Noel was riding a horse straight to his next destination. He was accompanied by Rose this time.
He glanced to the side, taking a peek at Rose's expression. She was confused when he announced the first destination.
Early in the morning, they had just finished washing their bodies.
Rose came to him and asked, "By the way, where are we going first?"
They had five destinations, so Rose had made some plans regarding the course to make the trip as effective as possible.
But to her surprise, Noel gave her a different plan.
"I have a plan in mind. Though, I don't know if you'll agree or not." Noel smirked.
"Huh?" Rose was confused. She usually managed to comprehend Noel's plan, so the one in her head should be similar to what Noel had in mind. So, she was the first one to reveal the itinerary.
"We are going to the Lelelei Fort, Silica Valley, Demon Banner Army's Headquarters, my village, then Styxcanva, right?" Rose asked for confirmation.
"No." Noel shook his head calmly, correcting her. "We're going to Silica Valley, your village, Demon Banner Army's Headquarters, Styxcanva, and Lelelei Fort."
"Huh?" Rose was perplexed. There were a few reasons why she couldn't approve Noel's plan. "Wait a minute. The Styxcanva and Lelelei Fort are supposed to have the furthest distance among our destinations, so why do you want to visit them both in succession? It'll take a lot of time just to travel between them. I don't understand."
"Yes. You haven't understood the situation, Rose." Noel sighed. Rose had yet to understand how far the Third Prince could extend his hand.
Now that Dimitri was on another mission, they didn't have many options left. One wrong move could make the Third Prince get involved.
When that happened, Noel feared that they couldn't move according to their plan anymore.
And the one thing that might make the Third Prince move was Noel getting stronger.
He must be monitoring his movement so that he would appear before him when Noel reached Spirit Master Level. That was why getting stronger was the last thing he wanted to do.
What Rose knew was Noel wanted to get stronger as quickly as possible. She failed to see the urgency of the situation.
"I'll tell you about the situation once we get out of here." Noel sighed. Although Rose was good at planning, she still hadn't learned about the fight between aristocrats that happened in the shadow.
Since his parents couldn't help him, he had to be careful.
After remembering it, Noel turned his head around to check the distance before speaking. "Rose. Have you thought about the plan?"
"Yes. But I still fail to see your objective in making such a plan. If we follow your itinerary, I'm afraid that we'll be late for the gathering. Well, we can still speed up, but it'll put a strain on our body if we do this." Rose shook her head helplessly.
Noel smiled. It was time for him to teach Rose about nobility.
It took him a few hours to explain everything. If people heard about it, they would be confused and angry at the same time.
Most people never traveled out of their cities. So, the only place they knew was the city they lived in.
If Noel gave them a different point of view, they would be confused and even pitied the people that got oppressed by the nobles.
So, it was better to talk about it without any ears around.
The more Rose knew about what was happening behind the scene, the more serious her expression became.
She might have learned from some rumors when working in the Demon Relief Squad. But it was truly beyond her imagination.
Luke Ardagan had taught Noel a lot of things, including the darkness in the nobility, so that Noel could handle the family well when he succeeded in his position.
And this time, Rose had to learn it as well since she was going to be his secretary that would handle most of his affairs.
…
Two days later.
Noel and Rose finally reached their destination, the Silica Valley.
This was where the chain of sadness began. Noel had to make it look like he had died and the Demon Relief Squad had to mourn for him.
However, Noel had finally returned once again to settle everything.
He already had a mission for a new medal. It was a very controversial medal since he could learn one's affection, but this would be beneficial for him in the long run. He just had to be careful not to use it against the people he loved since sometimes ignorance was bliss.
With this thought in mind, Noel said, "Let's enter the city."
"Yes." Rose nodded.
They rode straight to the gate. As expected, the city was asking for its purpose and a lot of other things.
After the attack from the Supreme Devil Organization, the defense became pretty tight.
Since they had no intention of harming them, they just followed their procedure to enter the city.
It took them thirty minutes before they finally entered the fortress.
"Alright. Let's split up for the time being." Noel looked at Rose. "I'll be bringing the horses to the inn. You'll be the one to inform our arrival to the Water Lord."
"I understand. Though, will he accept us? We might have helped him once, but it doesn't mean he will accept us easily because we come without notice."
"That's why I need you to give this." Noel took out a white envelope from his bag and handed it to Rose.
"What is this?"
"A weapon to make the Water Lord agree to meet us." Noel smirked.
"…" Rose nodded. It might look like Noel didn't trust her by not telling her about the content. But Rose saw it as Noel's way to protect her from knowing something that she shouldn't have.
In the end, Rose accepted the letter and went directly to the Water Lord to inform him about their arrival. Meanwhile, Noel went to the inn to prepare their rooms.
