The Gap Between You and Me - Chapter 57

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How long has it been? The wind that was blowing hard here and there quietly subsided as if it had never been there. Edwin slowly lowered his arm and ruffled the back of his hair that ran down his forehead.

Without a second thought, he turned to look at Herietta beside him and was surprised at what he saw.

“Miss Herietta?”

Edwin was flustered and called out to her.

“Miss Herietta? Why are you crying?”

Herietta was crying. For some reason, tears quietly fell from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

How could she cry so sadly without a sound? Both of her cheeks which were flushed red, were wet from the tears she had shed. As if she was suffocating, her shoulders shook violently while she took in a quick breath from time to time.

Is she simply sad that we are separating? Or is she doing this out of guilt for sending me to Bangola?

“Don’t cry. The distance to Bangola isn’t that far.”

Edwin whispered to Herietta as if he were trying to comfort her. He carefully wiped away her tears and tucked her messy hair behind her ear.

“I will be back soon. I’ll be back so soon that you won’t even notice I was gone.”

“…”

“Aren’t you glad that if I’m not around you, there will be no one to nag at you and you will be free for a while?”

“…”

“Miss Herietta, please… If this continues, it will be difficult for me to leave.”

In the end, Edwin asked almost pleadingly. But no matter what he said, Herietta’s tears seemed to break his heart.

Even though he knew he had to go, his steps did not fall. No matter how firmly he made up his mind, as soon as he saw her standing in front of him, everything shook and collapsed.

Edwin thought, “If she tells me not to go or if she asks me not to leave her, then she just has to say that one word.”

In front of her, he is bound to be an infinitely weak person.

“Edwin, I hope you are happy.”

Herietta, who had only shed tears without words, whispered.

“Wherever you are, whatever you do, always be happy.”

She said in a shaky and hoarse voice as tears continued to fall down her cheeks.

Herrietta wrapped her arms around Edwin’s waist and she hugged him tightly. She turned her head to the side and leaned her face against his chest almost naturally. The warmth from his spacious arms. And now, the familiar body smell.

Even though they were so close that they couldn’t get any closer, it just felt infinitely far away. It’s like they were separated by an invisible wall that could never be crossed even in the far future.

“Remember me, Edwin.”

Thump. Edwin’s heartbeat could be heard through his clothes, a small but regular beating. Herietta quietly listened to the sound and closed her eyes helplessly.

“No matter what anyone says, you are the most precious person to me.”

***

A small town on the outskirts of Brimdel. A carriage ran at a fairly high speed on the smooth dirt road. It was a very luxurious-looking carriage, but there were several armed guards in the front and back as if a fairly high-ranking person was riding inside.

A fluttering flag was held in the hand of a man riding the horse from the side of the carriage. A crown, a sword, and a dignified lion roaring. It was a unique emblem that symbolized the royal family of the Kingdom of Brimdel.

Most people noticed it right away.

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The presence of the flag alerted them that a member of the royal family of this country was riding in that carriage.

Royalty. Infinitely noble, they are beings who stand in a position that is too high for the peasants to even dare to imagine. But at the same time, they are also beings who will often drag in troublesome things if they get involved for nothing. Because of that, everyone who saw the carriage was busy clearing the road quickly and bowing their heads.

Boom, boom. The ground seemed to vibrate at the sound of the heavy footsteps of the armed soldiers. There was an almost solemn atmosphere as they marched forward in silence. In any case, their appearance even seemed wretched to the extent that they wondered if they were heading to the battlefield.

Only after the carriage had moved far away did the people start to stand up one by one. The buzzing noises returned to the quiet street, and the vitality of the place returned.

People tilted their heads.

Who the hell was in that carriage?

It was a person who was protected by about 20 or so guards. Twenty. From an objective point of view, it was certainly not a small number. However, it was also true that in the case of escorting the king, queen, or a member of the immediate royal family of a country, the number of people was absurdly insufficient.

Was an important guest of the royal family on board?

Or maybe they were on a mission to a neighboring country?

Many speculations had come and gone, but it was difficult to find out which one it was.

But their curiosity did not last long. It was a busy life thinking about what to eat today and tomorrow. Whatever the high-ranking people of the country were doing, it had nothing to do with them.

In the end, when the running carriage that was trailing dust behind it became a small dot and disappeared from view, people also began to gradually forget about the existence of the carriage that passed by their village.

Soon, the village returned to its normal state as if nothing had happened.

* * *

Rattle, rattle. The carriage swayed to and fro as if it was still running on an unfinished stone road. The movement was so strong that it was difficult to comfortably sit inside. If they kept going like this, it was worrisome that the wheel of the carriage might break sooner or later.

But even so, the speed of the carriage was hardly reduced. There was still a long way to go, and the time allotted to them was so small that it felt like they were running out of time.

Either way, they needed to get to their destination within the given time to accomplish the mission assigned to them.

The coachman driving the wagon, the guards escorting the wagon, and even the two passengers in the carriage were all aware of that fact.

But no one complained. They just wanted to reach their destination as soon as possible.

“The road is very rough.”

Said one of the women sitting in the carriage. She was a young woman in her mid-to-late twenties. She was dressed very well, and she didn’t get distracted even inside the carriage, which was swaying pretty roughly.

“But that means we are getting closer to the border. Things will get a lot better once we get to the border. Velicia must have sent someone to meet the princess, and they must have prepared a place to rest.”

Herietta, who was staring blankly out the window, turned her head to see the woman sitting across from her. This woman named Janice was a handmaid in the royal palace in Brimdel. She said that she was the second daughter of Barony Dalmoran and that she was born and raised in the capital.

‘Janice is more suited to the princess role rather than me.’

Herietta, who was carefully looking at Janice, sighed deeply. She had a throbbing headache.

‘Princess! What do you mean princess!’

Herietta clenched her fists.

‘I’m from Brimdel…! What nonsense is this!’

The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous and angrier she got. But more than ever, she was also terrified of the unstable future that was to come.

No matter how she was labeled the king’s hidden illegitimate child, a princess was a princess. Since she was officially recognized as a royal bloodline, she had to show a level of speech and behavior that was commensurate with it.

But how? Herietta, who had only lived as the daughter of a Viscount all her life didn’t know how to act like a royal.

Herrietta recalled the story of her birth that Shaun had prepared. She was born to the current king and a handmaid who served him in the past; it was such a cliche birth story.

It seemed that Shaun had worked hard to make it up, but to Herietta, it was just a very lame story complete with holes and inconsistencies.

‘Please, may the Velicians be great fools.’

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