Chapter 81: CH 81

Chapter 81 (One bed, two people)

“Ugh, my ears are tickling. Someone’s talking about me.”

Setting down her large pack, Lariette scratched her ears and took a seat.

It’s not as soft as the carriage’s sofa, but she was fortunate that the sitting feeling wasn’t too bad. Because she had to sit for hours.

“Who dares to talk about my darling?”

Doha said as she lifted Lariette’s luggage again and carefully placed it on the shelf. There was a mischievous twinkle in one eye.

After tidying up his coat, he took a seat in front of Lariette. They faced each other across the center of the table.

“How long are you going to play?”

“Until we grow old and die together.”

As Doha whispered in a husky voice, Lariette shook her head as if she couldn’t stop it. They’d pretended to be married couples once, and he kept calling her ‘honey or darling’.

She had certainly gotten used to his handsome face. It’s hard to believe that such a handsome man could get away with such a prank.

“How many minutes are left before departure? ten minutes?”

“Five minute. Why, are you nervous?”

“Yeah, a little…”

Lariette answered honestly. It was my first time taking the train. It was her first time on a train. In the first place, until a few months ago, she had rarely traveled outside the capital.

All of the experiences she could count on were visiting the Blanche estate, and at that time, she was not impressed by the carriage.

But the train was different. Because it was operated by borrowing the power of the magic stone, the ticket price was very high, and it ran a far greater distance than going by carriage.

‘How fast will it move?’

I never had any imagination. Even when I saw the train coming in before boarding, I opened my mouth wide at the speed, what would it be like to experience it in person! My heart was pounding with anticipation.

Doha burst into laughter at the sight of Lariette with her eyes wide open and looking out the window. She was so cute when she was just nervous about this.

“It’s so fast that you can get motion sickness. You will feel dizzy and your stomach will be upset.”

“Really? is it that bad, what if I get sick, what if I throw up?!”

Lariette was startled and freaked out. Vomit was no way to start a trip.

“Don’t worry. You can take motion sickness pills when you feel sick.”

Doha said not to worry, called the attendant and bought a bottle of water and a pill. He looked quite skillful.

Lariette asked, admiring the sight.

“You don’t need it, Doha?”

“No, I’m fine, I’ve ridden it before.”

“Wow, that’s great, Doha.”

“Not really “

Doha shrugged, saying it was nothing. It was childish to even think that I was happy with such compliments.

“If you are struggling even after taking medicine, I will heal you, Rie.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Soon the horn sounded, announcing the departure of the train. Lariette tensed and pressed her back to the chair.

‘So cute.’

The last thought of Doha, the train departed vigorously. The speed went up and up again. Lariette closed her eyes tightly, feeling as if her body was floating.

It didn’t last long. Only a few minutes later, Lariette opened her eyes.

She looked out the window and saw the scenery around her passing by frighteningly. It was a little wobbly when I saw it, but it wasn’t too bad.

Lariette smiled brightly, thinking that she was more like the train than she thought. Then she turned and looked at Doha. I was going to show it.

And Doha, who was so skillful, was banging his head on the table.

“… Doha?”

“…….”

Doha didn’t answer. No, he couldn’t. He felt so sick to his stomach that he couldn’t open his mouth.

“Doha, are you sick?”

But he couldn’t let his image be ruined like this. Doha answered with a bright voice.

“No, not at all.”

“… But why can’t you lift your head?”

“I’m sleepy.”

It was a lame excuse. An awkward silence lingered between Lariette and Doha.

Lariette handed him water and medicine without saying a word. That Doha had proudly bought one for her.

In the end, Doha was no longer stubborn and quietly took the medicine. In his shaky vision, Lariette’s shoulders trembled slightly.

“… Just laugh.”

“Fu-ha, pu-ha-ha! You’re trying to be cool! Hahaha!”

“No, just don’t laugh.”

I laughed too hard. Doha’s pretty face turned pink.

“Hahahaha! If you are struggling even after taking medicine, I will heal you, Rie~ Hahaha!”

“Don’t laugh.”

“Hmph, Hmph!”

Lariette now mocked what he had said.

Doha couldn’t bear it any longer and covered her mouth with his hand, but couldn’t stop the sound of laughter from leaking between his fingers.

“Pfff! Hmph!”

Lariette made a sound and signaled him to let go. However, Doha narrowed his eyes, not letting go of his hand, wondering if he could trust her.

