Summer weather is always unpredictable.
One moment the sun is shining, and the next, dark clouds gather overhead.
The heat rising from the ground hasn’t even faded before raindrops start pooling into puddles on the muddy road.
The thick, humid air mixed with the heat hits you in the face, your clothes stick to your sweaty skin, and the constant buzzing of mosquitoes in your ears creates a chaotic symphony that frays your nerves, leaving you on the verge of snapping.
The only comfort comes from the cool breeze blowing through the mountains.
Unfortunately, Liti, stuck inside the carriage, can’t enjoy any of it.
—The carriage is like a sealed can.
The thing is, Liti is the only one suffering.
For Fia and Anastasia, the breeze and endless greenery are refreshing.
Fia rides her horse alone, while Anastasia sits on the driver’s seat, guiding the carriage forward.
The church prepared an extremely luxurious carriage for Fia.
It’s more like a moving bedroom than a simple vehicle.
The cabin can seat eight people without feeling crowded, and there’s even a small table in the middle for reading or writing.
The interior wood is painted red, and the floor and seats are covered with blankets and cushions for extra comfort.
With the gilded carvings on the outside, even without a noble family crest, anyone can tell at a glance that the owner is someone important.
At first, Fia thought the carriage was too flashy and too big to travel on narrow, rugged mountain roads, but after trying it out, she realized her worries were unnecessary.
First, even if bandits or thieves had their eyes on the carriage, Anastasia could handle them alone, not to mention Fia herself was there as backup.
Second, if they came across places where the large carriage couldn’t pass, like a suspension bridge, they could use the storage chest from the Aurora City temple.
They’d separate the carriage from the horses, store the carriage in the chest, have Anastasia lead the horses across, and then take the carriage out and reconnect it on the other side.
The storage chest is only a meter long, so in theory, something as big as a carriage shouldn’t fit, but since it’s a mithril-grade item, all you have to do is place the carriage in front of it, open the chest, and a white light will swallow the carriage up.
Also, on the Yggdrasil Continent, no storage item can hold living things, and you can’t store one storage item inside another.
For example, Fia can’t put the temple’s storage chest into the space backpack Claire gave her.
The storage chest is as big as a living room inside, but it still can’t hold living creatures like cats or dogs.
As for why Liti is the only one inside the carriage, it’s because while Claire was away using “High-Speed Flight,” Fia learned how to ride a horse.
The church prepared two strong, white eight-legged horses for her.
These horses are even sturdier and more muscular than normal ones, and just one can easily pull the heavy carriage.
Now, Fia rides one horse alongside the carriage, while Anastasia drives the other, pulling the carriage along the mountain path.
Tightening the reins, Anastasia, wearing a green hood, looks up.
It’s already six in the evening, the sky is getting dark, and the storm clouds haven’t cleared yet.
She turns her head to look at Fia riding beside the carriage.
“Your Highness, let’s stop here for today and set up camp.”
“Can’t we go a bit further? It’s not completely dark yet.”
Fia tilts her head.
Even though it’s been less than half a day since she parted with Claire, all she can think about is hurrying back to the Elf Kingdom and knocking some sense into the idiots in the court.
Anastasia looks troubled.
“We could… but if we wait until it’s completely dark to set up camp, it’ll be a lot more trouble than doing it now.
There’s a good spot to camp here, but if we go further, the terrain might get worse, and cooking at night could attract monsters.
In my experience, if we camp now, we can set out at dawn tomorrow.”
Fia lowers her head and thinks for a moment.
“If you say so, then fine, let’s camp now.”
Under Anastasia’s guidance, the carriage stops on a clearing beside the mountain path.
Someone camped here not long ago, and there’s still a pile of charcoal on the cleaned grass.
Camping is nothing new for Anastasia.
As the second captain of the royal guard, she’s used to long marches and secret missions, so she always carries all the camping gear she needs.
It’s worth mentioning that since the church’s carriage is so big, all they have to do is fold up the seats and lay out the bedding, and the cabin becomes a tent, saving them the trouble of setting up camp.
“Well then, I’ll go hunt for dinner nearby.
Your Highness and Liti, please wait a moment.”
Picking up the elegant longbow from the driver’s seat, Anastasia bows her head to Fia.
Her long golden hair, pointed ears, green cloak, and the bow on her back all make her look like the perfect traditional elf.
As if remembering something, Anastasia narrows her eyes and looks back down the road.
“I saw a lot of refugees on the way.
If you run into them, please don’t let your sympathy get the better of you.
No one knows what’s in their hearts.
Some will be grateful for your help, but more will just keep asking for more.
Humans are greedy, jealous creatures.
You’ve lost your memory and don’t know how dangerous ordinary people can be, so don’t trust them easily.”
“Of course.
I’m not some kid who’ll believe anything people say.”
“I’ll help chase away any idiots too, so don’t worry, Anna.”
