As the harbor approached, Scutt, who had been restless, finally broke into tears. Despite his rough exterior, he had a tender heart, alternating between glaring fiercely at Stella’s escort and sobbing.

“Princess, please stay healthy,” he pleaded.

“You too, Scutt. I’ll never forget the crab you caught for me,” Stella replied.

“Sniff, sniff.”

Seeing the man, who was a head taller than her, shedding tears like raindrops made Stella feel like she might laugh or cry.

“This is my favorite candy… you can take it,” Kukus said as he suddenly thrust a worn leather pouch at her and turned his head away. Each time he sniffled, the tip of his nose, tinged pink, twitched.

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it,” Stella said.

“There’s also a medicine inside that will give you diarrhea for three days if you eat it. Give it to anyone who bothers you,” Kukus whispered secretly. Grateful for his concern, Stella pressed her lips together firmly and nodded. She felt that if she said thank you again, she might burst into tears.

The gifts from the sailors were varied.

When she first boarded the ship, they had looked at her with wary eyes, but eventually, they opened their hearts and treated her like a sister or daughter.

Stella had worked hard to get close to them, but they were naturally rough and affectionate people.

There were so many gifts from the sailors that the captain had to provide a new bag for her.

Stella waved vigorously at the ship as it sailed away.

Though she had been taken as a hostage and treated like cargo, the month she spent on the ship was the warmest and happiest time of her twenty years.

“Goodbye,” Stella whispered her final farewell in a voice as soft as a sigh.

“It’s time for you to leave now,” came the impatient voice of the escort knight behind her as Stella couldn’t take her eyes off the ship, which had become a mere dot.

Though they were called escorts, they were actually there to monitor Stella. Judging by their unfriendly gaze, they were undoubtedly sent by the queen’s side.

Stella realized at that moment that it was the first time she had heard the escort’s voice. This meant they had treated her like she was invisible.

However, she had no intention of confronting them or accusing them of disrespecting royalty. To them, she was merely a powerless figure being taken as a hostage instead of the legitimate princess.

Stella nodded in response instead of speaking.

At the harbor, five carriages from the Credion Empire were waiting to take the princess from the Amalrune Kingdom.

Expecting that a princess would have a lot of luggage, they had sent plenty of carriages.

“Is that why they gave me so many gifts?” Stella wondered, recalling the endless stream of gift boxes that had arrived in her room the day before departure. Her seemingly large amount of luggage filled only two carriages.

“Is there no other luggage?” a knight from the Credion Empire asked, glancing at the three empty carriages. There had been many occasions when even five carriages weren’t enough, and more had to be requested.

“This is all my luggage,” Stella replied.

Fortunately, the knight didn’t press further and sent the carriages on their way, and the carriage carrying Stella headed towards the imperial palace of the Credion Empire.

***

“I thought I’d at least get to see the emperor’s face,” Stella mused.

After sending five carriages to greet her, the knights took Stella to the most secluded part of the imperial palace and then disappeared without a trace.

On the way from the grand entrance of the palace to this place, Stella had to keep the carriage window tightly shut.

Sitting idly in the pitch-black carriage with not a single ray of light, all sorts of pessimistic thoughts crept into her mind.

Would she be locked up in a dark underground prison like this?

Would she be sold as a slave to a place where no one knew her?

The absence of Rudina, who had always been a positive influence, was immediately noticeable. Stella, who had been spiraling into despair, closed her eyes and leaned against the carriage wall.

Each time the carriage jolted, her head bumped against the wall, but she didn’t mind. The regular rhythm of the jolts suggested they were traveling on a cobblestone road.

How much time had passed like this? Stella, who had been nodding off, suddenly squinted as sunlight poured into the carriage.

“We’ve arrived.”

It seemed they had finally reached their destination, which she had feared might be an underground prison.

As Stella stepped out of the carriage, the first thing she noticed was the row of houses lining the wide road. The houses were evenly spaced apart.

The mansions, standing side by side with large gardens, resembled small castles more than houses.

Though they varied in size and shape, they harmonized well, as if a single architect had designed them, making the entire area look like one giant sculpture. Stella found herself standing before an old castle as she disembarked.

“Wow!”

She gaped at the old castle with its cracked walls. Compared to the other places, this castle was particularly ancient, with a distinctive exterior.

