A Livid Lady's Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires Volume 3 E-Book

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• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: A Livid Lady's Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 270

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

After a successful dungeon dive, Elizabeth—now Ellie Leis—and the others emerge with the necessary supplies to create an antidote for the victims of the king poison slime...and with a little girl. Stranger still, the mysterious child they found inside the corpse of a fire drake considers Ellie her mother! Unwilling to cast her away, Ellie adopts her and names her Alice. Ellie wants to do right by the young girl and raise her properly, but the former aristocrat is unsure how to proceed because she didn’t have the most loving childhood. As she tries to navigate motherhood, Ellie discovers counterfeit money in the empire! She immediately attempts to trace it and finds it might have connections to the firm she used to own in the kingdom...

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Prologue

Chapter 1: A Mother and Daughter’s Day Off

Chapter 2: Counterfeit Money

Chapter 3: Lurking in the Entertainment District

Afterword

Color Illustrations

About J-Novel Club

Copyright

Landmarks

Color Images

Table of Contents

Prologue

I’d taken up residence in the noble district of one of the most prosperous cities in the world: the capital of the Yutear Empire. This great power stretched over half of the Central Continent. On one end of the noble district were the estates of the most powerful nobles of the robe and feudal lords. My mansion stood on the other side, next to the town houses of the lesser nobles and wealthy merchants. It originally belonged to a baron who had built a grand secondary residence he could not afford to maintain to make himself look good. For all of his showy tendencies, the man had good taste, and the interior he had chosen was subdued and elegant rather than loud.

At that moment, I fought fiercely with an unending pile of documents in that very mansion. It had become my base of operations in the capital for the new headquarters of my firm since I’d recently changed the address of my head office in an official capacity. I heard footsteps in the corridor beside my office and lifted my gaze from the papers. Right then, the door opened, and a young girl with blonde hair, so bright it looked like strands of gold, and a pair of differently colored eyes poked her head in.

“Mama! Can I come in?”

“You can. But remember to ask before opening the door next time,” I answered, hugging the girl who immediately rushed into my arms.

Even though she called me “mama,” this sweet girl was not my biological child. After unexpectedly finding her inside a dungeon, I had adopted her.

I, Elizabeth Leiston, was born to a prestigious ducal house of a nation as powerful as the empire, the Kingdom of Haldoria. For many years, I lived as the fiancée of the crown prince, Friede Haldoria. But he cast me away and imprisoned me under false charges. My father and his, the king, knew of my predicament but did not move a finger to help me in my time of need. The same went for the nobles of Haldoria who sided with Friede to maintain their positions and privileges and those who quickly criticized me at the first rumor. Enraged by these people, I swore to take revenge.

With the help of a nobleman from the empire, Lucas Lebrick, my loyal maid and I fled to his homeland. While I hated Haldoria so badly I wished I could act at once, the object of my vengeance was a powerful nation. It was not the kind of adversary a young woman with no money and no status could take on. Thus, I started a business to expand my influence and secure funds. I remained in the shadows and did everything possible to erode Haldoria’s might, one step at a time.

Circumstances eventually forced me to head to a dungeon, where I found the young girl I later adopted—Alice. She was trapped inside a peculiar crystal that emerged from the carcass of a fire drake. I initially suspected that she must have something to do with the people who had tried to attack us in the dungeon. No matter how many times I examined her, Alice appeared to be a regular child.

“Mama, are you done with work?” she asked.

“Not yet, Alice. I’ll finish soon, so be a good girl and wait a bit longer.”

I picked her up and sat her on the sofa I used to welcome guests into my office. I glanced at Misha, my catkin attendant, who was organizing papers for me. She nodded and started preparing some tea and sweets. Misha was a slave I had bought when I first arrived in the imperial capital. Although she was learning how to be a proper waiting maid, she did much more than that and was a very helpful secretary. She quickly set down honey tea and cookies in front of Alice and got back to work.