Liti pokes her head out of the carriage.
“Please be careful, Your Highness.
I’ll be back soon.”
Anastasia bows again, then disappears into the forest, leaving only Fia and Liti by the carriage.
“Phew.”
Fia puts her hands on her hips and takes a deep breath of the fresh air washed clean by the rain.
I should do something too.
It doesn’t feel right to let Anastasia do all the work by herself.
Back in Aurora City, Anastasia was busy gathering intel most of the time, so Fia didn’t notice the little things.
Now, she’s finally starting to feel like Anastasia is her personal maid.
On the road, Fia can’t even pour herself a glass of water—Anastasia insists on doing it, and if she doesn’t, she gets so anxious she can’t even focus on driving.
According to Anastasia, if a princess like Fia does servant work, the nobles will look down on her, and they’ll blame Anastasia for not doing her job, saying that’s why the princess has to do things herself.
To Fia, it seems like Anastasia is worried about being blamed, but also afraid that if Fia becomes too independent, she won’t need a maid anymore.
It makes sense, but Fia, who’s used to doing things herself, just can’t get used to it.
How can I just sit around and watch while someone else runs around for me?
Thinking this, Fia jumps off her horse, removes the tack from the eight-legged horse, and ties the carriage and horse to a tree stump with a rope.
Since the ground is wet from the rain, it’ll be hard to start a fire later, so Fia uses “Spirit Fire” to keep a cone of flame ready, slowly drying out the soil.
“What are you doing, sis?” Liti steps out from behind the curtain and stands on the driver’s seat, watching Fia curiously.
Compared to Fia’s fourteen-year-old appearance, Liti looks even younger, maybe twelve or thirteen, and probably not even 1.4 meters tall.
Her cute cheeks and pink-and-white dress, paired with her long purple hair, make her look like a pure snow lotus—a perfect little princess.
“Drying the ground,” Fia answers simply.
Liti’s expression freezes.
“You’re… you’re using magic to dry the ground?” “Yeah.”
“N-no wonder you’re my big sister, ahaha… A normal person would never think of using magic to dry the ground.
It wastes way too much mana, and if something unexpected happens, you’d be in trouble.”
With a soft thud, Liti, wearing white stockings, jumped down from the carriage.
Without saying a word, she walked over to Fia and tilted her head, watching as Fia slowly dried the ground.
Even though there was no malice in Liti’s gaze, her staring for no reason still made Fia feel awkward.
She wasn’t good at this kind of atmosphere, where it was just the two of them and no one said a word.
Fia asked instinctively, “What’s up?”
“Hmm…” Liti’s big purple-red eyes showed a thoughtful look.
She pressed her finger to her lips.
“I was just thinking, you really did lose your memory, sis.
If it were before, you’d have left everything to Anna and just sat in the carriage reading your magic book without saying a word.”
Still holding the flame in her hand, Fia couldn’t help but smile.
“So, Liti, do you like the current me or the old me better?”
“The current you.” Liti answered without hesitation, flashing a bright smile.
She jumped in front of Fia and hugged Fia’s free left arm tightly.
“You used to be really strict, didn’t like talking to me, and even when you did, it was always cold lectures.
But now you’re gentle and strong, and you care about me.
I like you much better now.”
No wonder when she first met Liti, the girl was scared of her.
For a kid, being lectured all the time would definitely make her dislike you.
“Sss~ ha~ Sis, you smell so nice…”
Huh?
Did I hear that right?
Fia’s attention drifted from the cone-shaped flame in her right hand.
She turned to look at Liti, who was still hugging her left arm.
But Liti was just snuggling up to her, eyes still on the flame, nothing out of the ordinary.
Must’ve been my imagination.
No way Liti would make a sound like that.
Fia reassured herself.
She quickly finished drying the ground, and to make more space, Fia started using Wind Blade to clear away the nearby dead branches and bushes.
Worried that the splashing water might get on her or Liti, Fia made a wall of Spirit Fire in front of them, then sent the Wind Blade through the fire wall to clear the brush.
It was the kind of thing most people couldn’t even imagine doing, and Liti stared in awe, her mouth hanging open.
“By the way, Liti, how old are you now?”
“Hmm, it’s rude to ask a lady’s age, you know.
But since it’s you, sis, I’ll tell you.”
Tch, still just a little brat.
Fia kept her thoughts off her face and waited for Liti to finish.
Liti looked up and answered sweetly, “Liti Alexia Yuxier is already seventy-five years old.
If you convert that to human years, it’s about twelve.”
“Seventy-five…” Fia muttered.
Most humans don’t even live that long, but for elves, it’s just a kid, not even an adult yet.
The difference in lifespan was amazing.
“Did we ever have any unpleasant things happen between us before?”
“Yes! When I was twenty, you slapped me really hard, and after that, you barely saw me anymore.”
Liti answered with absolute certainty.
