guarded the town of Tiol and traveled along the road leading to the castle. Since there were no castle walls to obstruct the view here, the large castle was clearly visible from the carriage window.
“Thank you for riding.”
Shortly after, the stagecoach arrived at the boarding and alighting area set up in front of the castle, and Kent and Catherine disembarked.
“This is in front of the entrance for commoners, which also serves as the town hall. Where do we enter the grounds?”
“Of course, we enter through the aristocratic gate.”
The stagecoach was intended for commoners, so the arrival point was near the commoner’s entrance, which doubled as a town hall for various procedures. Kent asked Catherine which gate they would use, the commoner’s or the aristocratic one.
“Oh, young lady, bringing your boyfriend today?”
“Heh heh, that’s right.”
“Is that so? Well then, please behave yourselves within the castle grounds. Hahahaha!”
“Kent, you can go through now.”
“Huh?”
When Kent and Catherine went to the aristocratic gate, they were approached by the guard. However, after a brief conversation with Catherine, they were granted entry permission with surprising ease. The speed of it astonished Kent.
“It’s almost like they know you by sight.”
“Since they know me, they are familiar with the details on my permit, so they let me through quickly. But if they didn’t, even with my permit, they might be suspicious of my attire and it could take some time.”
“Well, if a commoner were to try and enter through the noble gate wearing commoner clothes, that would be the case.”
Catherine explained that if she didn’t know the guard, it could take some time.
“If I were trying to bring Yuria in and encountered such a situation, she would get very angry. ‘Do you know who you are speaking to?’ something like that.”
“I’d almost like to see that.”
Hearing Catherine’s story, Kent felt he might like to encounter such a dramatic, period-drama-like scene.
“Kent, please.”
“Excuse me.”
Upon entering the castle, they navigated the maze-like corridors without getting lost and reached their intended room. This room was the Saintess’s office, which Catherine usually used for her public duties.
“Since I, the Saintess, am on holiday today, no one should be in the room. We can talk here without interruption. I’ll start a fire in the hearth now, so please sit on the sofa and wait.”
“Understood.”
The Saintess’s office was completely silent, with no sign of anyone else. Although it was usually the maid’s job, Catherine herself lit the fire in the hearth and went around lighting the lamps that provided illumination in the room.
“I wish I could prepare drinks for you, but I apologize that I can’t because there’s no one to go to the kitchen.”
“You weren’t planning this visit, so you don’t need to worry about it.”
Food and drinks provided at the castle are either prepared by the room’s personal maid or someone has to go to the castle’s kitchen to fetch them. However, since she had come to this room on impulse, she hadn’t prepared any drinks. Catherine apologized to Kent for this.