Mireille, the loyal waiting maid who had followed me in my escape, and Lunoa, a core member of my firm, eventually entered. I gathered the documents I needed to give them, then looked at the sofa. Before I knew it, Alice had lain down and curled up into a ball, her eyes closed.

“She fell asleep,” I remarked quietly.

Mireille took out a blanket and handed it to me, so I held Alice up and wrapped her in it before sitting down with her in my arms.

“I see she came running to you once again, Miss Ellie,” said Mireille.

“She sure did.”

Alice appeared to feel lonely easily and often came to my office. I still had no idea why she was so attached to me or called me “mama.” Even when I had asked, her response—“Because mama is mama!”—hadn’t been very helpful. Whenever I tried to inquire about her true parents, she tilted her head in confusion. Truth be told, the circumstances in which I had discovered her were so peculiar that I wasn’t even sure she had parents.

As I watched her sleeping face, I combed through her hair with my hand. She truly looked just like a regular child.

“Miss Ellie. I have a letter for you,” whispered Mireille to avoid waking up Alice.

I freed up one hand and received the letter from Mireille.

“Oh my, it’s from Tida,” I said softly, checking the sender’s name.

Tida was a friend I’d made in the empire. While she was a sister of the Church of Ibris, the religion with the most believers on the Central Continent, she had a pleasant disposition and enjoyed drinking and gambling. All in all, she was the furthest thing from a devout clergywoman you could imagine.

“She’ll be back in the capital soon.”

As a walking sister, Tida journeyed through remote areas with no doctors or healers to cure people. It turned out she would soon return to the capital for a while.

“Shall we invite her for tea?” Mireille suggested.

She’d most definitely prefer alcohol, I thought.

I poked fun at my faraway friend as I stood up to change for a meal I had to attend tonight.

The sun had almost set by the time Misha, Mireille, and I arrived in front of the restaurant as magic lanterns lit the large street. It was quite late, so we had left Alice and Lunoa at home. We’d be dining at a renowned establishment called Silver Arrow, which was mostly visited by nobles and rich merchants. As soon as we passed through the door, a man in a butler uniform bowed to us with practiced elegance.

“Welcome. Do you have a reservation?” he asked.

“I’m Ellie Leis. We’re here to see someone.”

“Of course. I shall lead you to your table at once.”

We followed the butler to the top floor.

“This way, please,” he said, opening a thick door and leading us into a secluded room.

It seemed soundproof, so I assumed nobles and merchants often used it to converse. The room was kept purposefully dim and tastefully decorated. A table was in the center, and a man sat on one side, swirling a glass of brandy and taking in the delicate aroma.

“It has been a while, Mr. Hokins.”

“Indeed. We haven’t seen each other since the council. Have we, Miss Leis?”

Darc Hokins, the Chief, had been waiting for us. He wore a fine suit tailored by the imperial family’s favorite tailor and had his hair swept back. From the outside, the member of the empire’s Merchants’ Guild Council was a financier who dealt with noblemen and merchants. The truth, however, was that he ruled over the underworld.

“Thank you very much for inviting me today,” I said, taking a step toward him. Immediately, Darc took out what appeared to be a short cane and pointed it at me. A small detonation echoed in the room as gunpowder flew, and a small iron nugget, roughly the shape of a chinquapin, erupted at high speed. I reflexively strengthened my body with mana and grasped the lump of iron that flew at me.

“Quite the rough welcome,” I said.

“Take it as my way to say good evening,” he answered. “I heard you took good care of Million while in Count Hammitt’s territory.”

Darc and I talked like nothing was wrong, but a lot had happened in the past few seconds.

Misha didn’t seem to understand what exactly was going on. All she knew was that the man sitting in front of us had attacked me, so she’d unsheathed her dagger and jumped in front of me to protect me. Mireille had moved the second Darc had reached inside his pocket. By the time he’d fired, she’d already been behind him, holding a knife to his throat.

