When the two had passed the mountain, they were already far away from Juliana and well into the woodlands. This part of the empire - the Vitlu peninsula was particularly notorious for bandits, as there would frequently be summer droughts that would bring hardship on the already agricultural disadvantaged Vitlu peninsula.

This was as the Vitlu peninsula lacks lakes and rivers, forcing the ancient emperors to construct massive aqueducts to carry freshwater from the far off regions of the empire. Moreover, the region surrounding the capital was highly developed economically, attracting both merchants and bandits.

Previously, the Strategos of the various Theme had been in charge of putting end banditry, whether it be through the gruesome means of cutting off the bandit's head and limbs to be displayed as a form of deterrence, or through reintegrating them as police or even 'bandit catchers'.

However, in the past dozen years, Julia, who had allowed for a largely decentralised reign, began to revoke many privileges the Strategos formally possessed, causing their personal force which was used to catch bandits, to weaken inefficiency.

The system of which the Juliana empire was governed was unlike the human kingdoms of the north. Rather than hereditary, positions of powers were technically selected by Julia herself. Though since most Strategos had lived longer lives than the time the empire had existed, there had been a limited shuffling of powers over the past ten thousand years.

Only recently, had positions been revoked by Julia, though since she was the oldest and strongest living creature on the continent, there had yet to be of any turmoil.

The spring winds had made the leaves and grass green. They were nevertheless crushed by two pairs of feet while some butterflies laid dormant on vibrant flowers. 

The two were walking at the leisurely pace, for Anna was constantly focused on the scenery, the untied strands of loose hair blowing in the temperate wind. 

The feet of the two had been soaked in water for long, so it was naturally somewhat wrinkly. After leaving the aqueducts, Anna had not put on her shoes back, though Ovid, who has Mysophobia, had begun wearing his sandals before he first steps foot onto the black soil that Anna was joyfully treading through.

The girl was definitely full of energy when she would find something of interest, she would bend her knees, which caused the sunlight to elongate her figure. She then stared intensely at the subject that attracted her attention, and would stare at it with a curious expression. 

Ovid in response, would stop and wait for the girl. He stared blankly at nothingness and seemed immersed in his own thoughts, or perhaps he was merely dozing off.

When the sun was fading, Ovid would find a big shade to rest under and began collecting firewood. After lighting the firewood aflame with a flint and steel, he would carefully wipe away the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead. 

Strangely, within Anna's satchel was a pot, so she would throw a couple of pieces of dried meat into the boiling water, and the two would enjoy some boiled meat while lying on the soft, comfortable grass.

Through the smokes of the flames, Anna said to Ovid, "Thank you for taking the troubles." 

Ovid took a thick branch and slowly moved around the firewood. He said, "That's something I should do." 

He massaged the bridge of his nose and suddenly asked, "Why chose me?" 

Anna asked curiously, "What?" 

"As a member of the royalty, you can hire people capable of protecting you, choosing me to travel with you is not the most logical choice." 

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Anna looked and him and smiled, she answered, "Because my intuition tells me that you are a good person." 

A woman's instinct was often their most powerful weapon, whether it be rural farmers or royalty, it was always something quite confusing to someone of the opposite sex. Anna felt that this although this person seemed cold and apathetic, he was a very honest person, and quite enjoyed the feeling when sitting across him by the bonfire. 

Perhaps as she was rather blunt with such statement, Ovid could not help but say to her earnestly, "You should have hired guards or travelled with a caravan."

Anna lowered her head and responded, "Because it's less conspicuous to travel with you."

Such simple reason held behind it a mountain of logic. Since Anna was a royalty fleeing from the nation, it was only natural to travel with the least amount of people possible. Moreover, Ovid was not someone indigenous to this world and held no loyalty as to reporting Anna to any officials. 

Since what Anna said made sense, Ovid no longer spends any time on the topic. He focused his gaze on the piece of boiled meat and refrained from speaking. 

Anna suddenly asked, "I believe I have never asked for your name."

Ovid grew hesitant, but still answered, "Ovid is fine."

