“Huh?”
Sylvia instinctively accepted the robe handed to her, reminiscent of the time she was given the ring.
“Wrap this around you.”
At Felix’s command, Sylvia quickly donned the robe. Although she had taken it off due to the heat, wearing someone else’s robe felt odd to her. Surprised by its lightweight and cooling touch, which was much more comfortable than her own, her eyes widened.
It was genuinely cool.
It felt as if there was air conditioning inside the robe, making her mouth drop open slightly in surprise.
“I don’t need a robe anyway. You keep it.”
Felix spoke bluntly and turned to walk away. Sylvia quickly grabbed him.
“Thank you!”
Hearing her gratitude, the corners of Felix’s mouth lifted slightly. However, he continued walking as if nothing happened, prompting Sylvia to call out again from behind.
“Where are you going? Let’s eat!”
His steps halted with a clink.
Hesitating briefly, Felix turned around and headed back towards Sylvia. His face showed no emotion, but his eyes sparkled with a curious light as he asked.
“What’s for breakfast today?”
The breakfast spread on the table was abundant but simple in variety, featuring a cool gazpacho, a salad dressed with orange vinaigrette, and a dish containing potatoes, cheese, and eggs.
Sylvia took a refreshing sip of lemonade, then cut into the potato dish with her knife and fork.
After tasting it, she hummed in approval.
“Mmm, savory.”
The rich flavor of cheese and potatoes filled her mouth. Felix, watching her eat, deliberately cut a piece from her plate and chewed thoughtfully.
It was definitely less repulsive than meat.
As Sylvia was chewing, she speared some salad with her fork and held it up to Felix’s lips.
“Open up.”
Felix, now accustomed to this over two days, naturally opened his mouth to accept the salad. The fresh scent of orange filled his mouth and nose, and he enjoyed the crunchy texture. He had always liked the texture of vegetables and fruits.
Dennis, having a big spoonful of the cool soup, was impressed. The soup had a spicy aftertaste but was predominantly fresh with the tanginess of tomatoes, the sweetness of bell peppers, and the coolness of cucumbers blending together in his mouth.
It was a perfect dish for the hot weather, prompting continuous praise.
“What exactly is this dish made of? I’ve never tasted anything like this in my life, Miss Sylvia.”
As Sylvia, who had been diligently feeding Felix like a mother bird to her chick, turned her head to respond.
“Do you like it?”
“Really! It’s delicious.”
Hearing the hearty response, Sylvia’s eyes narrowed with pleasure.
“I’m glad you like it!”
The reward of cooking often comes from such simple moments. It might seem trivial, but when people relish her food with admiration, she feels a deep sense of happiness.
This feeling had remained unchanged since her days back home.
“It’s really good!”
The members unanimously responded, giving thumbs up.
With a beaming smile, Sylvia also gave a thumbs up in return.
★★37. The Monster…★★
Just changing into a robe made Sylvia feel like she could survive, as she gripped the handle tightly while trying to maintain her balance on the swaying horse. Though it had only been a few days, she still wasn’t accustomed to horseback riding, which was problematic.
The path leading into the notoriously rugged Shebusalatus Mountains made it worse. The forest became denser, and the trees abnormally tall and large. Far from cooling down, the deeper they went into the mountains, the hotter it became.
Fanning the front of her shirt under the robe, Sylvia thought,
‘If I didn’t have this robe, I might have just given up halfway. The saying that leaving home is a real struggle fits perfectly!’
She grumbled to herself while watching the silhouettes of the members who were riding ahead of her and Felix.
‘How tough must it be for a mercenary group hunting monsters? They’re really incredible.’
Sylvia, who had been selling lunches to the mercenary group, felt a deeper connection to them.
‘Ah… I wonder how inconvenient it must have been for my customers since I suddenly stopped selling lunches.’
The thought made her feel gloomy.
‘I should have stopped by to let someone know, even for a moment. I was such a fool, really.’
Trust is vital in business, and she had been too complacent. Frequenting the duke’s house had made her unwittingly adopt their ways.
‘Silly Sylvia! Stupid Sylvia! Ugh, really. It would have been so much better if I had informed someone sooner!’
If only the duke hadn’t made such an offer.
No, that’s not right.
It was her fault for not saying anything, overwhelmed by the pressure.
Sitting on the horse and merely traveling brought a flood of random thoughts.
‘Ah, really. I should have returned the jewels. Then I wouldn’t have had to leave the castle feeling so uneasy, as if I was running away. No, it’s already a flight.’
She shook her head vigorously, overwhelmed by a sense of self-reproach.
“Why are you doing that?”
Watching her turquoise hair swaying like a horse’s tail right in front of him, Felix asked. And as he did, the tips of her hair slapped Felix’s face.
Whack!
Felix blinked repeatedly as her hair whipped across his face.
“Sorry!”
Sylvia, startled by the louder than expected noise, hurriedly apologized. He wasn’t upset, just taken aback. After all, who else would dare to hit the face of a crown prince with their hair?
At a loss for words in her surprise, Sylvia was unable to respond when suddenly, Hubert whistled from afar. Felix’s expression turned icy in an instant.
“Hold on tight.”
“What?”
His voice, seemingly laced with anger, made no difference to Sylvia’s confusion as Felix leapt from the horse.
