Eislyn

08: Show Some Courtesy

Before the sun went down, they left Tatian County to embark on their journey to the capital city of Aglia. It was only Eislyn and the man who both shared a horse. The man reluctantly accepted her request and immediately set off without men following along. It turned out he was commissioned by House Tatian to aid in the rescue mission and came from the capital city alone. The rest were people belonging to House Tatian.

As for his identity, she still didn't know, and she couldn't raise a question because that would go against her role as his guardian angel. She did overhear a knight addressing him as 'Sir Romero', so at least she knew his surname.

She held the man's waist from behind as they rode the horse, and she could feel his hard muscles underneath his clothes. Sir Romero seemed to train diligently with how well-built he was, the exact opposite of her. All she had now was her flabby meat, but if it were before, her bottom wouldn't have been in pain already from riding a horse. She silently cried and wished for the man to stop and take a break, but she doubted it'd come true.

Before they left, she lied and told the man she didn't know how to ride a horse.

"A nuisance," he had said before adding, "I decide when we will rest, so I hope I won't hear any complaint during the ride, or we will part ways."

Ultimately, he let her ride with him under the premise that she wouldn't complain and whine, hurting his ears. Thus, she swallowed her words each time she was about to run her mouth off.

When night fell, they finally stopped by a village to rest. The village was small and didn't have a lot of people, so the inn wasn't full. Sir Romero entered the inn, and Eislyn quietly followed him inside. It was just a cheap inn with a few people drinking at the tables who looked to be either mercenaries or hoodlums. Behind the reception was a middle-aged man; some parts of his hair had already turned grey from ageing.

Sir Romero placed a gold coin on the counter and said, "Two single bedrooms for a night."

Eislyn looked at the gold coin, and her throat was filled with words she could not utter to the end. This man might be rich, but he didn't have to take out gold, did he? It would only cost them coppers in shabby places like this. If he took out something way more than the price, the probability of being a target was high.

The middle-aged man accepted the coin with his shaky hands and nodded frantically. "Y-Yes, esteemed sir! These are the keys to your rooms!" He frantically grabbed two random keys and gave them to the man.

His shocked reaction caught the attention of the other people inside. Eislyn spotted a few of them glancing towards the reception with unusual smiles; they were plotting something in their heads. The night wouldn't be as peaceful as she had thought, but she wasn't fearful. That man was strong; he likely knew about the risks and nevertheless acted out.

Did he only carry gold coins on him? She would ask for money from him later; perhaps he would be kind enough to donate some.

However, they wouldn't be the only ones in danger—that receptionist, probably the innkeeper, would too. After all, he had accepted the gold coin. He looked defenceless and weak. She hoped the hoodlums would be too greedy to pay attention to that one gold coin and aim for much bigger prey. There was no way the man wouldn't be aware of this, too, right?

She watched the tall man, who wore a cloak and had the hood up to cover his head, take the keys and walk to the second floor where the rooms were located.

"Do you want to stand and sleep here or what?"

His words were rude, as always. He might have a handsome face, but his mouth was cold. At least he was kind enough to treat her well. Not only did he take her with him, but he also let her mount the horse with him and paid for the accommodation. Cold outside but warm inside, was that the kind of person he was?