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Chapter 489.1: Under the Red Leaves (1)

The roadside scenery was already showing a touch of autumn even though the weather had yet to turn chilly. Charlotte stared at the yellowing leaves outside the window and sighed.

Charlotte knew that this journey would be immortalized in her mind as one of her fondest memories, but not everything had been smooth-sailing. There was one thing in particular that she dearly regretted—rushing the road for the initial part of the journey.

Due to her poor physical condition, her convoy had traveled without rest in hopes of reaching Rosa as soon as possible. It did allow her to significantly reduce the journey time, but on the flipside, no matter how slowly they traveled after Roel caught up with her, they were only able to lengthen the journey to half a month’s time.

It was no wonder why people said that happy moments passed too quickly.

To Charlotte, it felt like someone had cruelly accelerated each day that she spent with Roel. Even her monotonous work could hardly slow down time at all.

There was a profound feeling of loss in her heart when she saw that their journey was already approaching its end.

Is she feeling down because she doesn’t want our journey to end that quickly?

Noticing how Charlotte kept glancing at the itinerary they had received from a maid earlier this morning with an unhappy look on her face, Roel was able to fathom a guess as to what was going through her mind. He thought about the half a month that they had spent together.

While he had been taking care of Charlotte, he had felt extremely comfortable during this period of time, though what he relished in was the peaceful atmosphere.

Roel’s life could possibly be the farthest thing in the world from peace. Treacherous enemies were keeping a close eye on him from the shadows, waiting for him to expose an opening for them to capitalize on. That was not the kind of stress an ordinary person could shoulder. One could almost say that Roel had already become accustomed to stress.

It took a great deal of mental fortitude to deal with unknown enemies that he knew next to nothing about, for their means could very well surpass his wildest imagination. Treant High Priest Orsted was a good example of that.

I don’t want this moment to come to an end too.

Roel was momentarily surprised by his own thoughts before letting out a soft sigh. Turning his attention back to Charlotte, he decided to use the remaining part of their journey to help her relax.

“… I’ll have to discuss it with Grace.”

“Darling, did you say something?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“You’re being suspicious…”

Charlotte stared at Roel with narrowed eyes of doubt. On the other hand, Roel began working out the details of his plan before proceeding to gather the maids’ help.

…

Every autumn, tourists would flock to Rosa’s Tori City to visit their famed scenic spot.

Due to the lower standard of living and the proliferation of nature everywhere, most people preferred to visit prosperous large cities and soak in their bustle. Natural sceneries held little attraction to them.

But occasionally, the crowd would still recognize the intrinsic beauty of nature, and Tori City’s Love Forest was one of them.

Love Forest was located in the vicinity of Tori City. It was filled with Miura Trees, named after the goddess that governed over love in ancient legends. It was dubbed as the ‘Tree of Love’—which was also where the forest’s name came about—because of the color of its leaves.

Just like how the maple trees in Roel’s previous life would slowly regress into a fiery-red hue during autumn, the leaves of Miura Trees would turn from lush green into rose red. This transformation was thought to represent the process of how couples first started out awkward before their feelings blossomed with a burning passion.

Love Forest came to be known as the holy land for romantic dates, the ideal place for confessions. Whenever the autumn breeze blew, the rustling red leaves resembled dancing flames in the mountain, evoking the passion in one’s heart.

It was impossible for a young woman deeply in love not to be excited by that.

Charlotte clasped her hands together as she gasped at the glorious red forest before her eyes. Roel breathed a sigh of relief, feeling glad that he had brought her here.

Behind them, the army of maids showed motherly smiles.

Roel had asked Grace for permission to bring Charlotte out for a quick change in pace. He thought that this was the best way for her to vent any dissatisfaction she had bottled up.

She hadn’t been able to spend much time outside ever since her affliction worsened. In fact, she hadn’t left the carriage at all throughout this entire journey, spending most of her time in bed. As comfortable as the Diamond Rivière was, it was stifling to remain indoors for an extended period of time.

Roel had often heard in his previous life that natural sceneries nourished the body and mind when one was feeling unwell, which was his primary intention for bringing her out. When he shared his thoughts with Grace and the other maids, they immediately told him about the scenic spot.

He did wonder if it was better to head elsewhere considering that Love Forest was located in Rosa. However, reality had shown that locals tended to show little interest in their homeland’s scenic spots, believing that the grass was greener on the other side. Charlotte had never been to Love Forest even though it wasn’t too far away from Rosa City.

It was indeed a good idea to bring her here.

“Darling… is this what you have been hiding for me over the last few days?” Charlotte gazed upon the beautiful rose-red scenery before her as she asked.

“That’s right. You noticed it?” asked Roel.

“Of course, who do you think I am?”

“It’s unfair to use mind-reading spells.”

“Who needs that?” Charlotte retorted.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing on.

“I knew that you were planning something because you would leave the bedroom after I fell asleep for the last two days. I just didn’t expect it to be such a surprise…”

“Oh? How did you know what happened after you fell asleep? I’m quite certain that I always returned before you woke up.”

“… It’s a secret.”

Charlotte was momentarily stunned by Roel’s question before she answered with a blush, determinedly concealing her own little secret. Roel didn’t probe any deeper into the matter, though he guessed that it was some sort of divination spell.

Surprisingly, mind-reading spells didn’t exist on the Sia Continent despite it being a world filled with supernatural powers. The closest thing they had to mind-reading was lie detection. However, Charlotte was a master of divination spells, and it was an easy feat for her to figure out an individual’s whereabouts.

He just thought that it was uncharacteristic of her to track his whereabouts when he was already right next to her.

Unable to hold back his curiosity, he raised this question with her, only for her to immediately deny making any attempt at surveillance. There was a conflicted look on her face as she weighed her options, and in the end, she shyly divulged the reason behind her discovery.