The group walked toward the workers laboring in the fields. They all seemed to be immersed in their work and didn’t notice them approaching for a while. Eventually, one of the workers spotted them and dropped the bag of crops they were carrying in shock.

"No way... Is that who I think it is?"

Other workers seemed to slowly notice as well.

"It’s Miss Lidia and Miss Maria! They’re alive!!"

All of the workers started running over to greet them. Lidia held up her hands as they rushed to them.

"Woah woah guys, try not to draw too much attention if you can. We are actually wanted refugees right now."

Everyone looked at her in disbelief.

"We were told the nobles and royalty were wiped out in the battle. We had no choice but to accept King Leo as the new ruler."

Maria’s stomach loudly rumbled, causing her to blush. Jacob finally spoke up.

"I really hate to interrupt everyone, but do you mind if we eat something? We were being starved in the dungeons of the palace for quite some time, so we are really hungry."

The workers almost immediately started seizing a variety of crops and shoving it towards them.

"Please, take as much as you need!"

"Don’t be afraid to eat in front of us either. I was really worried seeing Miss Maria so thin."

Maria’s eyes slowly glowed with avarice as the crops piled in front of them. She started shaking in anticipation. Drool dripped from her mouth on to Jacob as she held him.

"Hey, wait! You’re still holding me, Maria!"

Maria seemed to be lost in her own world. Strangely, she pounced on the food while still holding on to Jacob. He ended up getting buried in a small pile of carrots as she bent forward to eat. Jacob didn’t mind and took advantage of the opportunity to fuel up on his own. Very soon, all three of them were devouring the food at an alarming rate. Small pieces of vegetables flew and landed on some of the workers, which made them laugh.

"Geez, I’ve never seen the ladies of Clan Rose act like this before. They must be really starved."

Jacob stopped eating for a moment and yelled out to the worker who made that comment.

"Actually, this is how they normally eat, believe it or not."

The workers face dropped with shock.

"Really?! I would have never guessed such a thing!!"

"It’s okay, I didn’t either."

There seemed to be no end to Maria’s appetite. She ate five large piles of vegetables all by herself. Lidia didn’t seem to eat as much as Jacob would have expected. It most likely had to do with her storing energy from her power all those nights in her cell.

It didn’t take long for Jacob’s belly to be round with food inside. At one point, Maria tried grabbing a potato and feeding it to Jacob while she held him like a baby.

"What the hell?! Maria, I can eat this myself."

Maria looked at him with a threatening gaze, as if to say, ’if you don’t let me feed you this, you will pay with your life.’

"...maybe just one time."

Maria shoved the potato and his mouth and continued to grab more vegetables and stuff them in her own mouth. After everyone finally had their fill, they all laid out flat in the dirt, taking in deep breaths. Maria held a faint smile on her face, but she seemed to be a little upset.

Jacob rolled over next to her on the ground.

"What’s wrong? Are you going to miss the kingdom?" 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Not really, it’s just... I really miss Sarah’s meat. I wish we could have taken her with us as a personal chef."

Jacob forgot about Sarah. They had been so busy with other things, they hadn’t had time to visit her shop recently.

"We’ll be back. I’ll make sure that she’ll have an entire feast prepared for us."

Maria looked at Jacob with glee in her eyes.

"You really mean that?"

"It’s a promise."

She rolled over and hugged his arm tightly. Lidia walked over to them and offered a hand up. They both grabbed it and got to their feet.

"Well, that should be enough to keep us fed for a while. Any idea of where we want to go?"

Jacob thought to himself for a few moments.

"Perhaps we should head east, towards the direction past the lake. Well, where there used to be a lake at least."

"Any particular reason?"

"It’s because my uncle seemingly came from the west. If he didn’t, he at least knows the area very well if he lived in the forest. That wouldn’t be good for us if he decides to send out search parties."

"Very smart. What does this funny old man think?"

"You can just call me Doc, please."

"Sure thing old man."

Doc sighed lightly before responding.

"I agree with Jacob’s intuition. I would have preferred we went north past the mountains, but that would be too risky walking in front of the kingdom to get there."

"Why don’t we continue travelling south?"

"I hear there is a massive body of water there that expands for miles on end. No one has ever seen the other side of it."

Jacob had a grave thought cross his mind.

’A massive body of water? I really hope my uncle doesn’t know about it. That can’t mean any good for us if he were to gain control of such a thing.’

"What are we going to do about our food and water situation?"

"Well, for water we are going to have improvise with any rivers or lakes we find. As for the food..."

Lidia looked over at a large wooden cart that was half-full of crops. A dark grin appeared on her face. She innocently walked over to one of the workers and nudged them.

"Heyyy... So, would you mind giving us just a small donation for our trip on the road?"

The worker looked at her confused.

"Small donation? Sure! What do you need, Miss Lidia?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just that entire cart with the crops inside."

The worker looked like they were going to pass out.

"Miss Lidia, I’m not sure if I can-"

Lidia put her finger against their lips and shushed them.

"Too late, you already agreed. Thank you for your humble donation to Clan Rose! We will remember this when we return! What was your name again, kind man?"

"Uhh... Robert?"

"Well, Robert, you will be rewarded with riches beyond your control once we return as thanks! You have made history my friend. I will see you!"

Lidia started running off and tugged the cart back towards the group with ease.

"Anyone want to rest their feet? I’ll carry us the first twenty miles or so."