⟨2. The Silver-Haired One⟩

Looking at the ointment Greg had given her, she began to pull down her dress and apply it to the painful areas. Perhaps the muscles she hadn’t used were surprised, as her whole body ached as if beaten with clubs.

The pain and nausea she hadn’t felt due to the protagonists bothering her one after another hit her all at once.

“Why does everything hurt so much? And why is my stomach churning like this?”

Just as she was about to put her dress back on after carefully applying the ointment to areas her hands could barely reach, three maids barged into the barracks.

“Oh my, Princess!”

The maids made a fuss and crowded around the bed.

Are you those maids? The ones who left me covered in monster blood?

She was about to scold them for why they hadn’t changed her clothes, but gave up.

‘They look too young.’

Moreover, what could she scold children who had ‘I was raised preciously’ written on their foreheads?

When she buried that matter, the maids chattered like fish in water. When one spoke, the others opened their mouths in succession like parrots.

“Princess. How did you get hurt?”

The maid with blonde hair braided and pinned up in two sections spoke first.

“Did you really get hurt while running away?”

The maid with brown hair gathered and tied up in a net spoke next.

“Princess. What on earth happened?”

The maid with black curly hair joined in opening her mouth. Receiving a barrage of questions, she quickly became tired, squeezed her eyes shut, and waved her hands.

“What’s wrong? Are you in pain somewhere?”

“Do you have a headache?”

“Should I bring medicine?”

It was like baby chicks chirping after their mother, enough to make her ears ring.

“Stop it.”

She shut their mouths with a firm voice.

“Just keep your mouths shut. I’m tired.”

“Oh my. Then……”

Just as the blonde maid was about to open her mouth, she pointed at her mouth with her finger and glared at that maid. Then that maid’s eyes trembled and she shut her mouth tight.

“That’s right. Well done.”

When she praised them, the maids looked at each other with bewildered faces. She must have been a villainess who rarely gave praise. As the maids busily organized something on one side while watching her mood, she lay down on the bed and thought deeply.

‘What if I’m not a troublesome character? What if I don’t get jealous of the female lead that the crown prince likes?’

Since the conditions had changed, the result would also change. Now that the original story had gone awry, the thought that she could survive even without escaping from here slowly crept up.

But staying next to the protagonists, she didn’t know when she might get entangled with them again.

Let’s shed this villainess image and break off the engagement. And then leave the empire.

Once she set her goal, her thoughts quickly organized. She would go to a place where they couldn’t find her.

Of course, it would be nice to go to her home country, the Portia Kingdom, but since there would only be strangers there anyway, it seemed better to go to a place where no one knew her.

It would be troublesome if she went blindly and ended up at the ice cliffs where monsters appeared, so it seemed good to decide on a destination. When she rolled her eyes to look at the maids, they were glancing at her and whispering. When their eyes met, they immediately shut their mouths.

She looked intently at the blonde maid and wiggled her finger. She approached slowly with anxious eyes.

“What’s the farthest country from here?”

Imagining a perfect ending, she smiled. The blonde maid blinked her eyes and rolled her eyeballs around. She seemed flustered as if no immediate answer came to mind.

“Where indeed. It’s far.”

The brown-haired maid next to her quickly answered.

“Amy, no. Princess, it’s Baliga.”

The black-haired maid pushed the brown-haired maid and answered.

“Sara, what are you talking about? My second cousin got married and went to Meria. She had to travel by carriage for a whole 30 days. So naturally Meria is the farthest.”

While the brown-haired maid, Amy, and the black-haired maid, Sara, bickered, the blonde maid just stared at them with wide eyes. Watching Amy and Sara get heated, she asked the blonde maid.

“What do you think?”

The blonde maid still answered with a blank expression.

“Princess. I’m from the capital so I don’t know well.”

Ah, I see.

As she made a displeased expression, Amy stepped forward once more and said.

“Princess. Naira doesn’t know much. She bragged so much about being born and raised in the capital.”

The maids had told her each other’s names in succession. In asking which place was the farthest, she had ended up learning their names.

Still, there was some gain. The farthest place from the empire was apparently Meria. They said it took a whole 30 days. At the same time, her final destination was decided. Precisely, Meria.

Even the name ‘Meria’ suited the far distance.

After that, she casually asked about how to get there, how to find the direction, and other information about that place. The maids, as if they had never been asked questions by the princess they served, excitedly provided TMI-level information.

“What’s the fastest way to get to Meria?”

“I heard you go to Poia and from there take a ship for about 15 days. But why are you asking?”

“You don’t need to know that much.”

She quickly stopped the other maids from trying to say something one by one and fell deep in thought. The maids watched her mood again and when she remained silent for a long time, they quietly disappeared outside the barracks.

‘This villainess image is quite useful at times like this.’

Having found out what she needed from the maids, she gradually became curious about the outside situation. She got up from the bed and picked up the shawl draped over the chair.

The procession formation was triple-layered, with knights guarding around the crown prince’s and her barracks as the center. At the end of the formation, she could see attendants lighting fires and preparing food. Everyone looked visibly tired. No one would have known they’d be attacked by monsters. Even she, who knew about it, was surprised and scared, so how much more so for them. Hoping to pick up some information, she passed by them when one young boy who was lighting a fire quickly stood up.

“Oh? Princess. What’s the matter? Do you need anything?”

His brown hair was cut short, making him look disheveled like her younger brother. For no reason, her younger brother from her real life came to mind and her throat tightened. The younger brother she used to fight fiercely with, grabbing each other’s hair… but thinking she’d never see him again made her a little choked up.

“Are you an attendant from the Portia Kingdom?”

“No. I came from the Arepe Empire, Princess.”

Most of this procession consisted of attendants from the Arepe Empire. And only a small number of volunteers from the Portia Kingdom participated in this procession. The boy’s eyes, full of freckles, twitched. The boy wiped his blackened hands on his pants and clasped both hands together, fidgeting restlessly.

“What’s your name?”

Perhaps the question was unexpected, as the boy hesitated.

“I’m…… Patrick.”

He couldn’t even lift his head, trying to show proper respect to the person who would become the crown prince’s consort. She spoke to Patrick in a more gentle tone.

“Patrick, I need your help.”

“Yes?”

Patrick, startled by those words, lifted his head to look at her.

“No, it’s nothing major.”

Just from asking, he was already flustered, showing how difficult she must seem to him. In that case, she needed to plant the image of a gentler princess. She asked in the most gentle tone possible.

“How long until we reach the imperial palace?”

“Yes? Why are you asking that?”

Contrary to her expectation that he would answer obediently, when he asked back, she was momentarily speechless. What excuse should she make?

Since she couldn’t say she was asking to escape from here, she made up an appropriate excuse.

“I got covered in monster blood, you see. But I couldn’t wash my body properly. Ugh. I still feel like I smell. Look at this. Want to smell it?”

When she smoothly extended her arm and brought it close to Patrick’s nose, Patrick flinched in surprise and pulled his body back.

“You don’t know how terrible it is. So I want to soak my body in warm water.”

“Ah. Yes.”

“But I need to know when we’ll arrive at the imperial palace. The empire’s territory is too vast. Right?”

Patrick finally nodded as if understanding and gave an awkward smile.

The way he rolled his eyes around, apparently calculating dates in his head, was quite cute. So innocent. Patrick finally lit up his eyes as if he had remembered.

“Did you remember?”

“Yes. Princess. We’ll probably reach the next village in two days. And we’ll arrive at the imperial palace in about five days. I heard the lower knights talking last night. Since we were delayed by a day due to today’s attack, yes. We’ll reach the nearby village in two days.”