She grabbed his hand with both of hers and struggled to took it away, but he wouldn’t budge. For such a weak-looking man, he was unexpectedly strong.

‘Then I’ll let you take it off yourself!’

Lariette stared at Doha with a playful gaze. As he furrowed his eyebrows, wondering what she was going to do, something soft and moist touched the palm of his hand.

Lick. Lariette had licked his hand.

“What are you doing!”

Doha was startled, removed his hand and leaned back. In a rare moment, he even yelled.

“I told you to take it off!”

“Even though…!”

How can you lick a man’s hand?I couldn’t even get the words out of my mouth because it was so manly.

“Hahaha! It turned out to be a tomato face!”

Lariette laughed at Doha’s reddened face. There was no shame in her voice.

“Are you five years old? Even a five-year-old wouldn’t play like this!”

“I won’t lie to say that even a five-year-old doesn’t get motion sick!”

Doha just kept his mouth shut. It was only then that he realized that it was not a fight that he could win.

* * *

It took a long time for Lariette to calm down. It was the first time Doha had been so embarrassed, so she was overjoyed.

I wrote a letter to Asrahan while feeling depressed until morning, but it was only a few hours later that I laughed so loudly. When someone asked if I was bipolar, I had nothing to say.

“How’s your feeling?”

Lariette cast a healing magic to completely heal motion sickness in Doha. Then Doha replied with a sullen expression.

“No, it’s not okay.”

“Still? You have severe motion sickness.”

She reached out with a worried expression. It was to use healing magic again.

Just as her slender fingers were about to touch his shoulder, Doha grabbed her hand in a firm grip. Then he carefully pulled it and brought it to his chest.

A soft voice followed.

“Not motion sickness. My heart hurts.”

I took this opportunity to play a trick on her.

Lariette was startled by the hard muscles touching the tip of her finger and clenched her fist involuntarily. Then, without hesitation, she punched his chest.

“Ouch!”

“Is it still hurt?”

More treatment? She added kindly. The treatment here was, of course, punching.

The smile on her face was terrifying, with her eyes twitching softly. Doha didn’t want to earn more punishment, so he stopped.

“Shall we stop joking around and come up with a plan, Rie?”

Doha took out a map and notebook from his luggage and placed it on the table. As if he had researched the West in advance, he had quite a few notebooks. Of course, it was Joshua’s work.

“Do you know anything about the West?”

“Actually, I don’t know.”

“Hmm, let me explain about famous places.”

Doha pointed to the map with his finger and started explaining.

“There are three most famous cities in the West: The coastal city of Suran, the alpine city of Mediah, and the desert city of Astar.”

“Yes.”

“This train goes through Suran and a few smaller towns to Mediah. Suran has the most to see, while Mediah is more about the natural scenery. Usually travelers get off in Suran and explore the surrounding cities. They’re both pretty big, so it’ll take a while to see everything.”

Even if it took a long time, I thought that it would not be bad with Lariette. No, I thought it would be better. It’s like a honeymoon trip.

However, Lariette firmly shook her head. It meant she couldn’t go everywhere.

Doha smiled bitterly, as if expecting this.

“Where do you want to go the most? Suran? Mediah?”

“I…”

Lariette looked at the map and smiled. There was no need to think long. Because I have already decided where I want to go the most.

“Astar.”

“… A desert city?”

“Yes, the desert city of Astar.”

Lariette’s eyes sparkled with anticipation. A desert was such strange terrain to her, having only been in the capital.

“I’m quite curious about that place, too, but I think it’ll be difficult…”

“Why? Why not?”

Doha gave a subtle smile at her prompting. He was more curious as to why she wanted to go there.

The desert city of Astar. It was famous for its mystical beauty, but even more famous was the nickname of the desert that surrounded it: the Desert of Death.

The climate was not easy to adapt to, even for those accustomed to the desert. The terrible heat scorched flesh, and occasional sandstorms swept people away. Monsters and venomous scorpions roamed the land.

Are you going to go to Astar through that danger? It was something crazy people did.

Of course, Doha was dying laughing at her craziness.

It’s sandstorm season. If you go in now, you’ll be blown away and screamed to death. Even if you’re lucky enough to make it across the desert to Astar, they may or may not let you in.”

“They might not let us in?”

“Yes. Astar has a greater lord’s power as it is less accessible from the capital. They say the city itself is like a kingdom of some sort. It is quite difficult to enter without the permission of the lord.”

