Chapter 15

~*~

“Wow.”

Elrose was full of excitement.

Inside the carriage, across from Elrose, Lakshan looked at her instead of the landscape passing by outside because it was a lot more fun.

“Is it really that fun?”

Lakshan asked with a small smile at the appearance of Elrose admiring the sight of birds flying away.

“It’s interesting. The buildings, landscapes, people…”

Lakshan did not understand her response.

“Weren’t you just in the capital? Why are you so impressed with this country road?”

“Uh, it’s…”

Elrose tried to reply while scratching her cheek awkwardly.

“Actually, I was sent to the monastery at a very young age, so I don’t know much about other places. I went to the village near the monastery sometimes, but that was it, and after coming to the capital… to be honest, I was so nervous that I couldn’t even take a moment to appreciate things.”

Elrose said with a smile.

“It’s thanks to you.”

“What?”

“If it weren’t for you, I think I’d still be uneasy thinking about who else would come to catch me and where I should go.”

Elrose looked out of the window again.

It was just rural scenery, but everything seemed interesting to her.

“Thanks to you, I’m able to be like this comfortably.”

As Elrose said that, she gently closed her eyes as if she was happy with the wind blowing.

Lakshan strangely couldn’t take his eyes off of her face.

Elrose’s words of thanks to him continued to ring in his ears.

~*~

The carriage moved for hours without a break.

The farther away from the capital, the worse the road became.

Elrose’s face, which was initially enjoying the carriage trip, also began to turn white as the carriage continued to shake.

And around sunset, the carriage finally arrived at the promised village.

“I think…I’m dying…”

Even when she got out of the carriage, she felt her body was still a little shaky.

She felt her head pounding too.

Elrose looked at Lakshan while desperately trying to hold back the rush to vomit.

As soon as he got off the carriage, he put on the hood and looked like nothing was wrong, unlike Elrose.

“How can you feel fine?”

“Northerners don’t get motion sickness often.”

“I envy you…”

Elrose muttered while vomiting a few more times.

Seeing her, Lakshan raised his head and looked at the village.

Right now the early evening stars were rising, shops were still open, but all the restaurants would be closed soon.

“Elrose, can you move? I’m sorry, but I’m in a hurry to go to a place.”

Lakshan then changed his mind when he saw mercenaries wandering all over the village.

He already saw a lot of northerners because they came up a little from the capital.

In a place like this, the bright blonde, green eyes, and short stature of Elrose was a target.

If she hadn’t been next to him now, she would have been the target of young pickpockets wandering around the carriage.

“Where are you going?”

Having said that there was a place to go, Elrose took a deep breath and stood next to Lakshan.

“A pawnshop and currency exchange. All the gold coins you gave me are imperial gold coins. The problem is that it’s hard to use because of the large unit of money, and the North still uses more of its currency. I think I’ll exchange it to that.”

“I’ve heard of it. The drachma currency.”

Although it belonged to the empire now, the northern part was still a land of strong independence.

So, they prefered a specific currency called the drachma currency that was used in the past.

“Come on!”

Lakshan smiled when he saw color return to Elrose’s face, which had been pale from motion sickness a little while ago.

‘I thought you’d like it.’

The more Lakshan talked to Elrose, the more he felt that he should let her know about this and that.

She seemed to be good at counting because she was quick-witted, so if he told her a little bit, Elrose would quickly grasp prices and things herself.

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As Elrose entered the night street, she soon saw the shops Lakshan was looking for.

Lakshan then opened the door and they went in.

“Welcome, what are you trying to change? I’m telling you in advance, I don’t accept suspicious stolen goods.”

Upon entering, the owner, who looked a bit strict, welcomed the two of them.

“I want to exchange Imperial gold coins for Northern money.”

“How many gold coins?”

“Ten.”

He needed money anyway to spend comfortably until he arrived at his hometown.

When Lakshan handed out the gold coins, the owner made sure it was genuine and then took out the northern currency.

“There are now 15 drachma per imperial gold coin… That’s okay, right?”

“…”

At the number fifteen, Rakshan swallowed a sigh inwardly.

He couldn’t believe that the average trading price of about 20 was 15.

‘Maybe I should go to another store’

However, he soon stopped thinking about it.

Elrose’s condition was not good, and there was no time to haggle.

It was only five off anyways.

It would take about three more days to get home.

The moment Lakshan was about to say yes, Elrose took his hand and spoke in a delicate voice.

“Honey, do you really need to exchange my mother’s keepsake?”

“…?”

Lakshan briefly doubted his ears. Honey? Mother’s keepsake?

Suddenly, he didn’t know why she was doing this especially when he was not saying anything. Elrose slightly turned her head and frowned at him.

‘I’ll take care of it, so you stay put.’

She didn’t even speak, but her voice seemed to ring in his ears.

Elrose saw Lakshan close his mouth and raised his hand to press under his eyes.

“You said you worked hard to collect it for us… Even if we don’t have money, exchanging it like this… it hurts…”

Even her voice sounded like she was about to cry.

Elrose reached out and touched the gold coin that had been held out in front of her by the shopkeeper.

No matter who looked at her, she looked like she was regretting what she loved very much.

“And this keepsake.”

Seeing Elrose’s appearance, the store owner looked a bit bewildered.

“These are gold coins that my mother worked hard to collect while doing business in the morning and evening. Then she fell ill.”

Come to think of it, it wasn’t entirely a lie.

After all, it was from the mansion, so it was the money her mother earned before.

It was also true that she ran the business from morning to evening, and that she died of an illness.

“This is how I say goodbye to her? But if we want to go further north, we need the money… and this is all we have left, so there is nothing we can do…”

Elrose swallowed back the words as if she couldn’t say any more.

All he could hear was the sniffling inside the shop.

The shopkeeper then sighed as he was listening quietly.

“I didn’t know there was such a story… My heart feels hurtful. I’ll change it to 18. Don’t tell anyone.”

Lakshan was taken aback by the owner’s words. No, she pretended to cry, and managed to get more?

Then, Elrose opened her mouth again.

“Really… Thank you. My mother will also be delighted to know that the gold painting she left behind as a keepsake has been a great help to us.”

As she spoke with her head bowed down, she seemed genuinely grateful.

“Now that I’ve changed the money, I’ll buy white daffodils and pray. It was my mother’s favorite flower.”

Then, the owner’s eyes moved.

“…My mother also liked white daffodils.”

The owner sighed for a moment and then continued.

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“The more I hear it, the more I think of my mother. I think it’s meant to be, so I’ll give you a higher price. And…”

The shop owner put a gold coin in Elrose’s hand.

“No matter how hard it is, you can’t sell all the keepsakes. Take one with you.”

While only Lakshan was bewildered, the bargain between the shop owner and Elrose was coming to an end.