Two more people were in the room, a man and a woman who looked very much like each other. Twins, perhaps? They were most likely Darc’s bodyguards. Considering their attire and weapons, they appeared to be from the Southern Continent. The man stuck the tip of his spear to Mireille’s neck, while the woman held a scroll with the Southern Continent’s language written on it.

“Care to lower that knife?” Darc said.

“It’ll be her pleasure. After your man lowers his spear, that is,” I replied.

Darc stared at his bodyguard and took away his spear. The woman also stepped back. I also gestured at Mireille to get rid of the knife.

“Misha, you step back too,” I said.

“O-Okay... Miss... What was that earlier?”

“A gun,” I responded.

“A...gun?”

“It’s a weapon that propels iron bullets by using the explosive force of gunpowder. Well, it’s no more than a powerless relic. Useless in a fight.”

“Useless?” repeated Misha, surprised. “But it seemed a lot more destructive than an arrow!”

“Oh? The little catkin lady has a good eye,” said Darc, sounding pleased. He set his gun on the table to make it easier to see. “Bullets are much faster than arrows, but they have a fatal flaw.”

“A flaw?” asked Misha.

I sat opposite Darc and let the bullet I’d caught earlier roll onto the table.

“Unlike arrows, one cannot imbue bullets with mana,” I explained.

“Powerful individuals have no trouble dodging or repelling them. Some reinforcements to their body do the trick,” said Darc.

“Besides, only eccentric alchemists deal with gunpowder,” I continued. “Maintaining a gun is quite costly. There was a time when researchers thought these weapons could allow nonmagicians to carry out long-distance offensives and actively studied them. But they eventually realized they’d never come close to magic and gave up. Nowadays, only antique collectors care to purchase them.”

“Well, I quite like them,” said Darc as if he deeply deplored the status quo. “Anyhow, thank you for joining me, Ellie Leis.”

“It’s the least I could do after you went out of your way to invite me.”

“Shall we move on to dinner?”

We ate while making small talk. After the meal, wine was served, and Darc finally decided it was time to get down to business. I wasn’t surprised to learn he’d called me today to discuss what had happened in Hammitt County with an organization under his wing. In short, he wanted me to avoid such incidents in other territories in the future.

“Am I to understand that you’d rather we dealt with these matters all at once in the capital?”

“Indeed,” he responded. “I’d rather not have you cause a commotion in every new territory you visit.”

Dealings like this one left no records. Darc and I would simply exchange verbal promises. I didn’t necessarily mind, though. I was fairly sure that as long as I didn’t go back on my word, he wouldn’t either. No physical contracts left behind meant trust was important in such matters, and he knew that.

“I shall offer Traitre protection. None of the organizations under me will lay a finger on your company. I’ll also do what I can to prevent them from leaking information on Traitre. Although, you most likely understand that I can’t guarantee this.”

“That’s plenty. Thank you very much.”

Afterward, Darc and I agreed on the finer details of our collaboration. By the time we left the restaurant, the darkness of the night had fully taken over the city.

◆

A woman approached a man sitting on a luxurious chair, then knelt and bowed her head. The woman, Scorpion, was missing her right arm. Her face was pale, as though she had yet to recover from her wound. The man allowed her to speak, and she bowed further until her forehead knocked the ground.

“I’m terribly sorry. I failed to carry out the mission you gave me. Allow me to atone with my life.”

The man laughed and said, “Raise your head. You played your part well.”

“But I... I could not get to the merchant and lost to that sister...” said Scorpion, clenching her teeth.

“It’s fine. You learned that someone like her was by her side. That is plenty interesting. That merchant, Ellie Leis...no, Elizabeth Leiston might be the one I was looking for,” said the man, smiling. “Anyway, there is no need for you to beat yourself up over this. You may rest. You lost most of the monsters under your control, right?”

“I’m ashamed...”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll supply you with monsters again. Oh, and we must do something about that missing arm of yours. I’ll have a magic-prosthetic-limb artisan visit you.”

