Meiandra Arivs stood in the grass in front of the carriage. She was free at last. Behind her, she could hear the Queen's voice muffled through the door, but it was no longer about her.

The evening was drawing to a close and night was slowly falling. The rain had stopped. There were still a few clouds in the sky, but they too would probably clear soon. The bridge was no longer visible, but the sound of rushing water could still be heard faintly in the distance. The air was wet and refreshingly cool. It was calming.

Meia walked towards the horses. The white moon hid in the treetops to the left. Both wagons in the convoy had stopped here at the side of the path. This spot had probably been chosen because there was a wide grass verge here on one side of the path, leaving enough space for an oncoming wagon to pass by theirs. Behind the grass verge was a slight slope and below were the trees of the forest. On the other side of the path, the forest began right next to the path and at the same height as it.

The horses barely reacted when Meia walked past. In general, they moved very little.

Meia had a goal. In front of the convoy, Violet stood alone in the middle of the path. Her hip was out to one side. Her left hand was on her hip and Meia couldn't see the other. It wasn't an unusual posture per se, but it was still something that caught Meia's eye. Violet had a figure like an hourglass and the pose strongly emphasized that. The bent arm with the hand on her hip held the cloak to the side, allowing her butt to be clearly seen. Meia didn't obsessively pay attention to women's bottoms, but in this case it was hard for her not to look for two reasons. The first was that the swords were easier to see. The second was that the swords illuminated her butt. It was the brightest spot.

Meia made an effort not to look anyway. It seemed as if Violet had something in her hand. But Meia couldn't see what it was. From her posture, she would guess it was a watch.

Violet seemed very confident. She was only slightly taller than Meia herself. Nevertheless, she seemed like an unbreakable wall. Meia had met many swordsmen before, but never had she felt this strong. It was ... Safety? The closer she got to Violet, the safer she felt. As if it didn't matter what was lurking in the darkness. As if there was no evil in this world that could harm her. Meia couldn't make others feel this way. It was almost intimidating.

The first night of the journey, the swords had shone just as brightly as they did now. Even from a distance, you would no longer believe that they were simple lanterns. The light was too clean.

Meia was still very interested in the swords. She was probably curious by nature, but that wasn't even the only reason.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Meia has always found adventurers fascinating. Accordingly, she was also interested in weapons and equipment. She didn't know where exactly this fascination came from. It had always been like this, as far back as she could remember. Meia thought that she would at least know every weapon steel by now, but for the life of her she didn't know what these swords were made of. It certainly wasn't Krystafei, because Krystafei glowed yellowish and not pure white and was also too fragile. It was completely unsuitable for weapons. There were other minerals that glowed, but they were no different. No matter how much you knew in one area, it seemed you never knew everything there was to know.

Meia paused thoughtfully. She gathered her courage, swallowed once and nodded. Then she walked up to Violet.

"What is it?" Violet asked without turning around. She had long since noticed the approach.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Violet answered without turning around. "Sure." Then she pocketed the object from her hand and finally turned around.

Now that Meia was so close to Violet, she noticed a faint scent in the air. It reminded her of raspberries.

"Um..."

"But I'm afraid I don't have time right now. Ask me later. Sit on the carriage until then."

It sounded very understanding, but it didn't really matter how it sounded, because Meia couldn't refuse anyway.

"Can I instead stand next to the carriage?"

"Hm? If you want to. But stay close to the carriage."

"Thank you very much."

Meia leaned forward with her upper body in gratitude and for a moment Violet looked surprised.

"Fufu..." Violet chuckled. It sounded enchanting. "I don't like people who only do what they feel like doing. Now go to the carriage."

"Yes." Meia replied resolutely and left immediately.

Back to the carriage, Meia had a grin on her face. It seemed as if Violet had understood that the thanks were not for the permission, but for the rescue from the queen. It also looked as if she had actually freed her from the carriage just for that. Meia didn't look like a classic coachman, and even less so when she was standing next to the carriage. Violet didn't like it when people only did what they felt like doing. - She was definitely referring to the queen. She probably didn't like her either.

Meia was now even more impressed by Violet than she already was. Violet was the epitome of beauty and had an outgoing personality. She had an enchanting voice and smelled like berries. Presumably she was also one of the strongest fighters in the country and evidently very rich. On top of that, she was friendly and helpful. It seemed as if there was no positive attribute that she lacked. Meia felt like she was the complete opposite of her. Violet seemed unreachable. Meia would love to be her maid. Violet certainly traveled a lot and Meia could discover all the places there were in the world. She wouldn't mind washing her plates either. The plates she used were probably already clean before she washed them. But unfortunately, that was all a pipe dream. Instead, she would be alone with the sadistic queen and her colleague from Aoka onwards. Her stomach twisted just thinking about it. Hopefully the queen wasn't planning to make up for the torture she was currently missing out on.

.../ End Part