You actually hit such a cute little sister? Fia was baffled.
“Why?”
“I accidentally spilled water on your magic book.”
So the elf princess is a total bookworm.
When Fia didn’t say anything, Liti’s eyes flashed with panic and she hurried to explain.
“I wanted to sit on your lap, but you were so into your book that I tried to crawl under your arm.
That made you knock over your cup, and the book got wet, so… You looked really scary then, and after that, I was kind of afraid of you.”
Liti shrank her neck into her clothes, looking timid.
Fia couldn’t help but give a wry smile.
“Sorry… I really don’t remember any of that, but from now on, I’ll be a real big sister and protect you, Liti.
Can you stop being afraid of me?”
“Of course! I like you best now.”
As she spoke, Liti took Fia’s hand and pressed it to her cheek, letting Fia’s fingers feel her soft skin.
Her upturned, watery eyes sparkled, looking so pitiful that Fia couldn’t help but feel protective.
She’s definitely going to be a stunning beauty when she grows up.
Not losing out to the elf princess at all.
Fia politely looked away and cleared her throat.
“Ahem, let’s keep getting ready for camp.”
“I’ll help too! What can I do?”
“Hmm… Go gather some branches, I’ll set up the stove.”
Wind of Detection told her there were only squirrels and rabbits nearby, so even if Liti wandered off a bit, it wouldn’t be dangerous.
“Okay~”
After quickly clearing away the leftover branches and leaves and splitting up the tasks, Fia started setting up the stove.
When Anastasia came back, she’d definitely be shocked by how clean the camp was, maybe even a little freaked out.
But Fia couldn’t just treat someone as important as Anastasia like a slave and dump all the dirty work on her.
If she helped out more, Anastasia would get used to it, as long as she made sure no elf nobles saw her doing it.
While Fia and Liti were busy, a lot of refugees passed by the carriage.
Since Anastasia had warned her, Fia ignored the ragged refugees and just focused on her own work.
And the refugees who tried to sneak closer to the carriage or Fia, after seeing her use Spirit Fire and Wind Blade, all backed off in a hurry, clearly afraid of her as a magic caster.
As for Liti, Fia had thought she’d feel sorry for the refugees and hand out food from the carriage, so she’d even prepared some simple food for Liti to give away.
But things didn’t go as Fia expected.
Liti didn’t hand out any food, didn’t even look at the refugees passing by, and just focused all her attention on Fia.
She skillfully gathered branches of the right size and handed them to Fia, and even started cooking rice with primitive tools.
Fia had always thought of Liti as a princess with zero life skills, innocent, cute, and kind.
But now it was clear Liti was much more capable and clever than she’d imagined.
About fifteen minutes later, Anastasia came back with her longbow.
But the “prey” she brought made Fia hesitate.
—It wasn’t a rabbit or a boar, but two humans tied up by Anastasia.
Don’t tell me she’s going to say something about “two-legged sheep”?
“Your Highness, how could you do servant work, and with Lady Liti too! Leave this dirty work to me!”
Anastasia tossed the two humans aside like garbage, then rushed to Fia, looking shocked, grabbing Fia’s hands to check for calluses.
Fia had expected Anastasia to overreact, but not to the point of losing her mind.
She could only give a wry smile at Anastasia’s panic.
“There’s no one else around here.
Those nobles won’t know I’m making a fire to cook, and it’s nice to do something other than fighting once in a while, right? Both Liti and I are happy.”
“You’re right, sis.
It’s stuffy and hot in the carriage, and just sitting there is so boring.
Anna, you really don’t need to worry about something so small.”
“I’m a failure as a maid… If I’d known, I should’ve let Kirill stay and have him go hunting…” Still looking guilty, Anastasia muttered quietly.
Fia could only put her hand over Anastasia’s.
“Alright, stop worrying about it.
Anastasia, what’s up with those two humans over there?”
“It’s all because of those two humans that I lost time,” Anastasia’s gaze suddenly turned sharp.
“On the way back, I found them hiding in the woods nearby, spying on you, so I caught them.
I did interrogate them, but they insisted on seeing you before answering anything, and said they had something important to discuss with you.
Your Highness, what should we do with them?”
“You didn’t find out where they’re from?” Liti frowned, her expression carrying the authority of someone in charge.
The contrast made Fia tilt her head a little.
“They said they’re from Magic of the Midnight Sun, and they’ve been following us since we left the city, looking for a chance to talk.
But if they didn’t have bad intentions, they should’ve just come to us openly, not hid in the bushes like rats.”
“Mmmph—!!” Hearing Anastasia’s scolding, the two people tied up with rope and gagged with cloth immediately started struggling, shaking their heads desperately, as if trying to explain something.
“Let me take a look.”
Fia walked around to stand in front of them.
When she saw the face of one of them, Fia froze for a moment.
It was the blue-haired girl she’d saved in the Aurora City square.
