Chapter 115

Chapter 87 Departure

On the day of departure, a thick blanket of snow covered the entire city.

The snow must have started falling in the early hours of the morning, and within just one night, the snow had piled up to ankle level on the roads. The fluffy white snowflakes, accompanied by a cold wind, stung my face as they fell.

At the gates of Schantel Castle, the lady was holding a very thick pink fur shawl, insistently trying to drape it over me.

“It’s so cold today, your cloak is too thin to protect you from the snow… Hurry up, don’t dawdle!”

“This is too ugly.” I shook my head repeatedly, resisting her attempts, and held onto her arm with my hand. “I’m really not cold…”

A knight’s cloak could almost wrap around the whole body, not to mention I was also wearing a padded leather skirt underneath… Normally, even if I wore nothing at all… Ugh. In any case, low temperatures were not uncomfortable for me; on the contrary, they were quite comfortable. But now, I was about to be wrapped up like a zongzi (rice dumpling).

But the lady didn’t care about that, and every time she wanted to force me to do something, her delicate arms would suddenly exert incredible strength. Plus, I didn’t dare to struggle, fearing I might hurt her. In the end, the shawl had already wrapped around my neck and was fastened around my body.

The lady patted my shoulder contentedly, completely ignoring my sullen expression. Her actions perfectly embodied the phrase “your mom thinks you’re cold.”

“Where’s Pasefale! Why hasn’t he come to help carry the luggage?”

“…Mom, I’m here…”

A robust but hunched figure slowly walked out from the small path on the right side of the garden.

Pasefale was carrying an incredibly large suitcase, his steps heavy, breathing heavily, and white vapor escaping his mouth. Even in such cold weather, sweat was dripping from his forehead, and his voice was involuntarily trembling.

“Mom, what did you pack for Pepi… It’s so heavy, phew, so heavy… And she’s so strong, why do I have to carry it! Am I not her real son…”

“You’re her brother, act like one! What did you accomplish during those months in the workshop? Hurry up!”

The lady loudly scolded him, and even I could see the委屈 (resentment) on his face. He walked unsteadily, struggling to put the suitcase on his shoulder, attempting to move it into the carriage behind us. However, after two failed attempts, he couldn’t manage it.

Then, a hand reached out from inside the carriage and took the suitcase in. Afterward, half of Carlos’s face appeared.

“Little Hill, what are you carrying in there?”

“Clothes.”

“Can clothes be this heavy?”

Facing Carlos’s doubt, I shifted my gaze from his face to the swirling snowflakes in the sky.

“…And, donuts.”

Carlos was momentarily speechless.

“Alright, you’re great.” He rubbed his temple. “But those things will go bad soon, does it make sense to bring so many?”

I answered him seriously, “I’ll finish eating them before they go bad.”

I was very confident about this, and considering the weather in the Valen Empire, the shelf life could be extended somewhat.

“Gah—”

A loud cry came from a goat cheese in the air, landing on the carriage. The lady saw this and smiled.

“Pepi, remember to write home when you get there.”

I nodded.

“Yeah, I will.”

Then, my gaze turned toward the castle behind us.

The dark, impenetrable fortifications stood firm, the tall spire tower piercing the mountain slope, standing proudly amidst the wind and snow. The Duke and Lafayette were currently in one of the third-floor meeting rooms, negotiating with merchants from afar about iron ore and leather procurement. Before leaving the inner castle, I had already bid them farewell.

I wasn’t sure if they were watching me, but I still waved my hand toward the direction of the castle.

“I’m leaving now.”

“Be careful.”

“Pepi, come back when you’re on vacation!”

“Mm-hmm!”

I bent down to pick up the black leather suitcase next to my feet, slinging it over my shoulder, then looked at the lady one more time before stepping into the carriage.

“Lady, we’re leaving now.”

“Go ahead… Mr. Carlos, thank you for your trouble along the way.”

“It’s nothing.” Hearing this, Carlos spat out half a straw from his mouth with a “pfft,” “Tell His Grace that I will visit him again soon.”

“Alright.”

Snow fell onto her flowing raven-black hair, and the wind swept up strands of hair, brushing against her cheeks.

Even so, it couldn’t hide her eyes, which were as bright and clear as the moon.

“Mr. Carlos, may the moonlight be with you.”

Carlos lightly punched his chest.

Creak… creak…

The carriage began to move. After traveling a few meters, I heard the lady shout once more.

“Pepi! Take good care of yourself there!”

I immediately lifted the curtain and stuck my head out, shouting to the figure standing behind me.

“I will!”

“When something happens, talk to others first! Don’t always try to prove yourself!”

“Okay!”

“…Come back safely…”

“Oh!”

The sound gradually faded away.

The atmosphere inside the carriage became silent.

