"I... I love you, Mom."
"I love you too, sweetie... You guys wait here. I'll get this log out of the way."
As Katherine jumped out of the wagon, Alex suddenly felt a little relieved despite being interrupted by a random log on the road.
He quickly realized he was most likely going to be treated as either insane or ill, rather than having someone understand that he was from another world.
A strong gust of wind soon appeared, pushing the log and burying it in the nearby ditch, just like Alex's willingness to tell the truth.
"Okay, hang on tight. I'm going to try to make it to the capital in a single day."
The moment Katherine hopped back onto the wagon, a loud crank sound could be heard as the wheel began to move faster and faster until it reached peak speed.
Two horses were going the fastest they had ever gone, with the wind pushing even the cloth covering the wagon as all three of the kids held onto the wagon's ledge.
Despite all these speeds going the fastest they had ever been, they still needed to camp outside for one more day.
"Dang it. The horses are too burnt out," Katherine complained as neither of the horses was willing to move any longer.
"But the sun isn't even down yet," Sophia murmured as the sun was still only on the horizon.
"Too bad. I guess we just have to set up camp early."
As Katherine began setting up the camp on a plain field a few steps away from the road, the three kids started idly watching the road in the wagon.
There were a lot more people who were occasionally passing on their horses, with some even driving some sort of vehicle down the road.
All of them were busy as they headed straight in the same direction as where they came from, with fully equipped gear and everything.
"So many knights," Mary murmured as they counted the hundredth person riding a horse past them.
"Barely any mage," Sophia concluded after seeing only three people wearing robes among the groups of travelers.
Alex quickly noted to himself that a mage was a rare class, but he was more curious about where they were going.
But none of the travelers stopped for a single bit as the sun started to set on the horizon.
"What are you all looking at?" Katherine curiously asked as she finished setting up the campfire.
"Just groups of people going past... Mom, do you know where they are going?" Alex asked back.
"They are probably going to the border to deal with something happening there. Anyway, let's eat our last meal before going to sleep."
---
The next day.
After waking up the horses and eating a short breakfast, the four of them headed back into the wagon.
The road was actually built for wagons as it became much smoother, with rock bumps being a thing of the past.
Soon, the three kids at the back peeked their heads through the side flaps as Katherine announced the capital was just thirty minutes away.
"Wow..."
All three of the kids were stunned.
They could see a giant wall in the distance, with no end on either side of the horizon, surrounding a massive city ahead of them.
More impressive was the large river outside the wall, as it looked extremely wide from a distance.
Besides that, the road ahead of them was now almost completely smooth, with tons of carriages and wagons ahead of them.
"Here comes the worst part—the fun waiting game," Katherine complained as the wagon came to a halt.
As the three kids checked outside again, the roads were now almost ten wagons wide side by side.
Yet, despite all the empty lanes being right there next to them, almost every single one of the wagons was on the right side, all waiting in a line.
"Mom, why don't they let people use the other lane?" Sophia curiously asked.
"Because those are reserved for nobles... Here comes one."
An entire vehicle that looked similar to a car quickly drove past them on the left, going straight ahead into the capital.
"Damn express lanes..." Alex murmured to himself as a little bit of dust flew through the flaps before he could close them.
The three kids quickly got bored with looking at the scenery around them as they sat in place for almost ten minutes straight.
Just as they moved a little, it stopped again. It repeated until they finally made it to the drawbridge, as the road quickly began to narrow down.
"Who designed the merged road in a fantasy world?" Alex thought to himself as he watched the ten lanes become five lanes.
After waiting for almost one hour in the hot sun, it was finally their turn.
"Name and reason, please." A guard asked as they stopped the horse from walking any closer.
"Katherine Reid. I'm here to visit my parents."
"Reid... Why does it feel like I heard this surname?"
As the soldier stood still thinking about the name, another soldier quickly dragged him aside and signaled Katherine to go.
"Thank you."
---
Driving past the gates, all three of the kids were amazed by the structure around them.
