New World, New Life: I Became A Bigshot In The Ancient World
Chapter 40: ANNOYED DAEMON

Chapter 40: ANNOYED DAEMON

"I am not pretty, little girl." A voice huffed. They all froze and turned to see the owner of the voice glaring at Aristia. It was Ivan’s daemon.

"Shadowfax has never spoken to any of us." Rowaine said in surprise.

"And the first words we heard from him sounded quite dissatisfactory," Father King Melvin laughed heartily.

Daemons could make themselves heard by people if they wanted to, but they preferred to restrict their conversations to their human, and possibly other daemons. So, they were quite surprised when Shadowfax replied Aristia when he had never done that to any of them.

’How could this little girl call me pretty?’ Shadowfax complained to Ivan in his mind, still not satisfied.

He had even made his words heard by not only Aristia, but also the rest of the people standing there, just so that they would know that he was not in favour of and would not under any circumstances, accept being called pretty.

The rest of the people, though not privy to their conversation, chuckled as they could guess what the daemon was thinking.

[It looks like he really doesn’t like being called pretty, hehe.] Aristia chuckled. Her expression showed that she was trying to suppress her laughter.

’She’s laughing at me? What insolence!’ Shadowfax stomped one foot with a huff.

’No, she isn’t. She is just... thinking of something funny.’ Ivan defended Aristia, but Shadowfax just sent him a pointed look and turned his head away.

"So, Ivan, can we ride the horses now?" Alaric asked, becoming impatient. He felt like it was always being delayed by one reason or the other for some reason.

Ivan nodded, "Yes, yes. Let me get you a suitable pony." Ivan said.

Immediately, Alaric became like a deflated balloon. His change in countenance caused Ivan to pat his head in comfort.

"You are too little to ride a horse, so you can only ride ponies. When you grow older, you will be able to ride horses with me. I am riding a big horse like Shadow confidently because he won’t let me get hurt." Ivan said and Shadowfax pushed his chest out in pride.

[Even though daemons are smart, it seems they are still affected by their owner. Ivan is still a little boy and it looks like that influences Shadowfax to act a little bit immature, for example, his childish pride he just showed now.] Smart Aristia couldn’t help but analyze.

She caught sight of Alaric who was still low in spirit. She also patted his head, "Come on, Al. It is fun to ride ponies. Now let us go choose one." She said this so that he’d know that she would also ride a pony and wouldn’t feel left out. It wasn’t like she had started riding a full grown horse, so they were in this together.

They were about to choose a pony when Beatrix spoke up after a deep breath. "I shall also join you."

"Okay," Aristia nodded, pleasantly surprised. "But you don’t know how to ride a horse yet."

"Neither do you, young lady." A voice called out. "You are still in the sword training," Wilson pointed out.

"Hehe, papa," Aristia chuckled nervously. She cleared her throat. "I can still ride a horse. I learnt it myself." She said confidently.

"I see," Wilson said perfunctorily, obviously not believing her.

"I know! How about I ride on Shadowfax with Alaric, and Aristia and Beatrix ride on another horse." Ivan suggested.

’Are you okay with that, Shadow?’ Ivan asked, turning to his daemon.

’I suppose. He shouldn’t be a problem, and he doesn’t seem to be as impudent and annoying as her.’ Shadowfax concluded, referring to Aristia, and Ivan shook his head in amusement, not saying anything.

If Aristia knew what he had just said, she would have walked up to him, even if he was an animal, and given him a thousand and one reasons to prove she wasn’t annoying in any way, but she continued to stay oblivious to the thoughts running through the mind of her cousin brother’s daemon.

Alaric, on the other hand, who didn’t know how the plan suddenly changed from him riding a pony to riding on a horse, and a daemon at that, cheered up instantly.

"Will Shadowfax be okay with this arrangement?" Fedor asked as daemons weren’t really fond of being touched by others who weren’t their human.

"Yes. He is fine with this." Ivan nodded, stroking Shadowfax’s mane.

"The both of you cannot ride on a horse yet with no experience." Wilson insisted, worried for the safety of his daughter and niece.

"I have experience in horse riding, Papa. You are speaking to a professional." Aristia huffed in her defense.

Who was she trying to convince? They shook their head in amusement. The fact that she looked and sounded extremely adorable while saying it made them take her words even less seriously.

"How about we all ride horses? It is nearing evening and we will have to return home soon. Why don’t we all spend time together?" Aristia smiled sweetly, changing tactics.

"That sounds great. It is decided, then. We shall all ride the horses together before you depart." Rowaine clapped her hands twice.

This wasn’t a regular opportunity. It would have been different if her sister in-law, Catherine, and her family lived with them in the palace, but they didn’t.

As the Queen, Rowaine rarely went out as most of the things she needed were already constantly provided. It was also for safety reasons.

She usually didn’t have a female close to her age to spend time with except for her lady-in-waiting and the servants, and as a member of the Royal family, she rarely attended any events not hosted by the royal family themselves.

Although Catherine was also part of the Royal family, Rowaine’s situation was different as she was the Queen and had to be extra careful when leaving the palace. Because of this, she cherished the time she spent with Catherine whenever they visited the palace.

She could also host tea parties in the palace, but it wasn’t something she did frequently and the aristocrats were not people she was particularly close to or comfortable with.

"Okay, aunty." Aristia chuckled as the family picked out horses.

Mother Queen Melissa and Queen Rowaine knew how to ride horses back in their kingdoms before getting married to their respective partners.

The arrangements for riding was soon sorted out; Alaric and Ivan would ride together on his daemon, Catherine and Wilson would ride together, Fedor would ride alone, Melvin with Aristia, Melissa with Serina, and Rowaine with Beatrix. The last pair was arranged by Aristia. She wanted to create a chance for the mother and daughter to talk.

The horses trotted into the forest behind the royal palace at a steady pace. A part of the forest belonged to the Royal family.

Aristia smiled as the wind brushed past her face. She brushed away the stray hair that made its way onto her face, her eyes taking in the lush greenery of the trees in the forest, and her ears listening to the sweet, calming sound of birds chirping happily, and a steady rush of water somewhere ahead.

The atmosphere was calm and peaceful.

Aristia found the source of the water a few minutes later when they stopped at a clear stream coming from a small waterfall so that the horses would take a drink before continuing.

The sunlight streaming in from the gap between the trees shone on the water, causing it to sparkle. After the horses’ thirst had been quenched, they continued the ride.

Sometimes the horses would trot, but they walked at a steady pace for most of the time.

"Mama," Beatrix called, a bit hesitantly.

"Hm?" Rowaine answered, moving her eyes away from the path in front of them to her daughter, before shifting her eyes back. She slowed down the horse’s pace so that they were a little behind the others.

"I..." Beatrix hesitated.

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