A short while later, the carriage stopped in front of an inn with a quite luxurious exterior at a glance.
I led my exhausted body inside.
I had never been to other inns, but perhaps because it was an expensive place, it wasn’t crowded or noisy.
I went up the stairs, passed through a long hallway, and entered the room where I would stay for the day.
The room, which was much smaller than my room at the Duke’s
mansion, was structured with only the simple necessities: a bed, a table, a chair, and a bathroom.
Mary followed me in and helped me organize.
“You must be hungry, right? I’ll go get your meal and bring it right away, so please wait just a moment.”
She left after saying that and returned shortly with food.
“Let’s eat together.”
“No! I will go down and eat, so please enjoy your meal comfortably.”
I asked Mary to eat with me, but she adamantly refused.
I didn’t say anything more and sat at the table.
“My Lady, they say this village’s festival starts today?”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. That’s why the road we passed earlier was so noisy with the festival.”
A festival…
Thinking that Mary hadn’t mentioned the festival to me for no reason, I narrowed my eyes and looked at her.
“Do you want to see the festival?”
“Pardon? No. We have a long way to go, and you don’t have time to delay here.”
“That’s not necessarily true.”
At my words, her expression brightened instantly.
Looking at Mary’s face, which seemed to be expecting something, I fell into thought for a moment before opening my mouth.
“Shall we stay here for about two more days?”
“Is that really okay?”
“I think enjoying the festival wouldn’t be so bad.”
“Wow, I’m so happy. Thank you, My Lady!”
Seeing how happy Mary was made me feel good as well.
Come to think of it, I had plenty of time ahead of me.
My parents hadn’t set a deadline for me to return, so enjoying a festival here for a few days wouldn’t disrupt my schedule.
“Then I’ll tell Sir William!”
“Alright.”
After saying that and confirming that I had picked up my spoon, Mary immediately left the room.
After casting a glance at her departing back, I began my meal as I was very hungry.
The food wasn’t bad.
It wasn’t as good as what I ate at home, but it wasn’t inedible either, so since hunger is the best sauce, I scraped the plate clean.
After finishing the meal, I felt tired and intended to go to bed immediately, but somehow, various thoughts occurred to me simultaneously, making it difficult to fall asleep.
So, to help with digestion and to look around outside for a bit, I left the room.
Retracing the same path I took earlier, I went down the stairs alone and came upon the restaurant and pub operated by the inn.
People were having their meals there.
And among them were two faces I knew.
It was Mary and William.
They were having a meal together.
Although I was watching from a slight distance, the atmosphere between the two of them was somehow unusual.
‘Aha.’
So that was it.
Even though I had asked Mary to eat dinner together earlier, she had vehemently refused, citing reasons such as how nobles and commoners should never share a table.
She must have wanted to eat with the knight named William because she was interested in him.
It seemed that while passing along the news that we would be staying here for a few days, they ended up having a meal together anyway.
I had originally thought about asking Mary to go out with me, but there was no need to take her along in this situation.
Rather, it was more comfortable to go out alone.
So, without disturbing the two of
them, I secretly and carefully slipped out of the inn.
The area in front of the inn was very quiet.
It seemed to be quite a distance from the downtown area.
As I walked through the alleys to head toward the downtown, the voices of people began to grow louder with every step I took.
For the past six months, I had only traveled back and forth between the Hates estate and the Maxius estate for my goal, so I had no chance to know what kind of world this was.
I slowed my pace for a moment and fumbled with the inner pocket.
It was to check if I had enough money. I felt a thick bundle of gold coins in my hand.
‘This should be enough, right?’
After grasping the amount of money I had like that, I delved into the crowd.
The shopping street was dazzling due to the festival.
Despite it being late evening, many people were out on the streets enjoying the festivities.
I was looking around, wondering where to go first, when a delicious scent caught my nose.
I hurried my steps in the direction the smell was coming from.
Soon, a large brazier appeared before my eyes, and various skewers were being grilled on top of it, wafting a savory aroma.
‘Wow, that looks delicious.’
Even though I had finished dinner not long ago, the incredible smell made my mouth water automatically.
I first approached the brazier and scanned the items one by one.
‘Meat, potatoes, corn, sausages…?’
There were more varieties, but those were all I could recognize.
“Which one would you like?”
The owner asked me as I stood there contemplating what to eat.
“Um… give me one sausage, please.”
“Yes, alright. Here you go.”
The owner handed me a sausage skewered on a thin wooden stick.
I took the sausage and fumbled through the pouch containing my money with one hand while asking.
“How much is it?”
“We are giving them out for free during the festival period.”
“For free?”
To think that such appetizing food is free…
At the word ‘free,’ I glanced around for a moment.
Come to think of it, no one was paying; everyone was simply receiving food as if it were the most natural thing.
“Porta Devia.”
“Pardon?”
While I was observing my surroundings, I suddenly heard words I couldn’t understand, so I looked at the owner with a
bewildered expression and asked
back.
“Seeing as you don’t know that phrase, you must be a traveler.”
The owner gave a benevolent smile and spoke to me out of the blue.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Porta Devia is a saying passed down only in our village, meaning ‘Today is the happiest day of your life.’”
“Por… ta Devia?”
“Yes, that’s right. Porta Devia. Throughout the festival, people live with this phrase on their lips.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Well, I’m busy, so I’ll be going. Porta Devia.”
“Porta, Devia.”
As soon as I responded in kind, the owner flashed me another warm smile.
And, seemingly truly busy, he turned around and hurried toward someone else.
I stood still for a moment with a blank expression before turning my steps to leave the spot.
The sausage was just as delicious as it smelled.
I couldn’t tell exactly what was inside, but the ingredients and seasonings blended harmoniously.
After filling my stomach with the sausage, I looked around the street again.
There were far more diverse things being sold on the street than I had expected.
Not to mention clothes and groceries, they were even selling flowers and jewelry, so just looking was a delight.
As I walked around, I felt both fascinated and relieved to see that it wasn’t much different from the places I knew.
While I was roaming through the streets, I discovered a large crowd gathered in a corner.
Judging by how they were standing in a circular formation, there was undoubtedly some kind of performance happening inside.
Curious about what kind of show it was, I carefully squeezed through the gaps between people.
Once my view cleared, I realized that the people capturing everyone’s attention were a circus troupe.
Inside the circle, some people were showing off acrobatics while others were collecting performance fees from the spectators.
However, there was one person among them who drew the most attention: a young boy.
The boy was walking precariously on a tightrope, and at a glance, he looked incredibly unstable.
Above all, to create dramatic tension, they had set a fire pit underneath; if he missed his footing even slightly, the child could fall into the flames.
‘This is too dangerous.’
Looking up, the boy’s face was filled with terror.
His movements were so unpracticed that it was clear he had only tried tightrope walking a few times, or perhaps never at all.
