“We can harvest them tomorrow.”

Ark carefully examined the orange root protruding from the brown soil, then stood up and dusted off the dirt from his hands.

His tone was filled with confidence. He had seemed clumsy when he had a carrot in his mouth, but now he appeared very careful and smart.

“Don’t we need to cover them with soil anymore?” Stella asked, her voice full of trust.

“They’ve almost fully grown. The carrots, blessed by your touch from the goddess Terra, the soil dug by the noble pickaxe, and infused with the breath of earth fairies, have grown much faster and larger than expected. We can pull them out tomorrow.”

“Can’t we do it today?”

“Just be patient for one more day.”

Ark comforted Stella like an adult as she looked at him with eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Stella swept her gaze over the carrot field that was ready for harvest, seeing it with fresh eyes. When she had first been told to take a pickaxe, dig the ground, and plant seeds, she had thought it was absurd.

But not anymore. That enchanting pickaxe now felt like it fit perfectly in her hand, as if it had always belonged to her, and the soft soil brought peace to her heart every time she touched it.

These were rather luxurious emotions for someone who had been dragged to an enemy country as a hostage, so Stella would feel happy but then suddenly experience a wave of anxiety.

Whoosh.

The wind that blew in from the castle entrance passed through, gently combing the green leaves.

The carrot field was at the end of Stella’s garden. From the entrance, it marked the starting point of the garden.

“Huh? What’s this?”

A sprout she hadn’t seen before was poking up next to the carrots. At any other time, she wouldn’t have paid it much attention, but lately, anything green caught her eye, especially if it had broken through the ground.

Stella crouched down in front of the small sprout to get a better look. At the same time, Ark and Esta, who were examining other carrots a short distance away, came running over, curious about what was happening.

“This is Verdura Castle, right?”

“Yes. It’s where the princess from Amalrune lives.”

Stella paused her actions and listened to the voices coming from outside the wall.

“Hmm, it’s too old and shabby.”

“Still, she’s a princess. Isn’t it something that she even has a castle like that? At least she won’t have to tremble every week like us.”

One maid shuddered, recalling how she had to report to Anne every week. Whenever she met Anne’s lowered gaze, the words she had practiced countless times would get jumbled and cut off.

Every time she tried her best to gather information, what she obtained fell far short of expectations. At this rate, it seemed difficult to collect the targeted amount by the end of the year.

“Milla is also in a tough spot. She just got reinstated, only to be assigned to a place like this.”

“But did you see how stiff she still is? She still thinks she’s the best.”

“What good does that do? Did you see the clothes she wore last time? How shabby must things be if she can’t even afford a maid’s accessory?”

Stella realized that she was the inadequate one in this situation.

“I know, right? Hey, did you hear about the gift sent from Amalrune?”

As soon as the question was asked, a burst of laughter erupted.

“I heard they sent a tea set? And for a noble lady at that.”

“But I heard it was made of gold?”

“Hey, do you think our Emperor lacks gold?”

“That’s true. But why did they do that? When you send your daughter, don’t you usually send something nice, even if it’s a bit of a stretch, as a gesture of goodwill? I didn’t expect there would be someone bringing a worse gift than our Princess Rianne.”

“It means she’s a discarded piece.”

One maid whispered, lowering her voice significantly.

“What? But she’s still their daughter?”

“Not all daughters are treated equally, you know? She’s either been cast aside or there’s some problem with her. And she’s even the eldest daughter, they say. That makes it clear, doesn’t it? How unsatisfactory must she have been as the eldest for them to send her all the way here?”

Stella listened quietly to the fading voices, her expression drained of energy.

For a moment, she considered jumping up and giving those ill-mannered maids a good scare, but strangely, she felt no urge to do so. It was because there wasn’t a single thing wrong in what they were saying.

“Stella, what’s wrong?”

Ark looked at Stella with concern as her expression suddenly darkened. Esta was also preoccupied with examining Stella’s face.

The earth fairies didn’t pay attention to what others said; they focused only on Stella, so they had no way of knowing why she had suddenly become dejected.

Moreover, the maids who had just passed in front of Verdura Castle hadn’t mentioned Stella’s name even once.

It was natural that the earth fairies couldn’t figure out the reason. To them, gossiping about others was as heinous as theft or murder.

“It’s nothing. I’m just feeling good thinking about harvesting tomorrow.”

“Is that so? Well, the first harvest is always exciting. Oh, that looks like a weed, so pull it out. If you leave it, it’ll soon be overrun with weeds.”

“Oh.”

