While a regular imperial knight might not have recognized her, the captain of Uldraf, the Crown Prince’s direct knight order, would undoubtedly know her identity.

‘Melissa Grey.’

The woman he saw after three years had matured and remained breathtakingly beautiful. The once purely innocent noble lady was gone, replaced by a melancholic beauty who had weathered many storms as she descended the stairs, turning her back on his knights.

He expected her to avoid the muddy ground, but she approached easily, looking up at the umbrella her maid had placed over her head.

The dozens of sailors and knights present, including the captain’s gaze, all turned toward her. While Melissa’s white dress became increasingly wet, no one made a sound or moved.

They waited until Melissa drew near. When she finally reached the captain, the middle-aged man’s rifle dropped to point at the ground.

There wasn’t a single person in the Crown Prince’s service who didn’t know Melissa, the former crown princess-to-be. After all, she had stayed by the Crown Prince’s side longer than any of them.

The captain compared his rain-soaked disheveled state to Melissa, who maintained her pristine whiteness from the past. He had abandoned his pride as a knight and pointed a gun at a child’s head to survive, while she had embraced the child. The captain’s harsh expression gradually softened upon seeing her.

“Your Highness…”

It was the manner of addressing a superior he hadn’t seen in a long time.

“I’m glad to see you’re well.”

Melissa silently nodded.

After catching her breath for a moment, Melissa looked around and spoke politely.

“While I may be well, things don’t appear to be well here. May I ask what’s happening?”

“We were investigating weapons smuggling.”

“I came to investigate the same matter. It seems our work has overlapped.”

The woman delivered a blatant lie with clear eyes. They had brought over thirty armed knights, suggesting they were prepared for combat, but Melissa spoke with unwavering eyes.

“If you had notified the castle, we would have handled it. His Highness is so thoughtful to come inspect such a distant territory personally.”

“Your Highness.”

Her manner of speech matched someone raised in the imperial palace perfectly. The captain’s brief joy at seeing Melissa after so long vanished as his expression hardened, about to object.

But Melissa’s firm command came faster.

“Go back.”

“…”

“I too am a member of the imperial family. I believe I’m more than qualified to give you orders.”

She was considerably shorter than him. Though her frame seemed delicate enough for a strong wind to carry away, there was strength in her words.

The captain responded with silence, not moving. From the side, Melissa appeared to face an insurmountable wall. But she didn’t give up.

“Or is there some problem?”

“There was no problem.”

“If there was no problem at all.”

You tried to kill a child, Melissa’s disappointed gaze pierced the captain’s heart. After a moment of silence, Melissa continued.

“I’ll take responsibility, so we’ll take over the investigation rights.”

The captain protested.

“That violates military law. I can’t let my subordinates be punished.”

“Blame me. Say I blocked your way.”

“He won’t believe it.”

“Then I’ll write a handwritten letter along with the report.”

“We can’t wait for a letter that might arrive who knows when.”

“Would it suffice if I write it now and put it in your hands?”

The captain tightly pressed his thin lips together as he looked down at Melissa. His superior had yielded to this woman. Rather, he had to consider the consequences of refusing and persecuting Melissa’s orders.

After a moment’s consideration, the captain gestured for the guns to be lowered. Most of the sailors scattered and fled as soon as they were released, with only a few staying behind hoping to receive payment, waiting for the situation to be resolved.

Arthur lay face down on the ground, sobbing with his face in shambles. Melissa approached Arthur and whispered, making eye contact.

“Please answer only with nods. Are there any problematic items inside?”

The exhausted Arthur shook his head.

Melissa helped Arthur to his feet. Her white dress got dirty in the process, but her face remained completely composed, showing no concern.

Melissa instructed the knights to help move the ship’s cargo while searching it.

They needed to move the goods before the rain intensified again. After methodically organizing the damaged situation, she turned to the captain and said.

“Please wait at the nearby hotel until the work is finished. I’ll write the report and letter for His Highness.”

The captain stubbornly shook his head and insisted.

“I’ll stay here and watch the work.”

The knights were like this even when Melissa was young. They would stand like pine trees in front of the Crown Prince’s door, never moving no matter what pranks Melissa and Rael played.

She remembered the scene of a tiny girl offering a wilted flower to the knight standing in front of the door. There was only one way to move someone who wouldn’t budge even then.

“You haven’t changed at all. This isn’t a request.”

Melissa added softly.

“It’s an order, Sir.”

At her butterfly-light tone, memories the color of morning glories bloomed in the captain’s heart. Like one with no choice, he followed behind Melissa.

* * *

Two hours later, after the cargo had been moved to the warehouse and the search was complete, Melissa handed over the enclosed documents with the letter and report she had written.

“This should suffice.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Though she had even set out tea on the table for him to drink, the captain stood rooted at the entrance like a nail in wood, waiting for the work to finish. He moved to receive the letter Melissa held out with both hands.

“That aspect of you hasn’t changed at all.”

“Which aspect do you mean?”

“That stiff and inflexible soldier’s demeanor. You would use any means necessary for His Highness’s desired results… and yet.”

The woman who gently placed the letter in his large hands spoke with a sad smile.

“…trying to kill a child was unexpected.”

The captain’s eyebrows twitched at Melissa’s reproach. He carefully tucked the letter inside his uniform, gave a salute, and turned to leave.

But as he grabbed and turned the doorknob, the knight stopped in his tracks, moved by an unexpected impulse.

“I know it’s presumptuous, but there’s something I’d like to ask.”

Having received permission, he stood straight and spoke to Melissa who sat at the desk.

“You must be aware of how things are going in the country. Once civil war breaks out, you won’t be able to change sides.”

Melissa’s gentle eyes quietly observed him.

“What are you trying to say, Sir?”

The captain’s brow furrowed in apparent pain upon hearing her soft voice.

“…Would you consider coming back? To our side, I mean.”

Melissa had considered herself one of them from the moment she married Reizen.

She had thought that even though many around Reizen harbored antipathy toward nobles, she would eventually gain a sense of belonging by staying at his side. But no matter how much she tried to be helpful and bridge the distance between them, their fundamental differences remained insurmountable.

It showed in how Reizen never said a word to her about the revolution, and how he had left her behind this morning without a word.

Melissa was always the one left behind, not knowing what was happening. Honestly, she was becoming emotionally exhausted. After promising to be honest with each other, the man would disappear whenever it was time to talk.

The butler said this was the last time, but she could only think that blood runs thicker than water. The butler’s words speaking for Reizen offered her isolation rather than comfort. If anything, it resembled complaining about her husband to her mother-in-law.

The more this happened, the more Melissa felt her heart silently rotting away deeply.

Waiting, waiting, and waiting more…

Just how long did she have to understand and wait? The resentment building inside had festered into pus.

‘I tried to forget with busy work.’

Coming to Glinford and staying tense while handling work in the storm, she had felt like she belonged here for a moment.

But perhaps this sense of belonging was merely an illusion Melissa had forced herself to create. She felt it when she saw the knight captain. Though they weren’t particularly close, they had built trust sharing many years together.

That’s why she had let the man who had almost shot Clara into the hotel without suspicion, and why that man had dismissed his guards to follow her and ramble unnecessary advice.

Inside her, anxiety had sprouted about whether she had chosen the wrong place to belong.

And hearing these words from an old acquaintance at such a time left an unreasonably deep wound in Melissa’s heart.

“Your Highness is being deceived by them.”

Though internally shaken, Melissa maintained her composure, appearing unaffected.

“Don’t slander without evidence.”