Minister’s point of view.
With Ivana in the lead, we made our way towards the exit of the forest.
If the carriage hadn’t arrived, we would have to walk to the nearby town on foot, but I was sure that man would be waiting.
However, even if he was waiting, it would be difficult to carry all the people in the mansion and their personal belongings.
Perhaps we would have to put our personal belongings in the carriage and walk ourselves.
While thinking such, my heart was beating loudly from anxiety as I began to see the exit to the forest, and I took one last deep breath.
Eventually, I began to see the outside of the forest, and there——
“… Huh?”
I let out a silly sound and opened my eyes to the many carriages lined up in front of the forest.
One of the carriages was definitely the one we were riding in, but the rest of the ordinary carriages were completely unknown to me.
Confused by the unexpected situation, a man with a bandage on one arm slowly approached us and said,
“Thank you very much for trusting me. I predicted that the people from the mansion would be surely coming with you, so I asked for cooperation from a friend from Henschel who prepared these carriages for us.”
“O, ohh, I see. You have my gratitude.”
After a refined bow, the man told the tired and complaining children behind me to follow him to the nobleman’s carriage, opened the door, and let them in.
I told some knights to escort the carriage and I turned around toward the exit of the underground passage.
There, my wife Camilla spoke to me timidly.
“Should I also help out with something?”
“No, it’s okay. You can watch after the children.”
Taking my eyes off of Camilla who nodded and trotted away to the children, I headed back towards the underground passage with the knights who were now looking relieved.
☆
By the time we had loaded all of our personal belongings into the carriages and put a knight in each carriage just in case, the sun was starting to set.
But we couldn’t spend the night near the forest, so we decided to leave.
After confirming that all the carriages were ready to leave, I got into the carriage with my wife and children and called out to Mikhail, the man in charge, to start the carriage.
The carriages started immediately, and when I looked behind me, I saw that each carriage seemed to be running without any problems.
“Papa, where are we going now?”
I thought a little when my daughter Eliza, who had gouged out my heart just a while ago, asked me this question.
“Where do you want to go, Eliza?”
“N~… Ariette?”
“You know a country that is so far away? Well, it really is too far away, so that won’t be possible.”
How could she know about a town that was two mountains away from here? I guess Camilla’s education has been excellent.
There, my son Elmer, who will be turning fifteen this year pulled on my sleeve.
“How about Cranvan? Isn’t the public order there good?”
“Cranvan? That might be a good idea. Have you studied geography?”
“Yes, I studied in the library yesterday.”
It’s wonderful that he’s so studious. I’m sure he will become a sought-after person in our new place.
Still, Cranvan, huh. I talked with Randolph about it.
… Well, we can decide later. I’ll discuss it with others after we enter a nearby town, since we might come up with a better candidate.
When I quit thinking about it, I leaned back against the back of the carriage and slowly closed my eyelids, which were beginning to get heavy.