Nothing happened until the wagon carrying Joel and the siblings left the hill and entered the forest.
Surely, a search party wouldn’t be dispatched over an incident occurring among commoners.
Once surrounded by the lush woods, Joel momentarily stopped the mule and pulled out his compass.
However, deciphering the inscriptions on the compass remained impossible.
‘I shouldn’t have dozed off during Ancient Language class…’
As Joel stared at the compass with a troubled expression, Becky, who had been watching closely, nimbly intervened.
“My Lord, you must be dizzy; I’ll take the reins. Give me the compass too. Where should we head?”
“I’m planning to head South for now, but… Becky, do you know how to read this compass?”
“Pardon? Oh, yes….”
“No, wait—how?”
Could a commoner have actually learned how to read Ancient Language?
Startled, Joel grabbed Becky’s shoulders as he asked, causing her eyes to go wide like a rabbit’s in surprise.
“A-Ah, no, I don’t know Ancient Language, but the needle of a compass always points North, doesn’t it…?”
At Becky’s matter-of-fact answer, Joel realized he had made a fool of himself again.
He quietly let go of her shoulders.
Now that he thought about it, he seemed to vaguely remember an old professor mentioning the needle of a compass during a map-reading lecture in Geography class at the Imperial Academy.
Joel felt a sting of shame that he, a nobleman and the elder of the two, didn’t know common sense that even Becky possessed.
Still, he kept his chin up and spoke haughtily.
“I—I obviously knew that. But as you said, I’m feeling a bit dizzy, so it’s best you hold the reins.”
Of course, the clever Becky didn’t embarrass her new master.
“Yes, My Lord. Leave it to me,” she said politely, taking the compass and the reins from him.
As she drove the mule while checking the compass, the animal moved exactly as she led without any resistance.
Joel recalled how the mule used to stop and protest every time he tried to turn the reins in the past.
Back then, he thought the mule was just stupid and disobedient, but now it seemed Jack the mule had actually been trying to stop him from going Southeast.
Feeling sorry toward the mule, Joel resolved to apologize later for calling him an idiot.
The forest grew denser.
Joel felt his eyelids growing heavy.
He knew this wasn’t the time, but perhaps due to the pregnancy, an uncontrollable drowsiness washed over him.
Noticing his fatigue, Becky and Rob lowered their voices.
Joel, leaning against the wagon and dozing off, soon fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
When Joel opened his eyes, the sun was beginning to set.
Becky was gently shaking his shoulder to wake him.
“My Lord, My Lord.”
“My Lord, are you awake? It’s already evening. The mule seems exhausted, so how about we camp here for the night? We also need to discuss what to do next.”
“Ah… alright.”
Joel got up with a stiff body and climbed down from the wagon.
Perhaps because he had slept soundly for the first time in a while, his head felt clear.
While Rob unhitched the wagon and checked on the mule, Becky said, “My Lord, just wait a moment and I’ll prepare a meal,” as she seated Joel on a flat rock.
“There’s a flint in the bag. You can use that to start a fire.”
“Yes.”
Becky answered politely.
While she gathered dry branches to start the fire, Rob, having finished tending to the mule, brought water in the small pot Lord Bennett had provided.
Until now, Joel had to do everything himself, so having two servants was certainly convenient.
“I’m hungry. What should we have for dinner?”
“Do we have any food besides ham and rye bread?” Becky asked hopefully. She had been worried since they left in such a hurry without packing supplies.
Joel replied triumphantly, “Yes, in the bag. You won’t have to worry about food for a while. If we eat sparingly, it’ll easily last the three of us for a month.”
Just as Joel said, Becky opened the bag and exclaimed in excitement, “My goodness, there’s butter and cheese too! And this… hya, is this a spice? Wow!”
Joel’s nose tilted even higher toward the sky.
After a huddle with Becky and Rob, they decided on soup for dinner.
They were tired of eating nothing but rye bread and ham, and since the weather was quite chilly, they craved something warm.
Becky began to boil the soup using small amounts of peas, jerky, and cheese.
While the soup simmered, she busily scouted the nearby woods, picking edible greens and tossing them into the pot.
“Here, eat plenty.”
When the delicious-smelling soup was finally finished, Joel took the ladle and filled Becky and Rob’s bowls first with plenty of ingredients.
He practically gave all the jerky and peas to the children.
Though he was hungry himself, looking at the scrawny Becky and Rob made his sympathy outweigh his appetite.
“This is really delicious.”
“Right? My sister is actually a very good cook,” Rob added.
As Joel and Rob praised Becky’s skill, she blushed and waved her hand.
“No, it’s all thanks to those expensive spices. Even when I worked at the Lord’s Manor in Versa, I never saw such high-quality spices.”
“No, it’s as good as anything I ate at an Imperial banquet.”
“Whoa, My Lord. Have you been to an Imperial banquet?”
At his thoughtless remark, Rob’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.
Realizing his slip-up, Joel spoke sparingly.
“I—I only went once.”
He didn’t distrust the siblings, but with a massive bounty on his head, it was better to keep his identity hidden.
After a pleasant meal, Joel discussed their future with the siblings by the campfire.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t reveal my identity or specific circumstances to you. I hope you understand. And originally, I was on my way to the Kingdom of Palain in the North after receiving a job offer.”
“But, My Lord… I heard the Northern borders are closed because of the disappearance of the young master who was to become the Crown Princess….”
Becky, who had been listening intently, interrupted with a worried face.
“Right, so I plan to stay hidden in the South for the time being. Because… because… actually, I ran away because my younger brother grew greedy for the succession and tried to get rid of me. He’s definitely looking for me, so I must hide my identity until I cross the border. Let’s stay in the South for a month or two, and when the Northern security loosens up, we’ll cross then. Everything will be fine once we reach Palain.”
While spinning his clumsy excuse, Joel added unnecessary detail.
“O—Of course, I’m definitely not that missing Omega young master.”
“I don’t think I can pay your wages until we reach Palain. But I’m set to receive a substantial salary there, so I’ll pay all the back wages then. Don’t worry. I’ll give you three silver coins a month.”
“That much…?”
Becky’s jaw dropped at Joel’s extraordinary offer.
The wages she had received for her hard work at the Versa manor amounted to only ten copper coins a month—less than a single silver coin.
“We are grateful just that you took us with you, Master Joel. Three silver coins is too much,” Becky said, and Rob agreed by her side.
“She’s right. Even one silver coin is a lot.”
“It’s not too much at all, so there’s no need to decline. Since you trusted me and followed me, I’ll treat you well. Let’s get along from now on.”
Joel wasn’t entirely sure if his clumsy self could safely cross the border with Becky and Rob in tow, but he spoke as if making a vow.
Once their meeting was over, they decided to go to bed early for the next day.
Even after Becky and Rob fell into a deep sleep beside him, Joel couldn’t easily drift off.
He lay looking up at the night sky, which seemed ready to spill stars, and fell into thought.
Now that he was responsible for two more lives, could he really make it to Palain safely?
As he stroked his slightly protruding lower abdomen, his heart felt even heavier.
He was already starting to miss the Crown Prince.
If he returned to him, all the immediate, headache-inducing problems would be solved instantly.
But Joel reminded himself that even bigger headaches would be waiting after that, and he fought down the urge to go back.
He didn’t have much confidence in his escape, but for now, he had no choice but to trust his lacking self.