They could see a massive cathedral located right by the entrance, with thousands of people standing on the open field listening to sermons.
Almost every structure was two or three stories tall, compared to their one-story town back at home.
Even Alex was a little shocked, as some of the buildings looked to be practically floating in the air with practically zero support beams.
"Is that building floating?" Mary excitedly asked as she pointed to the white building floating in the western part of the sky.
"Yeah... That's one of the Archmage's residences. There are only three of them in the capital."
After hearing Katherine's explanation, Alex suddenly felt motivated, already daydreaming about becoming an archmage himself.
"What is that building?" Sophia asked, pointing at a massive castle in the middle of the city.
"That's the Emperor's palace," Katherine replied as she pulled the horse reins to the left.
As the wagon turned left, the three were once again shocked by an insanely tall building that almost reached the clouds.
"Mom! What is that building?" Alex curiously asked.
"That's where I'm staying tonight... I'm just kidding. Anyway, that building is the Mystic Academy of Seraphel."
"Is that a school?" Sophia asked.
"Yeah, it's a school exclusive for bad mages like me. You guys don't want to go to that one."
"But Mom, you're the best mage I've ever seen." Alex complimented.
"Thanks, sweetie. But I know my capability... Anyway, we're finally almost at your grandparents' place."
The three kids waited patiently, double-checking their clothes to make sure everything was normal.
After waiting for five minutes, the wagon finally came to a stop.
"Okay, you guys can come out."
As the three walked past the curtain, they were stunned by the building ahead of them. It was a massive mansion surrounded by iron fences.
There was a giant grass field in front of it, one that looked straight out of some fancy medieval building.
In the middle was a road made of some mysterious material that looked extremely smooth as the sunlight slightly reflected from it.
"Who are you——M-Miss Katherine?"
Four of the guards who happened to be patrolling by were in shock, as they rubbed their eyes several times before realizing who it was.
"Where's Fredrick and Ava?" Katherine asked coldly as the three kids followed her out of the wagon.
"They are in the living room right now." One of the older-looking guards replied.
"Great... Of course, they have to be at home. Take good care of the horses, and don't take stuff out of the wagon."
"Yes, ma'am."
As two of the guards guided the horse away, the three kids still hadn't covered from the fact that their grandparents lived in such luxury.
"Mom... Is our grandparent a king or something?" Alex nervously asked.
"No, your grandparent is just a duke. Hurry up and follow me... Alex, if your grandparent asks if you're a man or a woman, say you're a woman."
Alex was a little confused by Katherine's demand, but seeing her cold face with no room to negotiate, he quickly nodded in agreement.
Soon, the four of them quickly walked past the gate as they arrived right before the porch of the house.
Without even needing to knock, the door slowly opened, revealing a familiar person whom all four of them could recognize.
"Miss Amelia!"
Sophia and Mary both excitedly ran up, hugging her as she lifted the two of them into the air.
"Hey, kids. Welcome to the capital!"
As she excitedly put the two kids back down, Amelia quickly turned her attention back to Katherine.
"You finally decided to come to the capital..." Amelia said out loud as she ran up to hug Katherine.
But Katherine didn't say anything back, moving back to avoid her grab as she stared right into Amelia's face.
"Confess. I don't like to hear when people lie." Katherine asked coldly.
After a short silence, Amelia admits defeat as she couldn't endure Katherine's stare.
"Okay, you caught me... I may have followed you guys on the whole trip." Amelia replied as she awkwardly scratched her hair.
"You disappoint me, Amelia. I thought I could trust you."
"What? I was just making sure you would arrive here safely. It's not like I force you to come here——"
"Amelia, who's out there?" An old man's voice yelled from the inside.
"Your daughter finally came here with your grandkids," Amelia yelled back as she ran back inside the mansion.
With the four of them standing by the door, the three kids looked up to Katherine, waiting for her to take the next step before moving.
After a long consideration, Katherine finally took her first step forward into the mansion.
"Let's go see your grandparents."