“I have to go meet Chloe of Solarine today.”

After a brief pause, the Duke spoke again, meeting her eyes.

Of course. Why would the Duke avoid the eyes of a mere attendant?

“You’re going today? I thought you might still be tired from yesterday’s journey.”

If he was going so soon, it would have been better to stay in Kinden and go directly to Solarine from there. Why did he bother returning to the duchy yesterday?

Solarine was about a 2-hour journey from Kinden. So if he had stayed in Kinden yesterday and visited Solarine today, it would have reduced unnecessary time waste and fatigue from the long journey.

Otherwise, since he made a forced march yesterday, he could rest for a day and go tomorrow. What’s the rush?

Of course, this was just her simple thinking, she couldn’t really know the Duke’s true intentions.

“Fatigue?”

The Duke repeated as if hearing an unfamiliar word. As if to say, do you experience such things?

Yes, yes. The tireless Duke should go ahead and search for ‘Chloe’. With such an inefficient schedule.

“Ah!”

Chloe suddenly remembered a report she had forgotten while thinking about the ‘Chloe’ the Duke was looking for.

“Your Grace, someone from the Information Guild came yesterday to report their investigation results!”

“Oh? What did they say? Did they find out anything new?”

“Well…, it wasn’t much different from what Lord Joyce investigated.”

“I see. Well, I expected as much. It’s difficult to be more capable than Joyce.”

The Duke nodded and muttered.

The words of the Information Guild man about beast-people, dogs, and cats flashed through Chloe’s mind. But she kept her mouth shut, fearing she might be called stupid again like yesterday if she mentioned it. She already knew that the claim about her being a beast-person was nonsense.

The Duke is already struggling to chase after an illusion, there’s no need to add such ridiculous information about her being a beast-person.

“I’ll be leaving right after breakfast, so hurry up. And you… go wash up.”

He’s really scolding me for being dirty. Even avoiding my eyes again. Ah! Maybe earlier he wasn’t avoiding my eyes, but my face was too dirty to look at?

“Yes, right away…! Pardon?”

Chloe’s eyes widened.

‘You too’? I’m going too?

“Me… as well?”

“You’re my attendant, so shouldn’t you come along? You rested yesterday, so you should work a bit today.”

What is this… Me too, unnecessarily? And all the way to Solarine?

It was an unexpected order she hadn’t anticipated.

Chloe was about to ask why she had to go there but managed to hold her tongue. As an attendant, she couldn’t object when her master told her to follow. An attendant was supposed to follow their master wherever they went.

But Solarine was a 7-hour journey one-way from Royzen. He had rarely asked her to accompany him on outings before, so why this far place all of a sudden?

The Duke is gracious, but he tends to be a bit capricious…

“Yes, I understand. I’ll prepare.”

Swallowing her bitterness, Chloe bowed and left the Duke’s room.

She already felt nauseous.

About an hour later.

Chloe blinked several times as she went out to the main gate of the duchy.

“…!”

It was because of the three horses standing in the front yard of the duchy’s main gate.

Horses.

Three of them.

So… the means of transportation to Solarine was horses?

My goodness! I can’t ride a horse!

However, the Duke and Lord Joyce mounted their horses, seemingly unconcerned about her questions and worries.

“What are you doing? Get on quickly.”

Lord Joyce said gruffly.

“Um…, I can’t ride a horse? I haven’t learned horseback riding yet.”

“…”

Lord Joyce and the Duke looked at Chloe simultaneously. They even tensed their eyes as if to say, what on earth are you talking about?

In fact, among commoners, except for a few wealthy ones, it was natural that few people could ride horses. Owning a horse was out of the question, and even managing one was enormously expensive.

But surprisingly, there were some unexpected commoners who needed to know how to ride horses. Commoners with jobs that essentially required horseback riding skills, such as mail carriers, messengers, and horse trainers.

There were also professions that people didn’t easily associate with horses.

For instance, attendants, sometimes called servants. Attendants and horseback riding.

It seemed like an unnecessary skill, but in reality, they had to follow their masters on outings and serve them, so it was an essential skill for attendants serving masters who frequently used horses.

However, most attendants couldn’t ride horses when they were hired. So they usually learned horseback riding using their master’s horses when they had time after being hired. So in a way, it wasn’t completely strange for the Duke and Lord Joyce to be puzzled by the fact that Chloe couldn’t ride a horse.

However, until now, Duke Ulpaz hadn’t taken an attendant with him when he went out on horseback. It was natural, given that the Duke didn’t entrust many tasks to attendants even at home.

