The Carriage Without Horses
The Grand Duke’s patience finally snapped. “Waaah!! Mama!”
“M-Madam! Please give me the young master!”
Startled awake by the sharp sound of a slap and the baby’s cries, Carla stared at me in confusion as I burst into the carriage. Her eyes were red-rimmed again. Holding the already-sleeping Lucian had been enough to stir her maternal instincts, but more than anything, I wanted to soothe the crying Lucian back to sleep. The faint red mark still lingered on his tiny hand, a painful reminder of the wound she had accidentally inflicted while trying to comfort him. It had already begun to heal, yet Carla’s eyes remained damp, never given the chance to dry. Even now, she tried desperately to calm Lucian as he kicked and wailed from hunger in her arms. He only rejected her embrace, crying louder. The side effect of the medicine had left her bodice soaked once more with leaking milk—milk she could never give her own child. A heavy shadow fell across her face. In the end, unable to bear watching him cry any longer, Carla hesitantly handed Lucian over to me.
“Sena… I’m counting on you.”
“Don’t worry.”
Without caring that Carla was watching, I calmly and confidently loosened my top and offered my breast to Lucian. Slurp. Slurp.
“Mmm…”
Only after taking my nipple into his mouth did Lucian finally settle, sucking earnestly at the milk. Carla’s hands clenched tightly as she watched, twisting the neck of the stuffed toy I had given her. But I had no time to worry about her jealous gaze.
We’re moving too slowly.
No matter how tirelessly the two horses had pulled the carriage through the night, they could never match the speed of walking. A carriage drawn by a human would barely exceed the marching pace of ordinary infantry. And worse—
This massive, ornate carriage bearing the Grand Duke’s crest is far too conspicuous.
We had managed to stay hidden under cover of darkness, but once morning came, this enormous carriage would become an easy target for any pursuit. The moment dawn broke, Lumican would discover the empty nursery and fly into a rage, dispatching a large search party into the forest.
At this rate, they’ll catch up to us before half a day passes… What do we do?
Should we abandon the carriage and flee on foot, carrying Carla and Lucian? But Carla’s stamina would never allow her to escape through the forest paths. Carrying both of them alone was impossible as well. My thoughts grew tangled.
If they come… should I just kill them all? With Sena’s body, it might be possible…
Urp—
Lucian let out a small, uncertain burp after finishing his meal.
“Here, he hasn’t digested it yet, so please hold him and pat his back, Madam.”
I quickly fastened my clothes and returned the sleeping Lucian to Carla. She accepted him carefully, then looked up at me with worried eyes.
“Sena… why is your cheek so swollen? It’s even bleeding…”
The slap my body had given itself to force me awake must have been quite forceful. My face was now swollen like a steamed bun.
“Ah, a mosquito bit me pretty badly. The northern mountain mosquitoes are quite venomous.”
After offering the ridiculous excuse, I forced a smile and stepped back outside the carriage. Carla, raised as a sheltered noble lady, accepted the flimsy lie without question.
“Then I’ll get us moving again. If the young master cries, I’ll wake up and come inside on my own.”
Closing the carriage door, I once again shouldered the carriage beneath the cold dawn air.
Let’s go, Sena. We need to get as far away as possible before that Grand Duke bastard catches up.
I closed my eyes and handed control back to Sena. In the darkness, only the rough sound of her breathing as she silently pulled the carriage echoed quietly. And sometime later—
Thwack!!!!
“Aah, I’m awake!!!”
The grueling, noisy rotation of our nighttime escape continued endlessly until dawn: whenever the baby cried, I would slap myself awake, feed him, then pass out again so my body could pull the carriage. The long northern night was finally drawing to a close. For us as well.
* * *
Even in Edelweiss Village, a remote settlement on the outskirts of the Grand Duke’s northern domain, morning had arrived. Edelweiss Village had no regular army stationed there. It was merely a small village nestled between key locations within the Grand Duchy. However, because it lay close to Edel Forest—a coniferous woodland where bandits often hid—some form of defense was necessary. For that reason, the village had organized its own watchmen, young men who served as a kind of militia to protect their home.
“Haaah—”
Mave, one of the watchmen who had stood guard by the bonfire all night, stretched with a jaw-cracking yawn.
“Ah, my bones… Everything aches.”
“Shift change at last. Sun’s coming up, Mave.”
Dave, who had been dozing beside him, rubbed his bleary eyes and stood up as well. The two exhaled the northern frost they had breathed in all night and rolled their shoulders to loosen their stiff bodies.
“Tonight felt especially long. I was so tense, thinking bandits might come down, but not even an ant showed up.”
“Yeah. Time to head home, have some warm soup, and get some proper rest.”
Just as Mave finished stretching and was about to lower his arms, his gaze froze on the forest path leading into the village.
“……Huh?”
Silhouetted against the rising morning sun, someone was slowly approaching the village—along with a carriage. Creak. Rumble.
“Hey, there’s a carriage coming. Who’d be traveling at this hour?”
At Dave’s words, Mave narrowed his eyes and studied the silhouette. It was clearly a large traveling carriage. Yet the figure pulling it was so bizarre that it felt alien. A carriage of that size should normally require at least two, if not four, strong horses. But there was no sign of any horse in front of the carriage emerging from the mist.
“……Hey.”
Mave’s outstretched arm stiffened. In about five minutes, the village walls would come into view. But that concern faded into nothing compared to the sight before them.
“Are my eyes playing tricks on me? That’s… not a horse, is it?”
“Huh? Uh…?”
Dave’s mouth fell open as if he had seen a ghost.
It’s not a horse?!
