The sleepy sun was now partially hidden behind the horizon, painting the sky with a fiery orange hue.

The four had passed by several of the village houses before reaching their own. Hanging on the doors of all the houses were wooden banners that had its family’s last name carved onto it. For Canna’s banner, it was ‘Miller’.

With everyone else already inside, Cere took off her hood and let the cool breeze envelope her body before taking a deep breath of evening air. It felt so pleasing that she could not resist reaching toward the sky on her toes as she stretched with her waist bending forward, eyes squeezed shut.

Recovering from her stretch, she let out a moan of comfort.

Clay was secretly watching the entire time through a window. The warm rays of sunlight that shimmered around Cere’s body as she stretched had accentuated her shapely yet petite form, stealing a beat from Clay’s heart.

When Cere turned around to enter the house, Clay was already out of sight. He contemplated over his sudden instinct to hide.

Cere decided to keep her hood off; it would be quite impolite of her not to do so.

After walking inside, she saw Claire sitting on one of five wooden chairs spread around the dining table.

“Cere! Want to play with my toy?”

Cere happily sat beside Claire, who shared her toy.

Despite having been stuffed into Zeke’s pocket, it was still in good condition—perhaps Zeke wasn’t so heartless after all? But then again, he did take the toy in the first place.

Cere smiled and handed the toy back to Claire.

Looking around, the single-story house had a wooden interior with three rooms—this main room and two adjacent bedrooms. The main room had a wooden clothing rack, a medieval-style kitchen, and a sturdy rectangular wooden dining table. The delicate flames of several candles lit the dim room in a snuggly haze as they swayed from the tiniest of breaths.

Canna was strenuously cooking dinner, making use of both the stove and stone oven. Cere hung her robe on the rack to shave off some of the heat.

“Your hair is really pretty!” Claire was staring at Cere’s hair.

“Ah, thank you, Claire.” Cere replied while smiling.

Claire wasn’t wrong—although Cere’s outfit was that of a commoner, her mien and image suggested high breeding. It seemed like it was too difficult for Cere to suddenly start speaking like a commoner child. After all, a part of her training had ingrained courtesy into her.

“By the way, my husband should be back soon. He may seem intimidating but he’s very friendly,” Canna spoke without turning her back as she was busy cutting vegetables.

“I look forward to meeting him.”

Cere turned behind to look at Clay, who was gazing out the window. He seemed to be deep in thought, which made Cere curious as to what a seven-year-old could be pondering about.

“Clay, what are you thinking about?”

“H-huh? Oh,” Clay composed himself, then spoke calmly, “There’s nothing else to look at.”

“I see.” But that was not enough to satisfy Cere’s curiosity, so she went to look outside the window as well.

Clay stiffened. Without turning his head, he moved his eyes toward Cere who was now standing beside him, admiring the view.

Besides the picturesque twilight background, villagers could be seen outside carrying harvested crops and pulling small wooden wagons. The view darkened periodically when passing villagers briefly covered the sun.

“It’s a wonderful view.” Cere had a soft expression as she admired the scenery before her, elegantly holding one of her wrists.

“Yeah, it is,” Clay replied. The evening light that reflected off of Cere’s face had emphasized her flawless white skin and radiant sapphire eyes. Her dainty lips and perky nose had accentuated her alluring facial proportions. Maybe she was from a noble family? How long was she travelling alone for? And why was she alon—

The door opened.

“I’m home.” A deep, masculine voice.

“Welcome back, dear. Dinner is almost ready. Also, we have a visitor with us.”

“Ah, that explains it.” The man had noticed an unfamiliar robe hanging on the wooden rack.

Cere approached the man to introduce herself.

“Hello, I’m Cerelious, but please call me Cere. Nice to meet you.” Cere stood politely as she gave her greeting.

“Hey there! I’m Adam, the father.” Adam laughed brazenly while looking intently at Cere.

Adam was a tanned, muscled man with short ruffled chestnut hair. He was slightly taller than Canna. Overall, he looked poised and sharp.

“Papa!” Claire ran to hug her father.

“Hey dad.” Clay addressed his father straightly with familiarity.

“My lovely kids! Hahaha! Who’s hungry?”

“Me!” Claire shouted and trotted back to her spot at the dining table.

Clay was used to his father’s antics, so he didn’t respond, and sauntered to the table.

After Canna had placed all the dishes, she took a seat. She sat opposite to Claire while her husband sat opposite to Clay. Cere was seated at the side closest to Canna and Claire.

On the table was bread, mashed potatoes, and a potage with potatoes and carrots. It was a modest meal with only salt as seasoning, but Cere still found it appetizing.

“By the way, did you hear? The war was a victory!” Adam spoke triumphantly.

“Oh my… thank goodness…” Canna’s eyes started welling. She dropped her spoon into her bowl and squeezed her hands together against her chest.

Adam leaned over to embrace his wife. He continued speaking.

“His Majesty has taken over the Kingdom of Tyria. Now ruling over Runia and Tyria, he has become an emperor. Long live His Imperial Majesty, Rigel Runias!” Adam threw one arm in the air, his other arm still tightly wrapped around Canna.

“Wow!” Claire didn’t really know what her father was saying, but seeing her mother with such beatitude, it must’ve been something really amazing.

Clay stayed silent but had taken in everything his father said. His family assumed he was happy inside—but he wasn’t.