Stella pulled out the long, thin leaf that had grown about two finger joints long. Its roots were deeper than she had expected.

Stella quietly stared at the root, which was longer than the leaf that had grown above ground, then stood up. It was time for her to go to her lessons.

While the maid Brynn was dressing Stella, Milla stood beside her, meticulously checking the progress.

She intervened from time to time, giving instructions to ensure that Stella didn’t look too overdone or excited and that her hairstyle was neat but not shabby.

Once the dressing was complete, Stella looked so different that it was hard to believe she was the same person who had been crouching in the field earlier.

However, Stella didn’t appear pleased as she gazed at her transformed self in the mirror.

Milla, whose main job was to look after Stella, couldn’t help but notice her low spirits.

“Is there something bothering you, Princess?”

Milla asked in a polite yet composed voice. Unlike Rudina, she didn’t make a fuss depending on her own state, but Stella could sense the concern in Milla’s blue eyes as she looked at her.

Brynn hurriedly pinned the final hair ornament to Stella’s hair. An amethyst violet sparkled in Stella’s golden hair. Milla and Brynn’s satisfied gazes briefly met in the air.

“Good job, Brynn.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

Brynn had a kind and gentle nature, but she still felt intimidated by Stella. Having finished her task, Brynn bowed to Stella and left the room.

“Milla, stay for a moment.”

Milla, who was about to leave with Brynn to prepare for departure, stopped in her tracks and turned around at Stella’s words.

Milla was wearing the brick-colored dress she had on when Stella first saw her. It was a dress tightly closed up to the neck, without a single common lace decoration. If Milla had been born as a piece of clothing, it would have looked exactly like that.

“Is there something you need me to do?”

Stella took out a pre-prepared box from the drawer and handed it to Milla. Milla received the box from Stella with both hands, showing no sign of surprise. She quietly gazed at Stella with eyes as calm as a lake.

At the very least, Stella had expected her to ask what it was, but Milla didn’t even do that. She just stood there with her mouth shut, waiting for Stella’s next instruction.

“It’s a gift.”

“Pardon?”

Only then did cracks appear on Milla’s face, which had been as frozen as a solid river.

“I think it will go well with the dress you’re wearing now. And with the green dress you wore last time.”

Milla stared at Stella for a moment before gently opening the box. She raised her head and looked at Stella with even wider eyes.

“Princess, this is…”

Inside the box was a pearl brooch. Pearl beads were set at regular intervals along the diamond-shaped frame, and between the pearls, tiny diamonds were spread out like sunflower petals.

And in the very center of the diamond shape, a pearl the size of a candy asserted its clear presence, emitting a soft light.

Stella offered a bland smile at Milla, who seemed to have frozen in surprise, then took the brooch out of the box and pinned it to Milla’s tightly buttoned dress.

It was expensive, but she didn’t feel it was a waste. She was that grateful to Milla, and there was nothing among the things she had received from the King of Amalrune that she cherished.

The pearl brooch, hanging like a necklace, shimmered brilliantly as if it had found its rightful place.

“It suits you well. I’m sorry I couldn’t give it to you earlier. I didn’t know I was supposed to prepare things like this.”

Stella stepped back a bit, smiling awkwardly. With just the addition of the brooch, the brown dress that had looked shabby before now appeared elegant and bright.

“Princess, this is too much for me to accept.”

It was not uncommon for princesses to give their unused jewelry or dresses to their maids, and the maids would often show off what they received to their colleagues.

While the maids serving the Credion royal family were daughters of the empire’s prominent noble families, those assigned to the hostage princess were directly selected by the imperial family.

The maids assigned to princesses were mostly from poor noble families of unnamed provinces or commoner women who were quick-witted and good at following instructions.

“It’s not too much at all. It suits you perfectly. Just accept it; I’ll get you something even better next time.”

“Princess…”

While Princess Stella possessed only high-end dresses and jewelry, the number of items was significantly less compared to other princesses.

Usually, princesses sent here brought at least fifty dresses, and sometimes up to a hundred. However, Stella had brought only about ten dresses.

When they first unpacked her belongings, Milla thought Stella might be extravagant and easily bored, assuming that all the items were new. She expected that more dresses would soon be sent from her home country.

But when she heard that the gift sent by the Emperor was merely a set of golden teacups, Milla realized that Princess Stella’s circumstances were different from what she had imagined.

For Stella, this brooch was surely not just some leftover jewelry she had grown tired of.

Milla’s blue eyes darkened as she looked at Stella, who was smiling brightly.