Twice, maybe? She had accompanied the Duke when he went out. But even that was just going into Royzen city, and they used a carriage. So Chloe had never felt the need to learn horseback riding.

The butler hadn’t instructed her to learn horseback riding either.

“I didn’t think of that.”

The Duke frowned.

“Yes. I’m sorry. I should have learned in advance…”

Although the Duke had never told her he would take her on such outings, it was true that she wasn’t prepared as an attendant. She couldn’t blame the master for not instructing her, even if he hadn’t told her to be prepared.

“There’s no need to apologize. I didn’t tell you to learn in advance. But…, hmm…”

“Of course, as a rational and reasonable duke, he did not blame her. However, he seemed to be pondering this situation.

What is there to ponder about? Just don’t take her. There’s no need for her to go all the way to Solarin, which is a 14-hour round trip.

He hasn’t been the type of master to bring along a personal attendant before, so he probably doesn’t need her assistance much, and she’s not really an essential person for this journey.

Moreover, the duke and Joyce had returned from Kinden, which is a 10-hour round trip, in just 7 hours. It was obvious that she would only be a burden to their speedy travel.

And in fact, although she couldn’t openly state it, she had her own personal circumstances.

Tomorrow was her day off after a month.

Her mother had gotten up from her sickbed… From the moment she heard the news about her mother, her heart was already running towards her hometown.

How fortunate it was that her day off was just around the corner.

But if they left for Solarin today, they would likely return tomorrow. It would be too late to depart for Vorgen then, and she would probably only be able to leave the day after.

It felt awkward to ask for an extra day off.

So the best scenario right now would be to be excluded from the Solarin trip.

Chloe earnestly prayed that the duke would come to a reasonable and sensible conclusion.

“Your Grace, is there really a need to take Clyne along? I will accompany you, so there shouldn’t be any major inconvenience. Isn’t it important to get to Solarin as quickly as possible?”

Joyce chimed in with a welcome suggestion. It didn’t seem like he said it for Chloe’s sake though. Rather, it was obvious that he thought the company of a personal attendant who couldn’t even ride a horse would be meaningless on this long journey.

Forget meaning, it would be fortunate if she wasn’t a burden.

In fact, Chloe had thoughtlessly assumed they would be traveling by carriage.

Those who had returned from Kinden in just 7 hours by riding horses at top speed. She wasn’t a noble lady who needed to be escorted, just a personal attendant, so a carriage for her company?

It was too naive a thought.

“……”

However, the duke didn’t respond to Joyce’s words at all, and just stared intently at Chloe. While letting out a deep sigh.

As if to say, what should I do with you?

What do you mean, just leave me behind!

It seemed that only the duke was unaware of the obvious conclusion that Joyce knew, Chloe knew, and even the waiting stable boy seemed to know.

Neigh!

Suddenly, the horse that Chloe was supposed to ride reared up on its hind legs and made a terrible noise. It was such a violent struggle that even the stable boy holding the reins jumped in surprise.

What’s wrong with that horse too? It seemed as if it was angrily telling Chloe not to ride on its back. Even the horse seems to know the rational conclusion.

“Your Grace, I think my accompanying you might actually hinder the journey. I can wait here at the mansion……”

Finally, Chloe cautiously voiced her opinion.

“Joyce! Take her behind you.”

She was cut off in the middle of speaking.

Chloe’s face turned pale at the duke’s order. She had to sit on a horse for 14 hours round trip? And behind Joyce at that?

“Your Grace!”

“……”

Chloe, who had called out to the duke without realizing it, closed her mouth at his calm and unwavering gaze.

“Then, I’ll be in your care, Lord Joyce.”

Chloe turned her eyes from the duke to Joyce while bowing her head. Unfortunately, Joyce’s face was visibly stiff.

Of course. I would hate it too if I were him. Having to ride a long distance with an extra bundle attached, on top of everything else.

However, Joyce was not in a position to object to the duke’s orders either. He just nodded slightly without saying anything.

The quick-witted stable boy said he would bring a two-person saddle and promptly ran to the stable with the remaining horse, soon returning to change Joyce’s saddle.

In the end, Chloe gave up resisting and approached Joyce, who had remounted his horse.

“Whoa, whoa.”

As Joyce’s horse turned its head in the opposite direction from Chloe, Joyce pulled on the reins to turn the horse’s head back.

This horse dislikes me too? Well, horses are perceptive too. Even one person would be heavy for a long distance, so you’d be tired carrying two people.

After gently calming down the horse, Joyce reached out his hand towards her. She took his hand with a heavy heart.

But at that moment,

“Wait!”

The duke suddenly shouted so loudly that Chloe and Joyce flinched.