Chapter Nineteen: Picnic

Through the small window of the carriage, Cedric’s joyful laughter could occasionally be heard, along with the clatter of the wheels and the mighty kick of the horse’s hooves against the ground.

When I woke up in the morning, Cedric was already awake. He was fidgeting, as if not wanting to wake me. But when I rose, my husband also did the same. To that, Cedric happily repeated, ‘Picnic! Picnic! Picnic!’

Since we were going to have breakfast outside; Cedric and I; Elsa and the other maid, Ariana; my husband and Frederick rode their respective carriages and left the mansion. As soon as we left, Al and his escort—Caddock, joined us. After leaving the royal capital, the carriage ran for a while before taking a break. Cedric was in the same carriage as my husband, and sat on his lap.

“I’m glad the weather turned out fine.”

I looked up at the clear blue summer sky outside the window and smiled.

Elsa—who sat next to me, and Ariana, who sat across from me, nodded.

“But… I’m worried that my husband might be overdoing it. After working every day, he should be tired…”

“Don’t worry about that. As you can see, to sit around and do nothing is one of the lord’s inabilities. Since he was a child, he loved to run around outside instead of studying. As a division commander, all he could do to release his excess stamina was to train. Therefore, I believe that this activity will prove to be beneficial to both his physical and mental health.”

“If Elsa says so, it must be true.”

Elsa’s gentle smile made me caress my chest in relief.

After that, the three of us gushed about the romance novel we recently read as we waited for the carriage to arrive at the destination.

With a thud, the door opened, and Ariana alighted first, then Elsa, and finally, I got out with the help of my husband, who had come all the way here to lend me a hand.

“Wow, what a wonderful place.”

When I alighted from the carriage, the first thing I saw was a vast lake, surrounded by the forest. The grass in the vicinity of the carriages were cut short so that we could take a break. A refreshing wind, bearing the scent of the forest and the lake, caressed my face.

“It’s my private property, so don’t worry about being disturbed.”

From behind me, Al approached while carrying Cedric in his arms.

As in the case with my husband, Al and Caddock were dressed in casual, easy-to-move outfits.

“C-Cedric!”

When I panicked that Cedric—who wasn’t satisfied with my husband, had asked the crown prince to carry him, Al merely laughed.

“It’s alright.”

“As expected of Lily’s younger brother, he’s very cute. While my little sister is truly precious, my little brother is only a year younger than me, so I never thought of him as cute. I want a cute little brother, too… Should I tell my father and mother to do their best?”

Al stared at the cute Cedric, before tilting his head in serious contemplation.

…At that moment, I began to think that the royal family saw a different world than us, the ordinary people.

As if flabbergasted, my husband let out a sigh.

“Then hurry up and get married and have a child of your own.”

“Wow, you’re saying the same thing as my father. Lately, that’s all he’s been saying.”

Al frowned in annoyance.

Certainly, if Al was of the same age as my husband, then he’d be 26-years-old. In the Kingdom of Cression, both male commoners and nobles were expected to get married in their early twenties, and late teens for the female. As such, it didn’t come off as a surprise that Al’s parents were worried.  Moreover, Al would carry the future of the kingdom as the next king, so the worries of the king and the queen were inevitable.

“I’m the crown prince, you know? I can’t just pick my bride willy-nilly. Normally, a daughter of an earl or higher would be chosen and be made to receive a princess education from the age of five. Of course, I’d like to pick somebody, but we’re in the middle of the war. If possible, I’d like to marry someone as cute as Lily, or someone interesting!”

“What do you mean by interesting?”

“Hmm, someone that’d spark joy in me whenever I see them.”

My husband and I stared at each other.

I wonder what kind of woman would be his type…

…Also, what does he mean by his last sentence?

“Ah, that’s right. Lily, let me introduce you again. This is my escort, Caddock Delevigne.”

When we first saw each other in the morning, we merely exchanged a short greeting, so Al introduced us again.

Caddock was a lanky and huge person. Since my husband and Al were knights, they were both tall and sturdy, but Caddock was even bigger than them. He had a vertical, long scar above his left eye—which made him look a bit intimidating, but his eyes were otherwise very kind.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Liliana Lutherford.”

As I pinched the hem of my dress, I bent my waist and said my greetings.

However, there was no response from Caddock, and I was worried that I had offended him.

“In the past, Caddock injured his throat in an attempt to protect me, so he is mute.”

“I see…”

Somewhat apologetically, Caddock bowed his head. Feeling remorseful, I shook my head.

“Don’t worry about it. Truthfully, I’m not a good speaker, either. If you need anything, please write it on the palm of my hand.”

I extended my hand—which was wrapped in a short glove—to Caddock. In a surprise, Caddock turned to face my husband. After seeing that my husband had nodded, Caddock took my hand, and wrote with his gnarled, long fingers—

—Ni, ce, to, me, et, yo, u…

“Me, too. Fufu, it’s a bit ticklish, but now, we can converse…”

He wrote it slowly and carefully that even I could understand.

Caddock smiled kindly and nodded in joy.