Tying the reins to a nearby tree, he looked back at Sylvia.
“Don’t move no matter what. And if it comes to it, use magic to escape. You know wind magic, right?”
Felix whispered softly, knowing she could cast various elemental magics. Sylvia, sensing the urgency of the situation, nodded quickly.
“Okay, don’t worry.”
As she watched Felix move, scanning the surroundings, she spoke softly to him.
“Be careful, Felix.”
He paused momentarily as he was about to move, then spoke as he resumed his steps.
“I will.”
With that, he dashed off with a speed surprising for someone clad in armor. A short distance away, the members were all drawing their swords, ready for action. Sylvia pulled the hood of her robe over her head, not taking her eyes off them.
[Sylvia!]
Erin, worried, emerged on her own from within Felix’s armor.
This area was saturated with the monster’s aura, a place despised by the fairies. Thus, they had burrowed into Felix’s aura-imbued belongings for safety. But Erin couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Sylvia alone and had come out.
“Erin, it’s dangerous. Come here.”
She pulled Erin into the robe with her. The fairy, nestled against her chest, squirmed before peeking out to check on the mercenaries facing off against the monster.
“It should be okay, right? The monster isn’t visible yet… Where is it?”
All Sylvia could see were the mercenaries. She squinted, trying to discern more, when suddenly, something long burst from the ground.
“What’s that?!”
It resembled an enlarged worm. Tentacles, like those of a cephalopod, moved swiftly, attempting to capture the members.
Screech.
The sound, akin to metal scraping, assaulted her ears, sending shivers down her spine. She gripped the saddle handle she had been holding even tighter, clenching her teeth and unable to look away from the mercenaries.
Felix swiftly maneuvered, swinging his Buster Sword.
Boom!
Flames erupted, and a fierce wind blew. Hubert’s water magic clung to the tentacles like vines, severing them. Sylvia turned her head away from the sight of blue blood splattering, unable to watch any longer.
Her stomach churned. She felt like she would throw up everything she had eaten for breakfast. Despite the mercenaries handling the monster with ease, Sylvia, unaware of this, felt worried and even teared up.
Felix found the monster’s head and struck it with his sword. It seemed like a mere touch, but the head split into two with a ripping sound.
He stepped back to avoid the monster’s blue blood splattering in all directions. With no other monsters in sight, Felix delegated the cleanup to his subordinates and rushed back to Sylvia.
He had been worried about her the whole time. He needed to see for himself that she was safe. Seeing Sylvia turning her head while sitting alone on the horse, Felix pushed himself to run faster.
Approaching her, he saw tears welling up in her eyes, her face flushed and sniffling. Felix sheathed his sword and moved closer.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Felix…”
Sylvia, unaware of his approach, stuttered his name. After quickly scanning him to ensure he was unharmed, she asked,
“Is everyone safe?”
To him, the monster was merely a low-level threat, so he didn’t immediately grasp her concern. But soon understanding her meaning, he spoke sternly.
“We’re not so weak as to be taken down by such a trivial monster.”
Her eyes widened at the word “trivial,” implying the monster was low-level.
Such a grotesque creature was considered low-level…
Surely the higher-level ones wouldn’t be even more repulsive?
She had just been regretting her decision to come, and it seemed likely she would do so more often, especially after encountering monsters. She bit her lip and teared up, staring at Felix, who examined Sylvia’s pale face and moved even closer.
“Why are you so pale?”
With a ghastly pale face, Sylvia reached out.
“Can you help me down…?”
At her request, Felix immediately reached out, helping Sylvia down. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she leaned against a tree and vomited everything she had eaten. The foul smell from the monster’s blood splattered on Felix’s armor finally upset her stomach.
“Ugh, sob.”
Felix was frozen. His mind went blank at the sight of her throwing up. Memories of his own hungry childhood in the palace flashed through his mind. At the same time, he reached out and grabbed Sylvia’s arm tightly.
“Who is it!”
Mistaking her sickness for poisoning, Felix’s expression turned terrifyingly stern. However, unable to interrogate her further as she continued to vomit, he gently patted Sylvia’s back with his large hand, urging her,
“Throw it all up. Don’t leave anything behind.”
He knew he couldn’t die from poisoned food; the black dragon’s power and blood coursing through him would forcibly sustain him.
He hadn’t considered Sylvia’s life to be in danger since she possessed dragon’s power, but he was furious nonetheless.
“Who is it?”
His voice was deadly serious this time, filled with a resolve to find and eliminate the culprit. He thought he was being gentle, but Sylvia felt as if her back was being beaten to a pulp.
It seemed she might actually vomit her stomach lining if he kept going.
“Stop hitting me!”
Sylvia moved the hand that was holding onto the tree to grab Felix’s arm. The face she saw was…
Terrifying.
In a word, he resembled a monster.
The blue blood splattered on his armor was congealing, and his expression was indescribably fierce. The handle of the sword on his back was starkly stained with blood, and more than anything, the flow of magical power pulsating around him was immense.
With a pale face, Sylvia said,
“Why are you like this?”
Who was questioning whom at this moment? Felix’s expression darkened further.
“Who is it! Who fed you poison!”
Sylvia finally grasped the situation and shook her head vigorously.
“It’s not that… ugh!”
The dizziness from shaking her head too much caused her to retch again.
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