“Thank you for your clemency, young master,” stated Scorpion before exiting the room.

The man was happily gulping down alcohol when another voice echoed in the room.

“You’re awfully nice to your subordinates.”

The elven man who’d spoken had entered the room through a different door from the one Scorpion had used. He was Lotton Flywok, the Clairvoyant, who belonged to the empire’s Merchants’ Guild Council.

“I always cherish my allies,” the other man asserted.

Lotton shrugged and didn’t gratify him with a response.

“Things have gotten quite interesting, haven’t they? So, who is that sister who cut off Scorpion’s arm? The one whose Divine Artifact is a scythe.”

“Tildania Nautilus,” replied Lotton. “Miss Ellie seems to have met her after escaping to the empire.”

“Tildania the Envoy, huh? That’s not just anybody.”

“More importantly, could you tell me what you were thinking with that king poison slime?” asked Lotton, glaring at the man with a dangerous glimmer in his eyes.

“Come on, don’t be mad. It didn’t cause you any trouble, did it?”

“It certainly caused trouble for the empire, and I am one of the pillars of its economy. I cannot keep doing business with someone like you.”

One of Lotton’s subordinates handed him a contract. Lotton walked up to the man and placed it beside him.

“As stated here, I hereby void our previous dealings,” Lotton said.

“My. That’s a shame... Phasmid.”

Lotton jumped back just in time to dodge his subordinate’s blade. The man tried to strike his neck with a concealed dagger. A look of astonishment took over his features. His childhood friend, the subordinate he trusted enough to carry out a secret transaction like this one, had just betrayed him and tried to take his life.

“Rick?! Wh-Why?!” screamed Lotton.

His subordinate smirked and let out a mocking laugh.

“Ha ha ha!” The still-sitting man erupted in laughter. “Don’t be so mean, Phasmid.”

“Excuse my rudeness, young master.”

Lotton watched as his subordinate’s face warped beyond recognition. It soon turned into a different person’s face that he did not recognize.

“Who are you?! And what did you do to Rick?!”

“Your friend is long dead,” declared Phasmid.

“What?!”

“And from today onward, I will be Lotton Flywok.”

The man who bore Lotton’s face stood in a puddle of blood, a sinister smile on his lips. In his hand was a severed head, one with the same face as his own. He turned to look at the man enjoying another glass of wine and straightened his posture. His expression and demeanor instantly changed to match those of Lotton Flywok.

“Well then, young master, I shall bid you farewell and return to the empire.”

“Sure,” expressed the man casually, signaling he had lost interest.

Phasmid left the room. Only a few seconds had passed when another shadow appeared behind the man, who carelessly swung his full glass and watched the liquid swirl. She was known as Crow. Her provocative clothes resembled those of a harlot, and a black veil concealed her face.

“Speaking of which,” the man said, “the stupid prince seems to have come up with yet another funny idea.”

He’d materialized a gold coin of the empire out of nowhere and played with it.

“Should I interfere?” inquired Crow.

“No, just monitor him.”

“Understood. What of the fire drake you gave Scorpion? The experiment—”

“Ignore it.”

“But that experiment—”

“I don’t care. It was a failure anyway. If they notice anything... Well, that will prove interesting in itself.”

“As you command.”

Crow bowed to the man and disappeared, seemingly melting into her shadow just as she had appeared.

“Now, now... I hope you show me a fun time, Elizabeth Leiston.”

Chapter 1: A Mother and Daughter’s Day Off

Misha, Lunoa, and Alice were in deep sleep as Mireille and I were enjoying a glass of wine in my room at night.

“How refreshing,” Mireille said. “This wine is truly easy to drink.”

“It is,” I agreed.

We’d received this bottle from Count Hammitt. As the lord of a coastal territory, he’d procured it from the Western Continent.

“I can’t say if it tastes so distinct from what we are used to because the grapes or the water are different, but it is delicious,” I added.

