Preparations and breakfast went by as quickly as Blanc thought.
After he washed the bowls he used to cook in and eat from, they resumed walking. Leaving the Finger they used to rest on top of as if they were never there.
If they were to keep a constant speed and take only one break, they would be near Isai by the afternoon. With enough time to buy the things they needed, both known and unknown to the group, by nightfall.
"Any issues during the night?" Celine asked, turning towards him.
"Not one," replied Blanc, "Quite the peaceful night overall. A bit cold, though."
"You should've joined us," whispered Celine.
"Then who would've watched our surroundings?" Blanc chuckled, hearing her.
"We would've been fine," Celine kept on playing.
"Either way, did you two, beautiful ladies, manage to rest properly?" Blanc asked Celine and Miyanna.
"No," Miyanna said just as a yawn took over her, "But I don't really mind."
"I am all right," Celine said, "I can do just fine with the sleep I got."
And so they kept on chatting along as they walked, with no really important matter to be discussed.
At one point, Blanc and Celine began explaining to Lune and Miyanna how the betrothal ceremony was to be held by Lune, by recalling how theirs went and what they had to do. Lune appeared to understand it until they asked her to explain the procedure from her side. She did not understand it. So they tried again, and again until she finally got it.
However, the marriage ceremony was something none present had any knowledge of how it was done. Blanc knew only what it meant to get married, not the ceremony itself.
Luckily, and embarrassingly enough, it was the fact that Kael had read once about how it was done from a romance book of his.
Not one of them knew if this ceremony was done the same in real life, yet they had nothing else to use as inspiration. So they pulled at poor Kael's tongue until he told them all he knew.
His cheeks were a deep crimson, and his twin sister couldn't stop laughing for a while after hearing what her brother was reading about.
"You do not understand beauty," Kael kept on saying to Lune, who, despite reading books all the time back home, the books she read were more about wars, heroes of old, and many of the mythos that surrounded them. For her, it was more interesting than a pure love story.
Her older brother's romantic life being satisfying enough for her to watch and not feel the need to read more about it.
Thus, time passed for the five as they kept on chatting along as they walked, away from any main roads that would put them near other people for as long as possible.
Yet that time would soon come to an end, as four hours after they began this new day of theirs, they stumbled upon a small tree that offered something to the five that was hard to find in the open.
Shade.
It was almost the fifth moon, which meant that there would still be at least two more months of spring.
The nights were cold most of the time, and the sun did not have the strength it had during summer. Yet hours in its presence still made them excited to see the shade.
And so, with a few more miles to go until they arrive at Isai, all agreed that there would be no better place than this to take a break.
After they sat and grabbed a bite to eat, Blanc decided this would be a good moment to rest. After some heavy negotiating, they finally agreed that an hour would be enough for everyone.
While the others kept watch over their surroundings or continued chatting in soft whispers, he lay down, closed his eyes, and drifted slowly into sleep.
"Celine," began Miyanna, after Blanc's breath steadied, "I think I need your help."
"What for?" she asked, curious.
"Do I need to buy stuff for Blanc as a gift? Or be dressed a certain way for tonight?" Miyanna asked, slightly panicked.
"Usually, the families of the betrothed buy things that are considered gifts. However, Blanc brought me gifts too, so maybe you could. But those things usually happen after the marriage ceremony," Celine replied, grabbing her bag.
"Celine, I will be betrothed and married on the same day," Miyanna sighed, before asking curiously, "What are you looking for?"
"That's true, forgot your situation was different. But to answer your second question, I'm looking for the gifts from Blanc… Ah, here they are," said Celine while pulling out the Lynx pelt and the tooth necklace she received from him on the day before their ceremony.
Miyanna was amazed as she saw the pelt and the simple necklace Celine brought out.
"Wow…" she uttered as she got lost touching the pelt.
"He brought both of these the day before our ceremony. Funnily enough, it was the day we met," Celine giggled as she remembered.
Though it happened less than a month ago, it felt as if lifetimes had passed at the same time.
"Did you give him something as well?" Miyanna asked, curious.
Celine's eyes went wide as she realized, "I… did not."
"Well, I don't have much," began Miyanna, "But if you want, and can come with me inside the city, we can go and buy something for him."
