My Stepmom is Too Pretty, and It’s Troubling Me – Chapter 139

A few days of preparation for the trip… Honestly, I didn’t do anything special.

I just packed a few clothes in my bag and decided on who to travel with.

In fact, Ella took care of the clothes, and I didn’t need to choose my travel companion since it was already decided, so I just attended the Academy like usual.

“Do all the Academy students have to ride the carriage?”

“That’s what they say. I guess the Central and the Academy are just too close, right? So there’s no point in using another means of transport.”

I was chatting with Grace as I leaned against the carriage.

It really didn’t take long to get to Central.

There was no need for anything else, and it would just be excessive spending.

Of course, since so many students had to travel together, there would still be a large procession, right?

“Miss, all the young ladies’ luggage has been loaded onto the carriage.”

“I’m sorry for making you work. Would you like to go inside and rest for a bit?”

“No, I will wait here beside you.”

Rize stood quietly beside me, saying that.

She had just been busy moving our luggage a moment ago, so I wondered why she felt the need to stand like that.

I would have preferred if she rested comfortably inside the carriage…

“Well, if Rize wants to, then there’s no helping it.”

Usually, it’s better to just let Rize do as she wants in situations like this.

Of course, if I insisted and kept pushing Rize to rest inside… She probably would obey.

But it wasn’t a matter serious enough to interfere with what she wanted to do.

“I’m glad we can pair up with other grades.”

“Hehe, right?”

“Still, when are the others coming? We’re supposed to gather by 10 o’clock, and how come only three of us are here? And that includes one maid, so just three?”

“True, I wonder when everyone else will arrive?”

I replied to Grace while still leaning against the carriage.

Well, there was still time left, so everyone didn’t need to gather immediately.

Plus, Karen had said she was going to the bathroom, so I didn’t mind that too much.

Ella and Ivana didn’t strike me as the type to be late, so…

I was sure they would arrive just fine.

“So… how will we arrange the seats in the carriage?”

“Hmm… what do you think, Grace? Do you have any specific seating arrangements in mind? I was just thinking of letting everyone sit wherever they liked.”

We were only going to be riding for a few hours, and I didn’t think it was necessary to be overly meticulous about it.

I intended to let people choose their seats in whatever order they got on the carriage.

Honestly, I didn’t really care who I sat with.

“For now, you’ll sit with me.”

“Yes, do that.”

“You can… well, just sit anywhere you want.”

“Shall we? In fact, I think it would be fun to sit in the front of the carriage with Rize and feel the breeze?”

“…Hah.”

It really did seem like it would be more enjoyable to spend time next to Rize driving the carriage, rather than just sitting quietly inside.

Of course, I expected I would probably fall asleep partway through.

*

“Ella, can you please close the curtains?”

“We’re going on a trip outside for the first time; isn’t it a waste not to see the scenery?”

“That’s true, but…”

… I can’t sleep because it’s too bright from the sunlight.

The carriage was moving slowly, and we were just sitting quietly inside.

Since many students were traveling in carriages, it was bound to be impossible to move quickly.

As a result, it was moving very slowly and the same scenery was just repeating.

“Since we’re going so slow, is it really necessary to keep looking outside? After about 30 minutes, it would probably look different anyway.”

“You just want to sleep.”

“…….”

That wasn’t wrong.

I was talking to Ella sitting across from me, but she wasn’t easily agreeing to that.

Did she have a hobby of enjoying scenery or something?

I hadn’t thought Ella would have such a hobby.

But one thing was clear: I definitely wasn’t going to get a nap in the carriage today.

“Ah… By the way, Ivana, have you been to the capital?”

“Yes, often.”

“Oh… a wealthy family, I see.”

I said that honestly.

After all, traveling from the North to Central, the capital, definitely takes a lot of time.

Time like that costs money, and most people didn’t usually have many reasons to go to Central.

Unless you were one of the Central nobles working in the capital or a noble staying around its territory… It’s really not common for people to visit the capital frequently within a year, right?

Of course, if it were for business or contracts, that could be a reason, but I was pretty sure Ivana hadn’t gone for that.

“So, what did you do in Central? There are so many art galleries and museums there. Did you go to see those too?”

“I went there with my father when I was young, and later… I just went on my own to Central after finishing up monster cleanup in the North as part of my vacation.”

“Surely… that sounds like a relaxing place.”

That much was definite.

