Well, wasn't this fortunate.
I made it to Eldrich without running into a single bandit, and if I didn't know any better I'd think that bastard's curse was actually doing me a favour.
"Would you like to buy this..."
"Please sir, could you point me in the direction of..."
"Hey, get him, he stole my wallet!"
"I need something like this but bigger..."
Grruuu!!!
Twank-twank-twank!!!
Klunkss!!!!
Srrrrr!!!!
"Isn't that the royal insignia?"
"Oh my God, I left my weapon back..."
"Yes!!! Eldrich at last!"
"Get out of the road you imbecile!!!"
The place was absolutely chaotic, and I had the curtain drawn back just staring at all these tall buildings going up in every direction, we don't have anything close to this back in the duchy, ours isn't particularly large and it's mostly agricultural so there isn't much in the way of infrastructure, or maybe there is and I just haven't seen it, which is probably the more accurate answer since I'm very much a stay indoors kind of person and never bother going around the duchy, I could get completely lost if you dropped me even a few blocks away from the estate.
"Woah, it's beautiful."
In my entire life I've only called a handful of things beautiful.
My maid.
Her sister.
That other maid I was fairly convinced was trying to seduce me.
The stacks of gold father gave me for my birthday that I never touched.
Helene, though that one was entirely out of my control.
And now this massive castle sitting right in front of me.
"Damn, Avalon High."
This is the highest level of education available to any citizen of the Imperion, and not just within the kingdom either, people come from other kingdoms to study here because of how respected the standard is, though not all of them obviously, there are still kingdoms we're at odds with and they wouldn't send their people here, but Ignion being a trade focused kingdom doesn't really have many enemies, maybe one, two at most, actually wait, do we even still have enemies right now? Last I remember there was some royal engagement arranged specifically to put an end to a long stretch of bad blood between us and Tryvion, so that might already be resolved, though honestly I can't be sure and...
Damn.
I'm going to absolutely fail the written exam, and I won't even need to try.
"I really should have read up on current affairs."
Well, nothing I can do about it now.
From what I could see outside there was a long line of carriages moving through one gate, and a separate entrance on the other side where people coming on foot were headed in.
Sighs.
I was already feeling anxious and I hadn't even stepped out yet.
What if I ran into Helene? It had been a while since I'd seen her but those feelings, they weren't exactly the kind you could just manage through willpower alone, and I genuinely didn't know what would happen if she was suddenly right there in front of me.
Pah.
I slapped both my cheeks and pulled myself together.
"You're in control," I said out loud, to myself, alone, in a carriage.
From this point on I was taking on a different front, I'd thought about it for a long time and the one that made the most sense was cold, composed, and completely unapproachable, the kind of person people notice once and then actively decide not to bother, that way attention stayed off me and I could move through this place without getting tangled in anything I didn't need to be tangled in.
Grrr.
The queue was long enough that it took a while before we finally got through the gate.
"We're here, my lord," Priston said, and the carriage door swung open.
I took a breath in.
"Haaaaaaah."
Let it out slow, then stepped outside.
"Hahahahaha, I thought he was going to roll out, guess the rumours weren't completely accurate after all."
I heard that and frowned, looking around to find that I had a decent number of eyes already pointed in my direction, and not a single one of them because of how good I looked.
Shit.
"We'll be heading back now, my lord, I wish you good luck," Priston said.
Tsk, I know you don't like me Priston but come on, really, not even a little effort?
"Sure, you may go," I said, and he bowed, then lifted his head, and there was a smile on his face, "Have fun, my lord."
Then he left.
Huh.
That was strange, I genuinely couldn't tell if he was being sincere or taking the piss, but it didn't matter, I had bigger things to deal with.
I stood there and watched the carriage pull away with the rest of the knights, the ones who caught my eye giving a respectful nod as they went.
Sighs.
With them gone I turned back to find other nobles stepping out of their carriages, some faces I recognized from what I knew of the future, others that didn't ring any bells at all, and beyond all of them sat the enormous castle they were all making their way toward.
I'd been preparing for this day for years, ever since the day I took that book from the other me and saw everything that was coming, so alright then.
"Let's do this, let's do-!!!"
"KAEL!!!!"
I stopped and turned around, and coming down the same road the carriages had been using was a beat up old cart carrying a handful of commoners, and sitting right there among them, unmistakably, were those same two idiots from earlier.
"...Hah."
I stared for a second.
"Fuck me to death."