Since I was in a good mood, I sipped on my wine as I started reading through the reports Mireille had just handed me. They were from the man I’d left overseeing my spies in the kingdom. Up until now, he had kept his distance from the castle to avoid arousing suspicion, making the spies conceal themselves among the people. But he’d recently secured a source of information inside the royal castle. This was all hearsay, so he could not guarantee the accuracy of this information, but it was still helpful in its own right.

In fact, we’d been able to track down a noble who’d helped Friede carry out his plan to get rid of me: Marquess Lampton, the minister of finance. Lampton was someone I’d trusted, and we’d often found ourselves greatly troubled by Friede’s foolish behavior. As it turned out, I had misplaced my trust, because he’d plotted with the prince to remove me from the picture. He’d been helping Friede maintain his position while embezzling money to line his own pockets. Ever since Roselia had arrived in the castle, he’d kept a low profile. Lampton was far from being reckless and knew when to be cautious.

Once I finished this report, I moved on to the periodic correspondence I received from my allies posted in Haldoria’s vassal countries.

“Roselia is as impressive as ever,” I said. “I sowed seeds of discord and stirred up the antikingdom sentiment in Haldoria’s vassal countries, but she’s already normalized diplomatic relations to this extent.”

“She’s a troublesome opponent. By manipulating the masses, we’ve turned public opinion against the kingdom. However, she has control over the ruling elites. It’ll be hard to push these countries to rebel under these circumstances.”

“Indeed,” I said. “But we may have a card to play because we’re dealing with Roselia.”

“What do you mean?”

“We shall make use of the militarist faction. Some of them are quite radical. If we can fund and arm them, the chances of a conflict breaking out with one of the vassal countries or the empire will increase. Considering her position, Roselia won’t be able to do much.”

“I see. You wish to create a problem large enough that she cannot handle it alone.”

“Roselia is very capable and receives her authority directly from the king. That does not change the fact that she is a Fadgal. Unlike me, a former member of House Leiston and thus a royalist, she cannot ignore the friction between the factions, nor can she put a stop to the militarists’ excesses.”

I gathered the reports and locked them away. Then, I took a box from a shelf containing a crystal that fit inside my palm.

“Is this what you received from the alchemist this morning?” asked Mireille.

“Yes. This is a thunder spirit crystal. It shall become one of my trump cards in my fight against the kingdom.”

“Do you mean...?”

“Haldoria is strong. Part of its strength obviously comes from the fact that it is a large nation, but the main reason is Bulat Haldoria’s presence.”

“The great hero of the kingdom, Bulat the God of Thunder...”

“Bulat’s mastery of martial arts is quite something. What makes him truly fearsome is the might of his Divine Artifact, the God of Thunder’s sword, Glazermierch,” I declared.

“If I recall correctly,” Mireille said, “it increases his physical abilities and the power of his thunder magic, allowing him to cast high-level thunder spells without incantations.”

“He also has a secret technique called Thunder Spiritification,” I revealed. “With it, he can turn his body into lightning and move as fast as a flash of lightning. He can become thunder itself.”

Mireille gulped at Bulat’s ability to turn himself into a natural calamity. Undoubtedly, he was one of the strongest fighters alive on the continent.

“Thunder spirit crystals will be key to dealing with him,” I continued. “But there is one problem.”

“What is it?”

“Thunder spirit crystals are incredibly expensive. They aren’t useful for most people, but the process of creating one is so precise that only a handful of first-class alchemists are capable of it. The raw materials needed are also very costly. After working toward making money with Traitre for so long and using aqua silk to gather talented alchemists, I finally obtained one.”

One thunder spirit crystal was far from enough, but this was still a significant step in the right direction. I placed the rare crystal into the box and put it away. Enough about the kingdom for today.

It was unbecoming, but I picked up a piece of cheese with my fingers and tossed it into my mouth. As I enjoyed the snack, my eyes went to the door of Alice’s bedroom.

“I keep letting her feel lonely,” I said.

