Chapter 867: Aren’t Babies Delivered By Storks?
Samantha had already told her team and the other teams that it might rain and that it would be best to stay inside their wagons for the night.
Fortunately, they all listened to her advice. It did help that they also thought that it might rain due to the dark clouds hanging on the sky.
Joanne ate warm soup and chatted with Princess Ramona about how she wished that Ethan was with them.
She believed that if her brother was there, he could easily stop the rain from falling by clearing the skies with a wave of his hand.
"Although Ethan can do that, I\'m sure he wouldn\'t disperse this rain on a whim," Princess Ramona said with a smile. "This is part of the natural order of things after all. Unless it is truly urgent, most Wizards and Witches wouldn\'t manipulate the weather on a whim."
"Right... By the way, Ramona, how far have you gotten with my brother?" Joanne asked in a teasing tone.
The sudden change in topic caught the Princess by surprise. Fortunately, she wasn\'t eating anything at the moment because she might have choked due to her best friend\'s sudden question.
"W-Why are you suddenly asking me these things?" Princess Ramona stuttered.
"Well, you\'re going to be my sister-in-law, aren\'t you?" Joanne asked. "Is it bad to ask about these things?"
"Joanne, you\'re still a few months away from becoming thirteen years old, and you\'re already asking about these things?" Joanne gave her best friend a reprimanding gaze.
"What\'s the problem?" Joanne blinked. "Just so you know, don\'t think I\'m unaware of such things. How can you call a Stork to deliver your baby if you don\'t become proactive." "Stork?"
"Yes. Aren\'t babies delivered by Storks? Grandpa said that was how I came to the family." Princess Ramona and the two Handmaidens, Themis and Eunomia, facepalmed at the same time.
"H-Hey, why are the three of you acting like this?" Joanne suddenly felt that something was wrong after seeing the reactions of her team members. "This is common knowledge, you know?"
Princess Ramona eyed her best friend before coming to an understanding.
Joanne had always lived within the territory of the Valentin Family. Her common sense knowledge wasn\'t really common, especially since she was raised by her overprotective family members.
Ethan\'s sister was only experiencing the outside world for the second time after she enrolled at Brynhildr Academy.
The first time was when she was sent to the Magdar Kingdom. Only then did Joanne begin to learn the difference in culture between her homeland and the places that she had visited.
"Your Grandpa sure is an interesting individual," Princess Ramona said after regaining her composure.
"Grandpa and Grandma dote on me very much," Joanne said with pride. "Grandpa even said that if I become attracted to a boy, I should invite him back home so he and Grandpa can go on a fishing trip together.
"Although I haven\'t seen anyone I like in the academy, I\'m very sure that Grandpa will like them once I bring them back home."
The two Handmaidens exchanged a glance with each other before offering a silent prayer to Joanne\'s future partner.
They knew how much their Lord spoiled his granddaughter, so they were certain that whoever caught Joanne\'s fancy was only a step away from becoming fish food.
In the other wagon, where Luna, Samantha, George, and Sabrina were gathered, similar talks were taking place.
"So after you graduate from the academy, you\'ll be marrying each other right away?" Samantha asked George and Sabrina, who had just finished eating and leaning against each other.
"That\'s the plan," George replied. "But you shouldn\'t have any problems, right? I heard that you also have many suitors, Samantha."
"Ugh, don\'t remind me of those pompous jerks." Samantha grimaced. "They always tell me that it will be my honor to become part of their illustrious family, so all I have to do is agree to become their wife. It\'s not even funny, you know?"
George chuckled. "You know, the Terra Manor is the ideal manor to have a partner because all the girls there are all as beautiful as flowers."
"Like me?" Sabrina asked.
"You\'re the most beautiful of them all, Sabrina," George replied. "I\'m glad your parents recognized me as your fiance."
Sabrina was also very popular in Terra Manor because she was indeed a beauty.
Her only downside was that the moment she started talking, everyone would find her eccentric, and some even thought she was borderline crazy.
All she talked about were plants, and since the men feared that her eccentric behavior was hereditary, they decided to stay away from her as much as possible.
"Actually, you\'re right." Samantha nodded. "All my friends are in the same boat as me. We get love letters and marriage match-ups on a regular basis. Even Sir Henry and our former Head Prefect, Irene, were a couple."
The four teenagers talked until they retired for the night.
But around midnight, Samantha woke up because nature was calling her.
The rain had stopped, but the ground was a bit muddy, so she used magic to make herself hover above the ground.
She then approached the trees not far from their camp in order to relieve herself.
Given the camp\'s close proximity, there were watchers who served as the lookout, so she wasn\'t too worried about her safety.
A few minutes later, she finished her business and floated back to where their wagon was
parked.
However, when morning came, Samantha was nowhere to be seen.
George\'s and Joanne\'s teams searched the area to look for any of her traces, but they found
none.
It was as if she had disappeared out of thin air.
Even the watchers who were guarding the camp only saw her head to the trees in the distance.
But after checking where she went, they didn\'t see any footsteps because she used magic to
hover above the ground.
Due to this emergency, Luna temporarily joined Joanne\'s team to escort the Merchants towards their destination.
George and Sabrina, on the other hand, continued to look for their missing member, who had disappeared without a trace.