Fatima nodded and quickly went into the curtain on the back of the carriage.
Soon she tucked the blanket over her shoulders to keep it from slipping off and returned with cooking utensils and portable food.
「Hey, Fatima? At least let me take care of it today...」
「...No. I'm just worried」
Saying this, Fatima begins to cook the food, not caring if Alexis is concerned or not.
She puts a pot of dried stem vegetables chopped with a knife on the fire, prepares soup, and even starts to make tea while dressed awkwardly.
「As usual, you are very skillful...」
Alexis was planning to do everything today as a way of apologizing.
But now, he could only watch it.
"Look, Ane-sama will be doing it anyway. And one fish is not enough," Valencia, standing next to Alexis, said in a brash tone, making Alexis angry.
「Hey, don't talk big to me when you didn't do anything. I'm the one who caught the fish. And if it's just you, you'll be baited anyway」
「Ugh... you're wrong if you think I'll be easily baited!」
Valencia said, her hand on the sheathed sword she was carrying at her side. But Alexis stopped her in a hurry, saying, "Calm down, don't get angry over something like that."
* * *
After that, the sun had already set, and it was dark, with only the light from the campfire.
Following the meal, Valencia seemed to be in a better mood.
「Well, the clothes will be dry in the morning. Let's leave the horses, and Alexis-sama will watch over us tonight, and we'll rest」
Alexis was stunned to hear Valencia telling Fatima this.
「I thought you weren't easily baited...」
「No, I wasn't baited! I was just paying my respects to His Majesty Alexis!」
Valencia tried to explain quickly, but Alexis didn't feel he was being respected.
「...Alex... Sorry for tonight's watch...」
Fatima called apologetically.
「—Yeah. I'll do it. I mean, why don't we just use horses? They're trained to neigh if there's anything wrong.」
「...That's good, too」
「Well, I'll keep a watch late, but I'll take a break for a while. Let's rest today and get ready for tomorrow」