I Have No Choice but to...

In the end, I didn't get to enjoy the festival properly.

After I collapsed, the chest pain didn't return, but Derek insisted we only walk around a little and then get some early rest, just in case anything happened.

He said we'd have another chance to enjoy a festival like this in the capital...

But hadn't he said things were unsettled in the south right now? Would they even hold the festival properly in the capital?

Well, the Empire was so vast and powerful that it could afford to let the south handle things on its own.

“So, in the end, all I got out of Blasheim was Derek's cloak, a few handfuls of flower petals that could be used as truth serum or cosmetics, one uninvited guest, and chest pain.”

“Miss, you call me an uninvited guest? Since we're headed to the capital anyway, I thought I'd come along... No, I suppose in some ways, I am an uninvited guest.”

“Oh... Did I just say that out loud? I'm sorry, Sir Lyles.”

Inside the carriage, where the beds had been converted back into seats.

Derek sat beside me, and that uninvited guest sat across from us...