"Hmmm," muttered Celine as she began planning inside her head. Her sapphire eyes jumped from left to right, then left again, before she was able to find her answer, "Perfect plan, Miyanna."
"I know, right?" Miyanna offered her a wide grin, which made Celine pull her closer.
"Should we also make sure to buy a big tent?" Celine asked as she whispered lightly in Miyanna's ear.
"Can we afford such luxury?" Miyanna asked, looking at Celine's face, inches away from one another.
"Oh, please, we can get a hundred before we need to start worrying about affording it or not, you will see. So, what are you thinking?" Celine asked, pressing her nose to Miyanna's as she played with her dark hair.
"I-I don't see why not if we have that much money," stuttered Miyanna as her cheeks turned crimson, finding herself cornered by Celine's advances.
Celine's grin widened before she moved back from Miyanna's face and placed her back onto the hard trunk of the tree.
"Do you have a plan on what to say to Blanc?" Miyanna asked, able to breathe properly now.
"I do not plan to lie to him, but I know what I can do to help us while also solving my tagging along with you without having to tell him about the gift. And do not worry, I also have some gold on me," explained Celine.
"I'm curious," Miyanna replied.
As Celine explained her plan to Miyanna, this break of theirs passed without an incident, and just as they were about to wake Blanc up from his sleep, a horse-drawn carriage, one pulled by an older man, rolled and stopped near them.
This tree, though a good spot to take a break, was close enough to the road that it could be spotted by people if one were to pass. And passed it did, as the older man came down from the carriage and walked slowly towards them.
"Excuse me, good people," said the old man with his hands slightly raised as he walked through tall grass to approach them. Celine rose to her feet and was about to open her mouth to speak before Miyanna stopped her.
"Let me speak," said Miyanna in a whisper, "He might be able to tell you are a Noble Blood by your tongue alone."
With Celine nodding in agreement and with Kael and Lune moving slightly behind the tree while trying to shake Blanc awake, Miyanna approached the man by taking a few steps.
"What do you need, old man?" Miyanna asked, pulling her blouse slightly just to show the handle of the knife to him.
"Ah, a thousand apologies, lady, for the confusion," said the old man, raising his empty hands even higher, "I was just wondering, are you all headed towards Isai?"
"Why would you care where we are headed?" Miyanna questioned, appearing irritated.
"Ah, y-yes, apologies," stuttered the old man, sweat already building on his forehead, "Y-you see, I make a living taking travelers and folks from nearby villages to Isai. I was only wondering if you would be interested, no other reasons."
"How much?" Miyanna probed.
"A silver for the five of you," said the old man in a heartbeat.
Miyanna turned around and looked over at Celine and an awake Blanc, who gave her a sharp nod and threw a silver coin from his coin purse straight into the old man's hand.
"So be it, but you will not need to take us straight into town," instructed Miyanna.
"Yes, yes, come along then," grinned the old man, happy that he was able to find business so close by. And as he took back his place in the front and the five got into the carriage, the old man spoke again.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Go ahead," Miyanna replied from the inside, her voice muffled.
And with confirmation given, the man clicked his tongue twice, and the horse began their walk again.
"Was this wise, brother?" Kael asked.
But Blanc only smiled, "Not to worry, Little Kael, I have a plan."
Not an hour later, two hundred feet away from the entrance inside the destination of the carriage, the old man stopped his horse.
"We have arrived," said the old man, climbing down the steps and going towards the back of the carriage to open the door to let his guests out.
But as he did, there was something wrong. Nobody was inside. And the silver coin that he received, and he remembered putting it in his left pocket, was gone.
Did he imagine it? Was he going senile after his long years of life?
No.
The five were six hundred feet back, watching the old man look for the silver coin, just as Blanc was playing with it in his fingers. Taking it back from him just after the rest jumped off the carriage.
His steps were silent, and his movement was unnoticed by the old man as he was focused on the horse and the road ahead.
"Sorry, old man," said Blanc out loud, "We must save up wherever we can."
But with those words, and a few giggles from the other four, they stepped off the main road and moved as far from prying eyes as they could.
However, now before them stood the first city they had chosen to pass through on this new journey of theirs: Isai.