Chapter 21
Surrounded by barren wilderness, Goha was far more prosperous than Helena had expected.
At the entrance to the city stood trading posts where merchants traveling to and from the south bought and sold goods, and surrounding them were luxurious inns built for wealthy traders.
Merchants usually rented out entire inns to protect the cargo they transported, so the one- and two-story buildings stood scattered apart from one another at comfortable intervals.
Every establishment had decorated its exterior lavishly to attract customers, making the street itself entertaining to look at.
“Wooooow!”
Helena gasped when she saw a woman carrying an armadillo in her arms.
“Th-that’s a monster, isn’t it?”
“It’s an animal, My Lord. It’s called an armadillo.”
“That thing is an animal? Good heavens, there are creatures that look like that…?!”
Aaron snickered as he watched Helena get excited like a child.
‘So milady has a cute side too.’
Then Helena spoke.
“Now then, where exactly are we supposed to find this man named Wesley…?”
Aaron looked taken aback.
“You don’t know anything besides the fact that he’s in Goha?”
Helena answered brightly.
“Nope.”
“…Haaah.”
For a moment, Aaron nearly felt his vision go dark, but he forced himself to stay composed.
“…We’ll have to ask the touts. They’re probably the people with the widest connections in this city.”
Helena looked impressed.
“As expected, you really know your way around things like this! I was right to bring you along, Sir Aaron.”
Aaron rubbed his face with one hand in disbelief. He could scarcely believe this was the kind of conversation he was having with the countess.
“What do you mean I know my way around? I’m only saying the obvious!”
“Why are you getting angry? Hahahaha!”
“Haaaaaah…”
Once they passed the district of high-end inns, where there were no touts, they soon began spotting men loitering around the streets.
The moment those men noticed Helena in her extravagant clothes riding a white horse, along with Aaron dressed like her escort knight, their eyes lit up and they began slinking toward them.
Suddenly Aaron realized something.
‘We must look like the easiest marks in the world.’
Sure enough, the touts swarmed toward them in an instant like flies spotting a fresh pile of dung, rubbing their hands eagerly.
“Ooooooh! Yooooung masterrrr!”
“What an honor for someone so noble to visit a shabby place like this! You must’ve returned from some incredible adventure!”
“Allow me to take proper care of you today! Just give me one chance!”
Helena smacked her leather boot with her riding crop, producing a sharp crack, then shouted arrogantly,
“Out of the way, you vulgar fools! Do I look like I came to this filthy place because I wanted to? I’m here looking for someone.”
Aaron’s mouth fell open. Helena’s acting while bickering with the touts was unbelievably natural.
“I’m looking for a man named Wesley. Though… once I find him, I probably won’t just leave immediately. Ahem!”
Her performance as a spoiled young nobleman who had come to this dangerous city under the excuse of searching for someone—just so he could have some fun—was so flawless that Aaron could only stare in amazement.
One of the touts quickly stepped forward.
“Young master! I know Wesley! He lives in the house with the yellow roof. I’ll guide you there!”
“Oh, how fortunate I am! To find someone who knows Wesley so quickly. I’ll be able to finish my business fast.”
“Hehehe, and after your business is done, you’ll have to experience Goha’s culture too. Naturally, I’ll guide you through that as well.”
“Ahem… resisting cultural experiences would be impossible indeed…!”
Walking silently behind Helena and the tout while listening to their conversation, Aaron shook his head.
The tout led them to a rundown inn. Rather than a house with a yellow roof, it looked more like a house whose roof used to be yellow once upon a time.
“Here we are!”
Once they reached their destination, Helena glanced at Aaron, signaling for him to get rid of the tout already.
Aaron looked dumbfounded, but he had no choice. Digging into his pocket, he tossed the man a silver coin.
“That’s enough. Off with you now.”
Delighted by the unexpected bonus income, the tout happily retreated.
No sooner had they finished cleaning up that little mess than Helena strode into the inn entrance and shouted loudly,
“Wesley, come out!”
At the sudden yell, something crashed noisily somewhere in the dark interior of the building.
Soon, a plump woman who looked to be the innkeeper came stomping out angrily.
“What kind of lunatic customer is this before we’ve even opened for business?!”
But the moment she spotted Helena, her face shifted into one of uncertainty. Even in this trading city, Helena’s clothing was extravagant enough to stand out.
The woman forced her voice into a much gentler tone.
“Y-young… master! What brings someone like you to such a humble place?”