I’d seen Alice from the window of my office this afternoon. She’d been playing alone in the garden, which got me thinking. I wanted to give her more attention. Alice often came to my office, waited quietly by my side for me to finish work, and usually fell asleep before I finished. Was she lonely?

“Even when she plays by herself, she sometimes stops and looks around for you,” said Mireille.

“I took her in, so I strongly believe that I have a duty to raise her properly. But...I don’t know how to behave around a child. All I ever did when I was young was train or study to become a good queen. I don’t want Alice to have a childhood like mine. She calls me ‘mama,’ you know? I have to give back to her and love her like a true mother would. Still, I don’t quite know what a mother’s love feels like.”

“After all, your mother...”

“Passed away immediately after giving birth to me,” I finished for her.

I had never known my mother or felt her love. Even when father did cherish me, he always treated me as someone he had to respect—as the future queen of the kingdom. To him, I wasn’t quite a daughter but a prized possession. I was a sword he tirelessly tempered until it was ready to fight for the good of the country. On paper, I knew that love was supposed to be essential in families, but I couldn’t understand how it should feel.

“Mireille, do you have happy memories from your childhood?” I whispered.

She looked down at the wine swaying in her glass, her eyes slightly cloudy from the alcohol.

“I didn’t have the happiest childhood either,” she remarked. “But I have some memories of playing with my family.”

Mireille hailed from a Haldorian noble family. Following the downfall of her house, her family had dispersed. I’d tried to locate her parents without telling her several years ago, only to discover they were both dead. Sorrow had marked Mireille’s childhood, yet I was sure she used to have more meaningful relationships with her family than I did. My father was even more distant than a private tutor and was someone I only discussed politics with.

“Let me think,” she said, recalling bygone days. “Before my father’s business took a turn for the worse, my mother and I sometimes watched operas together. My father also took me on long rides on his horse. Then we’d stop for a picnic.”

“I see...”

That sounded nice.

“Children surely need to experience such things,” I continued. “I should take Alice somewhere too. What does my schedule look like?”

“Aqua silk production is well underway. We’re letting the alchemists and craftsmen we poached from the kingdom develop products using it, so there is less for you to do directly. The development of the perfume targeted at beastkin is also going smoothly. We’ve reached the testing-and-safety-checks phase with our expert fine-tuning the product and removing the last issues. Speaking of which, the sales of the Elumia series have been steady so far. All things considered, you should be able to take some time off during the next two weeks.”

“In that case, let us all go on a picnic soon.”

“That’s a good idea, miss. I’ll have the chef prepare the food.”

“No, don’t. This is the perfect opportunity for all of us to cook together,” I said.

“All of us?”

“Yes. We won’t be able to make anything too complicated, but that’s fine.”

“Understood. I’ll adjust everyone’s schedule to make room for this.”

“Thank you.”

Mireille and I clinked our glasses together.

◇

We finally took some time off work and started preparing for the picnic we’d all been waiting for.

“Miss Ellie, does the sauce seem fine to you?” asked Misha, handing me a bowl.

“Let me see.” I dipped a spoon in the sauce and had a taste. The mellow acidity and slight saltiness tickled my taste buds. “It tastes just right.”

“Mama! I washed the vegetables!”

“You did well, Alice. Can you give them to Lunoa now?”

“Yeees! Here, Big Sister Lunoa!”

“Thank you, Alice,” said Lunoa, taking the vegetables from Alice and skillfully chopping them.

Everyone had assembled in the kitchen this morning to cook together. To be fair, I’d had the cook do most of the work beforehand. We only made sandwiches and some simple dishes, although Alice seemed overjoyed.

Misha spread the sauce she’d just finished making over sliced bread and added cheese, ham, and fresh vegetables. After handing the vegetables to Lunoa, who was preparing some salad, Alice came running to me and pointed at Misha.

“Mama! I want to do that too!”

“We’ll be counting on you then, Alice,” I said, smiling.

