Chapter 236: Kajsa Ophand (2) (1/2)

Cordelia was in a good mood.

For the past 2 days, she fully enjoyed the body temperature of Jude’s wide back, and liked the firm arms that supported her. But there was one more fact that pleased her.

‘The smell of Jude.’

Cordelia seemed to have acquired a heightened sense of smell like that of a girl from the wild.

Even with her eyes closed, she was able to distinguish the number of people around her by sniffing with her nose once.

Count Chase had a strong rose scent.

Her brother Edward slightly smelled of disinfectant that one would mostly smell in swimming pools, and her sister Adelia didn’t have any strange scent, but when she met Gaël, she often smelled of peppermint.

‘As for Dahlia, she has a cool and refreshing smell?’

Now that I think of it, is Dahlia doing well?

She must have arrived home by now, right?

After recalling Dahlia’s face for a moment, Cordelia focused on the smell again.

The smell of Jude.

Jude’s body had a strangely sweet smell.

It obviously wasn’t a very strong scent, but the faint scent was like the smell when one sucked on a candy.

In the royal capital, the shampoo, conditioner, and perfume he used gave him a refreshing scent, but it was a little different today.

Since they wandered around outside, there was hardly any smell on him as if the perfume had worn off.

The original smell of Jude.

The smell of his flesh.

Her nose twitched as she was immersed in his sweet smell, but after some time, she began to smell something salty.

It seemed like they were nearing the sea.

‘Sweet and salty.’

Jude’s sweetness and the sea’s saltiness.

‘I’m feeling sleepy.’

I feel like I can fall asleep from the nice atmosphere.

Will I wake up in his arms if I fall asleep like this?

Cordelia briefly imagined it before she felt the urge to cover her face with both hands.

‘I must be seriously ill, really…’

How did this happen?

Cordelia criticized herself – no, she reflected on herself for a moment and soon opened her eyes slowly.

Because Jude’s movements had changed.

“Have we arrived?”

“Yes, I think we should walk from here. If we keep going like this, we’ll stand out too much.”

“Okay.”

Seeing the wide road past the bushes, Cordelia nodded her head and climbed down from Jude’s back.

“Is Kajsa here?”

“Yes, because she uses Daram as her base when she’s hunting pirates.”

In fact, they weren’t that sure of it yet.

The events now might gradually differ from the game’s storyline because of the butterfly effect from the various events that had occurred so far.

“But it’ll be fine since she’s Kajsa.”

“Well, you’re right.”

At this point, Kajsa was 19 years old.

She was two years older than Jude or Cordelia, and three years older than Lucas.

A difference of one or two years didn’t matter much when one exceeded 30 to 40 years of age, but it was different when one was a teenager in the midst of growing up.

Kajsa belonged to the top ranks among the playable characters in terms of their physical abilities at their starting point.

‘No, it’s more like she has no other competitors except for Maximilian and Leon.’

Because she had very strong natural physical abilities.

Moreover, Kajsa was a character who loved and enjoyed fighting.

She had been escorting merchant ships since her childhood, so she had a lot of hands-on experience, making her a full-fledged warrior.

“Hehe.”

But it was at that moment.

Cordelia suddenly laughed when she was thinking about Kajsa.

She couldn’t hold back her laughter because she was in a really good mood.

“Cordelia?”

What’s suddenly wrong with you?

I don’t think there’s anything funny in our conversation now for you to be laughing.

When Jude looked at her in confusion, Cordelia spoke after she rolled her eyes to avoid making eye contact.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Yes, nothing.”

Truthfully, there was a reason.

Because Jude was stronger than Kajsa.

Jude’s physical abilities were superior to Kajsa, who was a superhuman from the moment she inherited the blood of a divine creature.

My Jude is stronger than Kajsa.

He’s stronger, faster, and has better stamina.

‘I want to show him off.’

I want to tell everyone that my Jude is this amazing.

“Hehehe.”

Cordelia snickered again, and Jude furrowed his brows but soon smiled.