Helena answered proudly,
“I’ve come to see Wesley. Tell him Herren is here, and he’ll understand.”
The innkeeper blinked in confusion.
Wesley was the inn’s only long-term guest.
She received more than enough lodging money from him, and part of that payment included compensation for driving away troublesome visitors on behalf of the man who found everything bothersome.
But somehow, she felt she couldn’t do that to this guest.
It was that sort of feeling where you knew things would become troublesome, yet you still couldn’t refuse.
As if bewitched, the innkeeper climbed the stairs to Wesley’s room and pounded on the door.
“Wesley, you’ve got a visitor!”
Only after knocking for quite some time did rustling sounds finally come from inside.
A moment later, a disheveled man with messy hair and an overgrown beard opened the door.
“Nancy, what is it? A visitor? Didn’t I tell you to chase away anyone who comes looking for me?”
“It was a noble. Said you’d know if I told you Herren was here.”
Naturally, he had no idea who that was.
Wesley blinked his crusty eyes and asked blankly,
“Herren…? Never heard the name.”
Seeing his pathetic appearance, the innkeeper could only click her tongue.
“Wesley, get your act together already. You probably don’t even remember what you ate yesterday, do you?”
“Huh? What did I… eat yesterday…?”
The look in the innkeeper’s eyes was pure exasperation.
Feeling guilty under that gaze, Wesley muttered defensively,
“Nancy. A man who’s lost his dreams is bound to rot away at rock bottom.”
“You’re not calling the inn my mother left me ‘rock bottom,’ are you?”
Wesley flailed his hands in alarm.
“N-no! Of course not! This inn is a place steeped in the history of Goha, the trading city! Somewhere everyone ought to visit at least once! Th-the rock bottom is my life!”
The innkeeper smacked his shoulder irritably.
“Quit rambling and go downstairs!”
Wesley scratched his chin awkwardly and headed down the stairs.
Sure enough, on the first floor waited a beautiful young nobleman with extravagant looks and his escort knight.
But they were definitely unfamiliar faces.
With a dazed expression, Wesley asked,
“Who are you people?”
The beautiful young man with the ridiculous fake mustache spoke arrogantly.
“If I told you who I was, would you know? You should be asking why I’m here.”
“Fair enough. Why are you here?”
Pointing at herself, Helena declared,
“I came from Ispheren Count’s Castle. At this point, you can probably guess my business.”
The dull haze vanished from Wesley’s face instantly.
He slowly swept his gaze over Helena from head to toe with an unreadable look in his eyes.
‘Someday, I thought they might come looking for me…’
He searched through the Ispheren family line in his memory, trying to recall whether there had ever been a young nobleman of this age and appearance among those with succession rights.
But as far as he remembered, no such person existed in the count’s family.
‘Where the hell did this spoiled brat come from?’
Massaging the bridge of his nose as though developing a headache, he finally dragged over a chair and dropped into it carelessly.
“Please, sit.”
“Hmmm…”
Eyeing the filthy wooden chair with displeasure, Helena elegantly spread a handkerchief over the seat before delicately lowering herself onto it.
Wesley stared at her in disbelief before finally speaking.
“Why is the Ispheren Count’s family looking for me?”
Helena caught the wariness in his expression.
‘Unlike Mr. Kurt, he’s not spilling everything while acting like he’s been waiting for this day.’
Then again, Kurt—the former head servant who had clung to loyalty toward a count’s family that had collapsed five years ago, even raising an heir while waiting for someone to come find him—was probably the unusual one.
‘Most people would’ve left to find a way to survive.’
She had assumed Wesley was one of those people who had moved on, but judging from his appearance, that didn’t seem to be the case.
A former chief butler of a count’s family would surely have been welcomed in many places. Yet Wesley had not left Burwood and instead remained in Goha.
Since he lived in a trading city, she had assumed he was using his connections to run some sort of business, but he certainly didn’t look successful.
If anything, he looked like a man slowly rotting alive.
‘Could it be something like that? An old fool drowning himself in alcohol because he can’t let go of his glorious past…?’
Perhaps burdened by Helena’s gaze—which looked as though she intended to peel him apart and devour him whole—Wesley’s face gradually filled with discomfort.
“Why are you staring at me like that? I told you to state your business.”
But Helena merely continued staring straight into his grayish-brown eyes.
‘For someone like that… the look in his eyes earlier was far too sharp.’