Lariette’s expression quickly turned pale. I always wanted to go, but if it was that difficult, I felt like I had to give up.

I didn’t want to die before I could return to Asrahan and apologize properly.

“I see… So, let’s get off at Suran. I think a coastal city would be pretty fun too.”

“Okay, I just happened to have a business in that direction.”

“Business? Like what?”

Lariette tilted her head and asked.She was surprised that he had followed her without thinking, but apparently he did have a business.

Doha forced a smile and answered slowly.

“I have someone to check.”

When I think of her, my stomach twists again. Doha spoke quickly, blocking further questions.

“Okay. Now that you’ve got a direction, let’s go to sleep. I’m getting sleepy.”

“Oh, you didn’t sleep well because you were nursing me.”

Lariette wrinkled her eyebrows pitifully and looked at Doha. I felt bad because I thought I was causing trouble to him.

Doha thought it was cute even looking at her eyes, and only shook his shoulder once. His playful smile was very attractive.

“Yeah, honey, I couldn’t sleep because I was thinking about it.”

“Ugh! Not that again!”

“Why, are you excited?”

Doha smirked and raised the corners of his mouth.

A man passing by the hallway saw it and grabbed his chest. A woman sitting across from me was dripping with saliva. Victims of excessive appearance attacks were one after another.

However, Lariette, who had been attacked in front of her nose, was just fine.

“What is exciting? I don’t think it’s okay for Doha to sleep in the same bed.”

It was a bit of an exaggeration, but actually, I was really comfortable with Doha now.

He was a friend and teacher who helped me in any situation. I also had a goal of repaying the favor I received one day.

More than that, Doha didn’t feel like a man at all to Lariette. Even though she broke up with Asrahan, it was also because she still had a good feeling for him.

Meanwhile, Doha, who had always thought  Lariette as a woman, stared at her angrily. That mouth. I wanted to shut that mouth that mocked me for hours.

‘If you block it with something other than his hand, it would be perfect for licking.’

As the sensation of the tongue that had licked my palm came to mind, the desire that I had pressed forcibly came to mind.

Doha sighed and wiped his face with his hand. I felt guilty for thinking about lewd thoughts in front of her. It really didn’t suit him.

“Sleep. You must be tired either.”

“Ugh, okay. Good night, Doha.”

“Good night, Rie.”

After saying good night, the two slowly closed their eyes. They both hadn’t slept well last night, so they quickly fell into sleep.

* * *

Lariette and Doha slept really well. So well, in fact, that when they woke up, they were already at the next station in Suran.

They rushed down and bought tickets for the train back to Suran, were so hungry that they missed a train while buying bread, and barely made it onto the last train.

It was only after dusk had set and night had arrived that they could reach Suran.

“Hard… It’s too hard…”

It seemed that it would be easier for me to help with farming in Yuta. I was just sitting on the train, but the consumption of stamina was worse than I thought.

To make matters worse, there was no carriage to be found. In other words, they have to hunt for lodging in the middle of nowhere – and in a big city!

“There must be an inn near the train station. It’s too late, so let’s stay nearby for a day, even if it’s a little old.”

“It’s okay if it’s old. When I was in Yuta, I slept in the warehouse room.”

“I’m not going to put you to sleep in a place like that.”

Doha answered firmly and picked up her luggage instead. He was the one who walked ahead and looked for the inn without a second thought.

Contrary to expectations, there were not many inns around the train station. There were only two.

Unfortunately, there were no rooms left in the first inn we visited. Lariette swallowed her tears and headed to the next inn.

But even there, the woman had a troubled face.

“Oh, no, what can I do? There are no rooms left….”

No! Tell me it’s a lie! Lariette desperately hoped. I couldn’t go out again at this time and walk around the streets.

“Please. My lady is very tired. Is there something you can do?”

Doha smiled with a beautiful face and gently pushed the silver coin to her. Lariette was heartily cheering for his beauty and bribery.

After checking the amount, she quickly grabbed a silver coin and put it in her pocket. Then she greeted the guests with a bright smile.

“It’s not really possible, but there are some empty rooms in the staff room. Follow me.”

Doha is the best! Have a handsome face! And money is the best! Lariette whispered in joy.

But what greeted her as she ran like a colt was a room of a size she hadn’t expected.

It also has one double bed.

“There’s only one room left, and you’re lucky. Then, rest!”

The lady smiled and closed the door. She thinks the young couple look really good together.