Try and Catch Me

Future
Lia remained in bed for the next three days. And in those days she had not seen the hide nor hair of Eldric.

“Did the General visit yet?” Jeremiah asked. Save for the servant who gave her meals and assisted her baths, the physician was her only visitor. That was her assuming that he came for visits when she guessed that he was just doing his job of treating his patients.

“No,” Lia tried hard not to sound disappointed.

“He’s probably still busy with the preparations and reports,” Jeremiah said, knowing full well that they both knew that it was an excuse, a lie they wanted to believe in. Not the reality that Eldric simply forgot about her existence.

‘It was stupid of me to think that we are some sort of friends.’ Did she expect that a single misfortune would overturn their relationship like that? That sense of camaraderie ended at the tent. Her use was done. She should be rejoicing that their connection was over. Or was she that lonely to cling for any kind of attachment even if it was founded in times of danger?

“Say,” Jeremiah started, bringing Lia back from her thoughts, “what do you think of the Imperial City?”

The question was so sudden that it took her a few minutes to process the question. She blinked rapidly trying to think of what she knew about the city.

From the novel, the author described it as a flamboyant city that attracted the country bumpkin Lia. She thought that it would be a place where she could finally shred the image of a witch. As it turned out, it was a much scarier and cruel place where people saw her as their chess piece, easy to be discarded and blamed upon.

But Lia could not blurt that knowledge so she responded with an innocent guess. “Somewhere with lots of people?”

Jeremiah arched his eyebrows before chuckling. “Well, yes, that is true. It is busier and bigger than your town. It is also the place to learn a lot of things.”

Lia narrowed her eyes at the last statement and spoke carefully. “Are you telling me to go to the city?”

The physician smiled. “You’re sharp. Yes, that’s exactly what I was talking about. You have a knack for medicine and I wish for you to develop it more. But only if you want to. Or do you have other plans for your future?”

“…I haven’t given it much thought,” she confessed. Future, what a vague thing.

But the Imperial City…

Lia would be lying to say that the idea of going to the capital was not tempting. She did want to increase her knowledge. She wanted to know more about herbs and medicine. She was no saint who wanted to help everyone, there were others more suited for that. But she was a good researcher and she would love to know more. She thought she could study them under her mother’s tutelage. But no one was to teach her now. Besides, she wanted to learn more about this world.

Jeremiah must have sensed her hesitation for he gave her an encouraging but hopeful smile. He patted her arm. “No rush. We won’t leave just yet. You can think about it first. But if you do agree, I give you my assurance that I’ll give you a recommendation letter to enter the national exam. But if you don’t, I won’t take it personally.”

Lia watched the good doctor left her room. ‘Imperial City, huh.’ Part of her wanted to say yes. Yet there was an even bigger part of her that screamed ‘run away.’ What if she escaped death only to be killed there then all of her efforts to avoid her namesake’s fate would be in vain.

“But it would have been cool to be a scholar…” She sighed.