It was a good day! I was clean and smelled nice thanks to the pricey soaps, but they were so worth it! I bought extra to bring with me just in case they don't have any in the Kanta Mountains. It would be winter next month, and I would be stuck indoors for months until the snow melted.
I was never a fan of the cold, but I had a few ideas to help me survive more comfortably. I would need to be able to take hot baths regularly, and these naturally scented soaps were amazing! They had lavender, rose, rosemary, and citrus-scented soaps. I had especially loved the floral scents, but they were limited, so I bought as many as they had.
I planned to make more soaps and other hygiene and skin care products once we arrived in the Kanta Mountains. I remember reading about a flower that was common in the Kanta Region. I hoped the flower was one that I recognized and had medicinal benefits. I knew herbology from Earth.
The first stop of the day was the bakery. It was slightly better than the bakery in the Kingdom of Lancri. They had hot chocolate! They were closer to Rowenhilde, so the chocolate was probably fresher. Mmmm... delicious! Chocolate and cherries! They were one of my favorite combinations. I savored the combination of hot chocolate with the cherry pastry while Zed seemed to be on high alert.
I told him to relax, but he told me to hurry and eat. Someone had made him nervous. I tried to look around, but didn't notice anyone suspicious. There were no dirty bandits in this town like the one in Lancri. This town was nicer and had knights patrolling around the streets. The people looked better taken care of than in Lancri.
They were still comoners and hard-working, but they had solid clothing and were not as thin. Lancri recently had a civil war, so it was understandable that the people were not doing as well. I remembered that King Franz was a better king than his father and cared more about the commoners in his kingdom. It was nice to see the people doing well.
I remember that King Franz had used Katie's idea to help the people live better lives in the kingdom of Annalaias. It seemed to be working! I briefly wondered what part of Annalaias we were in, but at least I knew the name of the kingdom. It didn't really matter. I was planning to spend one more night and leave the next morning to continue our journey to Kanta.
We spent the rest of the morning buying supplies for our journey and had them delivered to the inn we were staying at. It would be too suspicious if I had them deliver it to the hot air balloon that was staked down in the empty field. I didn't want to draw too much attention to it, just in case something bad happened.
Well, my thoughts must have jinxed me, because when we arrived back at the inn, there was a fancy-looking man who was waiting for us with a dinner invitation. I guess that my hot air balloon caught someone's attention after all! I tried to keep a straight face as I accepted the invitation.
I was a little curious to find out who wanted us to attend a fancy dinner. There was no way that I was going to dress up in a cage, but I would go just to eat a good meal. We were already planning to stay the night. One dinner couldn't hurt.
Then, I opened the sealed invitation and read the signature at the bottom, signed with a flourish, Duke Charles Magne Lancaster of Orla. My heart stopped for a moment, and the color drained out of my face. Zed noticed my reaction and waved the man away. He led me to a couch and sat me down.
Once we were out of earshot, he asked in a hushed voice, "Are you alright, Lady Alisa?" It brought me out of my trance, and I gathered myself enough to respond to him. "I am fine, thank you. I must be hungry." I meant to get a snack from the bakery, but the man misunderstood me and thought I wanted an early dinner.
"I will inform my master immediately and return to pick you up for dinner within the hour." With that, he left the inn in a hurry, supposedly to get dinner ready and report back to Duke Orla. I tried to stop him and refuse the invitation, but he was already gone.
Oh well, I guess that I will get to meet one of the characters from the novel. It might not be too bad. Katie spent so much time thinking that he was a villain, but he ended up saving her and wishing her well with Al. He had been described as an intense and intelligent man who usually got what he wanted. Katie was the first person to catch his eye, and he couldn't keep her.
I almost felt sad for him, until I remembered how he wanted to keep her as a caged bird and make her more obedient! Ugh! As a modern woman, I detested the idea of a man taking away a woman's freedom! Our world may not be perfect, but men and women were almost considered equals in our society. Women had fought for too long to gain women's rights just to have one person take them away with a wedding ring. Ha! The very thought was laughable. I would never allow that to happen to me.
Katie had to pretend to be someone she was not, so she spent a lot of time walking on eggshells around this man, but I was not Katie! I was a foreigner who came from the most advanced kingdom in this world on my own flying balloon! I had escaped a bad marriage and my controlling brother. No man would take away my freedom.
Now, I was thinking about this dinner. Can I make up an excuse not to go and just leave tonight? It would be rude, but I don't think he would care too much. We had never met. On the other hand, he knew where I was going, and if he decided to go find me, it would be easier since we were on the same continent.
I guess one dinner won't hurt. Maybe I can try and convince the Duke to treat women better for the sake of his future duchess. Anything is possible, but this was going to be the most awkward dinner!