Release That Witch

The moment she saw him, May immediately forgot that she should return at once.     

"My God, M-May!" As they approached, Irene exclaimed in disbelief. She then took her hands and pulled her towards the knight. "Darling, do you know who she is? She's the most famous actress of the Longsong Theater, Miss May! Whenever she performs, the people are lining up from the theater lobby to the streets!"     

May's heart jumped when she heard the phrase darling, but thanks to her years of experience in acting she was able to smile and give a little nod. "Hello."     

"Of course I know her. You said it yourself she's the most famous actress, all the noble of the Western Region is familiar with her name." He sighed and then apologized to May. "My wife showed a lack of manners. I'm Ferlin, welcome."     

He didn't announce his title, his position, or his family name. May's heart was filled with sadness, but on the surface, she maintained her utmost elegant expression. "I'm aware of you. You are known by everyone as the First Knight of the Western Region, 'Morning Light', Sir Ferlin Eltek. I must apologize, because of my busy theater work, I was unable to attend your and Irene's wedding.     

"That belongs to the past now." The knight smiled as he shook his head. "Nowadays, I'm just a teacher, not a member of the Eltek family, so you don't need to be so polite." Then, he waved towards the others and said. "Let's go back first. We've already applied for your temporary residence."     

[A teacher?] May was startled. [Did he mean a court mentor? Even though this town's lord is a prince, but even a castaway prince would not hire a knight for that kind of position. And what's that about applying for a temporary residence? Shouldn't Irene take us to a reliable local inn?]     

Before she could think more about it, Irene approached her. "God, I really did not expect you to come here. If you were to play Cinderella, it would certainly cause an outbreak!"     

"Is that so?" May said with a doubt. She had never heard of such a play, which meant that it was probably written by some new playwright. Furthermore, she did not have time to rehearse for a play, she had only come here… because she wanted to see how Morning Light was, and if there was any way she could help him.     

As they entered the town, May realized that something was amiss with this place. The town was located on the border of the kingdom and it was supposed to serve as an outpost for Longsong Stronghold, but yet it looked like a newly constructed city? The roads were covered with dark gray gravel, with no sign of mud, not to mention the width of the roads, they could practically fit two carriages side by side.     

"What kind of road is this?" Sam asked the question in her mind. "It feels so flat."     

"Aha." Irene proudly smiled. "When I first arrived here, it was still made of mud, but now it's like this. In fact, the road isn't finished yet. I heard from the masons that this was only the foundation for the road."     

"They've fooled you." Rosia argued. "Only houses need foundation. Things already lying on the ground won't collapse, so why should they need one?"     

"Really, they used a mix of gray powder and stones and then spread it out. Afterwards, they sprinkled water on it and compressed it with a rolling stone until it became flat. In the beginning, I also thought this was a new type of road, but the masons said that this was a practice developed by His Highness, something called… water whatever layer. In short, this is still only the foundation!" Irene turned around and continued leading the way, with her long braids swinging with each step. "In the future when people and carriages increase, it'll be paved with slate. Only then it'll be truly finished."     

Paved roads? May sneered into her heart. Other than the inner city of the king's city, which city could afford to cover its roads with slates? A broad and flat road like this was already good enough, even in Longsong Stronghold, there were still many mud roads.     

As they were going further into the town, she saw many houses on both sides of the road were being demolished, regardless of whether they were wooden or clayed houses. Although they were clearly not new houses, they still could not be considered uninhabitable. "Did the lord drive them away because they were blocking the road?"     

"No, they've all moved to another district."     

"District?" May asked, "What's that?"     

"It's the new residential area, which contains identical brick houses," Irene explained. "They'll be allocated to all the original residents, and soon there'll be no old houses in town."     

Brick houses allocated to everyone? May could not believe her ears. This was even more exaggerated than the slates streets. Did she have any idea about the cost of such a project? But being in front of Ferlin, May could only swallow her words.     

There were many pedestrians in the street, and occasionally they would stop and greet Irene or Ferlin. So, May found out that Irene was also one of those so-called teachers.     

"Aren't you performing here?" she asked, "Why do all the townspeople call you a teacher Irene?"     

"That's my job. I only perform part-time. After all, the town doesn't have a theater." Afterwards, Irene told the story of how she had been summoned by His Highness. "Although it'll be an open-air performance and the audience will only consist of civilians, the pay will be still calculated according to the standard of the Stronghold. I think this is a good chance. At least, I can have some practice."     

"You're right. As long as I can go on stage I would be satisfied." Gait and Sam nodded repeatedly.     

An open-air performance for civilians! May did not even have the strength to say a word. Compared with Irene, what was harder for her to understand was the reason behind the prince's idea. How could those people whose only purpose was to survive each day really comprehend the romance and the plot twist of a drama?     

Gradually, they finally arrived in front of a two-story building.     

"This is the teachers' building, but since there are only nine teachers in Border Town at the moment, there are still plenty vacant rooms left. Ferlin applied for you to stay temporarily in two rooms here. During the show, you can stay here." Irene handed out two keys. "Gait, Sam, this one is for you. Rosia and Tina will get the other one, eh, as for Miss May…"     

"I'll stay with you," May said.     

"But..."     

"I came here to see how my theater comrade is living," she said with a smile, "after all, we've been through so much together in the theater, and you probably won't return to the stronghold again, so I'd like to chat with you more. Are you going to reject me?"     

"Of course not!" Irene happily reached out to hold her hands. "I'm just worried that the room is too small for you to live comfortably. There are also a lot of things about acting that I want to ask you!" She turned around to the other four. "Let's first put away your luggage, then you can come over to my place and we can discuss the script together."     

May climbed up to the second floor and followed Irene and Ferlin into their new home.     

But her last hope was shattered.     

She did not want to admit it but this small room gave off a comfortable and clean feeling. The red and white cotton tablecloths and curtains were clearly newly purchased. The floor was clean and there was linen carpet placed in the living room. Her attention was quickly drawn to some strange cups on a low table. Stepping closer, she picked them up to take a closer look, but she was unable to identify its material—it was light, like wood, but the surface was smooth and the color was vibrant. It was nothing like the usual cheap goods owned by civilians. Depicted on top of the cup was an image of two people holding each other affectionately.     

"Beautiful cup, right?" Irene, said as she came over, "but it was too expensive. It was sold for five silver royals at the convenience market, four cups consisting a set, depicting a different kind of pictures. To celebrate our payday, Ferlin insisted on buying them for me which resulted in us spending our whole salary. That fool."     

"Convenience Market?" May deliberately ignored the last part of the sentence.     

"Yes!" Irene nodded. "The Lord has opened a market at the town's square, where they're selling some very fine daily necessities, but they're not cheap. If you want, I can take you there tomorrow to have a look."     

May had mixed feelings in her heart. Everything was different from what she had expected. She thought that, as a war captive, and a knight for whom no one had offered a ransom, even if the lord had released him, his life would still have been very hard. And since Irene never had any savings, the only thing she could do to help him would be to accompany him throughout this hardship.     

If it was like that, any assistance she could have provided him would be greatly appreciated by Ferlin Eltek. She could have even taken it further, and with her own influence, she could try to persuade the local lord to allow to her redeem the First Knight. That way, she might have been able to completely reverse the knight's heart.     

However… all of her plans had been for nothing. He was having a good life in Border Town, even without her help.     

Should she go back? By choosing to leave, she would forget everything about Ferlin and Border Town.     

May fell into a state of confusion.