Looking at the news objectively, there was no doubt that it was positive. But when Clay tried to think about the benefits that it would bring to villagers like him, he couldn’t come up with any. He believed that people on the outskirts would not experience any improvement to their living conditions, so when he heard the news, he felt quite neutral. All of these thoughts were kept to himself.

Cere noticed Clay’s subtle somber expression and attempted to maintain the happy mood. “That’s great news! I’m very happy for Runia.”

Adam nodded in agreement and continued, “The soldiers will be returning soon. His Imperial Majesty will give an announcement in two days at the central plaza. It’ll be a huge event!”

“Will you all be going to Runia for the announcement?” Cere asked.

Everyone looked at Adam. He noticed and pinched his chin to signify contemplation, but his smug grin indicated that he had already made his decision to go. “Hmm… definitely!”

“Honey!”

“Yay!”

“Nice.” Even Clay, who was feeling neutral before, reacted positively to visiting Runia.

But suddenly, Canna became serious. “Honey. Do we have enough to stay for three days?”

Adam winced at his wife’s inquiry. “I’ll… get counting.” Since he had already finished his meal, Adam went into the left bedroom to count their coins.

“Is it really expensive?” Cere asked.

It sounded as if the Miller family had to spend a large portion of their finances for a three-day visit to Runia. Just what kind of pricing system did it have?

“Ah.” Canna understood that Cere was unfamiliar with this territory, so she explained, “For people without citizenship like us, Runia sells three-day permits for one silver each. That’s already four silver, but then we also need to account for overnight fees and meals too. We don’t plan on wasting a three-day permit!” Canna spoke heartedly.

“Um, how much is one silver?” Cere didn’t have a proper grasp on Eynen currency yet. This was the perfect time to gather information about it.

But Cere’s question bewildered Canna and Clay.

Besides royal coins, the entire country used the same currency, so how could she not know? Perhaps she came from another country? But what kind of child has the capacity to travel across countries? They contemplated on whether or not to ask these questions but decided against it because their relationship with Cere was not yet personal.

“Hmm… one silver is worth one hundred bronze, and in Runia, that would get you fifty dishes at a commoner restaurant,” Canna answered.

So, one commoner dish costed two bronze coins. Canna’s answer had also consequently confirmed that coins were spaced out by a hundred, except for royal coins. Royal coins were still a mystery because of their rarity.

Adam returned with a glint in his eyes. “We have eleven silver.”

“Good. That should be enough if we act frugally.” Canna became serious again.

Clay sighed with relief while Claire jumped out of her chair to hug her mother.

But then a worrying thought had entered Cere’s mind, “Would there be a chance that the fees were increased?”

Canna’s eyes widened. “Yes… that is very possible. Dear, check if this is the case tomorrow, alright?”

“Of course. You can count on me,” Adam spoke with aplomb.

The king’s announcement was in two days, so they only had until the end of tomorrow to confirm if the prices were raised.

Cere based her theory on commerce and economics. Runia, the most prosperous kingdom on Eyne, would likely take advantage of their victory to enrich their treasury. A king becoming an emperor was a remarkable event—it was not something that anyone would want to miss. Thus, they could take advantage of more eager customers and fill the kingdom’s capacity with wealthier people. This in turn would consequently increase the business within, further strengthening its prosperity.

Given that the Miller family was willing to spend their entire savings for this, it was easy to imagine that many people intended to visit as well.

“Are you going too?” Claire asked.

“Yes. Maybe we will meet again there.” Cere answered with a smile.

“You’re not coming with us?” Clay asked.

“Ah… no, I was planning on leaving after this meal.”

Clay paused after hearing Cere’s reply. After musing over her circumstances, he asked, “Where are you going to sleep?”

Cere’s eyes widened as she stared down at the dining table.

That was… a good question. Cere had not thought about that at all, but she quickly realized that her next destination was obvious.

“Umm, Runia I suppose.” Cere implied that she would walk all the way to Runia for a place to stay overnight.

“Oh my, at this hour?” Canna was consternated by Cere’s hesitant reply.

“It’s quite a distance away. And it’s only going to get colder,” Adam admonished.

“Yes, I am accustomed with low temperatures. It is not a problem,” Cere replied politely.

Hearing Cere’s reply saddened the Miller family because they had presumed her hapless situation—Cere might have been a runaway from a fallen noble family.

Thankfully, Claire didn’t really understand, so she was able to lift the depressing mood.

“Cere, sleep here tonight!” Claire’s face was beaming. She became fond of Cere since the rock battle incident with Zeke.

Cere turned to look at Claire’s parents for their permission. They both nodded jovially—this was the first time their precious little daughter had shown such affection toward someone else. Even their usually dispassionate son seemed to not mind.

And so, after Cere had expressed her gratitude, it was decided that she would stay overnight at the Miller house. She promised to leave early in the morning.

The three children were to sleep together in one of the bedrooms while the parents would sleep in the other. There weren’t any extra mattresses for Cere, so she was given a duvet. Cere was genuinely satisfied with this, as she had intermittently slept on cold floors during her training.

After a little bit of arguing, the siblings agreed that Cere would sleep in the middle.

That night, everyone was deep in sleep except for Clay—he was mulling over what he would say to Cere the next morning before she left.

But with her microchip, Cere had set an alarm for four hours.