Friction

Lucas returned quickly to the inn where everyone was staying for the night. When he heard about the commotion from one of the gamblers in the gambling inn he was at with his other friends, he could no longer sit in his chair and hurriedly went back to check on his sister and her friends.

Thankfully, when he arrived, everything returned to its calmness as though nothing had happened. When he asked the inn hostess, she told him that it was just one of the prostitutes in the brothel next door that had screamed, falsely alerting everyone.

"Brother!" Lotte jumped to his arms as soon as she saw him. "What took you so long to return?"

Lucas felt slightly guilty for being half an hour late after the commotion happened at the inn. But still, it was fortunate for him to arrive earlier than never. "I am terribly sorry, dearest sister. I only heard of what happened and went straight back to the inn. Is everyone alright?"

His last comment was pointed at the four girls in his younger sister's room.

Penny and Isabelle nodded as they simultaneously said, "We're fine."

He was about to sigh in relief when he had a glimpse of Talia standing by the window, looking outside through the glass. He strode over to stand beside her and tapped her shoulder once that had her flinching.

"Are you alright? What are you staring at that made you unaware of my presence?" Lucas found her sudden start adorable, but he was even more worried when he saw how she was not in her focus.

Talia didn't share what was in her mind to him and shook her head, "It's nothing."

"You must have been quite shocked after what happened." Lucas saw a straying strand of her hair in front of her forehead, he had the urge to set it in place behind her hair. However, for fear that he would be too forward in his movement and startle the girl again, he could only clench his fingers into a fist behind his back.

"Do not fear and worry. I had my cousin's guards and a carriage be delivered here at the inn in an hour's time so we can evacuate this place sooner." Lucas suddenly announces that all the girls gape at him in confusion.

Lotte stepped forward and asked, "What do you mean, brother?"

"It was a mistake on my part to think that it would be safe for us to stay at an inn," said Lucas as he continued, "But after what happened, I am still in doubt that this place will be safe for young ladies to stay in for a few days. So I had Caesar, our cousin, prepare a carriage and a few men of his so we could stay at his manor."

Upon hearing the words that he had just said, Lotte seemed to be brimming with joy. She abruptly hugged her brother and gleefully said, "You did right, brother! How I missed brother Caesar! Why didn't you do so in the first place?!"

Lucas scratched his chin as he replied, "Because I don't want to interrupt him and his wife of our sudden visit."

Truth to be told, he didn't want to be seen by any of his relatives just so they could mention the topic of marriage again. It wasn't only him whom they thought should have been married off already, his sister, Lotte, was also being targeted by his relatives to introduce suitable bachelors with wealthy pockets and noble titles in their hands.

But he had no other choice now that their safety might be compromised the longer they stayed in that inn. It was unlucky that on the first day they arrived at the capital, something had already happened.

An hour later, a beautiful carriage was pulled up into a stop in front of the inn. Four guards in their uniforms stood beside it as it stared straight into the air. Their imposing presence was enough to tell at a glance that they came from no ordinary noble family.

When Talia and the others went downstairs with their suitcases in hand, they also saw such a scene before their eyes. A few gasps came out of the three girl's lips, astounded at the grand appearance of the carriage and the soldiers surrounding it.

Lotte and Lucas didn't seem very much surprised by the sight of this. They merely ordered the guards to take their suitcases from them and boarded the carriage as if it was nothing.

"Have you ever ridden a carriage so big and beautiful as this, Talia?" Isabelle gently elbowed her side.

Talia shook her head. Even though she was once a princess, she never had the pleasure to ride a horse or a carriage before. No one would ever let her. And being imprisoned inside the castle does that for you.

Isabelle was pleased by her response and a mocking smile on her lips. "Then, you should savor this moment as this might be the only time you'll ever ride on one."

Talia blinked her eyes a few times when she heard this from Isabelle. She wondered where she got on her nerves that had her acting up on her like that? But before she could ask her, Isabelle had already made her way towards the carriage.

"You shouldn't listen to her. She's merely envious of you because Lotte's brother had all his attention on you." Penny suddenly pulled her hand so they could follow and board the carriage.

"But why would she be envious of me? Lucas takes good care of all of us." Talia couldn't understand why Isabelle had to feel that way towards her. Lucas has been partial towards them even though he did show a bit of displeasure towards them for using his younger sister.

Penny glanced at her for a second before turning away. "I don't know if you're too innocent or just clueless. But it'll be better if you stay away from Lucas… Isabelle is a bit of a difficult woman to deal with when she's angry."

Before Talia could ask anything to her, Penny had already boarded the carriage. Now, everyone was waiting for her to get inside of it. She didn't know what she did wrong and why would Isabelle be mad at her?

Talia shook her head. She didn't want to think of this anymore as she silently boarded the carriage as well.

"No one forgot anything, right? We won't have any time to return to this place once we've arrived at my cousin's manor," asked Lucas, who had all the girls shake their heads. They made certain that they didn't leave any of their things. They didn't want to return to that place, after all.

As the carriage was all ready to hit the road, Talia looked outside of the window. The scream from earlier still seemed to bother her a lot.