Chapter248

Gareth's pale lips curved slightly, and his eyes, redder than Giles', looked at Elara.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern. I am fully prepared. My body is not so weak that I'll hold back the journey."

"All right. Since he dares to agree to this journey, he must already be prepared. The Duke of Dahlia is our Dahlia's advisor. There's nothing he can't predict, let alone these small matters."

Dahlia Yu fanned his folding fan and chimed in. After Elara and Gareth finished talking, he ordered someone to bring the horses.

Everyone had gathered.

Elara and Dahlia Yu mounted their horses. Gareth also got into the carriage behind them.

The journey to the Hundred Nations Banquet began.

Geranium Kingdom was located slightly west of the central region of the continent, right at the western boundary of the central zone.

Simply put, east of Geranium was the central region, and west of it was the western region of the continent.

The straight-line distance from Dahlia to Geranium was about three thousand kilometers.

Because there was a large river flowing from the eastern border of Dahlia toward Geranium, Elara, Dahlia Yu, and Gareth decided to take both the water and land routes to save time and arrive sooner.

The Geranium border was close to the center of the continent and surrounded by strong nations. The Hundred Nations Banquet was often held there. So, the route from Dahlia to Geranium had long been traveled by merchants and nobles from many countries.

There were complete relay stations on the land route and docks along the river on the water route.

They planned to travel by land during the day and by water at night. With both combined, they could cover more than two hundred kilometers a day and reach the destination in about half a month.

With the route decided, the combined trade convoy of the two nations set off.

After half a month of fast travel from Dahlia to Geranium, though they rode horses during the day, they could lie down on the boats at night and rest with the current. Since everyone had some internal strength to protect themselves, it wasn't a big issue.

The only two who suffered more were the ones without internal strength—Mr. Gong and Gareth.

Mr. Gong was still fine. Though he didn't have internal strength, he had a strong body and good stamina. After his whole body ached from the shaking, Elara gave him a few pills that Oswyn had prepared, and he gradually adapted.

Gareth, however, had it worse. This Duke had always been physically weak. After days of jolting on mountain and river roads, his face turned pale, and his limbs were limp and powerless.

On the fifth day, when he had just stepped out of the carriage, his thin, sickly figure suddenly lost balance.

If Elara hadn't been beside him and quickly caught him by the waist, this Duke might've fallen into a deep bow.

The subordinate's waist was so slim it didn't even feel like a man's. Adding to that, Gareth had no strength in his body at all, and when she touched him, it even felt a bit soft.

Elara looked at the man she had pulled close. His pale, delicate face was filled with restraint, and even his beautiful, smooth deep red hair seemed to have wilted from torment over the past few days.

She found it amusing and deliberately lifted him up a bit. "Duke Gareth, didn't you say you were fully prepared? This is your idea of being prepared?"

Since Elara had grabbed his waist, Gareth's pale face had taken on a faint red hue. It was unclear whether it was because his head was hanging down and blood rushed to his face, or because in all his life, this was the first time he had ever been held by a woman...

"Cough, cough cough..." Gareth suddenly started choking. Elara saw that he was nearly out of breath, so she dropped the teasing. Her hand tightened slightly around his waist, and her deep inner strength surged gently.

This slim man, who stood nearly one meter eighty, was lifted with ease by her and placed back against the curtain of the carriage so he could catch his breath.

Hearing the noise, Mr. Yu dismounted and came over. When he saw Gareth's condition, his brows furrowed deeply.

"Where are those medicines you prepared? Are they not working at all?"

Gareth shook his head. He was coughing and gasping so much that he couldn't speak, but his face was beginning to show a bit more color.

Mr. Yu's frown deepened as he was just about to transfer his inner force to help Gareth recover. But Elara pressed his hand down and took out a pill Oswyn had prepared from her pouch, holding it near Gareth's lips.

"Try taking this."

As she spoke, she waved over one of Gareth's attendants to bring some water.

Mr. Yu glanced at Elara's fingers resting naturally at Gareth's lips. He paused, a flicker of emotion passing through his eyes. Tapping the folding fan in his palm, he suddenly reached out and took the pill from her.

"I'll feed it to him. Bai San, you go get some rest."

Elara nodded. When she saw that the attendant had already brought over a water pouch for Mr. Yu, she turned and headed toward Mr. Gong's carriage to check on how he was doing today.

Fortunately, Mr. Gong was in much better condition than Gareth. When Elara arrived, he had already picked up his clothes, planning to use their rest time to find a hidden spot by the river to wash up.

Over the next few days, the medicine Oswyn had given Elara wasn't just used for Mr. Gong. She also took an extra dose for Gareth.

Though Gareth had brought plenty of medicine and was indeed well-prepared, the effects of his medicine didn't compare to what Elara had.

When Elara had set out, Oswyn had stuffed nearly a whole box of different medicines into her luggage. But since this long journey began, she'd been feeling fine and hadn't taken much. Now, it turned out to be useful for these two.