Good things are good, so if Cordelia is feeling good, it must be something good.

‘Perhaps it’s because we’ve come to the sea.’

Jude also had heightened senses, though it was not as much as Cordelia.

He felt restless when he smelled the salty smell of the sea and heard the sounds of the waves breaking from afar.

‘Because I’ve strangely never been much to the sea.’

Jude had traveled everywhere from the desert to the jungle in his past life, but he had rarely been to the sea.

‘Twice. No, is it thrice?’

Moreover, he didn’t remember it much because he only went there for work.

“Anyway, let’s go. Give me the backpack.”

“Yes, Milord.”

Jude took the backpack from Cordelia who obediently replied. He then signaled to her with a glance, and Cordelia skillfully used a magic that hindered recognition.

Since the two always stood out, they needed that magic to not draw attention.

“Are we going to an inn first?”

“We usually do that, but we should go to the pier first.”

Because they came to the sea, they must check the sea first.

They had to find out if Kajsa’s ship was out at sea or if it was anchored to a dock.

Cordelia immediately nodded at Jude’s suggestion.

“Yes, I want to see the sea too. I like the sea.”

“Did you used to live by the sea?”

“When I was younger.”

It was a story from her previous life and not the present one. Cordelia then grabbed Jude’s hand instead of talking more about it.

“Let’s hurry up.”

“Okay.”

They were just plainly holding hands instead of the usual escorting etiquette, so Jude looked straight ahead instead of looking at Cordelia because he was lightly blushing due to her holding his hand first.

The two headed towards the port city of Daram.

***

The 7 southern families were quite diverse, but they could be largely divided into two categories.

Families with a fief on the mainland and families with islands as their fief.

Marquis Ophand belonged to the former, and they owned two port cities on the coast and a large territory inland.

“Daram is one of Marquis Ophand’s port cities, and is usually used as a trading port in the south.”

It was used as a route for selling the grains produced by the Ophand territory to the various islands in the south, and was strictly for domestic use.

“That’s why there are a lot of big boats despite it being a domestic port. Because they had to load and carry a lot at once. But the boats rarely go far since they’re not intended for long-distance sailing.”

“I see.”

Cordelia listened to Jude as she looked around.

As the port of the wealthy Marquis Ophand, Daram was well-equipped with the basics.

It had clean and wide roads with big and nice buildings built everywhere.

Guard posts were set up at regular intervals to maintain security.

‘It feels like I’m at a tourist attraction.’

Cordelia sniffed with her nose again and brightly smiled at some point.

Because she could see the sea far away.

“It’s the sea.”

“So are those sails… really for long-distance sailing?”

She saw the blue and open sea beyond the huge pier.

Cordelia let go of Jude’s hand and ran like a child, and Jude hurriedly caught up to her.

“It’s the sea.”

Cordelia took a deep breath.

Besides the plain salty smell, her heart pounded at the familiar smell of the sea.

‘Beautiful.’

It was a beautiful pier that was like the tourist destinations found in Europe.

The islands were like dots in the distant horizon, and the sound of the seagulls were heard in between the sound of the waves crashing against the breakwater.

It’s so beautiful and nice right now, so what more if it’s sunset?

Cordelia briefly closed her eyes and imagined the sunset, and she couldn’t hold back her smile.

Because the appearance of the sunset dyeing the sky and the sea red was truly beautiful.

‘And, with such a sunset as a background…’

Cordelia was still embarrassed to imagine Jude and herself, so she used Adelia and Gaël in her imagination. She ended up covering her face with both hands.

‘Haa… haa… good. It’s perfect.’

It’s here.

I want it to be here.

This place is good enough.

‘I have to ask him to go watch the sunset together later. That’s right.’

Cordelia made a firm resolution before she opened her eyes and clenched her fist.

But it was at that moment.

“Something’s weird.”

“Eh?”

Weird?

No, what are you talking about?

We have to go see the sunset later, but why are you talking as if something is going to happen, huh?