Kai’s dagger, despite flying in the precise direction, struck something solid and ended up lodged in an unexpected spot on the ground.

“Are you blocking my sword? With a pickaxe?”

The flash that erupted when the sword and pickaxe collided blurred his vision.

Kai was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t even feel anger. That dagger, forged from Arenis steel, had never cracked or been scratched in 200 years.

It had even pierced through shields and armor to lodge in the hearts of enemy commanders.

And yet, it was blocked by a mere pickaxe?

Kai sharply focused on the pickaxe blade, which gleamed like silver in the moonlight. The princess, still seemingly excited in her nightgown, gripped the pickaxe tightly with both hands, continuing to pant.

Aside from the pickaxe’s sturdiness, the woman’s nimble movements were also suspicious.

Kai considered the possibility that Stella might be an assassin sent from Amalrune. If that were the case, the unusual weapon she held might have a different purpose.

He couldn’t rule out the chance that it was a magical tool. She might be a highly skilled assassin capable of taking a life in an instant with a surprise attack.

Kai stepped back and drew another sword from his chest.

He sensed his hidden shadows moving quietly in the darkness.

Now, at Kai’s signal, dozens of arrows would fly simultaneously, piercing the woman’s body. A tense atmosphere filled the cold air.

Kai signaled for the invisible ones to wait. He needed to determine the woman’s identity before deciding to kill her.

“Your identity is…”

He was about to ask, “What is it?” when the woman abruptly threw down the pickaxe she had been holding.

Clang!

The pickaxe made a sharp sound as it hit a stone on the ground. Although it hadn’t been struck with full force, merely falling and colliding caused the stone to shatter into pieces, and the woman slumped to the ground.

“What are you doing now…”

“Are you all okay? You, what are you doing right now?”

The woman, whom he had expected to attack again, had discarded her weapon and was now angry.

Shouldn’t she keep holding her weapon if she wanted to be angry? Shouldn’t she beg for her life after throwing it away?

None of the woman’s actions made sense. Kai signaled the shadows to retreat. The presences hidden in the darkness vanished in an instant.

Worry and relief passed over the woman’s face as she sat on the dirt ground, looking somewhere off to the side. Whining voices could be heard continuously from the direction she was gazing.

“He tried to kill us.”

“Did Stella save us?”

Though she checked for any injuries, Ark and Esta appeared merely startled, with no other apparent issues.

“I’m glad you’re not hurt.”

Stella sighed with great relief and hid Ark and Esta behind her back.

It was endearing and touching to see the tiny creatures, whom she had grown fond of so quickly, scurrying behind her. The small, warm bodies clinging tightly to her back trembled slightly.

“Can you see those things?”

Kai asked, his voice still laced with wariness.

“You said you could hear their voices too. I’ve only recently started seeing them.”

Stella replied, her voice still tinged with anger.

Recently started seeing them?

Kai narrowed his eyes and tilted his head slightly to look behind Stella’s back.

At that moment, the moon, previously hidden by clouds, revealed itself, and a round moon appeared on the silver blade of the pickaxe lying on the ground.

It was just a moon reflected on a pickaxe blade, not a calm lake. There was no reason for that round light to be beautiful. Yet Kai was momentarily captivated and couldn’t take his eyes off it.

He felt a powerful sense of enchantment, yet he was helplessly drawn in.

“It’s mine.”

If Stella hadn’t quickly picked up the fallen pickaxe, Kai might have kissed it.

When he snapped back to his senses, he shuddered at the terrible thing he might have done. Moreover, the shadows would have witnessed the entire scene.

The moment Stella hid the alluring pickaxe behind her back, Kai could see them.

“Huh? Oh!”

Kai jumped back, startled by the sudden appearance of Ark and Esta. This was the man who hadn’t even blinked in the face of enormous magical beasts.

“Stella, I think he can see us now too.”

“That’s right. He just made eye contact with me. Are you surprised? Look at how big his eyes got. He doesn’t look it, but he’s such a scaredy-cat. The poor thing is so shocked he can’t even speak.”

“Don’t tease him too much. I was scared at first too.”

The woman gently scolded the little creatures who were giggling while looking at her.

“What are those?”

Kai asked without getting too close. His gaze was fixed on Ark and Esta.

“No, don’t eat them. They’re mine.”

“Why would I eat those things…?”

Kai snapped in response to Stella’s sudden outburst, but then he realized she wasn’t stopping him, but Ben, and he closed his mouth.

Stella was fiercely defending the carrot patch from Ben, who kept trying to stick his head in. She warned him several times that it wasn’t allowed, glaring and waving her palms wide open from side to side.