He added after a moment, "I already know yours. There is no need for you to repeat yourself."

"However, you should put more focus onto disguising yourself, as you said, we should seek to attract as little attention as possible, yet you are dressed in purple."

Anna thought what Ovid said was quite reasonable, yet responded regretfully, "I didn't bring any clothes with me."

Anna had lived in the city of Juliana for her entire life. Even though the city was the largest on the continent, it was never necessary for Anna to bring a change of clothes as she went - even if her satchel seemed as if able to store countless objects, it was never on her mind. 

Ovid shook his head and asked, "Then should we travel on a less walked path?" 

Anna, who was ignorant of the dangers of the world, hastily agreed with Ovid's decision, she took out a map detailing the capital and the area surrounding it and looked at the narrow roads before finding one that reached a city a few dozen miles from their current position. 

She showed the path to Ovid, who had no qualms with the choice before placing the map back into her satchel.

These two were indeed naive, as the road was one way and had thick forests on both sides - the ideal location for illicit activities such as banditry to take place. 

When the sun had completely faded, and the sky was covered by a blanket of stars, Anna yawned twice and covered herself with her outerwear, acting as a blanket. She said, "Good night." 

Although nether two had slept the previous night, Anna was clearly in a more tired state than Ovid, before long, she had sunken into a sleep deep, as though even the loudest of thunder cannot wake her.

Ovid extinguished the bonfire and immersed himself at the unfamiliar night sky, glancing at the stars, he grew nostalgic when he realised that, in this world, there were no moons in this world - this was certainly normal, as this world is completely unique from his own, yet still, he could not help but feel cold realising he was going to live under a different sky. He sighed subconsciously before slowly falling asleep.

Ovid woke up before the sun had risen. Mechanically, he took thirty seconds to inhale air, holding for a further thirty seconds, before slowly releasing it over the course of another thirty seconds. Since there was no quilt, he could not perform his usual routine of folding the quilt's edges so that they perfectly align, though he was still able to brush his teeth by exchanging the toothbrush for rough linen cloth and drink exactly two cups of water. 

The bonfire he had extinguished had long lost any heat, though he realised that this body was strangely adaptable, and was unaffected by sleeping exposed to the open air.

After he rekindled the bonfire and inserted a few potatoes beneath the flames, he began to sit idly by. Inevitably, it was quite boring, though Ovid was used to boredom since he was a child, and therefore could stand it.

He silently wrote the equation Kac formula onto the soft dirt using a twig. 

His writing was very strange - it did not look like something written by a person. The strokes were calculated and precious, each letter was of the same size and appeared more as something typed on a computer and printed. Although it was on loose soil, the words seemed to have become a permanent feature of the world. 

It was much later when Anna woke up, and when she did, she seemed utterly surprised and upset, as if she craved to sleep until the next day. 

Ovid passed Anna a roasted potato he had cooked the hour before and said, "We will eat these while walking."

Anna felt the potatoes in her hands were perfect in temperature, not hot enough to scald her hands, yet was warm and hearty.

As the two walked, the amount of vegetation increased, and the landscape seemed to have come alive. Since the empire was quite big, and the two were travelling on foot, the leaves were still green and waxy, yet now the trees began to tower over the two from the side of the road.

Perhaps as the tall trees shaded the whole area, the temperature quickly fell, and an anxious and depressed air enveloped the two. Yet still, neither seem aware of the oppressive aura.

Anna still wandered with excitement at every little thing, carrying a smile as she listened to the melody of the forest. This continued for several more days until the two arrived at the periphery of the forest. The sight of open grounds was a wonderful sight for Ovid and Anna, who had by now grown tired of the umbrage shadows cast by the forest.

Not far North of the forest was the city of Phalaris, where Anna plans to buy a new set of less conspicuous clothing, while also buying dried figs and other snacks. Perhaps she could also bargain with the locals, and obtain some souvenirs.      

At dawn, Anna dumped the bowl of still lukewarm water she had used to wash his hands and feet.