Ivy climbed up the walls of the five-story reddish building, covering the windows, and there were cracks in several places.

The tiles on the roof had faded, making it hard to discern their original color, but now they appeared as a washed-out gray.

The only thing that retained its color was the green ivy stubbornly climbing the walls.

She had been treated as a nuisance in Amalrune, and it seemed no different here.

Would things have been different if Beatrice had come? Stella pondered such pointless scenarios as she carefully examined the building’s exterior.

Perhaps because she thought of it as her new home, the more she looked at it, the more acceptable it seemed. After all, she had feared she might end up in an underground prison, so this was better than nothing.

“Where’s the entrance?”

As she looked around, trying to figure out how to get in, a woman in a reddish dress quickly approached from the left and stopped in front of Stella.

The woman, whose hair was neatly tied up without a single strand out of place, wore a dress the same color as the building’s walls. It was as if a part of the building had sprouted a face and appeared before her.

Behind her, a servant and two maids hurriedly followed, panting as if they had rushed out.

The woman paused to catch her breath and then bowed politely.

“I’m sorry. We were informed you would arrive late in the evening, so we didn’t know you had arrived. I am Milla Twelzen, and I will be serving you from now on, Princess.”

“That’s alright.”

The woman with her hair neatly tied up spoke with a voice as calm as her demeanor. She seemed to be around Stella’s age or, at most, in her mid-twenties.

However, due to the mature aura she exuded, Stella found it difficult to speak casually.

“Please speak comfortably, Princess. It will make things easier for me as well.”

“…Alright.”

Milla’s expression brightened slightly at Stella’s response.

She thought it would be fortunate if she wasn’t locked in an underground prison, and having dedicated maids and servants was a relief. Stella, who had felt overwhelmed about what to do first, felt as if she had found her way again.

The woman who introduced herself as Milla Twelzen had a very elegant and restrained manner of greeting. Her attitude showed neither friendliness nor hostility.

It would have been strange to feel any strong emotion at a first meeting. Stella felt reassured by Milla’s attitude, which maintained an appropriate distance.

“The place isn’t fully organized yet. You must be tired from your long journey, so please come this way. The servants have prepared the bedroom.”

“Thank you.”

Stella could feel the servants standing behind Milla glancing at her while keeping their heads bowed.

They were probably busy trying to assess what kind of person their new master was. Stella also wanted to scrutinize each one of them and understand what kind of people they were, but she held back.

As time went on, she would naturally come to know them, and eventually, she would figure out who might become her ally.

No one could replace Rudina, but she hoped to find someone in this foreign land with whom she could share a piece of her heart. It was then that she heard it.

“Who are you?”

Someone whispered.

“What?”

Hearing Stella’s voice, Mila stopped and turned around to ask again.

“Excuse me? What did you say?”

“No, didn’t someone just speak to me?”

“Did anyone address the Princess?”

Milla’s stern gaze turned to the servants who had been following at a distance. The servants quickly shook their heads and bowed.

“No, we didn’t say anything.”

Indeed, with such a vast difference in status, the servants wouldn’t dare to speak first to a princess. Milla nodded as if she understood and spoke to Stella again.

“It seems you misheard.”

“Is that so?”

Stella slowly looked around once more. All she could see were four pairs of eyes staring at her curiously and the ivy leaves resembling baby palms.

Swoosh.

As the wind blew, a green wave rippled across the ivy-covered building wall.

Unlike the buildings in Amalrune, where the entrance was centrally located, the entrance to Verdura Castle was at the eastern end.

With a vague sense of fear and curiosity about the unfamiliar place, Stella slowly climbed the stairs and passed through the porch and entrance.

The first thing that greeted Stella was a small hall with a high ceiling. Although old paintings and antique decorations were displayed here and there, there were cobwebs visible, suggesting that cleaning hadn’t been completed.

With her back straight and a calm voice, Mila guided Stella through the interior.

“This is the East Hall. It’s not very large, but you could hold a small tea party here.”

Milla continued to show Stella every corner of Verdura Castle in detail. Having done everything from dining to studying in her room, Stella was overwhelmed by the vast space suddenly at her disposal.

—
T/N: The sailors were so sweet! I love them already (❁´◡`❁)