Book 6: Chapter 9
The trip from the royal capital northward was very interesting because while the royal capital in the south was on a large plain with relatively moderate weather conditions. It certainly was very cold in winter, but nowhere near as cold as it was in the north. Further, the snow in the north is a big nuisance. You couldn’t miss the snow slowly piling up more and more as well as the temperature dipping more and more as you went from the royal capital to the north. That said, north of the royal capital is where the elven border is. The four seasons in the elven lands are like spring, so once you reach a certain point and if you continue northward, then the temperature will rise slightly.
Due to the army being around, we couldn’t go fast, but at the same time, they were the reasons we had plenty of food. It was different camping in the wild at night as well. Mom couldn’t deal with being in the horse-carriage the entire time as I thought. Hence, as soon as we reached the part where there were no people on the roads, she switched to a horse.
It goes without saying that she kept her face-veil on. The empress will be fine if she loses her veil, and so will the Valkyries. But everybody else will be without their heads. Wearing a face-veil didn’t slow the empress down though. She was elated. She’d do little sprint-spurts every now and then on her horse and then come back. I could tell that she was very happy to get that opportunity.
Castell sat down beside me and helped himself to a dried piece of meat without standing on ceremony. He then drank a few mouthfuls of grape wine and with a smile said: “You will arrive at your domain tomorrow, your majesty. Gosh, this is a tiring trip. It looks like I am old now.”
I shook my head while smiling and asked: “Castell, you’re only five or six years older than me, aren’t you? What do you mean you’re old? I mean, look at Alice. She’s much older and isn’t she riding on her horse cheerfully?”
Alice who was seated next to another fire turned her head around. She revealed a friendly smile and said: “Your majesty, I cannot pretend I did not hear that.”
I was frightened by her and my whole body very much felt my fear, so I quickly apologised. Mom laughed out loud and then wrapped her arm around Alice again and continued drinking. Castell pursed his lips into a smile and continued: “It looks like it is not just her majesty who is excited. You seem very excited too, your majesty.”
“It is my domain after all.”
“However, your majesty, I must remind you that your domain cannot be considered rich. It would be more correct to say it is barren. Of course, that is not her majesty’s fault. Her majesty noted that the food-production volume there was acceptable. But when I looked into it, I discovered that the food-production volume reported was false. And as it sits on the border, it does not show any indication of prosperity. As such, you will have to work hard.”