When traveling long distances, most residents of the Empire choose to rent a carriage. The price isn't too expensive; for instance, a trip to the Nuokan Territory, which only takes two or three days, costs about two silver coins.
If you can drive yourself and don't need to hire a coachman, the price can be even lower.
White Night knew how to drive, so she didn't need to hire a coachman. However, her expenses didn't decrease; instead, she spent a full forty silver coins because she rented an Advanced carriage.
Although they were all carriages, the Carriage Service's vehicles were still divided into different classes.
The lowest-end carriage was no different from an ox cart—two wheels and a flat board, without even a cabin.
Slightly more Advanced ones would have a cabin and interior seating. While not exactly comfortable, they could at least provide shelter from the wind and rain.
As for the one White Night hired, it was the most premium carriage. Not only did it have an exquisite cabin, but the interior was also equipped with cushions, seats, blankets, and a series of other items to enhance the riding experience. Even the wheels and axles had shock-absorbing treatments to minimize the bumps during the journey as much as possible.
Renting such a carriage wasn't because White Night was vain; it was simply to take care of Iris. Worried that she wouldn't be able to withstand the long hours of jolting, she wanted to make her as comfortable as possible.
After all, Iris was far too delicate. If she had to ride in an ordinary carriage for two or three days, she would surely be extremely miserable.
"Sister Bai Ye, the carriage you hired is just too..."
Iris looked somewhat helplessly at the carriage before her, which was adorned with various gold-patterned decorations and a luxurious interior.
She could probably guess what White Night was thinking—likely worrying that she wouldn't be able to handle the bumps of a long journey.
But Iris didn't want to be treated Li Ke this all the time. She liked that White Night cared for her, but that didn't mean she could accept White Night wasting money because of her.
"What's wrong? Is there an issue with the carriage I hired?"
"Sigh~" Iris let out a soft sigh. "It's nothing..."
Since the carriage had already been hired, saying anything more wouldn't make the Carriage Service return the money they'd received. Iris simply decided to drop it.
At worst, the next time Sister Bai Ye was about to spend money, she would stop her... only, would there even be a next time?
"Get in, Iris. It's time to take you home."
"Mm."
The journey to the Nuokan Territory finally began. White Night drove the carriage, taking Iris toward the city gates.
Although the Royal Capital was a massive city, its edges were still surrounded by a high, thick wall, with only several wide gates left in the north, south, east, and west for people to pass through.
When White Night drove to the city gate, she found that Black Knights had already been deployed there.
Generally speaking, those responsible for gate defense were just ordinary Guards, and their numbers wouldn't be too high; only about seven or eight people would be deployed at a single gate.
Even if they were apprehending criminals to prevent their escape, they would only send a few ordinary knights to assist with the defense.
Deploying Black Knights directly was a first in White Night's memory.
"Halt! Inspection!"
Just as White Night's carriage reached the city gate, it was stopped by a knight holding a black cavalry lance.
"Is something the matter, Sir Knight?"
Calling her former subordinate "Sir"? White Night felt it was a bit strange, but on the surface, she showed no sign of unnaturalness.
"Is there anyone in the carriage?"
The Black Knight, mounted on his horse, circled the carriage twice, seemingly checking if there was anything amiss.
"Yes, my friend. Her name is Iris."
White Night's expression was natural. Although her current appearance was sixty percent similar to her old self, she wasn't worried at all that her former subordinate would recognize her.
After all... even among her subordinates, very few people had ever seen her original face. Angelie kept a very strict watch on White Night and didn't Li Ke her showing her face in public.
Therefore, when White Night used to lead the Knight Order, she always wore that set of heavy knight armor, with not a single spot exposed from head to toe. Coupled with White Night's own caution, naturally, almost no one had seen her face.
Even though she currently looked sixty percent Li Ke her former self, she wasn't worried at all in the face of the Black Knight's inspection. After all, even among her subordinates, very few had seen her previous appearance.
"Guard, inspect the interior of the carriage."
"Yes!"
Black Knights would not dismount to inspect a carriage. After all, the heavy cavalry equipment covering their entire bodies was far too heavy, making mounting and dismounting exceptionally laborious. Thus, tasks Li Ke inspecting carriages were always left to the ordinary Guards on foot.
The Guard who received the order opened the cabin and looked inside. Aside from the gorgeous interior and various blankets and cushions, there was only a young girl sitting obediently inside; nothing was out of the ordinary.
"Reporting, no issues."
"Mm, let them pass."
"Yes."
Hearing the words "let them pass," the corners of White Night's mouth curled up. As she had expected, even with Black Knights deployed at the city gate, Angelie couldn't stop her.
After all, her current appearance was different from before. Even if Angelie came in person, she might not necessarily recognize her.
White Night drove the carriage slowly through the city gate. A Black Knight who had just been handling other matters saw this and slowly rode his horse over to the Black Knight who had given the order to let them pass.
"Vice-Captain, is it really okay? I remember the Queen is looking for someone with silver hair, right? That person just now had silver hair."
"It's fine. The Queen is looking for a silver-haired man. The one who just passed was a girl; she's definitely not the person the Queen is looking for."
