Two days on the road and they finally arrived at Arpeggio, the city near the river. The carriage rattled along the cobblestone streets filled with wagons, pedestrians and other vehicles in the early morning. 

The family stopped at a restaurant Clayton recommended for breakfast. Shortly after the meal, they continue towards the outskirts, away from the hustle and bustle of the crowd. 

Ayan immersed herself yet again in the scenic view of this world. Looking at the medieval fantasy image right out of a painting, it blinded her bumpkin's eyes. 

What kind of fairy world is this?! 

"This is the Great City Arpeggio, the domain of Her Majesty Empress Delphine. Their main trade aside from linen and grains are the most valuable mythril mines over those peaks." Clayton pointed to the snowy mountain behind the city standing like an ancient guard. 

Frost began to cover most of the autumn colour making it look like cones sprinkled with white sugar. 

"It's beautiful here,"

He can hear the heartfelt admiration from her sigh. 

"There are even more lovely sights in the east where Thornwood Forest is," he said, giving her a meaningful look, "Over there the winter is not as cold. Although the land is not as fertile, there is a vast selection of wild fruits in its mountains still unknown to many and a magnificent ocean beyond its beaches rich in resources."   

"But isn't the east currently under the queen's faction?"

Such land is wasted on those people! 

"Actually it's not. The east is still under the imperial family's hold and only has a temporary governor assigned by the court. It doesn't have a lord to manage it. Perhaps one of these days when someone gained meritorious service, the east will become one of its hefty rewards."

Something inside Ayan lit up. Meritorious service! 

When Clayton arrived in the empire, he held no grand identity aside from being an ordinary businessman who set up his own mercenary group. He joined the Mercenary Guild and slowly accumulated fame enough for his name to be remembered by many high ranking nobles. 

It wasn't until the fight with an ethnic tribe that he truly shined. That time, he and the Thorns were conscripted to fight off the barbarians who sneaked into the kingdom. The enemy was fearless, ready to burn away their lives to avenge their hatred.  

When the battle has reached its boiling point, Clayton solved the root of the problem. It turns out that their princess was kidnapped by one of Asturia's nobles wanting to keep her as a lowly concubine. 

The ethnic tribe was enraged spurring them into waging war despite their small number. Fortunately, the emperor is a reliable monarch who does not condone his minister's folly. A temporary truce was agreed upon while the person who was the cause of the war was sent to the ethnic tribes for execution. It was a sincere gesture not only to appease the ethnic tribe's anger but the empire's admittance of responsibility. Also, plenty of tributes were sent back to their country as compensation.

Clayton's contribution was recognized by the emperor and restored his former military rank. As for his title? Since his ancestors were originally nobles of the empire-- oh yes, she almost forgot about this important information. The east where Thornwood Forest flourished was the former ancestral domain of the Rozenberg House and Clayton was eligible to inherit the title along with it.

If there is something Ayan has to clap the author for her/his good work, it's this one. This convenience made things easy for Clayton.  

But no matter what, the lives lost cannot return. The mighty warriors were sacrificed. As the barrier holding the Dark Continent collapsed, the first to be wiped out is the tribe of simple and brave ethnic people of the east. 

"Why the frown, my lady?" his concerned voice called her back.

"Just a little tired from the journey." Ayan felt emotionally tired. "A lot of things happened…"

He nodded in agreement. She does look weary. He tapped the roof of the carriage to urge it to run faster. His little wife is no longer interested in the scenery. 

The place they came to is a lovely cottage right out of a picture book. It was made of stone and timber sitting on the left side of a stream. In front of the house is a clear pond with water accumulated from the rushing cool mountain spring behind. 

The family entered the house only to find out that the beauty outside did not reflect what was on the inside. Cobwebs hang on the beams like streamers and layers of dust powdered everything.  

Clayton walked around from the small parlour room with only one old chair standing near the hearth to the dining area with sparse furniture. The slight tensing of his jaw indicated that he is now unbearably upset.

"Well, the house looks sturdy. A little cleanup and it will be nice and comfy." Ayan said optimistically cutting his outburst prematurely. 

She stepped forward to pat what was supposed to be a stuffed chair only to choke on dust. Just how long did this house have no owner?! 

Clayton's expression turned dark. 

"I will call someone to do the cleaning and send in the things needed," he said unemotionally. 

He was embarrassed to face her after bragging that he would never let them be burdened whatsoever. Unfortunately, some things were still out of his control. 

Half an hour later, Rodney came with two people to help 'fix' the house. Ayan and the children went to the gazebo beside the stream to wait for them to finish. From time to time she would catch a glimpse of Rodney and thought that his expression was a little wrong. It must have been because he received a hard reprimand from the lord as soon as he arrived.

At last, when things were done, she was called back into the house to inspect their handy work. She pretentiously ran her fingers to the window sill to see if there was any dust left then raised her eyebrow. She walked from the parlor towards the tiny kitchen at the back, opened the small bathroom connected to it and returned. Rodney turned stiff when her eyes swept towards him.

"Clean enough," she said indifferently. 

Clayton had no idea what game his lady was playing but she seems absorbed by it. 

Although the house was bare, it now looked tidy and fresh for a commoner's lodging which pretty much passed her standard. She had no opinions about the 'toilet. In fact she found it quite... informative. Like looking through a relic inside a museum. It wasn't really anything scary, just a wide slab of wood hallowed in the middle where the 'nether end' should be placed to answer the call of nature. Ash from the stove should be poured over the waste in the bucket under if you do not want any bad smells fumigating the house.

Clayton rubbed his temple tiredly and gave her an apologetic look. 

"No need to feel burdened, it's not as if we hadn't been to a much harsher place before. At least here we have a--" she looked around, pixelating the image of the 'antique' loo in her mind and pointed the hearth instead. "Look, a fireplace. Isn't that nice?"

He was infected by her smile and mirrored it back, "Quite right, my lady." 

She was trying hard to lift his mood not knowing that two weeks after this, she would be so mad she would want to resort to domestic violence to calm down her ire. 

In the same afternoon, the temporary workers Rodney brought with him gathered firewood stacking them into the little kitchen at the back of the cottage. Two large water barrels were filled for their use, the rest Ayan left to their care trusting they did their job.

She was exhausted and so were the children so she urged them upstairs to rest. In the middle of a nap, she was awoken by Clayton's voice. 

"My lady?"

"Hnn..."

"There is an urgent matter I need to attend to. I may not be able to return until this evening. Will you be fine here and the boys? If not, I can send you to the manor just to be safe."

She drowsily waved her hand off saying she can manage a few hours without him. Seeing that she doesn't look the least bit worried, he let go of his worry and went ahead to meet with the line of soldiers on horseback outside the house. Ayan wasn't able to see this scene because she fell asleep as soon as he closed the door.

bananapink

Hmm, I BORROWED the image that gave me inspiration from dear Google. Feast your eyes fellas.