Reincarnated as the Villainess... Yeah, I'm Doomed

Chapter Seven: Red Haired and Reckless

The carriage ride into town was suffocating. The two guards who had been assigned to accompany me were riding beside the carriage on horses, so Ryland and I were left sitting in the carriage alone.

"Sorry that you were forced to do this." I mumbled with crossed arms. This trip was something I had been looking forward to for weeks, so I decided that it would be better if the two of us got along... or at least tried to.

"There is nothing to be sorry about, I am more than happy to accompany the Crown Prince's fiancé on her birthday." Ryland responded without a moment of hesitation. I guess he had also decided to try and remain civil, however, there was something a little off about his attitude.

Normally, Ryland would watch me like he would an enemy from a hostile land, but today was different. Ever since I had first greeted him, the animosity I normally sensed in Ryland had almost disappeared. While the young knight still kept his eyes on me at all times, it seemed that he was more curious than wary of me.

I didn't like it. 

The carriage stopped just outside of the port town so that we could avoid any unneeded attention. This was one of the first cautions I had taken in order to have a safe an uneventful trip into town. I had also requested that both Ryland and my guards dress in commoner's clothing instead of their usual uniforms.

I hopped out of the carriage and pulled up my hood over my infamous red hair. Though red hair existed in the capital, our families' crimson hair was more vibrant and striking than any other. If someone were to see it, it would give my identity away immediately.

Once we reached the town, I did my best to ignore the three guards trailing behind me. I wanted this to feel as authentic as possible. Maybe it was because I was technically a commoner in my past life, but I missed the ability to roam around freely without being noticed.

The streets buzzed with energy; merchants and vendors fought for customers, young kids played games and chased each eachother, and many carts passed through with different goods and packages. I took in a deep breath of the salty ocean air, stretching my arms high above my head. For some reason, the air felt much lighter here than it did in the estate.

"Where do you plan on going first?" A stern voice asked, interrupting my moment's peace.

"Not sure," I shrugged, ignoring Ryland's annoyed glare. Knowing him, he probably hated the idea of wandering around without any plans or set goals. Of course, I had no intentions of relieving his stress and bounded off to look for some imported goods.

While I didn't have an agenda, I did have one thing that I wanted to try out.

Bananas!

Since I had been here, I kept craving the fruit that I took for granted in my past life. The climate in our kingdom did not support the growth of such plants, and therefore they were sold for high prices in trading hubs.

As I moseyed about, I couldn't help but pay attention to the shadows hidden behind the success of our fief's port town. I was particularly disturbed by the amount of tenant buildings littered around the city in small clusters. With one look I could tell that the living conditions were far from humane. Someone must have been monopolizing on the immigrants.

For the past few years, our port town has had an influx of immigrants from neighboring nations, most of them being from the Kingdom of Cynth. Though I didn't know much about the small nation, I was aware that the country was in the midst of a disastrous civil war.

I stopped to look at the tenements, noticing a woman carrying a malnourished child on her back. Burn scars were present on both the woman and child's faces. They must have been refugees from the war.