Chapter 34 : “Why Are You Here?”

“Estelle?”

In the northern mountain range, on the edge of the great forest, there was still no movement from the tent beneath the trees.

Anna walked over and called out Estelle’s name again.

Soon, the small tent opened, and out came Estelle in the same outfit she’d worn yesterday.

It had rained lightly during the night.

Though it didn’t last long, it had left the ground damp.

Estelle stepped onto the soft, decaying leaves and quickly tidied up her slightly dirty clothes.

Watching her, Anna couldn’t help but comment:

“You trained all the way till morning? That’s some dedication…”

“Mhm.”

Estelle nodded calmly, as if staying up all night training was just her normal routine.

Anna was speechless.

After all, training takes a lot of mental energy — it’s not something that effort alone can accomplish.

But she didn’t know how to convince Estelle otherwise.

After thinking it over, she just sighed and said:

“Let’s get some breakfast, then we’ll head out.”

Estelle nodded and followed behind Anna.

The rest of the group was already awake, having set up a small fire and pot.

They sat in a circle, chatting and laughing while drying off gear that had gotten wet the day before.

Estelle found a spot to sit nearby, hugging her knees and staring blankly.

Seeing this, Anna asked with some concern:

“Estelle, aren’t you going to eat something? We won’t be stopping at noon, so you should eat well this morning.”

Estelle lifted her head slightly to glance at her, then quickly looked back down.

She mumbled very quietly:

“I already ate.”

“……”

The others exchanged glances, eventually turning their attention to Anna.

Since she had brought Estelle along, it was her responsibility.

Anna walked over, softening her tone as she asked:

“Estelle… did you not bring any rations?”

At that, Estelle lowered her head even more, not answering the question.

She just bit her lower lip and stayed silent.

That notebook had said adventurers need to learn to forage while traveling — wild fruits, wild vegetables, even monster meat.

You can’t rely too much on rations, because you never know if you’ve brought enough.

Seeing her like this, Anna understood.

She really hadn’t brought any food.

Anna grabbed some of her own rations that had been warmed over the fire, broke a piece of flatbread in half, and held it out to Estelle.

The warm bread smelled good enough to make one’s mouth water.

Estelle looked at it, then quickly lowered her head again.

“No need…”

“Here, just take it.”

Watching her, Anna felt a headache coming on.

Nearby, the priestess Milly was covering her mouth, silently giggling — not at Estelle, but at Anna.

Though Estelle repeatedly refused, she eventually gave in under Anna’s insistence and accepted the offering.

She began eating the piece of flatbread, which was almost as big as her face.

It was dry and hard, and didn’t taste very good.

Estelle ate in silence.

Far away, in the inner district of Redpine City, inside a small house, a girl with beautiful pale golden hair was eating meat patties her mother had just made, sipping sweet and rich milk that had been boiled with sugar, and devouring soft bread that smelled of wheat.

Her pretty little face was full of happiness.

Enya smiled as she watched her daughter devour the food.

“Slow down, no one at home is going to fight you for it. If you eat that fast, you’ll choke.”

Though Rosily nodded continuously, her mouth didn’t stop moving — she kept eating and eating until she was finally full.

Leaning back in her chair, she rubbed her belly with both hands.

Enya took a soft pink-and-white napkin and gently wiped Rosily’s mouth, cleaning off the milk and grease.

She then folded the napkin neatly and placed it on the table, planning to wash it later.

At this moment, Rosily glanced at Enya’s plate.

There was only a palm-sized piece of bread, some leafy greens, and a few small fruits — nothing more.

The girl couldn’t help but look puzzled.

She turned to Enya and asked curiously:

“Mama, why are you eating so little?”

“Because Mama’s on a diet.”

“Mama, what’s a diet?”

“It means eating less and exercising more, to reduce fat and make your body lighter. That way, you’ll look slimmer and prettier.”

Enya’s tail had put on a bit more fluff again!

Rosily blinked, then scooted closer and leaned against Enya, tilting her head up and sweetly saying:

“Mama, you’re already the most beautiful in the whole world.”

“Uh…”

Enya was caught off guard by that and didn’t know how to respond for a moment.

Then she couldn’t help but smile, reaching out to gently pinch her daughter’s soft, rosy cheek.

“Little Rosily sure knows how to flatter people, huh?”

“Hehe~”

The girl gave a silly giggle.

Enya looked at her feigned innocence, amused but also a bit helpless — she might be young, but she was sharp.

Enya sent Rosily off to play, then slowly finished her modest breakfast before moving on to her daily chores: laundry, dishwashing, sweeping.

After finishing the housework, Enya headed out to check on the garden.

Seeing that her potion ingredients were all growing properly and not slacking off, she finally called Rosily over and gave her a few instructions: stay home, don’t go outside, don’t talk to strangers, and so on.

Enya was preparing to go visit Henna, hoping to ask for a favor — to pull some strings and help Rosily get into the city school.

Since Henna had offered her help before, Enya wasn’t planning to be shy about it.

But of course, she had to bring a gift.

Looking around the house, Enya didn’t have much of value to offer.

After some thought, she decided to bring two jars of sun-dried flower tea she’d made a while back — they wouldn’t spoil, even if stored in a “library.”

Before heading out, Enya returned to her room and took time to carefully dress up.

She styled her silver hair into a neat updo and changed into a refined black gown.

When asking someone for help, appearances mattered.

Being too casual could be seen as disrespectful.

Rarely for her, Enya even put on a bit of makeup — just a light touch — before leaving the house.

Rosily, however, grew jealous.

She tugged at the hem of Enya’s dress.

Even though Enya explained she was going to meet Henna to ask for help getting Rosily into school, the girl still wouldn’t let go.

In the end, Enya had to kiss her daughter on the cheek.

Only then did Rosily finally release her grip.

As she watched her mother’s figure disappear down the road, a vow formed in Rosily’s heart:

In the future, I’ll never let Mama have to humble herself for my sake again!

…

City Lord’s Mansion, Study Room.

Henna was deeply troubled by the affairs of her domain.

The mess left behind by the previous lord now had to be cleaned up by her.

She could’ve chosen to ignore it — let the people suffer a bit.

After all, none of it would affect her personally.

She could still live in a grand mansion and enjoy the service of over a hundred maids.

So why care?

But if she really didn’t care, then what was the point of returning here — of personally executing her corrupt blood relatives?

On the papers before her were records of tax collection from the Redpine domain — taxes collected decades in advance.

The amounts written made Henna’s eyelids twitch.

“Sigh… What a headache…”

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

“Come in,” Henna called out, expecting it to be one of the maids.

But as she caught sight of the figure from the corner of her eye, her gaze immediately locked onto them.

She stared for a moment, stunned, then said:

“Why are you here?”