The Hero is Standing in My Way - Chapter 42

Chapter 42

At some point we arrived in the village. We decided to rent the largest inn in town altogether. If it was planned, we had to stay for one day and start again, but there were some seriously injured knights, so we moved a little more leisurely.

Siegfried got off from his horse as soon as we arrived at the village. We’ve been running for hours so his face was flushed and his hair was tangled by the wind. Maybe that’s why I wanted to play a prank on him, but I held back myself.

“First, let’s go inside the inn, unpack and wash our clothes. We’ll have dinner after that and talk about what we’re going to do next.” Abbysion turned sideways and said.

Keeping his eyes down all the time, Siegfried raised his head as if he had just come back to his senses.

“I will pay for everything. It happened because of me.”

“You don’t have to….”

“Charge me with your brother’s and knights’ treatment so that they can receive treatment from the best priest.”

Siegfried took the reins of his horse and walked ahead first preventing Abbysion for furthermore refusing. I followed behind him.

A staff rushed out and took the horse to the stable as we approached the inn. I went to the inn first with Siegfried. The innkeeper standing at the counter on the side came out to the front door and welcomed us.

“Are you husband and wife? You look pretty young… oh, that was rude of me.”

“… I would like to rent the entire inn for a few days.”

Siegfried answered as he covered the slightly raised corners of his lips. No, why does it seem like this person liked it? Don’t you know that looking like husband and wife with me means that you looked pretty old? 

Siegfried definitely doesn’t look like fifteen. He was much taller than his peers and had a good physique, so I thought that I might be able to look after him until he was eighteen. Nobles marry around that age, so I didn’t feel offended when the innkeeper thought of us like that.

It was just that Siegfried was smiling so happily that I squinted my eyes.

“Th, the entire inn? Do you have a large party?”

“Ariel, how many of us are there?”

“There are 20 knights, 12 servants, Abbysion, Milliard, me and Your Highness.”

“Thirty-six.”

“… H, His Highness?” The innkeeper asked in surprise.

Standing still and looking at him, the innkeeper jumped and knelt down to Siegfried.

“I, it’s such an h, honor to see Your Highness!”

“… I am not a Prince. You called me wrong, Ariel. You should’ve called me Siegfried.”

“I, it’s an honor to meet Your Highness…!”

“Ah, Laxien.”

Fortunately, the innkeeper doesn’t seem to know Siegfried’s middle name. He blankly blinked his eyes and quickly stood up. Come to think of it, Siegfried seemed to be reluctant to be called Prince before. Indeed, the villagers would flock here if it became known that a Prince came to a small village.

“Haha, did your Lordship come from the South? I almost mistook you for His Highness.”

“Ah, this is His Highness.” I said as I pointed to Siegfried. Siegfried needs to eat everything he hates.

“You can tell it right away. His uncommon black hair and purple eyes. On top of that, there’s  a mole under his eyes. If you were an imperial citizen, it’s impossible for you to not have seen the Prince’s portrait.”

“Ariel…”

I poked at his tear mole and said information no one asked me, and this time, Siegfried squinted his eyes at me. I smiled and avoided his gaze.

“You thought I didn’t know you were secretly hoping for me to call you by your name?”

“… Uh”

Siegfried fell silent as I hit the nail on the head. I spoke to the innkeeper, who was in a hurry and was contemplating on whether he should kneel again.

“If you’re done, tell us if we can rent the entire inn, or we’ll have to look elsewhere.”

“O, of course. Please come inside. Are the rest of the party coming too?”

“They will arrive soon. Give me the key to my room first, and please give me water to bathe in.”

Siegfried had to pay for staying downstairs, so I decided to go up first.

After skipping breakfast, I was hungry and wanted to lie down on a better bed than the dirt floor.

“Yes, Madam. Will you and His Highness share a room?”

Siegfried burst into laughter when the innkeeper asked me the question. It was obvious he saw me gaped my mouth because I was speechless.

“I am not married. Please call me Miss.”

I can’t forgive him for touching my sore spot when I may never get married for my whole life because of Siegfried. I turned my head, glancing at the innkeeper.

