69
The caravan wagon arrived not exactly in the capital Asterra, but in a nearby border region. From here, the plan was to hide the conspicuous caravan and use local wagons and horses to enter the capital.
However, there was a problem.
“Your Excellency, the capital’s security has been tightened recently. Even if we disguise ourselves as a cargo wagon, they’ll likely inspect the interior at least once, so we’ll need to disguise ourselves.”
To pass through the capital’s barriers, there was an identity verification process by the guards. Disguising was possible, but the biggest problem was…
“Shango…”
“Shango…”
“…Hmm.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Shango. With his dark skin, Shango would stand out regardless of any disguise. Of course, he wasn’t the only one who would be noticeable.
“Lord Chronos is also a problem, Your Excellency.”
“Can’t be helped. He’ll have to disguise himself as a child.”
“Sigh, at my age, again…”
Chronos let out a small sigh. This was also why he had chosen to hide in the Village of Time rather than heading to an ordinary city.
While Chronos would disguise himself as a child with his face covered, Shango still remained an issue. To disguise him, they’d need to cover his entire body… Yeon Ji-ho’s mind raced.
Then, an idea struck him.
“Armor! How about armor?”
He recalled the Hwangseong knights they had encountered earlier wearing armor. While the Gorgon knights might not adhere to formalities, most knights wore armor. That could somehow conceal Shango.
However, everyone had a strange reaction to Yeon Ji-ho’s suggestion.
“Well… Mr. Ji-ho, if I may say so, if we’re disguising ourselves as knights, we’d need to represent a specific noble house.”
“Ah, like nobles?”
“Yes. I, being short, could disguise as a coachman, and Your Excellency as a nobleman. But we also have a child, don’t we?”
A knight. A coachman. And a child with one male nobleman. Then, for the remaining person…
“That leaves only one position.”
“We could go as three noble brothers!”
“In that case, they’d ask why three brothers came to the capital.”
It was natural to question why three provincial nobles would come to the capital. And they didn’t want prolonged conversations during the identity verification process.
“Then what role am I supposed to play?”
“Well, that…”
Apophis hesitated to speak. Finally, Set, who had been listening from a step back, spoke up.
“We’ll need a nobleman’s wife.”
“Ah, a nobleman’s wife. I see, it would be easier to appear as a family.”
Yeon Ji-ho nodded in agreement, naturally. It did seem more natural to appear as a family rather than three brothers.
What should be done to look like a nobleman’s wife? Maybe just wearing slightly more luxurious clothes would do, Yeon Ji-ho thought quite nonchalantly.
“Then I’ll go separately to get the clothes!”
In Yeon Ji-ho’s world, ‘wife’ didn’t necessarily imply a woman. A wife could be male or female, couldn’t they?
He momentarily forgot that there were no alphas or omegas in this world.
***
“Only mine… is women’s clothing?”
The group entered a shabby inn, and everyone received clothes from Apophis. Among them, Yeon Ji-ho’s was the largest and most elaborate.
“Well, you’re the nobleman’s wife…”
“…Ah, wife…”
Yeon Ji-ho finally realized why Apophis had hesitated to ask him to act as a nobleman’s wife. Here, a wife was naturally supposed to be a woman, and asking to act as a wife meant cross-dressing.
“…But do I really have to play this role? I think I could be the coachman too.”
“Do you know how to drive a horse?”
“…”
Yeon Ji-ho’s attempt to back out was immediately rejected. Even if he knew how to handle horses, Apophis insisted that he couldn’t possibly pretend to be a nobleman.
And so, the cross-dressing was confirmed. Yeon Ji-ho, who hadn’t imagined he’d be cross-dressing when he accepted the role of a nobleman’s wife, was now alone in the room, looking down at his share of the dress.
He had just managed to shoo away Set, who had offered to help him dress. The thought of wearing this dress or gown in front of him was mortifying.
“Wow… look at this lace.”
It’s elaborate, so elaborate.
