149. Lake Mills

"Wake!"

I am helped down from the bed. Once the blankets were peeled away, Natalie rattled and clicked various parts of the bed, returning it to its original seat position in no time at all.

"Amashing!"

"That's because I've been practicing."

Natalie nodded with a rare look of satisfaction. She must have practiced quite a lot.

"Lia, to your seat."

"O-kay!"

As brother lifted me up and settled me into the seat, I gazed out at the lake alongside us. They must have been able to see it for a while now; it seemed we had come quite close to the shore. The lake visible from the window of the dragon carriage was vast, so large that the far shore was indistinct. No, looking closely, was that hazy shape over there a mountain?

"Wewington mowtain!"

"That is correct. Lake Mills is a vast lake formed by the waters flowing down from the Wellington Mountain Range. It is so large that one might think several royal capitals could fit within it."

"I didn't realize it was this big until I saw it in person. It's a majestic sight."

Gil was peering out the window alongside me. However, something felt off, preventing me from simply being moved by the view. I tilted my head, sharpening my senses. In moments like this, one must remain hyper-aware of any presence.

"Somethin' is... diff'rent."

Yet, it was a presence I recognized. I began to piece my memories back together. It wasn't a memory from after our return to the Kingdom.

Not Wester's capital. Not a town in the grasslands. Not a seaside town, either. That's it, the Wellington Mountains. The nostalgic town of Trentforce. A town protected by a barrier. But a town where the barrier occasionally wavers because it sits right on the edge.

“Ba-wrier... it's... weak.”

“That's it!”

My brother's eyes widened in shock. It was scary.

The Kingdom's barrier never wavers. Especially within the Royal Capital. When we were in Wester, it felt strange to be inside a barrier box or my own personal barrier. However, since returning to the Kingdom, being inside a barrier has become so natural that I had forgotten what it was like to be without one. The lake and its surroundings have a slightly weaker barrier.

"Beyond the Wellington Mountains lies Trentforce. According to Lia, the barrier reaches all the way to Trentforce. If the barrier is weakening here, it shouldn't be able to reach Trentforce. Why is that?"

Brother is smart. However, I was remembering the nature of the Void-kin from when I was traveling with Bart and the others. Why did we try to camp as close to the river as possible?

"Water. -oid-kin, water, hate. Big water, can't fight."

"Lia, is that true? I've never heard anything like that before."

That makes sense. Even if people within the Kingdom knew about it, what good would that do? In fact, it's knowledge that even in the frontier, only Hunters are aware of.

"However, the fact that the Void-kin are weak against water is a different matter entirely from the barrier weakening here."

I wonder. The Void-kin are masses of magical energy. If those masses are weak against water, then it wouldn't be strange for the power of the barrier—which is merely a transformed state of that same magic—to also weaken over water.

"Big bwother. The -oid-kin... magic too."

"The barrier is also a form of magic. Lia, is that what you mean?"

"Yesh!"

My brother fell into a deep thought, clearly unable to wrap his head around it.

“Even those high, thick mountain ranges allow the barrier to pass through. So why would water weaken it? Are you saying that even if it weakens here, it just returns to normal once it reaches the mountains?”

Unfortunately, I couldn't give him an answer. It was something I didn't know myself.

“Come on, we’ll be at the lake before you finish thinking. Still, I don't get it. Maybe it's just because we're near the lake, but I feel a bit of humidity in the air, that's all.”

“If that were the case, it would be for the better, I suppose.”

As long as the Void-kin do not emerge even if the barrier is weak, there is no particular problem.

“Play! Wath water!”

“I hope you find the time. It seems our hosts have arrived.”

“Yes...”

I was dissatisfied, but for now, I am merely Nico's attendant. I am little more than an extra. If the local nobility wishes to welcome Nico and Prince Albert, I have no choice but to set aside playing in the water and accompany them.

“Fijee! Lia wuv fijee!”

“Fijee? Ah, fish. If I recall correctly, fried trout from Lake Mills is famous.”

“Gilly, yummy! You know eberthing!”

“O-oh. It’s common knowledge, you know? It’s eaten often in the Royal Capital since it's nearby. Though, being right by the lake, I imagine it'll be quite fresh.”

If I can't play, I'll just look forward to the food. Even if the barrier is weak, as long as the fish is delicious, nothing else matters.

If it had only been the four dukes, as it was when we returned from Wester, we might have been pampered. However, compared to the significance of a member of the Royal Family—specifically a Prince and grandson of the King—leaving the Royal Capital, we were nothing more than pebbles by the roadside.

We were shown proper courtesy, of course, but the welcome Nico and Prince Albert received was extraordinary.

Nico responded to the head of the house with his usual poised nodding and impeccable manners, but I might have been the only one to notice his eyes flicker momentarily toward the lake.

We arrived at the lords house just as evening was approaching. From there, we washed off the grime of our travels and proceeded to greetings and banquets, not only with the head of the house's family but also with local dignitaries. Throughout it all, Nico was assigned noble children, likely under ten years old, to act as his playmates.

Even if the treatment was somewhat lacking, we faced the same issue. My brother and Gil, in particular, seemed to be having a difficult time being entertained by the array of dressed-up girls. As for me...

“Mowe fish, pwease! Anoth-er bit!”

What happened to me? It seems there were no boys around my age, so I’ve been left to my own devices. I'm not complaining.

Just as Gil had said, the fresh trout was exquisite. In particular, the large trout pan-fried in plenty of oil and squeezed with a citrus, like lemon, was so delicious I thought my head might fall off. I was served a small, neatly sliced portion, but it wasn't enough. I wanted to eat a little more.

“My Lady, we will be serving Welly chestnut cake after this. Are you sure you won't want to save some room in your stomach?”

The server whispered this to me as I asked for seconds.

“Welly cake! I wuv it!”

“It is a local specialty around here, after all.”

“Yesh”

I nodded in a small voice. I didn't want to get the server in trouble. Still, wasn't Welly chestnut a specialty of Wester? Having kept myself somewhat hungry, I tilted my head slightly in confusion, but I proceeded to eat the chestnut cake to my heart's content.

Even so, it seemed the night was far from over. My older brothers had their work cut out for them, but I was to return.