“But I wonder if the two of you are married….”

“We’re not. His Highness had just recently stopped eating baby food.”

“How young do you think I am?”

“It’s pretty much the same!”

I stuck out my tongue at Siegfried and ran upstairs. I heard Siegfried screaming in anger from downstairs, but I decided to ignore it.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“So you are saying, we have to stay in this town for another three days?”

Abbysion replied and swept my wet blonde hair when I asked him while fumbling with my pasta.

“Milliard will be okay after two days, but the knights aren’t in good condition.”

“Three days will be quick, though. It is fortunate that there is a priest with high divine power.”

“We might meet another assassin on the way, so it would be better if we all go back together.”

I agree with Abbysion. But I am not relieved that I am unsure if Eisa will do something again. Eisa might not give up on Siegfried until he returns to the capital. He will continue to send his own men and try to assassinate him knowing that Siegfried is getting stronger day by day.

In this regard, Siegfried was also unfortunate. His life was constantly threatened by his brother even though they were half-brothers. Nevertheless, I can’t forgive Siegfried for being on the way of my marriage path.

Just he try to show up in front of me to say, ‘Ariel, I am going to marry this woman’ five years later. I will show him the reality. There’s a big possibility Siegfried would do that, so it would be better for me to plan ahead of time how to bite him later and hold it in for now.

“You’re cursing me with your eyes as soon as you see me.”

Siegfried appeared with a neat atmosphere around him as if he had just washed up. That’s too bad, it could’ve been a perfect picture if he hadn’t opened his mouth. 

“I was thinking about what to do in the village for three days.”

I shrugged.

The innkeeper’s wife is good at playing cards. Going shopping isn’t bad either. This is a small town and wasn’t like Ellifritz Estate, but they must have their own famous specialties. Its upper part was a forest, and the lower part was along the sea, so it would be alright to have a walk on the beach.

“I think there is a lot to see. There will be a puppet show tomorrow afternoon. By the way, how’s Milliard doing?” Siegfried asked Abbysion who was sitting opposite of him.

I thought as I listened to Abbysion’s voice listening Milliard’s state. What does he mean by puppet show? As expected, Siegfried have only a well-built body but still a boy.

The South’s puppet show is surely to have nonsense content, so the parents who brought their children would start paying attention and watch. I somehow had a strong hunch that Siegfried would take me to that puppet show tomorrow.

Neither Killian nor Abbysion like puppet shows, and I had already seen them at festivals with Siegfried. And sure enough, Siegfried’s eyes turned to me after hearing all about Milliard and the condition of the knights.

“Do you have time tomorrow?”

“What if I don’t?”

“I would like it if you made time.” Siegfried asked me with the tail of his eyes raised.

It was against the law to smile with that face. 

“I don’t know what to do since I have a lot of free time.”

I knew you’d ask me to go watch that puppet show! I knew it! But why can’t I get away from Siegfried? My answer came out without thinking for a moment.

I wiped my cheeks in shame. What more, this male lead does what he wants to do.

“That’s a relief. I’ve never seen a town like this before. This is my first time.”

He drunk poison when he came from the capital to the South, so he probably didn’t have time to think about that. My own nose is three feet long, but I found myself telling him, ‘That happens’ when I came back to my senses and was looking at Siegfried with pity in my eyes – even if I knew that this was exactly the black headed Prince wanted.

(T/N: ‘My nose is three feet long’ means that someone has his own business to deal with that they are not interested in doing something else; ‘black headed’ Prince refers to Eisa, because what was inside his head was only black thoughts aka killing Siegfried.)

“I heard that if you walk down a little from the inn, you can see the sea. It would be pretty fun to walk on the beach.”

Siegfried pointed to the beach seen through the window. He was not a great person to come back to only watch a puppet show.

“Alright, let’s do that. After all, Your Highness will leave for the Eastern Front after a while.”

It was too late for me to retract what I said, so I just nodded my head. Siegfried stopped walking and looked at me strangely.

“I’m leaving for the Eastern Front? How do you know that?”