How curious it was—a being that possessed both cuteness and solemnity at the same time.

Stella quietly observed Uhu, who was fiddling with his pointed beard like the tip of a brush, before she answered.

“Please help me escape from this country. I’d prefer to go as far away as possible. And make everyone here forget about me.”

She spoke with concern that Milla and the servants might suffer because of her. Moreover, if even the emperor and princesses couldn’t remember her, there would be nothing to hold her back.

Stella stared at Uhu with sparkling eyes, filled with hope that she might finally be able to live freely. However, the response she received was not the answer she had hoped for.

“I’m sorry. We can only grant wishes within this land.”

The previously confident demeanor had completely vanished.

“Within… this land?”

“That’s right.”

Uhu tried to look directly at Stella, but his eyes were clearly filled with regret.

“Only within Verdura Castle?”

Uhu furrowed his brows and was about to nod when he suddenly brightened up and shook his head.

“Not anymore!”

“Then?”

Stella asked again, her excitement renewed. She wanted to calm down, but her breathing kept quickening.

“It now includes all the places where Emperor Credion lives.”

Uhu answered with a broad smile.

“Ah…”

The greater the expectation, the deeper the disappointment. For Stella, there was little difference between Verdura Castle and the castle where Emperor Credion lived. It meant she couldn’t escape her status as a hostage.

Stella, who had been hanging her head low, suddenly stood up as if she had thought of something. The earth fairies’ gazes moved in unison, following her movements. Murmuring voices trailed behind her.

Stella rummaged through three drawers of a tall cabinet, starting from the top, before finally pulling out a scroll and abruptly holding it out to Uhu. It was the Bloodline Document she had brought back earlier. She despised the sight of it, but now she had no choice.

Uhu, who had been watching intently to see what she was up to, was startled by the scroll suddenly thrust in front of him and jerked back.

Curious faces of nearby earth fairies gathered around the scroll.

Among them, some sniffed and wrinkled their noses as much as they could. However, most of them looked at the scroll with expressions of intense curiosity.

“Then, can you at least get rid of this?”

Uhu took the scroll and unrolled it.

Since the scroll was much larger than Uhu, the nearby earth fairies clung to it, grunting as they helped to unfurl it together. Uhu’s eyebrows twitched as he examined the unrolled scroll carefully.

“That’s upside down.”

At Stella’s casual remark, Uhu jumped and moved to the opposite side of the scroll. The other earth fairies hurriedly followed, moving behind him.

“I was examining it thoroughly from all angles.”

Uhu replied in a voice full of bravado while fiddling with his beard, but Stella found it hard to believe him.

Even if she couldn’t leave the castle right away, if she could just get rid of the document, she felt she might be able to find a way somehow.

Stella tried her best not to give up hope until the end. But after circling the scroll a few times while sighing deeply, Uhu’s words in a heavy voice once again left her disappointed.

“This isn’t a magic we can break.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a magic sealed with blood, isn’t it?”

Uhu spoke as if it were obvious. Although he couldn’t read human writing, he could sufficiently guess the nature of the magical energy emanating from the scroll.

After staring at the scroll for a long time, wondering if there was any other way, Uhu sighed deeply and approached Stella.

“A covenant made with a blood oath can only be broken by the person who shared their blood with you.”

“What if that person dies?”

Uhu flinched momentarily, seemingly surprised by Stella’s mention of death. It appeared that the earth fairies were pacifists.

“Then the covenant would naturally disappear.”

“So it means I can never escape from here as long as that person is alive.”

Stella slumped onto the sofa in disappointment. Seeing her darkened expression, Uhu jumped up and gently patted her leg. He felt frustrated, wanting to help her but feeling powerless to do so.

“No, it’s not that there’s no way.”

Stella lifted her head abruptly.

“The one who gave you their blood can burn this. But you can’t do it yourself. The moment this document is burned, you’ll feel pain as if your body is being torn to pieces.”

