160: Can He Read My Thoughts?

Can He Read My Thoughts?

A week flew by in a blink of an eye.0

At this point in their journey, the delegation headed by the Crown Prince of Griven had long left their motherland and entered the territory of their western neighbor, the Kingdom of Abetha. 

Since they crossed another nation's borders with an official reason, the King of Abetha had decreed that the group be treated as highly distinguished guests, even arranging accommodation  for them to ease their journey within the kingdom. This decree compelled various noble families to open their homes to the foreign delegation. 

Afterall, Crown Prince Arlan was now  a relative of the Ilven Royal Family due to his younger brother's marriage. Receiving him as a guest would be a great honor to the countryside nobles.

They didn't stop in the capital of Abetha as it was not part of their route, crossing mostly the southern regions of the kingdom that were composed of acres upon acres of farmland, forests and marshes. Arlan was also not in the mood to sightsee and chose the most efficient roads towards their destination.

The day they were to leave the last Abethan city bordering Othinia, Imbert received a message for Arlan.

"Your Highness, according to the news collected by the scouts, the delegations of Megaris and Abetha already entered Othinia three days ago. However, unlike ours, their group would go sightseeing in each city for at least half a day. If they keep their leisurely pace, it is possible that we will arrive at the capital of Othinia before them."

Oriana's interest was piqued. When the prince's guardian knight came to report, she was with Arlan as usual, sticking by his side like a second shadow.

'Just a few more days and I can meet that woman called Celia Voss. I hope she is indeed following the Queen of Megaris. It would be best if she is a kind woman, but even if not, since she's affiliated with Master Erich, she would not turn me away, right? I'm worried. I hope she's not a temperamental eccentric like Master.'

Rafal approached the prince standing within the city lord's courtyard. "Final inspections are done. We are ready to leave, Your Highness. Past the fortress walls, we need to cross the rainforest separating Abetha and Othinia."

Arlan looked at both of his knights. "We are going to enter the infamous Southern Jungle. The vegetation here is much denser and the journey more dangerous than the first part of our journey. Keep watch."

"Yes, Your Highness."

After bidding farewell to the city lord that hosted them, Arlan entered his carriage along with Oriana. 

When Oriana passed by Rafal, she could not help but notice his displeased gaze. Not like this was the first time, and he had never been discreet about it. Oriana ignored him. 

'I wonder how I offended the Third Young Master. Does he not get tired of glaring at me like this? It's not like I have a choice.'

Oriana could tell Rafal's discontent was related to her sharing a ride with the prince, though she could not pinpoint why the knight blamed her for this. She never wanted to ride the Crown Prince's carriage in the first place. It was Arlan's decision to always make her carry his stuff.

However, compared to Rafal's hostility, Oriana felt more perplexed being under Imbert's unreadable gaze.

She could not help but feel a little nervous around this knight who had seen her in a compromising position with the Crown Prince. Whenever their gazes met, she would go crazy with shame. She could not see through what this knight was thinking, but her conscience felt judged, as if it was her who committed a great crime. 

It was no help that his gaze always remained the same, no emotions in them, reminding Oriana of an old adage about quiet people having the loudest thoughts.

'One acts like I am a walking plague, while the other acts like I don't even exist. What kind of knights did this prince gather for himself? No one acts like a normal human. Well, even their master is not normal so…' 

She sighed and decided to rest her brain from overthinking.

The delegation soon resumed their journey. In the first one, two hours, the sight outside did not faze Oriana, as if it was simply another series of greenery she had seen for the past seven days. 

However, on the third hour of their journey, Oriana began to sweat, causing her to resist the urge to remove her travel coat and fan herself. She could feel the climate around was much different from Griven. The heat and humidity was more prominent. 

'Warm,' she thought. 'The weather here is twice as warm as Abetha.'

She observed the green dense forest—no, the jungle, and as Arlan said, the vegetation was indeed denser, thriving in vitality with countless wildlife and unnamed plants captured in a single sweep of her gaze.

The Southern Jungle, also known as the Savage Wilderness to the rest of the continent. It was a natural barrier separating the two powerful kingdoms of Abetha and Othinia, its terrain mostly uncharted even up to this day. Oriana might have never heard of Othinia before, but she had read about the Southern Jungle. 

For herbalists and apothecaries, it was more commonly referred to as a haven of exotic plants.

Thick, lush foliage formed a canopy that filtered most of the sunlight, enough for the wet undergrowth of moss, mushrooms and ferns below to thrive. The height of the majestic trees was astonishing, and the jungle was an explosion of colors, from fiery red blossoms to yellow-feathered birds, to blue-scaled frogs.

Only one thought came to her mind. 

'Such a place must be teeming with precious herbs!' Her hands itched to go outside. 'No wonder most of the herbs that I cannot find in Griven are expensively sold by passing merchants from the southern kingdoms. As long as you are determined to explore, you will find many precious herbs in this jungle.' 

She was reminded about Arlan mentioning about black nightshade being smuggled out of this kingdom. 

'If a knowledgeable herbalist clears a small field in the middle of this jungle, no one would discover him cultivating banned herbs unless they have a map or a skilled guide. I am sure this kind of environment is perfect to secretly grow black nightshade. 

'This prince deduced the likelihood of a hidden plantation in Othinia based on a brief description I gave him. Amazing.'

Sitting in front of his bright-eyed attendant, Arlan found her current appearance every bit adorable and amusing. Her hazel eyes were glistening with curiosity and awe, reminding him of his niece, Rayjin, whenever he took her out to shop for dolls and candies.

"Are you planning to jump down the carriage?"

"Huh?" 

"You look about ready to start foraging for herbs."

She looked at him in surprise. 'Can he read my thoughts?'

"Those eyes of yours speak volumes," he answered her unspoken question. 

Her eyes widened. 'Can he really read my thoughts? Is that even possible?'

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