Chapter 24: CH 23

“Haa. This is killing me. Climbing even the Bukhan Mountain in the middle of summer in Seoul wouldn’t be this hard.”

As Reina climbed Mount Thurn, she eventually stopped in her tracks and opened her water bottle. After emptying its contents in one big gulp, she plopped down on a nearby flat rock.

“Should’ve reached the village by now.”

It was exactly three years ago when she first stepped into Mount Thurn.

Although her father said that he would appease the elder council for her, their nagging had intensified as the days went by. That’s why she had been forced to choose a more extreme method.

「 I’m off to do some soul searching. Don’t look for me. 」

It was a cold, aloof note. People then dubbed it, ‘The Foal of Chantra’s Runaway Attempt’.

Of course, Reina had absolutely no intention of abandoning the wealth and prosperity of House Chantra. The entire thing was a scam that she and her father pulled.

Well-equipped for this scenario, Reina snuck into a covered wagon at the knight order’s complex while they were getting ready for a scheduled territorial inspection.

Anyway, their destination was also just throughout the vast Chantra estate, and there’s nothing dangerous ahead since her father prepared for it already.

And so, what was supposed to be the runaway attempt of an immature little girl soon became an epic journey full of drama and friendship.

She eventually got caught sneaking away and was scolded by the knight captain. Nevertheless, using the alias ‘Jay’, she was alongside the knights as they defeated the gang of hoodlums who were harassing the village.

She found herbs in the mountains that could help everyone that had been neglected by their civilization, which was shaped by magic. She introduced the prospect of herbal medicine.

As she had built strong friendships with the villagers there, she tended to run away from home and go back to that place whenever she was in trouble or whenever she needed some time to think alone.

If she could laugh and talk with people who didn’t know who she was exactly, it’s like a good change of mood. That’s why she always went to that place whenever she had to organize her thoughts.

“I guess I’m almost there.”

As she walked along the road for quite some time, she finally heard the voices of some people. Anticipating their welcome, she walked faster so she could get there sooner.

“Hannah’s gonna like it once she sees the ivory hair comb I got for her, right?”

She was so excited to give the presents that she had prepared for the villagers.

“And I think Morgan will be even taller again.”

At the same time, he’d be complaining about how his pants had become too short. Recalling the tearful face he made before, Reina finally reached the entrance of the village.

However… The atmosphere of the village was a little strange.

“Huh?”

The laughter that had always filled the village had turned into the sound of suffering. The refreshing mountain air had become murky.

And it wasn’t just that. In the center of the mountain village, which was small but full of people, she saw only people who weren’t supposed to be here. They were standing there with grave expressions.

“What’s this…”

Reina frowned at the unusual atmosphere, and she was about to move closer. But then—

“Reina?”

She heard the voice of a man who she never imagined would ever come to a place like this.

“…My love?”

That man turned around with a perplexed expression on his face. But was it really Ethan, her love, the one right in front of her eyes?

“Why are you here, my love?”

Ethan strode towards her, and all she could do was blink continuously because she couldn’t grasp the situation.

“What are you doing here, Miss Reina?”

“I’m here to meet someone I know…”

But before she could finish answering him, his clothes caught her eye.

He was wearing a neat black jacket with the imperial insignia embroidered upon the ornamental strip on his shoulder. This was the uniform that the people in the human resources division use whenever they were on official business.

“Then that means…”

It meant that he was here under an imperial order… But what business could he have in this little village? And he even worked in the human resources division, not the health division.

She then became aware of the situation before her, and an assumption crossed her mind.

Groans of pain.

The villagers, nowhere to be seen.

People wearing sky blue uniforms, the ones used by the authorities in the health division.

And… Ethan, who was good at all kinds of magic, including healing spells.

She then looked around the village. And it was only then that she noticed the acrid smell in the air.

“No way… Is there an epidemic here?”

As she asked with a trembling voice, Ethan nodded with an unreadable expression.

As soon as she saw his answer, she dashed forward. No, she was about to. If Ethan hadn’t caught her, she certainly would have.

Tak—!

“It’s dangerous. We have not found the cause of the epidemic yet.”

“My friends are in there. I have to go.”

She spoke to him differently now, without once saying ‘my love’ with a flirtatious expression, and perhaps it’s because of this that he also responded to her differently.

“The disease is very serious.”

“Right. It’s serious, and that’s exactly why I have to go and see them for myself!”

She pushed him and shouted at him urgently, and she tried to run straight to a patient’s house.

But Ethan grabbed her wrist and spoke to her with a serious voice.

“This is not a joking matter.”

Tension emerged between the two, who never once clashed before.

“And I’m not joking either.”

She had always talked to him with a crooning tone before, but she now pushed him away with an irritated expression. At this, his eyes widened faintly.