The Chronicle of Aurelia Aurelius

Chapter 45 Embracing Myself

Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder and heard, "Are you this believer, my lady?"

From the sound, it was Lady Octavi. I just said quietly, "Maybe I am, or maybe I'm not, yet this statue stands graciously in the middle of this square even without anyone around it."

Lady Octavi chuckled softly and replied, "Without anyone around, her presence, which symbolises this statue, should be enough to remind us of her greatness and the impact she had on the people..." I heard her footsteps to my side, "So, why does my lady want to go outside? It's not about admiring this statue, right?"

Slowly, my head turned to her, and our eyes met. "No, it's not about the statue," I said with a smile. "I want to find Cassius..."

"Cassius? What's the matter that you want to find him?"

"It's not that important, but since he is with Valerie, I am curious about it..."

"Well, to find him in the capital is surely hard, if it's not that important, how about we go home?"

Hearing that, I shook my head. "Come on! We just barely got out for a moment, and now you just told me to go home," I insisted. "It's bothering me."

She sighed but nodded in agreement, "So where does this called 'your curiosity' lead us?"

"Well, if he is with Valerie... So we must check the tavern in the city..."

"Why do you know they will be in the tavern?"

"I just gave Valerie a light errand for me; therefore, it may be in the tavern."

"There is a lot of tavern in the city, my lady...You want to check them all?"

"No, we can start with the most crowded or lively ones first. We can consider checking the others if we don't find him there."

"If that's your plan, we need to go now; there will be no time to check all the taverns in the city..."

We went back to our horses and started to go, leaving the statue. As Lady Octavi and I were on the same horse and slowly distancing ourselves from the statue, somehow I kept looking at it until I couldn't see it anymore.

~~~

As we were on the trip, I heard Lady Octavi spit some words at me, which became a conversation while riding on the horse.

"May I ask you some questions regarding Cassius and Valerie?" Asked from Lady Octavi.

"Is there any problem with them?"

"No, no, it's just why my lady brings them to your household."

"I bring them for my needy..."

"Needy? Is Adel not enough for you?"

"She is more than myself; I am so grateful she is always with me...Yet... Somehow, I want more people around me who are not on the orders of my parents..."

"I understand that; however, will his grace and madam allow this? They may not be happy with this issue, my lady, for bringing some strangers to your household..."

"They aren't strangers; I hire them..."

"I know, yet without any background check or without knowing their true intention, it can lead to potential danger or harm to you..."

Or lead towards my doom if I didn't recruit them before any paragon could find them, I said to Lady Octavi, "Even I didn't know their background..." Or I know, "I will keep insisting on hiring them..."

We arrived at the first tavern. Adel went off from her horse and checked inside, while me and Lady Octavi still kept staying on a horse, and our conversation continued.