To Leave or to Stay
To Leave or to Stay
"Yeah, it's hard to imagine that it was a sticky paste before it was made. His Highness even added perfume into it in order to make it fragrant."
May subconsciously glimpsed at the price on the paper, which could be considered luxury as it cost 25 silver royals each, however, the price was obviously a little too low as compared to the expensive perfume. "Are you sure there's perfume added? A great noble had given me three bottles of perfumes when I was performing in the king's city and each bottle was only as big as the thumb but the price of each bottle was more than 5 gold royals. Such a big bar of soap would at least required half a bottle of the perfume."
"Is it?" Carter stunned. "Perfume is actually so expensive?"
"Of course." May rolled a blind eye at him. "It's the most complacent product of King's City Alchemist Workshop, other than the crystal glass, perfume is the best selling product. I heard that there're only thousands of bottles perfume flows into the market annually other than the batch that's tribute to the royal family. Those who could afford to buy this thing are mostly the upper-class noble and wealthy merchants. I wouldn't use the remuneration of several of my plays to purchase a bottle of perfume if it wasn't a gift."
"However, I didn't see any rare materials when His Highness made the perfume... I heard His Highness mentioned that it seemed to be made of sugarcane." Carter added, seeing May's confused expression. "Sugarcane is a sweet stick, a plant that came from the Fjords that looks like a stick and chewing on it will fill your mouth with sweet juice. It's only planted at the castle backyard currently, and I'll ask His Highness for permission to bring you one."
"It's Prince Roland, His Highness again..." She had been hearing the name of Roland Wimbledon the most often since she came to the town. As long as the change of the town was mentioned, both Irene and Carter would definitely mention him. It sounded like His Highness knew everything and all the new things were created by him.
[Is there really such an erudite in this world?] She was skeptical. [It takes time for a person to learn the new knowledge. The recognized scholars in both the king's city and Longsong Stronghold are white-haired old men. There's even a saying that the longer the beard, the wider the knowledge. Prince Roland is only around 20 years old, and how could he know so many things?]
Thinking so in her heart, May looked as usual and said, "Don't need to, it must be a rare crop if it were used to make perfume. Especially the perfume formula which could be sold for a high price in any alchemic workshop. You must not inquire from His Highness even if you shouldn't say anything about it even if you see it."
"Alright," Carter answered before he pulled out a handkerchief and wrapped four scented soaps in it.
"You're going to buy so many?"
"Each person was limited to purchase two bars. We'll pretend to purchase separately and I'll give them all to you when we're outside—don't reject for now." The knight stretched his arm out to stop May from talking. "I can always apply for it from His Highness if I run out of it but I'm not too sure when would the new stock comes in if it's sold out here. It can last you for a while with these four pieces."
May felt warm in her heart, looking at Carter's serious expression. "For a while..." She puckered her lips, quietly looking at the knight who was wrapping the scented soap.
"Let's look at the other merchandises since we're here." He lifted the sack and smiled.
…
It was dimmed outside the window when May returned to her "home" in Border Town.
The sunray of the sunset penetrated into the house from the window, dying the decorations in the house with a touch of orangey-red.
Since she decided to stay here for the following plays, May received a set of the room like Irene's. It was not big but it was fully-equipped.
She put the fancy goods they bought from the Convenience Market on the table one by one, and there was a bottle of alcohol besides the four bars of scented soap.
The bottle of alcohol was different from the common ale and wine from the pub. It had almost no color and was clear and transparent like water. She remembered it was called White Liquor on the introduction of merchandise, and it was high-alcohol and not suitable to drink too much of it.
[White Liquor.] She smiled. [The name matches the appearance well.]
May pulled out the wooden stopper and poured a glass for herself. She lifted the glass and the strong smell had made her frown. However, after the smell, she could smell an alcohol fragrant that was sweet and rich, and was totally different from the low quality diluted alcohol in the bar.
She seldom went to the bar as she would need full attention and concentration during the play, and she would only drink a glass or two to celebrate with the drama team after a big success of her play. It did not feel bad for being drunk, but she witnessed a lot of actors and actresses' misbehave after getting drunk, so she always kept her drinking limit within the scope of not affecting her thoughts.
However, May was having a strong urge of getting drunk now, otherwise, she would not insist on buying such an expensive White Liquor even with Carter's discouragement—she heard the other actors said that getting drunk could shield the distracting thoughts and concerns away to find the actual answer at the bottom of the heart, and she wanted to try.
May closed her eyes and drank up the alcohol in the glass, and she could have a boiling hot feeling exploding in her throat. She had spat the alcohol out before she could swallow it and a severe cough was choking her to tear.
"Damn it, is this really alcohol?"
She bit her lips and tried again after the burning sensation had subsided—she only dared to sip on it, and she could taste the thick and fragrant after the burning sensation. It did not taste very good with both the tastes mixed up, but it brought her a strange feeling.
May felt a trace of dizziness after only 7 minutes.
She pulled out a fist-sized metal box from her pocket and opened up the box where she found a shining mirror in front of her. The mirror must be expensive as it was different from the usual bronze-mirror or silver-mirror, and it had a smooth surface with the reflected scene extremely clear. May could see both her blushing cheeks and her confused eyes.
It was a gift from the chief knight before parted, and she wanted to reject but the knight had walked away without giving her a chance to push it back. He turned back to wave goodbye at her while walking away quickly. To be honest, Carter Lannis was an impeccable type on his appearance, however, it would be impossible for her to stay if the knight was not being chatty.
So, should she reside here? Moving away from the busy city and starting over in the remote town, and there were only a few of them from the crew knew her identity... The fear of unknown made it difficult for her to make up her mind.
May opened up the letter that had been on her table for a few days—it was the letter Prince Roland, His Highness passed to her through Irene and it was written by Petrov, the manager of the stronghold. She was informed that the Stronghold theatre had announced her to be missing, and Petrov was personally hoping for her to return to the stronghold and continue the play.
Prince Roland, His Highness did not hide the news but left her to decide herself.
As May drank up the alcohol left in the glass, her vision gradually became hazy.
She staggered to the desk, spreading out a piece of paper to write back.
In the overlapping surging thoughts, she could see the Stronghold Theater, Irene, Ferlin Eltek, as well as the town square filled with cheering noise and the out-of-control exciting third-rate actors... When all these finally faded slowly, it was only left with the smiling face of Carter Lannis when he was inviting her for a drink in her mind.
"Hello, Miss May. Can I buy you a drink?"
…