Central was the hub of culture in many ways, not just the heart of the Empire.

Having heard about the monster cleansing in the North, I understood.

Spending one to two months in the winter solely concentrating on monster hunting… Just hearing about it sounded tiring.

“But it’s definitely better than Academy classes. Just sitting here…”

Then I thought for a moment.

While talking, something suddenly popped into my head… Um…

“…I think I used to just sit quietly in Academy classes too.”

That thought came out of nowhere.

It wasn’t that sitting quietly and relaxing like this was strange or unpleasant, but… It felt like everyday Academy life had always been like this.

I was still feeling like nothing particularly special was happening.

The only special thing was that the scenery outside was slowly moving, albeit very slowly… ?

“At this speed, we won’t arrive for a while.”

“Probably. They said it would take a few hours, right? Didn’t you listen to the teacher?”

“I did, but I didn’t expect it to be this slow. Even when I travel for business, it’s never been this slow.”

“You’re comparing it to your business travel; there’s a massive difference in the number of carriages.”

Ella and even Ivana sitting next to me acknowledged that there were definitely a lot of carriages.

And because of that, the roads were bound to be congested.

“Looks like we’ll actually arrive this evening.”

“Honestly, if we’re going this slowly, it would’ve been much better to just attend a class at the Academy.”

“Ella, that’s a bit much, isn’t it? No matter how you look at it, wanting to attend a class…”

That just seems really strange, doesn’t it?

How could someone prefer sitting through class?

Of course, if you were an ordinary person, a regular student… It’s natural to want to escape from classes like those, right?

“Why’s that?”

“Nothing…”

I decided to let it slide since saying that kind of thing would definitely make Ella nag me.

I could already imagine Ella giving me a long lecture… Starting with why I sleep in class and why I keep procrastinating on my assignments… she would have a whole range of things to say.

I had already heard enough nagging from Rize in the morning.

“By the way… Karen.”

“Y-Yes?”

When I called out to Karen, who was sitting in the back seat of the carriage, she responded in a quiet voice.

I had lowered my voice a bit on purpose when calling her, as the situation called for it.

If it were any other time, I would have spoken at the same volume as when I was chatting with Ella and Ivana, but now it was about half that volume.

“When did Grace fall asleep?”

“Hmm… I think she nodded off about 10 minutes ago…! She was talking to me and then suddenly started dozing off.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Maybe it’s because she woke up really early today to come to my room and help with breakfast. That’s probably why…”

Grace, who was resting her head against her older sister Karen’s shoulder, looked really peaceful as she slept, completely different from her usual self.

Watching her like this as I talked with Karen was definitely interesting due to how different she looked.

Her usual fidgety nature was nowhere to be seen; instead, resting against Karen’s shoulder, she looked so gentle.

“Hm…”

If she sat like that beside me all the time, it might indeed feel very odd in many ways.

The way Grace treated me and how she treated Karen was completely different.

If she acted towards me the way she did with Karen… I could seriously ask her if she had lost her mind or if something was wrong with her head.

“Still, thanks to the slow speed, it looks like sleeping like that isn’t too uncomfortable.”

“Definitely, the slow speed means less shaking in the carriage.”

Ivana sitting next to me agreed with my observation.

Because we were in a good carriage moving at a slow speed, it was hardly shaking at all.

“Hmm… Camelia. Would you like to rest your head on my shoulder?”

“Hmm?”

As I was looking outside the carriage with Grace and others, Ivana, who was sitting next to me, suddenly proposed that.

Maybe she was thinking that while watching Karen and Grace?

Since I just told Ella I felt drowsy and wanted to sleep, perhaps she saw that too.

“Shall I do that?”

Although it was a bit sudden, I wasn’t foolish enough to miss out on a comfortable opportunity to lean and sleep.

It was definitely a better situation than just sleeping alone.

Even though Ivana was a bit taller than me, there was a huge difference between just sitting and actually resting your head on something.

Of course, I didn’t expect Ivana Nordal to offer this kind of thing to me… I was honestly surprised.

“Excuse me.”

With that, I rested my head on Ivana Nordal’s shoulder and gently closed my eyes.

As I leaned in a bit more, I was hit by her distinctly cool yet sweet fragrance.

I had occasionally caught a whiff of it before, but experiencing it up close was surprisingly sweeter than I thought.

Honestly, I felt like even if I didn’t sleep, I could just keep inhaling that scent.