I fetched a stool for her and helped her get on it. Then I showed her how to make a sandwich, and we started making several together. Misha took care of the savory ones, so we made sweet ones. We filled half of them with fruits and the other half with chocolate cream, the newest product of Traitre’s teahouse.

“I made another one!” exclaimed Alice, showing me the sandwich she’d just made.

“You made it so well,” I answered, wiping away the chocolate cream from her cheek.

After making a lot more, we packed them inside a basket. The salad and roasted chicken were done, so we swiftly put the kitchen in order. We stored all the dishes in baskets and carried them to the entrance, where we found Mireille waiting with a carriage ready. Mireille had chosen a sturdy, regular-looking one rather than the fancier one we used to conduct business. She’d already brought everything we would need, such as a picnic blanket.

“Miss Ellie, the carriage is ready,” stated Mireille.

“We are finished with the food too. Let’s rest for a few moments before we leave.”

As planned, we set out shortly.

Misha drove the carriage and headed for Lake Kalashira, a large lake. It was relatively close to the capital, located only one hour away, and was on the path knights patrolled during their training drills. As such, monsters and brigands seldom came anywhere near it. People from the capital and beginner adventurers mostly visited it to gather herbs, but the scenery was beautiful and sometimes attracted people such as ourselves looking for a nice spot to picnic.

Alice looked outside for roughly twenty minutes, her eyes sparkling as she took in the landscape, before resting her head on my lap and nodding off.

“She fell asleep,” I remarked.

“She was so excited at the prospect of this outing that she spent the entire day yesterday running around, and must be tired. The scenery is quite monotonous for this part of the journey, so we should let her sleep until we get closer to the lake,” Mireille said.

“You’re right,” I answered, wrapping my fingers through her golden hair.

I realized I hadn’t spent such a peaceful day in so long. The carriage went over a hill and a small forest came into sight.

“Once we pass the forest, we’ll reach Lake Kalashira,” added Mireille.

“Indeed,” I said. “Alice. Wake up, Alice. We’re almost at the lake.”

I gently shook her shoulder, then considered letting her sleep some more if that didn’t wake her up. But Alice sat up just as I debated it.

“The wake!” she exclaimed.

Alice was still half asleep and couldn’t articulate well, but she was up. She stuck her head out the window to look at the scenery of light shining through the gaps between the trees. Eventually, there were fewer and fewer trees until we saw the lake.

After we arrived nearby, we stopped the carriage by a tree, spread the picnic blanket next to the shore, and brought out the baskets.

While Misha gave water to the horses, I warned Alice, “It’s dangerous, so you can’t wander alone while we’re here, understood, Alice? When you’re near the lake, always stay next to me or Mireille, all right?”

“Yes, mama!”

The little girl was so excited to be here that she jumped around. I would need to keep a close eye on her. I left Mireille in charge of setting up the picnic and took Alice’s hand. We went for a stroll around the lake alongside Lunoa and Misha.

Alice found everything curious and wonderful, her eyes glimmering as she looked around, unable to let her eyes settle on any one thing. She went on all fours to look at the flowers, picked up acorns, and gasped before hiding behind me when she saw a man reel a fish out of the water. Had I not held her hand most of the time, she would have disappeared behind some bushes despite my warning.

“Mama, what are these misters doing?” asked Alice, pointing at several small boats floating on the water.

“They’re fishermen,” I answered. “They catch fish using nets.”

Seawater fish were difficult to find in the capital, making this lake a popular fishing spot. Alice waved at the boats, and several fishermen waved back.

“Miss Alice, look, moonberries!” Misha said, showing her some wild berries.

“Moonberries?” repeated Alice, accepting one from Misha’s hand.

“They’re bittersweet berries,” Lunoa said as Alice studied the little berry from every angle.

I created some water with my magic and washed the fruit for her. Alice then timidly brought it to her mouth.

“Sho good!” she exclaimed as she ate the moonberry.