“Sir Caddock! Me too! Write something on my hand, too! I want to guess, too!”

“Cedric, we aren’t playing around, though…”

I gently admonished him, but Caddock shook his head and took Cedric’s hand as he was being held by Al. Since his hands were even smaller than I, it’d surely be a challenging feat… Nevertheless, Cedric paid attention to Caddock’s fingers.

When he finished writing something, Caddock looked up. For some reason, Cedric smiled happily.

“Yes, she’s the kindest in the world! I love her!”

Caddock squinted his eyes and nodded. I didn’t know what they were talking about, but Cedric’s smile was extremely cute.

“How does my husband and Al usually converse with him?”

“Both Al and I can read his lip movements, so there’s no problem.”

“I see, that’s amazing.”

I thought that it was only possible in a novel…

“Haha, good job, Caddock!”

Alphonse suddenly slapped Caddock’s shoulder while laughing. Meanwhile, Caddock responded calmly. Caddock must’ve said something to Al…

“Alright, Ceddie, let’s go explore the forest with me!”

“Okay! I’ve never ventured into the forest before!”

“Which is why, I’m going to borrow Ceddie! Don’t worry, he’ll be safe with me! C’mon, Caddock!”

Today as well, Al quickly went somewhere else, with Caddock following after him.

“Cedric, please refrain from doing anything dangerous!”

“Alright!”

Despite his lighthearted reply, I was still anxious.

“Liliana, he’s with Caddock, so he’ll be fine.”

My husband smiled wryly towards me.

…Not because of Al, but because Caddock is with him?

“There shouldn’t be any dangerous beasts in this forest, considering that it’s well-managed. Not only is it the private property of the royal family, Al also used to invite me here often.”

“D-did you remember something?”

I stuttered slightly, but my husband didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he was staring at a tree, then the lake. Before I knew it, I was clenching my hands…

“There’s a pier over there, right? When I saw that, I recalled something…”

Following the direction of where my husband was pointing, I saw a wooden pier slightly further away. At the end of the pier, two boats were docked, tied with a rope.

“…I remember being pushed from there by Elsa.”

I blinked at the words that my husband said as he stared into the distance.

When I slowly turned around, I saw Elsa’s smile.

“My, my… You make me sound terrible, my Lord. I merely helped you to practice swimming.”

“If you put it in that way, then you’re right. Because of that, the lord became a good swimmer. As for the reason behind the entire incident, it was because the lord hid a frog in Elsa’s clothes, who was five-years old at the time.”

When I looked up at my husband, he awkwardly looked away.

Come to think of it, Elsa did mention that… I also recalled that she exacted her revenge on him, but did she truly push him off the pier? Terrified of Elsa’s smile, I decided against pursuing the matter.

My husband, who seemed to recall that he was the root cause, grew more distant.

“Alright, let’s just forget about that!”

As he declared that, my husband stared at Elsa and the others.

“Elsa and Ariana should stay here. Freddie, get my horse! I’m going to my secret place!”

“Did you remember that as well?”

“Yes. I also recalled that Alphonse was the one who showed the place to me. When I asked Al, he said that the place hadn’t changed. I’ll be back in an hour. By that time, Ceddie and the others should’ve returned. So, let’s have lunch together.”

“Understood.”

The maids and my husband were having a conversation.

I didn’t really understand, but it seemed that my husband would be going somewhere.

“Liliana.”

“Uh, yes…?”

After telling Elsa to spread a cloth under the tree, I was thinking of reading the book I bought. But for some reason, my husband stared at me, his blue eyes somewhat tense—

—What happened…?

Then, my husband cleared his throat, and extended his hand towards me.

“Lady Liliana, would you like to go on a date with me?”

…Am I dreaming?

I was so surprised, I froze while staring at my husband’s hand.

Of course, I knew what a date was. I read about them in romance novels. However, I never thought that the day would come when I’d be asked out…

“Li-Liliana?”

At the concerned voice, I looked up, and my gaze met my husband’s worried one.

“Is it not good?”

At those words, I shook my head in panic and put my hand on his.

“No, uhm, I was just surprised… I’m truly happy that my husband asked me out on a date…”

As my husband’s eyes began to lit up, I found myself unable to stare directly at him. To hide my flustered cheeks, I lowered my head—

—My heart was thumping loudly…

“Great! Let’s go!”

In a delighted voice, my husband remarked, and instead of pulling my hand, he suddenly lifted me up by the waist with both hands. When I was still stupefied, Frederick had arrived with my husband’s beloved horse, and before I knew it, I was on the horse’s back.

“B, but I’ve never rode a horse before…”

“Don’t worry, I got your back. Lean on me, yes, like that. Then, put your arms here. Alright, we’re ready to go!”

“Milady, please be careful! My lord, if you let Milady fall, I’ll stuff you inside a basket and throw you inside the lake, so do be careful!”

At Elsa’s somewhat disturbing send-off, my husband chirpily nodded. “Understood!” Then, the horse began to move…

…Gradually, the horse entered the forest in the opposite direction to where Cedric and the others had gone.

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***T/N: Might Elsa be a former mafia…?

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