~Chapter 21~
“Haha, are you seriously grinning while telling your client this like it’s something to brag about? So that coachman, who wasn’t even supposed to die, ended up as a random victim because of you?”
Honestly, my whole body was covered in chills.
I still wasn’t over the shock of seeing blood.
I kept thinking about how it seeped under the carriage.
“And why is Vessiel suddenly after you now? It’s been two years, hasn’t it? They didn’t do anything all this time, so why now?”
Jin awkwardly scratched his chin and laughed.
“Well… those cult freaks are pretty crazy and obsessive. I guess they only just realized I left the capital without telling the guild. Now they’re suspicious.”
“…”
“Hahaha! Oh, Lady. Don’t worry! I mean, really—both of us were gonna be hunted down eventually, so starting a little early isn’t a huge deal, right? As soon as you find your nephew, they’ll probably come after you anyway. Who knows? They might even quietly wipe out your whole family.”
Jin smiled, quickly grabbed both my hands, bowed slightly like he was trying to be all respectful and added:
“Same goes for me too.”
“…”
“I just wanted to say—we’re in the same boat now! Hahahaha!”
“Seriously, Lady, no need to overthink this. This was gonna happen sooner or later. Maybe you don’t really get how crazy the Vessiel cult is, but just the fact that you left your noble house is enough reason for them to act. There’s this quote from their old cult leader from like 50 years ago…”
I kept walking with a blank face as I fed a fresh carrot to Maximus DiCaprio the 23rd—my horse, whom I named for no real reason.
And why does the air in this forest feel so stale? There’s no pollution in this world, but it still feels off.
“Always doubt everyone. You have no allies. Only power can be trusted.”
Jin was still following me, talking non-stop.
It’s kind of impressive how someone almost two meters tall can act this hyper.
And that shameless smile of his never fades either.
“You know why cults like this survive? Cheap labor, all fueled by blind faith. That means—they have way too much time on their hands! The Vessiel cult’s been around forever, so they’ve got a ton of followers!”
Jin darted ahead, then walked backwards facing me, waving his hands.
“That also means… lots of people to tail us~.”
He raised his eyebrows at me dramatically like he was being framed.
“They probably knew I’d catch anyone tailing me, so instead of sending people, they set up dumb traps for innocent civilians. Can you believe it? They knew I’d notice otherwise.”
I ignored Jin’s dramatic rants and just kept walking. We were walking because the horse needed a break.
When we get to the next village, I should really do something about this dress.
Maybe dress like a guy, or at least get some pants.
Ugh.
Being a “princess” really doesn’t suit me.
And let’s not forget, I’m a modern “princess” who lived in a 21st-century apartment. Bugs crawling up my skirt? Absolute nightmare.
I was seriously trying to keep my sanity together.
Why are there so many spiders and flying bugs in this forest? Every time I saw a bug-type monster, I nearly passed out.
Thankfully, the deeper we got into the forest, the fewer bugs there were. I sighed in relief and asked:
“Is it normal for bugs to disappear the deeper into the forest you go? There were so many earlier, and now it’s like they’re gone.”
“Wait, bugs? That’s random.”
Jin looked confused by my question and stumbled a little while walking, then stared at me.
“I just don’t want to keep hearing all your depressing, doomsday nonsense. I already know my life’s a mess, so you don’t need to remind me. You’re acting all smug ‘cause you know I can’t just go out and hire another mercenary now, huh? Am I wrong?”
Jin gave me a sweet little smile.
“You’re quite blunt, aren’t you?”
“I like efficiency. I don’t like wasting words.”
“My way of talking isn’t inefficient—it’s an art. It’s persuasive storytelling that takes time to build trust.”
Jin forced an even bigger smile and bent down like he was giving a sales pitch.
Whatever. His speech sounded exactly like one of those smooth-talking sales guys—total scammer energy.
Not that anyone here would even get that reference.
Since I clearly wasn’t amused, Jin let out a deep sigh, shaded his eyes with his hand, and squinted into the distance.
“Well, like you said, it does feel like the bugs have disappeared around here. The air feels a bit… off.”
He frowned and looked around.
“When a really strong elite monster claims an area, sometimes the atmosphere turns cold like this. But from what I can sense of the mana flow… doesn’t seem like a monster this time.”
He hummed and shrugged, then looked at me.
“Since we took a shortcut through this forest, turning back now would add five more hours to our trip. I know it’s creepy, but turning back doesn’t seem smart…”
And that’s when we both saw it—and instantly frowned.
“What… is that?”
“…Not sure?”
What we saw ahead of us was a pitch-black part of the forest where we couldn’t see a thing.
At first, we weren’t even sure it was real.
I mean, it’s daytime.
Could I be hallucinating? But yeah, this forest is dense, and I didn’t want to bring Earth-style ghost stories into another world… but this undeveloped land really did feel cursed.
Jin looked a little shaken as he said,
“Lady, please wait here for a moment. I’ll go check it out.”
His voice had gone completely serious. Just moments ago, he was all jokey and carefree. Now suddenly? Dead serious?
I frowned and tapped my foot anxiously.
Damn it.
I don’t get anything that’s going on.
I knew my new life would be chaotic, but I didn’t expect this level of chaos.
At this point, it was only natural that I was starting to get super annoyed at the male lead’s parents—my dead sister and that damn Crown Prince.
Why the hell do I have to clean up the mess they left behind? Who even am I?! Just some background character who dies begging the male lead, “P-please, I didn’t even know you existed!” and then gets killed in one panel!
If I had reincarnated in the middle of the story, maybe I could’ve handled this better.
But nope.
I was straight-up born into this world with memories of my past life.
And it’s only been a month since I realized this was the world of the novel.
This isn’t just some fictional place to me anymore—it’s my actual life now.
And yeah, it took time, but I’ve already come to terms with it.
Which is probably why my overly empathetic heart just had to get involved.
“She was born out of wedlock, so of course she’d always be treated like an outsider… and yet they had a kid anyway?! Why?!”
I just… can’t make sense of it. Not with my normal logic.
“Should I use the Crown Prince somehow?”
And then I remembered—if what Jin said was true, then because of his mentor, I’ve been caught up in all this.
He didn’t say it directly, but I could tell he led us deep into the forest on purpose—to throw off anyone tailing us.
Does he think I wouldn’t notice? Please, I watched a ton of spy movies in my previous life.
I folded my arms and rested a hand on my sword hilt, watching Jin’s broad back as he disappeared into the woods.
Unfortunately, the plants were so wild and overgrown that he vanished from view almost immediately.
Left alone, I patted Maximus DiCaprio 23rd’s mane and waited.
If this were my past life, I’d at least be scrolling on my phone. But in this world?
There’s literally nothing fun to do.
“Maximus, sorry I stole your master.”
Snort. Maximus stomped his hoof like he understood.
“I don’t know what I’m doing either, y’know? If they were gonna let me remember stuff, why not give me the important parts? Like, why tell me about events that won’t even happen for ten more years?”
Luckily, Maximus was gentle and seemed to enjoy the attention.
“Right? Sometimes ignorance really is bliss. I’m so stressed out I could scream. Aren’t you?”
Yup.
Here I am.
Talking to a horse because I’ve got nothing else to do.
How long had I been waiting? I didn’t have a watch or anything. I should’ve started singing or something to kill time.
“…”
I squinted at the path Jin had taken and silently counted to three minutes.
“…Okay, seriously—why isn’t he back yet?”