"Are you sure? If we really accidentally let the person the Queen is looking for slip by, you know the consequences."
"Otherwise? Do you want me to detain that girl? Stop joking around, I couldn't bring myself to detain such a beautiful girl..."
"Speaking of which, that girl just now was indeed very beautiful. If she could be my girlfriend..."
"You're dreaming..."
By this time, White Night had already driven out of the city gate. Naturally, she didn't know what these two Black Knights were discussing; otherwise, she would definitely risk exposing her identity just to give them a good kick in the ass!
"Sister Bai Ye..."
Iris lifted the curtain of the carriage cabin and sat down beside White Night.
"Iris, why did you come out?"
"I want to be with Sister Bai Ye."
"Aren't we together now? On the same carriage."
"It's not enough. I want to be by Sister Bai Ye's side."
Iris wrapped her arms around White Night and leaned her head against the other's shoulder.
"Li Ke this..."
White Night reached out and stroked Iris's head.
"If you catch the wind outside the cabin, you might get sick."
"Is it not allowed?"
Iris looked at White Night with clear eyes, hoping she wouldn't refuse.
"Sigh~"
White Night let out a long sigh; she had always been bad at saying no.
"Only for a little while, okay?"
"Mm."
...Compared to the vast territory of the Empire, the Nuokan Territory wasn't far. Even so, it would take a few days by carriage.
Furthermore, there was only one Post Station along the way. They wouldn't make it in a single day, so they would have to sleep in the carriage at night.
"Iris, eat something and then get some rest. We'll continue our journey tomorrow morning."
White Night drove for a full day. Finally, after the sun had completely sunk below the horizon, she chose to rest near a forest.
In fact, if White Night were traveling alone, she wouldn't rest even after nightfall; she would likely rush to her destination without a moment's pause.
However, she was concerned about Iris's delicate body. If they traveled through the night, Iris likely wouldn't be able to rest well. Since there was no immediate rush, it was better to let Iris have a good rest.
"Sister Bai Ye, when will we reach the Nuokan Territory?"
Iris asked while taking small bites of bread.
It wasn't that she hoped to get home quickly; she just wanted to know how much longer she could stay by Sister Bai Ye's side.
"At our current speed, probably the evening of the day after tomorrow."
"The day after tomorrow..."
White Night looked at Iris and thought she was homesick.
"What's wrong? Are you homesick?"
"Huh? Oh! Yes, I suppose so..."
"Alright, don't think too much. It won't be long before I get you home. Be good and get some rest first."
"Mm."
The space inside the cabin wasn't very large, but after spreading out the blankets, it could just barely allow two people to lie side by side.
Although it was a bit cramped, Iris certainly wouldn't complain about that. She wished she could be pressed tightly against White Night.
"How is it, Iris? Are you cold?"
Although it was near the end of summer and the weather was gradually turning cooler, it wasn't yet at the point where one would feel cold.
However, upon hearing White Night's question, Iris did not deny it.
"...A little."
Her voice was very soft, and she stole a glance at White Night's expression as if she had a guilty conscience.
But White Night didn't notice any of this.
"Then you can use my blanket too."
"No, no!" Iris hurriedly shook her head. "If you give it to me, won't you have nothing to cover yourself with, Sister?"
"It's fine. I'm not afraid of the cold. Iris is more important."
"Then, then how about this..."
Iris's face turned a bit red. She lifted her own blanket and crawled into White Night's arms, sharing a single blanket with her.
"This, this is fine. This way, neither of us will be cold."
Feeling White Night's body temperature, Iris's face became even redder. She quickly buried her face in White Night's chest to prevent her from noticing her strange behavior.
Looking at Iris clinging to her, White Night only thought she felt more secure this way, so she didn't refuse and let Iris hold onto her.
"Alright then. Goodnight, Iris."
"Goodnight, Sister Bai Ye."
In the middle of the night, White Night slowly opened her eyes.
She hadn't actually fallen asleep. Tonight, she had business to attend to.
"Iris, are you asleep?"
White Night softly called out to Iris and found that the other didn't respond. It seemed she was truly asleep.
"Sleep peacefully, Iris. I'll be right back."
She gently disentangled herself from Iris's embrace and got off the carriage. She had no time for rest tonight; there was something she had to do.
When she had rescued Iris at the slave auction, White Night had interrogated Li Ke about where his slaves came from and whether he had any suppliers who provided them.
It had been a casual question, but to White Night's surprise, she actually squeezed out information about a gang of bandits who specialized in collaborating with Li Ke to kidnap and sell young girls.
Thinking about it carefully, it wasn't strange for Li Ke to have collaborators.
Since he could win over so many nobles in the Royal Capital, it meant most of his energy was focused there. In that case, where would he find the energy to gather slaves himself?
Once she understood this, it felt logical that Li Ke would have partners.
Coincidentally, according to Li Ke's confession, the base of that gang of bandits was located near the route from the Royal Capital to the Nuokan Territory.
White Night had driven until dark and stopped at her current position precisely because she wanted to conveniently wipe out this gang of bandits to eliminate any future trouble!
"Let me see..."
White Night took out a map from her spatial ring. Although Li Ke had told her the bandits' location, she still needed to find the specific spot herself.