Melmos jungle

The carriages slowly moved forward. A caravan of several hundred people walked on the main road.

It was not entirely accurate to call it a road, because there was only a yellowed path. It should have been trampled by some kind of migrating animal.

They were surrounded by shrubs and bushes with purplish black berries growing among them.

Further in the distance was a chain of mountain peaks that seemed to have no end in sight. A few geese like birds were circling above the mountain stream, and above them were white clouds.

Locke, who was wearing armour, got off his horse and kicked the mud on the soles of his boots. He bent down to pick a berry from the roadside, wiped it with his sleeve and threw it straight into his mouth.

It was so sour that he spat it out after a short while.

"Bond, where are we now?" Locke waved at his adjutant.

Bond hurriedly ran over and took out a map from under his armpit. He spread it out with one hand and gestured with the other. "We're almost out of Melmos Forest. Half a day at most!"

Locke nodded at his adjutant, turned around and mounted his horse. He then rode towards one of the carriages in the middle of the convoy.

"Are we almost out of here?" Inside an exquisite carriage, Angelina was lying on a red cushion, lazily flipping through a thick book in a slightly intellectual manner.

"Soon!" Locke glanced greedily at the fair skin on Angelina's neck and turned his head to look elsewhere.

He knew who was currently in charge of this convoy, so he didn't dare to be presumptuous at all.

After chatting with Angelina for a while, Locke didn't disturb her reading and continued to walk towards the back of the convoy.

Grace and the other four women sat in two carriages. Suzanne and Laffey were in one, while Grace and Kristin were in the other.

The first carriage was Suzanne's. As soon as she saw Locke, she happily hugged Locke's neck through the window and gave him a kiss.

"Be careful, don't twist your waist!" Locke moved closer and left a big kiss mark on his face.

Locke rode on a horse while Suzanne sat in the carriage. Both of them could perform such a difficult action. It wasn't because the coachman was good at driving, but because they had been 'practicing' for a long time.

"I missed you!" Suzanne said shyly.

Locke smiled and said, "Didn't I just feed you last night?"

Suzanne gave him a round of punches.

Lafite had a strange expression on his face as he watched the shameless couple flaunting their love as if no one else was around. "Cough cough!" She pretended to clear her throat and retracted her body, but her beautiful eyes were still fixed on him.

Locke looked at Laffey, who was also in armour, and complained, "Why are you wearing armour in a carriage? Don't you find it hot?"

"It's none of your business!" Laffey turned her head to avoid looking at Locke. Even though she knew that her mistress had already followed this man, as a maidservant, she had always been rude to Locke.

Locke couldn't be bothered with her. To be honest, Laffey looked very valiant in her military uniform. Locke just treated her as a vase.

After a while, he finally walked to the next carriage under Laffey's glare.

"Brother!" Kristin had already seen Locke coming, but Locke didn't move from Suzanne's carriage for a long time. She couldn't stop nagging at Locke. She cursed Suzanne in her heart for seducing her brother.

Kristin and Suzanne had always been close, but it depended on the occasion. When it came to Locke, Kristin wouldn't give in to anyone except her aunt.

Kristin also wanted to lean out and hug Locke like Suzanne did, which scared Locke and Grace who were in the carriage.

"Be careful! You'll fall!" Grace quickly pulled her back and slapped her head.

Kristin pouted and insisted on hugging Locke.

Locke had no choice but to stretch out his arm. She happily hugged him and was lifted out of the carriage through the window.

He could only say that Kristin was too skinny. She was already fourteen years old, but she didn't have any flesh on her body. It seemed that people would believe her if she said she was ten.

"Are you feeling dizzy?" Locke asked with concern. Although he wasn't wearing full-body armour, it was still a heavy half-body chainmail. There were small inverted iron plates where the chains were connected.

"No!" Kristin sat on Locke's shoulder, waving her hands and playing around curiously. She was bored to death after being stuck in the carriage for a few days.

While Kristin was playing around, Locke took the time to make eye contact with Grace. "I'll come over to your place tonight!" This was their secret code, a night of love between husband and wife. She knew what he meant when he made an expression.

"No, Kristin's still here!" Grace shook her head and refused, but Locke didn't give her a chance to refute. He turned around and continued walking to the back of the convoy with Kristin.

"What did Auntie say just now?" Kristin asked curiously. She was so focused on playing that she didn't hear what Grace said.

"Your auntie said that you can't be this skinny anymore. Look at how light you are!" Locke waved his arms playfully. Kristin giggled and hugged Locke's arm tightly.

After playing for a long time, Kristin's face was as red as an apple, making people want to take a bite. "It's not my fault that I'm thin!" Kristin said with a pout, panting heavily.

She was very envious of Suzanne's figure. Every time she took a bath, she would secretly compare the two parts of her body that didn't grow fat.

Her aunt Grace's were also big. Kristin had once asked Grace how to make them bigger, but Grace had angrily slapped her in the face.

Kristin hugged Locke's arm and lay on his shoulder like a kitten. She blushed and kissed his neck when he wasn't paying attention, but Locke pretended not to see it.

After that, it was Lia's carriage. Lia was doing embroidery in the carriage. She had just learned it not long ago. The nobles' wives had taught her when they visited Locke in the royal capital.

Faustian noblewomen were obsessed with exquisite clothes and handkerchiefs, especially the nobles living in the royal capital. Every exquisite handkerchief or ribbon made by them could be flaunted for weeks.

"Stop pricking your finger," Locke said to Lia in the carriage. He had tried to persuade her several times before, but she didn't listen. The day before yesterday, the carriage had tripped over a stone and Lia's index finger was pricked by a needle. It kept bleeding.

Because his sister didn't listen, Locke could only scold the coachman and get a more skilled driver to take over.

"Okay." This time, Lia was surprisingly obedient. She remembered how her brother had stopped the bleeding the day before yesterday.

Locke sucked on Lia's finger for a long time before letting go, which made Lia blush.

"Aren't you going to see your girlfriends?" Lia put down her embroidery and pretended to look at the scenery outside the window.

"Ugh." Locke was speechless. From the moment he brought Glace and the others into the convoy, he knew that this would happen. He originally thought that Angelina would make things difficult for him, but he didn't expect that his sister, Lia, would be unhappy instead.

Seeing that Locke was embarrassed and didn't say anything, Lia didn't continue. "Come, Kristin, let me hug you!" Lia called out to Kristin who was hanging on Locke.

The first time Leah saw Fristen, she, like most women, was very fond of Fristen. In the past two days, Fristen and Leah had also become familiar with each other. She would often run into Leah's carriage when she had nothing to do.

"No, I want to hug my brother!" Kristin refused firmly, causing Locke and Lia to laugh uncontrollably.

Before night fell, the convoy finally left Melmos Forest.

"Now we don't have to worry about those Karaman spying on us." Bond heaved a sigh of relief.

"Don't relax, we haven't left their border yet!" Locke patted him on the shoulder and said.

It had been half a month since they set off from Felor. They had been on the road for the past few days. A week ago, when they approached Karaman, Locke and the others had always felt that they were being watched.

However, knowing that the lord was in charge of the convoy, Locke wasn't worried and just led the convoy to speed up and leave Karaman.