Inheriting a Lost Bloodline, My First Task is to have heirs?!

Chapter 418: Chapter 418 - Taking a Detour

A couple of hours after lunch, I gave my goodbyes to the chief and his wife which caught them off guard. I bid a quick goodbye to the villagers, rode my wagon and went my way out through the northern gates of Rigden Village. The next town in my list is named ”Kolyer” and I heard it was a mining town which sounds quite interesting to me after going through several farming towns.

I would be passing through a crossroad before I get there. Kolyer was located about halfway up a mountainous region full of caves. I need to take the left road if I want to go there.

If I take the right road, I will be able to reach the area of the previous Larkspur territory, my first husband’s hometown. I have already asked my in-laws if I could buy off that unused land and they readily gave it to me for free.

It took me three leisurely hours of harvesting, hunting and mapping the area before I reached the crossroad that would either bring me to Larkspur or Kolyer. Though it would delay my trip to the north for several days, I have planned a long time ago that I wanted to visit Ioannis’ hometown so here I am taking the right road without any hint of hesitation.

The travel to Larkspur from the crossroad is another one and a half hours since it was right below another mountain with a beautiful waterfall on its side. Sadly, this beauty itself destroyed my husband’s hometown several years ago.

Half a kilometer away from the intended place I wanted to visit, I could already see the beautiful waterfall cascading down one side of a lush mountain. It must have been nice to take baths in the water right below it. I hope Ioannis still got some good memories in this place that I plan to rebuild just for him.

As I neared the area where the Larkspur territory should have been, I could see a small settlement of a few houses. Did new people settle in the place after it was destroyed before?

As my wagon went nearer the settlement, the sound of the wheels bouncing up and down the road got the attention of the settlers. A crowd, not more than 20, poured out of their houses. When I finally reached the edges of the settlement, I was met with the said crowd.

The first one to talk to me was an elderly woman, surely more than 60 years old. She was holding her grandchild’s hand as she walked towards my wagon. I alighted my wagon and looked around curiously.

The first thing I noticed was how poor the settlement was. The houses around the area are mostly made of wood and dried leaves for their roof. There are barely any cooking equipment in the community kitchen. They don’t look like they are eating much either since they look pale, gaunt and thin.

The next thing I noticed was how the fabric used for the adult clothes were coarse and most even looked like they have been worn and washed for a long time that they are about to tear. Only the children seemed to have better clothing since the skin of the young ones won’t be able to last with the coarse clothes.

I made sure to just look around quickly, not staring at anybody in particular so I won’t seem rude. Just a quick glance is enough for me to make a complete observation anyway.

I greeted everyone politely and gave them my official title for this trip as a royal envoy to the north. They looked at each other in disbelief as if they never expected that the capital or anyone for that matter would bother to visit their place. The old woman signaled to somebody from behind and he ran back to who knows where. I think there are more people here but some must be at work or hiding.

The old woman then welcomed me inside the village and gave me a place to sit. They offered me some fresh fruits and also water to drink which I accepted gratefully. Somebody also assisted me in parking the wagon and the horses on one side of the settlement.

After barely a few minutes, I saw a family of three running towards the direction of where I was sitting together with the man that was tasked to call them over. It was a middle aged man, maybe in his late 40s and following him was a woman who was of a similar age to him and then a young girl in her late teens or early twenties.

There’s nothing wrong with calling three more people but I found a rather difficult issue at hand. I think I might be adding this in my ”most shocking moments in my current life” list.

You see, the first shocking thing I experienced is realizing that Altair who acted like a god bringing me here was actually my fiancé. The second one is realizing that a seed can talk and he had an adult human form whom I eventually ended up marrying. This should be the third, for sure.

The man in front of me is definitely a carbon copy of my first husband, probably around 80% to 90% similar though he has an older countenance, of course. The woman next to him has Ioannis’ eye color too. If I am right, I guess the gift I am planning to give my husband will be so much better than what I have planned it to be.

The couple welcomed me once again and introduced themselves as the ruling family of this territory or what is left of it as they said. I introduced myself once more but since I already have an idea on who they were, I ended my introduction with, ”I can help you rebuild this place to its former glory, Duke of Larkspur”.

The man in front of me was surprised that I know who he was since there is no more sign of his former self when he was a ruling noble. He gave me a pained smile as he replied, ”We are just happy that we can eat and have a place to stay. There are things that we have lost that can never be replaced even if this whole place is rebuilt.”