A person was walking on two legs, the carriage’s yoke resting on their shoulders. And not some burly man with broad shoulders, but a slender woman with long silver hair flowing down her back.
“Insane… Is that a person or a bear?!”
Every time the thick leather straps over the woman’s delicate shoulders grew taut, the carriage behind her was dragged helplessly forward. Her steps weren’t as fast as a horse’s, but they were steady, each footfall firm and unwavering. What’s more—
“Mave, look at the crest on that carriage…!”
At Dave’s voice, Mave swallowed hard and checked the carriage’s exterior. Against a backdrop of black and red, a fierce black eagle with spread wings was emblazoned—a symbol of the absolute ruler of the north, the Grand Duke’s household, the House of Gestein.
“Th-The Grand Duke’s carriage?!”
“And some woman is pulling the Grand Duke’s carriage with her bare hands…? What the hell is going on?!”
The watchmen could only tremble, gripping their spears, as the bizarre procession reached the village entrance. They couldn’t even bring themselves to speak.
* * *
“Haa… Edelweiss……”
When I finally reached the old wooden sign marking the entrance to Edelweiss Village, I carefully lowered the heavy leather straps from my shoulders. Creak. Thud. The carriage wheels, which had not stopped moving all night, finally came to a halt on the dirt ground. I wiped the sweat from my brow with my sleeve and surveyed the village’s outline.
Impressive. She really pulled it all night without a single break. You worked hard, Sena.
While my core had rested inside the carriage—except when Lucian cried for milk—Sena’s body had pulled the carriage without so much as a wink of sleep, playing the role of a human horse. Even with a Knight-Captain’s physique, it was a miracle her muscle fibers hadn’t melted away. I spoke to Sena’s consciousness.
“Good work, Sena. We should head over there, right?”
In response, the sore muscles in my shoulders loosened, and my head gave a light nod. Though Sena had grown up in the Grand Duke’s estate, she had accompanied the Grand Duke on escorts since childhood and knew the northern geography inside out. Edelweiss Village was a border settlement located along the road to the capital. Here, we planned to hide, acquire horses to pull the carriage, or find a new means of transportation. The grueling nightlong flight had finally come to a brief pause. I swept my sweat-dampened bangs aside and knocked on the carriage window, which had remained tightly shut.
“Madam. Please wake up.”
Carla peeked out cautiously, her face tense. Dark circles had already begun to form beneath her eyes.
“We’ve arrived at the village. Let’s rest and resupply here for a bit before moving on.”
At my words, Carla glanced at the scenery outside before looking up at me.
“Sena… Did you really pull this carriage all by yourself?”
“That’s what it looks like. You must be tired—let’s get you down.”
I answered nonchalantly and opened the carriage door. We still had some time before any pursuit arrived. Before then, we needed to cover our tracks and erase any trace of our presence.
One thing still worries me, though…
Given that Lumican had come looking for me at dawn on the very first day, trying to have his way with me, it was possible he had already noticed our escape. If that were the case, a search party might already be on its way.
* * *
Dawn had also broken over the Gestein Grand Duke’s estate. An oddly repulsive, sticky silence hung in the air inside Lumican’s bedroom. Lying diagonally on the bed, the absolute ruler of the north was completely naked, staring up at the ceiling. Fatigue clouded his eyes, yet an expectant gleam fought against it, muddying his crimson gaze. Lumican, too, had not slept a wink. He was the one who had driven his wife Carla into the dangerous northern forest and secretly withdrawn the knights who should have protected her. Was he unable to sleep because of guilt or worry over sending his wife into peril? Of course not. It was nothing but selfish lust.
Now that Carla’s gone, I can hold Sena in my arms without any hesitation.
As long as Carla existed, Sena had been consumed by guilt, constantly rejecting him and trying to escape. Now that troublesome woman had conveniently disappeared on her own. And because he had dismissed the guards, she had been left alone in Edel Forest, where Anna had once been abandoned. The coachman might still be there, but he was surely dead by now. Once Carla was torn apart by bandits and vanished without a trace, everything would be over. The Count of Lyrium’s family might question him, but he could simply wear a sorrowful expression and burn down Edel Forest, presenting the bandits’ limbs one by one. Nothing would stand between him and Sena anymore. He had wanted to bring her to his bedchamber tonight. But then he remembered how, yesterday morning in the bathroom, Sena had rejected his touch, claiming it was that time of the month.
Seeing blood must be stressful for Sena. Yes, I can wait. Because I love her.
Lumican had spent the entire night comforting himself with his own patience. He firmly believed—without a shred of doubt—that once Carla was gone, Sena would surely come to this bedchamber on her own to console him. Because Sena loved him too. He imagined Sena’s bare body, now fully his, nestled in his arms in the empty space left by the madam’s absence. Naked, he had waited all night, desperately hoping Sena would knock on his door. Like an idiot.
But—
“……”
The firmly shut door to his bedchamber never opened even once. Lumican’s brow slowly furrowed.
“Does she still… find me frightening?”
He rose from the bed. The desire he had suppressed all night had now twisted into irritation and impatience, coursing through his veins. He had waited this long. That bothersome woman had even disappeared on her own. How dare she make the one he loved wait all night?
“I suppose I’ll have to go myself.”
Lumican roughly threw on the robe that had fallen to the floor and strode out of the bedroom. Bang! He flung open the door to the nursery.
“Sena. My patience ends here……”
Lumican’s voice echoed into the darkness. But—
“……?”
There was no reply. The nursery was cold. The fireplace had long since gone out, and the space that had always carried Sena’s scent now held only the smell of empty dust.