41: No One Is To Hunt Deer From Now On

No One Is To Hunt Deer From Now On

"I need a room."0

The old man looked at her and then to her sides. "Alone? No woman?"

Oriana was too exhausted to be social. "Does it matter?"

The old man yawned, showing broken yellow teeth. "Twenty coppers a night."

As soon as Oriana paid, the old man pulled out a key and handed it to him. "Upstairs, the last room on the left."

Oriana picked the key and immediately heard the innkeeper say, "If you need food or alcohol, tell my grandson." He signaled towards the young boy carrying alcohol to one table. 

"Do you have water?"

The innkeeper almost choked, but answered, "One copper."

"Thank you." 

After satisfying her thirst, Oriana went to her assigned room, locked it from the inside, put her bag on the table, and only then could she breathe in relief.

She lay on her stomach on the small but clean bed and closed her eyes.

'So tired, so drained. I must have accumulated fatigue without realizing from traveling for so long…' 

She removed her mask and inhaled deeply a few times, before turning around to look at the ceiling. 

'...or maybe because I used magic?  Before, whenever I used it, I was never affected like this. Maybe because I overdid it earlier? That tornado sure is horrifying…'

She sat up in bed and opened her bag. Her soft gaze was as she checked the stalks with small green berries and leaves that have soft irregular, shallow-toothed edges. 

'Five stalks of black nightshade! Five months' worth of medicine for Grandpa.'

Knock! Knock!

Startled, she hurried to stuff the stalks back inside her bag, making a dried leaf fall to the ground from one stalk. 

'They found me so fast?!' She was about to jump off the window when she heard a boy's voice from the door, "Mister, I brought you alcohol and food."

'I didn't order anything.' She hesitated, but in the end, she walked towards the door and opened it a little to take a peek. A weak-looking young boy offered her a smile. "Mister, the bread will cost two copper coins, a mug of beer three."

Oriana understood this boy was simply trying to earn more. She opened the door, gave him two copper coins and only got the bread. "You can take back the alcohol."

The boy felt happy and left.

Oriana closed the door and had a decent meal the first time in what felt like forever. The bread was still warm, as if it was freshly bought from the baker. Her stomach could finally feel at peace. 

Once she finished her meal, she began to rearrange the items in her bag. She pulled out a pouch of coins. 

She counted the remaining copper and silver coins. Though she had thrown a pouch of silver for that thin man to see, the second pouch she gave him were merely copper coins. 

'I am not a fool to give him two pouches of silver.' She put everything back inside her bag, and lay in bed with her arms wrapped around it.

'I have decided. Tomorrow, the first thing I will do is to catch a ship back to Selve.

Then, I will join a caravan back to Wimark. 

'Grandpa, I will be home soon.' 

With a pleasant smile on her lips, she drifted to peaceful sleep.

-----

Days after Oriana began her journey, the Crown Prince of Griven and his entourage had also left the Wimark Territory. It was a rather small group composed of only the prince and his knights, but Arlan preferred it that way. Without a carriage or servants to attend him, he could travel faster on horseback. 

As for officially welcoming the guests from the Kingdom of Megaris, Arlan was simply coming as a representative of the royal family. He was not the host. The territory lord, the Duke of Selve, had been informed beforehand that he could make the arrangements to receive them as he saw fit. 

On the way to the South,  his group passed by a village near a forest. Though they merely passed and did not stop, the prince inevitably saw commoners bustling about their daily lives, men doing hard labor while the women were tending to house chores. 

Arlan could not help but think about the fascinating village girl who had the identities and roles of both. 

'After I finish up my work in Selve, should I return to Wimark?' A small curve painted itself on his lips as he remembered all her antics. 'It was fun to have Shortie around. I should get her to stay by my side as one of my aides. She can continue pretending as a man. It is more entertaining to watch her trying to hide the truth.'

Imbert urged his horse towards Arlan. 

"Your Highness, the sun will be setting soon. Shall we set up camp outdoors or do you want to stay in an inn?" the knight said. "According to the map, the nearest town is an hour away."

Another option was to be received as a guest by a local noble, but Imbert did not say it. Rather than rest, their group would be lucky if the noble did not throw a dinner banquet in their honor. It was rather stressful to be fawned over by the countryside nobles.

"Let's camp out."

The knights then proceeded to set up camp by a river. The squires started to prepare a campfire, while the knights were in a middle of discussion whether they should catch fish or hunt meat in the forest.

Rustle!

From the source of the sound, they spotted a deer coming from the other side of the river to drink water. 

Arlan noticed it first before the knights. On instinct, he nocked an arrow into the bowstring of his longbow, preparing to shoot. 

"Seems like we are going to have deer meat," one of the knights commented.

Arlan was about to shoot when—

A memory resurfaced in his mind. It was of a black-clothed figure with beautiful hazel eyes, stabbing him in at the side of his waist after he tried to capture her for disrupting him twice from hunting a deer.

'Does she like deer?' He didn't know what he felt but lowered his bow.

"Your Highness, is anything the issue?" Imbert asked. 

Arlan shook his head. "Nothing."

"I will get that deer for you."

"No need. Let it go," Arlan ordered and handed back that bow and arrow to his knight. 

It surprised Imbert as well as other knights. Arlan loved to hunt and it was his favorite thing to do whenever he was outside the palace. 

The knights only glanced at each other in confusion. Only Rafal and Imbert guess the truth—that it was related to the last hunting incident back in the forest of the Wimarks. 

Rafal lowered his voice. "Commander, could  it be because we are yet to catch that trespasser who stabbed His Highness? Is His Highness upset that we failed to catch the culprit?"

As if this was not enough, they heard Arlan order, "No one is to hunt deer from now on."

Something was surely wrong with their liege.

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