"Snow Princess, if you may wait for a moment, we shall call the carriage for you and your companions," the guard offered.

Nymeria gave a quick look to the poor me, then nodded, accepting the offer.

Two of the knights immediately ran inside, while the remaining ones stood there, sweating profusely.

One of them muttered in the ear of the other, "Why are you just standing? Go, inform the city mayor—"

"No need. I'm here for some personal business. The news about my presence here shouldn't be leaked," Nymeria ordered, her voice cold and her face expressionless. "You understand what happens if the words spread."

The two guards turned pale as if their lives had been sucked out of them. "We understand, Snow Princess. No one will know that you have visited the Forlorn City."

There was one other person who was more shocked than the guards.

"Pr-pretty lady, what is your social standing in Vyoman?" I asked, utterly dumbfounded.

"I'm your friend. That is all you need to know," she chuckled before moving towards the large, two-horse carriage that had already arrived at the gate.

"Your Majesty, may I join you later?" Vyaghra asked Ume.

"Vyaghra, I'm not a queen anymore, so you don't have to address me as such," Ume ordered. "And you may do as you wish. Don't ask for my permission. I know you don't like crowded places."

"You shall always remain my queen, Your Majesty," Vyaghra countered before vanishing into the shadows.

"He is still so uptight and stubborn," Ume sighed.

"Yer Majesty, Ay would also like to visit the city on mah own," Jambavan said. "Ay want to see how much the food has evolved over the millennia, and Ay don't think these poor horses can hold my weight."

"These are not normal horses, Lord Jambavan. They are specially trained for traveling and can pull upto ten thousand kilograms of weight easily," Nymeria explained.

"Haha, then it would be difficult fer even the three of you," he laughed and leapt onto the city wall.

"Lord Jambavan take these, you need money to eat the food," Nymeria said, throwing a pouch towards him.

"Thank ya, Lady Nymeria," He replied catching the pouch before jumping to other side.

"I wonder what he meant by it would be difficult for three of us?" Nymeria mumbled as she raised her leg towards the carriage.

The moment her foot was placed on the step, the carriage instantly bent towards her.

"Damn, you are heavy—" the words instinctively left my mouth, but I shut it immediately as Nymeria's deadly glare pierced me.

"Hey, what's wrong with this carriage?" Nymeria hissed towards the knights, almost giving them a heart attack.

They immediately hit their heads to the ground and pleaded, "Please forgive us, Snow Princess. We will immediately bring a different one."

"It's not their fault, Sister Nym," Ume spoke up. "The metamorphosis must have thickened your bones and muscles."

"N-no way. How heavy did I become?" she stammered, almost turning tearful, but soon her focus shifted to the mischievous giggling coming from behind.

"What's so funny, Raj?" she asked, obviously annoyed and angry.

"Nothing," I replied. "I was just thinking that none besides me can carry you now."

Her face blushed with a soft pink as she slowly entered the carriage, muttering, "Hmph, who told you that you can carry me?"

After her, Ume and I also climbed into the carriage, and it bent even more when I was entering, almost raising the wheel on the other side. All three of us together must have weighed over ten tons—turning into a worst nightmare for the poor horses that were about to pull us.

It was my first time seeing something beyond the forest, and man! I was excited. Yeah, I wasn't counting the places I saw in the memories.

I peeked through the window to observe the scenery outside. The road was lined with street lamps on both sides, and the buildings were modern and constructed with better materials compared to what I had seen in the gods' memories. There were even shops with mirrored walls. It was like I was in a European city of the 1700s.

But the strange part was—most of the shops were closed, and there were only a handful of people outside.

"Pretty lady, why does the city look so empty?"

"Because it's still nighttime; people are sleeping."

"Oh, I literally forgot that the concept of day and night exists after spending so much time in the forest," I chuckled awkwardly.

It was a good coincidence that we escaped the forest at night, or I would have been blinded by the immediate brightness.

"Young Miss, the knights told me that you are special guests and that I should treat you with utmost respect," the old cracked voice of the coachman came from the front of the carriage.

He was an old bald man, his face lined with wrinkles and his hands covered in calluses, boasting of his years of experience as a coachman.

"Ignore this old man if the young man beside you is bare by choice, but if it's due to circumstances, he should wear this," he said, offering a shawl from the front window. "Forgive me if this is not up to your standards, but it's cold outside and the young man might catch a cold."

From the looks of the shawl, it seemed to be the only one he had, and still he offered it to me even though he was the one driving outside in the cold air.

I moved toward the window, gently held the hand carrying the shawl, and replied, "I really appreciate your kind thoughts, Sir, but I'm still young and full of hot blood, and also, you need it more than I do."

"Haha, it's the first time in my fifty years as a coachman that someone called me 'Sir,'" he laughed and spoke further. "Please take it, young master; it would be embarrassing walking bare outside, and I have another one at home. Also, you remind me of my grandson, so I insist, unless you think it's too shabby."

I sighed and reluctantly accepted it.

"Thanks, Sir," I replied.

As I wrapped the shawl around me, I found the two ladies gazing at me with proud smiles on their faces.

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