Chapter 285: A New Level of Loneliness
When was the longest Irene had gone without talking to another person?
The thought struck her as she went up the mostly unbeaten mountain trail, the evidence of weathering more than the evidence of travel. Each time she saw the few signs of worn stone or trail, she wondered if it was only her family who had made those signs of life.
Even though she was all alone in this desolate place, it felt so alive because of the signs of living and surviving. Her own family’s perseverance made her smile.
However, after a few days of loneliness and only her horse to talk to, Irene recalled something her father told her. It was advice he got from his mother when the only people she traveled with were children who hung onto her and didn’t offer much in terms of conversation. She was unable to relax for even a moment, worried about monsters that could undoubtedly cause harm to the children she had brought with her.
On her journey, Kara started a journal of sorts. She wrote each entry like a letter to someone in the future or even her future self to see how far she had come or how much she had changed. What she didn’t know was that those short letters would be memories her granddaughter would fondly read whenever she wanted a peek into the past.
Arthur, on the other hand, had a specific purpose for the writings that kept him company as his fire died down each night. By the time he was sixteen, he was fully smitten by a girl a year younger than him. It was the very girl he grew up to marry and have children with.
When he was permitted to go off on his journey and visit his father’s grave, he began his notes to Rochelle. He had bound a notebook before he left and wrote in it every single day until he had to start filling up the backs of the pages.
By the end of his journey, there wasn’t only ink but blood on the pages from a run-in with unexpected monsters. He delivered the book to Rochelle in secret, and he didn’t see her after that for a few more years. After all, he didn’t have her parents’ permission. She was a finely-groomed noble girl while he was a wild animal.
It wasn’t until he was making a name for himself as a knight, directly appointed by the King, that he was able to get Rochelle’s parents’ approval.