Break A Butterfly With A Wheel

"Agnes, it is time to leave."

"Yes, I'm coming."

I walked out of the guest room.

After I had avoided the immediate crisis, I began preparing my way back to the D'Anelé territory.

Apparently, travelling was a big deal in such a day and age.

We had to prepare food, weapons, tents, clothing, documents, horses and guards.

It took us the entire night to to get ready, and now that the sun had risen, we could finally depart.

The moment I stepped out of the gates, a fresh breeze had greeted me. The morning light was warming my body, and I immediately felt refreshed.

In front of the palace, Estella waited for me with three guards. This time, she was not wearing her maid uniform, but a simple shirt and a dress. I, on the other hand, still wore my loose garments.

Looking around, I noticed something was missing, which struck me odd.

"Estella, where is the carriage?"

"There's none." A swift answer, befitting a capable maid. How come she wasn't that serious when we are alone?

"How do we travel then?"

"By foot and by saddle, of course. A caravan is not that useful for long distance travels, as the roads are in poor condition."

"But I'm barefoot."

"Footwear tends to obstruct the journey, as they break quite easily. You will use the horse anyway, so why does it matter?"

It mattered because I had no experience in horseback riding. I was a person who grew up in the city, nobody used horses there. The last time I touched one was as a kid on a pasture.

As I tried thinking of a solution, Estella had already mounted a horse.

"You know how to ride a horse?" I asked her in wonder.

"Of course, it's not that hard, horses tend to follow other horses, so as long as I stay behind, there won't be any problems."

What's this, she was so dazzling.

But this saved me some trouble.

I walked towards her horse and put my hands on it's back. Promptly, I lifted my left foot up, while pushing myself off the ground. After settling gently on the horses back, I tried making myself comfortable.

Since I never rode a horse, I had to adjust my balance by swaying my arms around, but once I felt that I wouldn't fall, I firmly clung to Estella's waist, and laid my head on her back.

"Wha- Agnes?"

"Let's ride together," I mumbled, as my mouth was covered by her clothes.

"That won't do, you should use your own horse," she said. Even though she refused, she was grinning, and her face flushed red from embarrassment.

"I don't want to, horses scare me," I pursed my lips and pouted.

That's the truth, They really were intimidating.

Seeing that I wouldn't budge, Estella and the guards felt stumped.

"If miss doesn't want to ride on the horse then there's no choice, still is it wise to ride bareback?" One of a guards asked, in a cheerful tone, but still failed to hide his hidden contempt.

It's not that surprising, since on the surface, I was the useless granddaughter of the Duke, who just had her engagement annulled. Seeing me in this situation, they must have thought of me no more than a spoiled child, so they clearly held no respect towards me.

Well, whatever.

"Then what are you waiting for? Get an extra pad," Estella ordered and flung her arms. She had also noticed their attitude, and grew impatient.

"Of course."

Soon after, they had placed a pillow on the horses back and attached it with the saddle.

Seeing everything had been prepared, I said, "well then, everyone, let's depart," while pointing towards the horizon.

"Ah, Agnes, hold tight, or you might fall."

"Ah sorry."

In the end, instead of clinging, it was more accurate to say I was cuddling her, as I pressed my breasts against her and caressed her with my hands. Estella's hair was tickling my skin and I breathed down her neck.

Again, the intoxicating smell of almond was lingering in the air.

-

"How long will the journey take?"

"About 1 1/2 days, it's quite close after all."

On our way towards the D'Anelé territory, I chatted with Estella, while basking in the crisp nature. It was quite peaceful, as the horses galloped in a rhythmic manner and the wind whistled in my ears.

"Ah, Estella look, a butterfly."

"Yes, I shall immediately kill it," she declared and squinted her eyes.

"What? huh, no don't. Rather, isn't it beautiful?"

"Really, you find that thing beautiful?" Estella asked in a confused manner.

"Yes, I can't help admiring it. They say a butterfly's wings can cause a hurricane on the other side."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that small changes in the system can lead to drastic effects in the long term. In general, it tells us how unpredictable the world actually is." I hugged her tighter and continued talking. "It is the same for humans. They are unpredictable, which in the end, makes them predictable. Do you understand?"

"No, I don't."

"Okay, I'll explain it to you then. Take for example a girl standing in front of a bakery. Now, what do you think is more probable, that she is standing in line to buy bread, or that she is actually the princess of a fallen country, who is hiding from spies, disguising herself as a peasant?"

"Obviously, the first choice is more plausible."

"And that is where you would be wrong. Truth is, they have the same probability. Sure, in a mathematical sense, there are probably more people buying bread, than there are hidden princesses, which is why we feel the first option to be true, but from a psychological standpoint, we have to regard them as having the same chance to occur."

"Why?"

"Because, we humans are unpredictable and predictable at the same time."

"No, as I said before, I don't get it."

"Well, on one hand, we humans are all the same, but on the other, we are all different. Everybody believes they are unique, which in the end, makes them identical. Then again, there are those who think they are normal, that in turn, are the craziest."

Estella held her head, while contemplating about what I just said, "I never thought about it in that way."

"We are creatures of probability, and those probabilities, since we don't know what factors causes them, are in other words, random. And the beauty of true randomness is that everything has the same probability. Everything has a hundred percent chance to occur and nothing is a hundred percent certain," I say while getting louder, "the future is build upon many different encounters, and often chooses what comes as most unexpected, just like the hurricane, which might appear as random, but in reality, is caused by the butterfly."

"Hah, I don't think I'll understand it even if you explain it again," she said, as she let out a long sigh.

I began to laugh as I watched her trying to comprehend what I said, "you will understand it one day." I then rested my head on her shoulders, and patted her head. "I hope you won't refer it as something mystical when the time comes."

Suddenly, Estella clasped her hands, and stares at me with her large eyes, glimmering in the light, reflected from her irises, "So, if you say mystical, do you mean something like magic?"

Surprised by her words, my eyes widened in wonder.

"Magic, what do you mean with magic?"

"Something like the gods blessing, you know? People who can bend what we perceive. Like mages, witches, clerks, and occultists."

Ah, I forgot that the medieval people believed in magic, rather than science. It was quite amusing hearing someone talk about the occult, unironically.

"Listen Estella, there's no such thing as magic. Magic is only science we can't explain yet. People, who say they can use magic are either people who lie, or people who don't know they are lying."

"No, really, I saw someone use magic, the nobles can use it, you know?" Seeing I didn't believe her, she started sulking.

"Sure if you say so."

Magic, huh. That would be interesting. If I remembered correctly, aren't those who travel into another world always able to use magic?

Now, that she brought it up, I couldn't help holding some slight expectations towards it.

I closed my eyes, and imagined the water whizzing around, slowly gathering in the air, and forming a shape. I imagined it floating along me and Estella, dancing with the wind, then slowly losing to gravity and falling to the ground, leaving a wet puddle.

When I opened my eyes, I saw...nothing. It turned out as I expected.

I sighed and flick Estella's head. As I looked back towards the way we came from, I noticed that we couldn't see the city anymore.

Once again, I am reminded that I am in another world.

The time had been short, and I still couldn't quite fathom it. I wondered, what was my purpose in this world?

Silently, the horses continued galloping towards our predestined fate.