Unlike Set’s neat tailcoat that he had glimpsed earlier, his own outfit was different. Apophis claimed he had chosen a relatively simple one, but if this was simple, what on earth did ordinary nobles wear…
Putting aside his complaints, Yeon Ji-ho slowly began to put on the clothes. At least the method of wearing a skirt wasn’t completely baffling.
After putting on the entire dress, Yeon Ji-ho looked at his reflection in the inn room window. It still looked modest no matter how he looked at it.
“I don’t look like a nobleman’s wife, do I?”
He had been reluctant to wear it, but now that he had, he became serious about it. If he was going to do it, he should do it properly – a typically Korean way of thinking.
Scratching his cheek, Yeon Ji-ho also gently put on the long straight-haired wig that Apophis had left. Since the hair still looked a bit awkward as it wasn’t his own, he also put on a wide-brimmed hat on top of it.
“Oh.”
Now it looked better. Yeon Ji-ho pulled the hat down as much as possible to hide his face, then stepped onto the shoes that had been brought to fit his feet.
Fortunately, the shoes had low heels. After roughly adjusting his attire, Yeon Ji-ho walked towards the outside with an awkward gait.
“…seems to be in prison, and Isquis might…”
“Ji-ho?”
The four people seemed to have already changed into their share of clothes and were in the middle of a conversation. Yeon Ji-ho, who was peeking out with just his head through the door, first met Set’s eyes.
Set’s mouth opened wide. The long-haired Yeon Ji-ho was standing before him.
Feeling extremely embarrassed, Yeon Ji-ho slowly walked out sideways. To think that he would cross-dress for the first time in another world, something he had never done by chance in his life.
“Is this how you wear it? It’s my first time wearing a skirt…”
Saying that, Yeon Ji-ho grabbed the ends of his skirt with both hands and lifted it up. Of course, underneath were the pants he had been wearing originally.
However, as soon as Yeon Ji-ho lifted it, the faces of the four people turned in different directions. Set, startled, hurriedly approached Yeon Ji-ho and rushed to lower his skirt.
“…Ji-ho!”
“Huh? Oh, I’m wearing pants underneath.”
“Still, you can’t do this outside!”
Yeon Ji-ho had never heard Set’s voice so loud before. His eyes widened, but soon he burst into laughter.
“I don’t look too strange, do I?”
“…No. It suits you well.”
“That’s a relief.”
As long as he didn’t look strange, it was fine. Thinking simply, Yeon Ji-ho went down the stairs with a gait that had already become somewhat familiar. They had to move quickly to enter the capital before the gates closed at sunset.
Set had pulled his fedora down low to cover his eyes. Shango was also covered in armor from head to toe, and Apophis was dressed in shabby clothes, disguised as a young coachman.
Lastly, Chronos wore a large cloak to hide his wrinkled face and hands.
“Chronos.”
Set briefly called out to Chronos without saying anything else. However, Chronos seemed to understand his meaning and sighed softly, stretching his arms out towards him.
Soon after, Set lifted Chronos up. The natural pose of holding him like a child showed that this wasn’t their first time doing this.
Then Set stood right next to Yeon Ji-ho. With Apophis following closely behind, they looked every bit like a noble family.
“Do I need to worry about my walking style?”
“It’s fine. Most nobles don’t even make eye contact with people outside their carriages, so you won’t need to walk much. You’ll probably only talk to Apophis.”
As Yeon Ji-ho was conversing with Set, his eyes met with Chronos, who was being held in Set’s arms. When he smiled faintly, Chronos pushed out his lips slightly and hid his face in Set’s chest.
As they were about to leave the inn, a noisy sound came from somewhere. The lower floor of the inn was a restaurant, and it seemed people had gathered for dinner.
At the same time, the smell of food wafted up. It was the scent of some kind of meat mixed with an off-odor.
“Ugh!”
The moment he smelled it, Yeon Ji-ho couldn’t hold back and covered his mouth from a sudden gag reflex. Naturally, Set’s steps also stopped. Just as another cheese incident was about to occur…
A woman who was in the middle of serving food tilted her head as she saw Yeon Ji-ho. Then she said in passing:
“Looks like the madam is expecting her second child?”
Note:
HAHAHAHAAHAHAH
