Chapter 30: Mouse Trying To Climb A Mountain

Chapter 30: Mouse Trying To Climb A Mountain After chatting with her grandfather, Oriana left the village. On her way out, she thankfully didn’t see Luke, or else she worried he would question her again.

Using the shortcut she had discovered by herself, she reached the other side of the forest within an hour.

Oriana found herself standing in front of the main gate of the Wimark Estate by noon.

The Wimark Estate was not located within the city itself, but situated on a remote but large valley quite a distance outside the city. The scope of its domain covered not only the manor but also the forest and several mountains at the outskirts of Jerusha. As the main residence of a duchal household, the walls of the manor itself spanned several hectares of land, almost the size of a town, and there were several mansions, buildings and gardens within.

It was simply enormous! Luxurious! To a commoner like Oriana, it was the grandest structure she had ever laid her eyes on.

Even though she had trespassed the forest of the estate several times for the past three months, this was the first time she approached the Duke of Wimark’s residence.

Was she in awe? Indeed. Oriana was in awe about how uselessly wasteful these nobles are. If her guess was correct, the cost of the materials used to design the gate was enough to feed an entire village for decades.

"Filthy rich people!" she mumbled under her breath as he approached the guards manning the iron wrought gates.

"Halt your steps!"

There were five guards, all strong-looking men between the ages twenty to forty. One of the guards observed the black-clothed youth and asked, "This is the residence of the territory lord. Name your business, boy."

Oriana was originally nervous, but luckily, though the man sounded strict, he was not unreasonably arrogant. "I am Orian, a herbalist who came under the invitation of a guest of the Wimark Family. The young master told me to come seek him here."

"Guest? Who are you talking about?" the guard asked, his tone strict but neutral.

"He introduced himself as Young Master Arlan, uhm, I forgot to ask for his last name."

A commoner was looking for the prince? He even dared to utter his royal name? The guard looked at the young boy in disbelief. One of the younger guards even turned angry. "You, how dare you—"

"What’s going on here?" A voice interrupted them as its owner walked towards them.

Oriana was startled to see the guards’ humble expressions. She also turned around to bow. She felt relieved to recognize the newcomer. It was one of Young Master Arlan’s guards she saw in the inn this morning.

Rafal spotted Oriana while he was on patrol with another knight, Kerry. He could recognize this small figure even among the crowd—after all, it was rare to see a young lad wear a headwrap with an all-black attire, as if he was allergic to other colors.

"Greetings, Sir Ahren. Greetings, Sir Turner," the guards greeted Rafal and Kerry, causing Oriana to be surprised.

’Since they call these men ’sirs’, that means they are knights!’

Oriana had little knowledge about nobility, but she was aware that conferring the title of knights was limited per noble household. Knighthood is a peerage and a status symbol. Since the number of knights are limited, knights mostly guard the direct descendants or important members of the main family.

’A knight as an escort. Spirits be damned, that brat is not just some good-for-nothing son of a noble—he must be a young lord!’

Within the Wimark Estate, none of Arlan’s guards wore their official uniform; otherwise, her shock would be ten times greater once she saw the royal crest on their chests.

The guard continued, "This young boy is asking for—"

"I heard it," Rafal interrupted him as he raised his hand. "I will take care of it. Go back to your duties."

The guards obeyed and stepped aside.

Rafal was aware that this young herbalist was not aware of his master’s real identity as Arlan hid it from her. He didn’t wish the guard to say anything that would ruin his liege’s arrangements.

"Follow me," Rafal instructed, imitating how Imbert would normally act, and Oriana quietly followed him, behaving herself better in the residence of the Duke.

As they passed through the gate, Rafal instructed his companion. "Bring us two horses."

Oriana didn’t notice Rafal had signaled something to the other man.

Kerry received a signal from Rafal. He was to head back to the main mansion first to inform the Crown Prince about his guest’s arrival.

Soon, two horses were brought before them. They were a pair of handsome brown stallions. Rafal patted one horse. "Get on. I will bring you to my liege."

"H-Horse?"

"Doesn’t look like a cow to me," Rafal commented to which Oriana frowned.

’Like master, like servant! Bunch of arrogant creatures.’

Rafal did not realize his offhand comment offended the young woman. "Are you getting on the horse, or would you prefer to walk and reach there after an hour?"

"I never rode a horse before," she replied.

"Never?" he asked in disbelief.

’Ah, is this another ignorant young master?’

Oriana did not realize she hit the spot. Rafal was indeed a young master, the third son of a count. All knights serving the royal family came from noble households or were granted peerage due to their achievements; none of them were commoners.

Seeing his dumbstruck expression, she felt inclined to explain, "Sir Ahren, right? We peasants can’t afford to be luxurious like you and your rich master."

Rafal was having a headache. He didn’t want to walk, but he also didn’t want to sit on the same horse with this young lad—his intuition was telling him his liege would be immensely displeased if he was to touch this pretty boy. The thought was enough to make him shudder.

"Just...try to not fall down. I will lead the horse for you," Rafal instructed. He then tied a loose rope between their horses, that way Oriana would have no need to command her horse to move. "This is how you climb. Copy my movements."

Oriana carefully observed the way Rafal mounted the horse—how he grabbed the rein, how he stepped on the stirrup, even the way he swung his leg over the body of the horse.

Inhaling deeply, Oriana tried her best to copy his exact movements.

"Pfft—" Rafal had to stop himself from laughing.

That horse was too tall for her short figure, causing her to struggle, but she managed to pull it off without anyone’s help in the end, making Rafal nod in appreciation. "Not bad for a first time, boy. Do not sit straight, lean your body backward..."

A pair of sea blue eyes were observing this scene somewhere from a distance, and it could not help but bring a smile on the pair of thin lips.

’It feels like a mouse trying to climb a mountain.’ Arlan turned around and left.