But there was no way Ben would listen to her. Kai felt oddly satisfied and just stared at Ben without stopping him.

He also felt indignant that she dared to prevent the emperor’s horse from eating mere carrots.

Moreover, Ben never obeyed anyone other than himself.

As Kai watched, secretly hoping Ben would ruin the entire carrot patch, Ben let out a small neigh and slowly backed away. It was the first time Ben had ever obeyed someone else’s command.

Who on earth is this woman?

Thinking he needed to find out more about the woman’s identity, Kai scanned the surroundings once more. Her subordinates might be hiding nearby.

“They’re earth fairies.”

Stella said in a slightly deflated voice as Kai carefully examined the area. It seemed to be the answer to the question he had asked earlier.

“The chubby one is Ark, and the one with big round eyes is Esta.”

“Those things even have names?”

Ark and Esta jumped up, bristling at Kai’s dismissive tone. But Kai didn’t even notice them standing up from their seated positions.

“Of course they have names. What’s your name, anyway? Why did you barge in here, ruining my field and trying to hurt my friends?”

Kai momentarily considered revealing his identity but decided against it. They were no longer on speaking terms, and he had no desire to ever set foot on this unpleasant land again.

“Royce. I belong to His Majesty the Emperor’s knight order.”

Stella’s anger flared at his audacity to act so boldly in front of her, being merely a knight.

“If you’re from the knight order, you should know who I am.”

As soon as he revealed his identity, the woman lifted her chin haughtily and spoke like she was scolding him.

Kai didn’t understand why Stella was acting this way at first, but then he belatedly realized she was asserting her status as a princess. He found it pathetic but decided to play along for now.

“Please forgive me for my disrespect towards Your Highness.”

Kai bowed for the first time in his life, asking for forgiveness. And to an insignificant princess from the borderlands who had been brought as a hostage, no less.

At first, he felt annoyed, but it was also oddly amusing. Plus, today was the day he discovered the identity of those creatures he hadn’t seen before.

He didn’t want to create unnecessary conflict. Moreover, if he revealed that he was the emperor, there was a possibility the woman might go around claiming she had a special relationship with him. That was the last thing he wanted.

Kai had no desire to be in a close relationship with anyone yet.

“It would be right to punish you for blasphemy right now, but I’ll be gracious and let it slide this once. But!”

Kai looked at Stella with curious eyes, wondering what kind of demand she was going to make.

“You must never tell anyone that you saw earth fairies here. Understood?”

He thought she was going to make some grand demand, but all she said was to pretend he hadn’t seen the earth fairies.

That was something Kai wanted to request as well. He had no intention of letting anyone know that he had seen such pathetic things in the first place.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be on my way then.”

Kai no longer wanted to stay here or exchange words with a princess who was making a fuss about her insignificant status.

Kai quickly grabbed Ben’s reins. Fortunately, Ben seemed to have given up on the carrot patch and turned around obediently.

“Let’s go, Ben.”

He thought he should get out of this place as soon as possible. But then,

Grumble grumble.

At that moment, a loud noise rumbled from Kai’s stomach. He had only eaten a piece of bread for dinner because he had been busy working, and it seemed he was now hungry.

“Wait a moment.”

Kai, who was about to leave while pretending not to notice, stopped in his tracks and turned around at the sound of Stella’s voice from behind.

Ben, who had been walking away with the sound of his hooves clip-clopping, also stopped and turned his head towards Stella.

“What is it?”

“It seems you haven’t had dinner because of training. Wait just a moment.”

Kai was about to say it was fine, thinking Stella might offer him a piece of bread. But instead of heading towards the castle, Stella walked to the field where Ben had been sticking his head earlier.

Kai watched her intently, wondering what she was going to do, and his gaze shifted to one of disbelief.

Princess Stella plucked three carrots from the field. Then she rubbed and washed the carrots with water provided by the earth fairy named Esta or something. Kai’s brow furrowed involuntarily at her rough and crude actions, reminiscent of a peasant.

“There. They’re clean now.”

After examining the cleaned carrots from various angles, Stella held out one of the carrots to Kai. He couldn’t believe she was actually telling him to eat that. Kai let out a scoff, dumbfounded by Stella’s behavior.

“Try it. They’re still small because they haven’t fully grown, but they’re quite tasty.”

Then she took a big bite out of one of the carrots herself. At the same time, the sweet scent of the carrot wafted through the air. Ben, standing next to Kai, neighed impatiently.

“I’m not someone who eats this kind of…”

He was about to say he wasn’t someone who ate such things.

But what was this aroma? Kai unconsciously gulped down his saliva.