Stella understood without needing to listen further, having experienced it before. She hadn’t thought it would be easy to break, but after hearing the method, she felt even more hopeless.

Her father, Philip Oberlite, who had given her his blood, was in excellent health. Since he had sent her here instead of Beatrice, he wouldn’t tear up that document himself.

After all, he wouldn’t leave the daughter he cherished more than anyone else in a place filled with empty hope.

“Is there nothing else we can do to help?”

Uhu asked with genuine concern. He felt terrible that they couldn’t immediately provide what their benefactor needed. Other earth fairies eagerly nodded at Uhu’s words.

Stella gazed outside with lifeless eyes.

The messy garden came into view. Stella sighed deeply and spoke in a voice devoid of any expectation.

“Then, could you please tidy up that garden?”

She requested something visible since they felt sorry for not being able to do anything. At this, the disappointed faces of the earth fairies brightened.

“We can do that!”

“We can do it as much as you want.”

The earth fairies’ voices brimmed with confidence. Having finally found something they could do, they jumped up and down with joy.

Seeing the earth fairies sincerely trying to help her, Stella’s sunken mood began to improve little by little.

Right. I’ll find a way to escape from here on my own. There must be another way to destroy the bloodline document.

At least it seemed she wouldn’t be as lonely here as before.

***

The place where history lessons were held was Müiget Castle, located at the beginning of the Plant district.

It was the castle where Princess Annette from Enclite stayed, and among the castles in the Plant district, it was the largest and most splendid, with over ten maids and ladies-in-waiting assigned to it.

Although she appeared to have been taken as a hostage, her situation was clearly different from Stella’s.

Princess Annette was the youngest daughter cherished by the King of Enclite. It was said that she had to come because his other two daughters were already married.

Rumors circulated that on the day Annette was sent to Credion, the king wept openly, disregarding his dignity. The gifts that Princess Anel brought were also extraordinary.

She had brought one of Enclite’s national treasures, the Ring of Truth. Although the box was small, when the identity of its contents was revealed, even the emperor stood up to examine what was inside.

It was only natural that Annette’s already solid position was instantly elevated.

Whenever they saw Princess Annette, the other princesses looked as if they would die of envy, but they hid their simmering jealousy beneath fake smiles.

The library in Müiget Castle, where the lessons were held, was as spacious as the central hall of Verdura Castle.

In the library, there was a large blackboard for the teacher and rows of desks prepared for the princesses. When Stella entered the library with Milla’s help, the other princesses were already seated.

As Stella appeared, all eyes turned to her at once. The sound of giggling and whispering could be heard.

Stella calmly introduced herself, pretending not to notice.

“I am Stella Rune Oberlite from Amalrune.”

The princesses smiled and clapped slowly at Stella’s introduction.

Although they were all in the same situation, a clear hierarchy existed even here. At a glance, one could tell that the closer to the front, the higher the rank.

As the applause died down, a princess sitting in the front row stood up gracefully. Now, all eyes in the library shifted from Stella to her.

“Nice to meet you, Princess Stella. I am Annette from Enclite. I was disappointed we didn’t have time to greet each other yesterday. We’ll be seeing each other often from now on, so let’s get along well.”

After Annette’s greeting, the other princesses took turns greeting Stella. Many names were thrown at her, but Stella found it difficult to remember even a fraction of them.

She had expected at least some mention of yesterday’s gift, but surprisingly, no one brought it up. That wasn’t to say there weren’t any condescending glances.

Just as the one-sided greetings were coming to an end, a young man entered the library.

The man had long gray hair tied back, reaching down to his waist, and he had an overall slender appearance.

He briefly scanned the princesses with his sharp, sparkling gray-blue eyes behind silver-rimmed glasses, then fixed his gaze on Stella.

He pushed his glasses up slightly and observed Stella more closely. He was a peculiar man who exuded an elderly aura despite his youthful appearance.