That night, I only managed a very light sleep for the earlier part of the night, my mind preoccupied with the possibility of the bandits returning later on. However, it wasn't much different from the nights I spent on the road. At least here, I had the comfort of a nice bed and managed to sleep soundly for the other half of the night. So, all in all, it wasn't bad at all.

  In the early morning, I woke up to the sound of a commotion. It wasn't like the night prior, it came from inside the house, so rather it was one that felt oddly familiar, the clinking of cooking utensils and steel plates.

  I rose from my bed, which I had shared the night before with both Madeline and Lily, though they weren't there now. Stretching, I exited the room, immediately spotting Lily and Madeline in the kitchen.

  "Good morning," Lily greeted enthusiastically.

  "Good morning, Arianna," Madeline greeted with a solemn expression.

  "Good morning you two," I greeted before following up with an unintended yawn.

  "You can still go back to sleep if you want, you know. After what happened last night it’s not surprising if you didn’t get enough sleep."

  "Maa, what happened last night?" Lily asked curiously.

  "Nothing," Madeline promptly deflected. "We just slept very late at night."

  I shook my head. "It’s alright I said," responding to her offer. "I slept just fine. I just need a morning bath."

  They exchanged confused glances. "But didn't you bathe yesterday?" Lily asked, puzzled.

  "Yeah, but I always feel refreshed after a morning bath," I explained with a smile, brushing off their confusion.

  Madeline and Lily exchanged another glance, this time with a hint of amusement mixed with their confusion. "Alright then, suit yourself. There's still water from yesterday in the bath," Madeline said, shrugging lightly. "But it must still be freezing, which is why I'd recommend waiting until the sun is a little higher."

  "It's alright. I may not look like it, but I can handle the cold temperature just fine," I replied, shrugging her warning off with a smile.

  True to Madeline's warning, the water was indeed cold, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. Done with my bath, I changed back into my knight-training outfit. Initially, I had planned on asking for new clothes from Madeline that I could wear on my journey. However, I ultimately chose not to. I didn't have any money to pay for it.

  The thing is, back in the castle, as Faye, I had never seen money, at least not in its conventional coin form. If I weren’t someone already familiar with coins, having lived several lives before this one, I might still be clueless as to what money is like. Money would’ve been just a very abstract concept just like it is the case for my sisters who can only know about them through lectures. The reason for this is that money didn't circulate within the chateau’s walls; instead, we made requests for whatever we needed, and it was taken care of by a designated keeper of finances. They would arrange for purchases in the nearby town using money we don’t even get to catch a glimpse of.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  So, no, I wasn't able to bring money from the chateau.

  What I did, however, was bring some jewelry, ones that I believed could be sold for a good price, for I knew that I'd eventually need money. So, while I had something of value, there was nothing here in this village that could possibly be worth the jewelry I bought.

  I was a fan of equivalent exchange, and while I was already very uncomfortable with the idea of sleeping with them without offering anything in exchange, there was no way it was worth any of the jewelry I bought. So, I decided it was fine to just sleep here with nothing to offer, even though it was uncomfortable, which is also why I didn't want to burden myself with the guilt of asking for something else. If I had to ask anything else from these people, I'd ask for something ideally a ragged piece of clothes to wrap Impotence, my staff with. Then, I would be able to just wear my hood above my knight-training outfit.

  ***

  As I entered back into the house, I saw Lily noticing my outfit first, her gaze lingering for a moment before she finally gave up whatever she was occupied with to ask, "Arianna, is it true that you're leaving already?"

  At her question, I looked at Madeline, who made an intentional wince, so I conjured a small smile. "Yes, Lily, it's true. I have to continue my journey."

  Lily's expression fell, disappointment evident in her features. "But you just got here..."

  I nodded sympathetically. "I know, and I wish I could stay longer. But there are things I need to do and places I need to be."

  Madeline joined us, adding in a comforting voice, "Lily, dear, Arianna has her place to go. We should be grateful for the time we've had with her. But there are places she should be, like with her brother, for example, which I'm sure is missing her."

  At these words, I couldn't help but wince, internally chastising myself for having mentioned that.

  "Is it true?" Lily asked.

  I nodded, confirming her question.

  Lily's shoulders slumped, but she nodded understandingly. "I'll miss you, Arianna."

  Reaching out to ruffle her hair affectionately, I replied, "I'll miss you too, Li—" Before I could finish, however, a knock reverberated on the door.

  "Madeline, it's me, Thorne," came a voice from outside.

  "I'll go see what it's about," Madeline said, walking to the door. She opened it to talk with one of the villagers, a man I had yet to meet outside.

  After a couple of minutes, Madeline came back with a heavy expression, clearly indicating that something had happened.

  "A problem?" I asked, noticing her hesitancy to speak.

  She looked at me, seeming hesitant to talk, confirming my suspicion that it had something to do with me.

  "What is it?" I pressed.

  "Arianna... It's your horse..." she began.

  ***

  After arriving at the village, I had attached Veilleuse, my horse, to where the dilapidated stables were, deeming it the best place for her. She was a healthy horse, I only now realized she was a mare. But now, all that was left of her was a cold, headless corpse.

  "We discovered it this morning," Thorne explained grimly.

  "It must be their doing."

  "How horrible," I heard from one of the gathered villagers.

  Madeline offered her condolences for my horse. "I'm sorry for your horse," she said softly.

  "It's okay," I replied, forcing a calm facade. "It's alright."

  But of course, it wasn't alright. I was pissed, rightfully so. I felt like strangling those bandits. But even if I was angry, I wasn't that angry to act on impulse.

  Reminding myself of our motto about revenge, I heaved out a heavy sigh and then asked, "Do you have any other horse I could use?"

  Tavon, the village elder, was the one to answer my question. He shook his head. "All our horses had been requisitioned by them."

  It was needless to say who "them" were.

  "We only have our cow to bring us anywhere," he added, motioning with his cane at a cow carriage on a corner of the street.

  "I see..."

  I believed the situation had escalated to the "can't help" threshold, where there could only be one thing to be done.

  Turning toward the village elder and Madeline, who both stood to my left, I asked, "If, let's say, I were to use my magician magic, how much are you all willing to pay to have this bandit problem removed?"