RETURN OF THE FEMALE KNIGHT

22. Am I Missing Something?

Lalisa's traveling party began journeying for the capital more slowly than ever. Fortunately Roseanne had recovered her strength after only a few days, but after that one incident Lalisa was even more cautious than ever.

"I'm really feeling better now, sister."

"I know."

"We can speed up a little..."

"Don't worry about anything else and cover yourself with the blanket."

It was always a good idea to keep Roseanne warm, so Lalisa piled another blanket over her in the carriage. Roseanne simply smiled, knowing she could not stop her sister.

Roseanne's hair was now decorated with the butterfly hairpin. It suited her better than Lalisa imagined, and she felt a surge of happiness whenever she saw how pretty her sister looked. But the strange thing was...

Roseanne felt much more grown up during this trip.

Although Lalisa couldn't pinpoint exactly when it happened, but Roseanne, who was small for her age, began to seem more mature. Something changed about Roseanne's heart, but what it was unclear.

'...I don't think there was anything special about Sir Kasha that day. Why?'

For a time Roseanne kept asking Jimin's whereabouts, but Jimin had never mentioned it as if he were oblivious about that night. But there was something curious that couldn't be dismissed. The face that Roseanne made when she placed the coat around the precious teddy bear left by their mother. It struck Lalisa strangely. Roseanne and Jimin were two people who would never cross each other's paths in any other circumstance. They were mismatched in status, age, personality, anything. Roseanne was such a gentle soul she would not pluck a single flower, while Jimin's path was drench in blood. It was not good that there was some accidental meeting between the two, and a kind of change seemed to have come over Roseanne.

'...Am I missing something?'

She knew she was worrying needlessly, but she didn't want to make light of it. She did not reveal the whereabouts of Jimin to Roseanne.

Roseanne, who was quietly looking out the window of the carriage, suddenly spoke to Lalisa.

"Look over there, sister. The white flowers are so pretty."

Lalisa looked at the spot where Roseanne was pointing.

"They are very pretty."

Suddenly, a wash of gratitude came over her as she remembered she was living in a time she thought she would never get back. She had already lost Roseanne once. Even small, everyday moments were so precious to her. So Lalisa and Roseanne enjoyed their time in their own little word, chatting in the carriage as it carried them to the capital. And in those happy moments Lalisa sometimes recalled the words Jungkook left behind.

'I wanted to see you.'

A man who couldn't stand not seeing her in a short period of time that he traveled all the way from the capital...

Did he still miss her? She was struck with such curiosity.

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Lalisa perused the report on the Kraus family when they stopped to take lodging. She also read several times through the information she received about nobles and the royal family in the capital city area. As Jimin had cautioned her, there was not much detailed information that could be obtained on the Krauses. Inside the document was a brief account of Count Evans, the most powerful man in the Kraus family.