Carlos leaned back against the seat, looking at me with interest, his gaze making me feel like I was a monkey in a zoo.

So, I glared at him fiercely with my slightly reddened eyes.

“What are you looking at?”

“Girls shouldn’t say dirty words.”

“I hate you the most, staring at me.”

“Haha, what should we do? Now that it’s just the two of us, and I’m bored, while you’re interesting, but not looking at you makes me bored…”

“What are you doing?”

“Going to pick my toes.”

“…Even if you are also considered a noble lady, no, a royal princess, how can you be so crude?”

“It’s none of your…”

“Business.” Carlos didn’t wait for me to finish and immediately continued, “Can we not include a ‘business’ in every three sentences? This will affect my… oh my god!”

Halfway through his sentence, he quickly lifted his feet, evading my sweeping kick with remarkable agility. I was frustrated but had no mood to argue with him, so I just huffed.

“I warn you, don’t provoke me.”

Seeing that I was genuinely upset, Carlos raised both hands hurriedly.

“Alright, alright, I won’t provoke you… Why, are you reluctant to leave here?”

I ignored him.

Reluctant to leave… there was a bit of it, but not entirely.

In truth, I couldn’t quite describe my feelings at this moment.

I found a sense of belonging here.

At the last moment when I looked at the castle, a thought suddenly came to mind: “I once lived here for many years and will continue to do so in the future.”

I didn’t know whether it was my emotion or someone else’s, as according to my memory, I only stayed at Shunter Castle for three months, while my hometown was in a distant world.

But the emotion was incredibly real, piercing me with pain.

What exactly… am I…

“Camel whirlwind.”

“… Are you calling me?”

“Who else could it be?”

Carlos shrugged.

“Oh. Didn’t expect even a name wouldn’t be spared this time. Didn’t react in time, sorry, sorry. What’s up?”

“Do you think the Abyss could possibly alter memories?”

Upon hearing this, he frowned, resting his right hand on his chin in deep thought.

“… Alter memories… How could something as ethereal as memory be altered? Even the Abyss, let alone the gods… What are you trying to say?”

“… No, nothing much.”

It seemed he couldn’t comprehend this.

Neither could anyone else, including myself.

I wasn’t even sure if it was related to the Abyss; it was too hard to understand. To put it metaphorically, my brain felt split in two, one half telling me I’m Peylo and the other telling me I’m Chen Yuxuan. The half that said I’m Peylo gave me my personality, while the half that said I’m Chen Yuxuan provided my memories.

Now, the half that gave me memories is trying to reassign my personality, while the half that gave me my personality is providing new memories.

It’s complicated.

If this happened in my previous world, it would be schizophrenia, commonly known as mental illness.

And clearly, the doctors here couldn’t treat such an illness… Just look at the bird-beaked knight. A seemingly ordinary person turned out to be a world-renowned doctor with exceptional skills.

I wouldn’t trust him with this, and I couldn’t tell anyone about this either.

I’m having a tough time.

“Little Hill, what are you thinking about?”

Suddenly feeling suffocated, I slightly lifted the curtain and noticed the street looked familiar…

“… Stop!”

“What’s wrong?!”

Carlos, who was drowsy, jumped at my sudden shout, then looked outside the carriage and understood what I wanted.

“I’ll go, get some things.”

Before he could stop me, I quickly jumped down and ran across the street to the store selling Osmil cakes.

Stepping inside.

“Welcome~”

The sweet voice, somewhat familiar, belonged to the same familiar shop assistant. She froze for a moment after seeing me.

I walked slowly to the counter and asked her, “Not many customers today?”

“… Yes, probably because it’s the holiday of the gods.” The shop assistant smiled at me after recovering, “Everyone is with their families. Recently, it was quite busy… So, what would you like?”

“Are you alone here?”

“No, my grandfather is here. But he went to buy ingredients in the town to the west…”

“Was it the same last time?”

I recalled my first visit here. At that time, the shop assistant was alone and almost in tears from being busy. It left a strong impression.

“Yes.” The shop assistant revealed a bitter smile, seemingly understanding what I was thinking, “I… I might be a bit slow. When my grandfather isn’t around, I always get overwhelmed and don’t know what to do…”

“Why not hire staff?”

“My grandfather doesn’t allow it… He always thinks young people nowadays can’t be trusted and might steal from the store… However, someone did help before…”

At this point, the shop assistant glanced at me nervously, then seemed to muster courage.

“It was a girl named Peylo… She’s the daughter of a duke. Despite her noble status, she often comes to help when my grandfather is away. Initially, I didn’t dare let her do these tasks, but she insisted… During busy times, she would squeeze through the crowd in the store, enduring all sorts of smells. Her beautiful black hair always became messy. She never asked for payment, just taking some cakes when she left.”

“She must love sweets… and she’s willing to interact with us commoners… She’s a kind girl.”