Kai was about to politely refuse, but seeing Stella’s sad expression, he couldn’t help but accept the basket and the purple horn.

‘Compared to what I offered today, this food and the horn of a low-level creature are insignificant,’ he thought.

“This is my way of repaying you.”

Kai handed Stella a box he had prepared. It was the smallest one among the mountain of gift packages.

He hadn’t even checked what was inside. Whatever it was, it wasn’t something he needed.

Stella was about to refuse but changed her mind and accepted the box Royce offered. It reminded her of Rudina, who used to buy market goods as birthday gifts for her, even without much money.

Thinking that Royce might have wandered around the market to prepare this gift made her momentary disappointment melt away.

No matter how trivial the contents of the box were, Stella was happy.

“Thank you.”

Stella quietly watched Royce’s back as he handed her the small package and turned away.

As Kai turned to leave with the basket and purple horn Stella had given him, he realized he hadn’t asked about the silver coin.

“Sigh.”

Still, he didn’t want to return another day to ask about the silver coin. With no other choice, Kai turned his horse back toward Verdura Castle.

“Why did you come back? Did you change your mind?”

Seeing Kai return, Stella asked with a bright expression. Kai sighed lightly, noticing Stella’s eyes were even brighter than when he first refused.

Kai dismounted and asked with a complicated feeling.

“The silver coin you gave me.”

“Oh! That silver coin? Did you like it?”

She wondered if there might be a way to learn swordsmanship from Royce.

Stella’s heart raced with anticipation. If Royce taught her swordsmanship, it might be much cheaper.

“Where did you get it?”

“Why do you ask?”

Instead of asking for another silver coin, Royce inquired about its origin.

“Do you know it’s not an ordinary silver coin?”

“Yes, it’s very old.”

Kai’s gaze sharpened at Stella’s straightforward answer.

“Where did you get it? Did you bring it from Amalrune?”

Kai’s tone, as though he was interrogating a criminal, left Stella unsure of how to respond.

The most natural answer was to say she brought it from Amalrune, but Stella decided to make the most of this opportunity.

“If you teach me swordsmanship, I’ll tell you where I got it. And by the way, that’s not the only silver coin I have.”

As expected, Princess Stella had more coins. Judging by her expression, she didn’t fully understand the power they held.

He could have ordered someone to search Verdura Castle thoroughly right away, but Kai didn’t want to do that.

This thought was contrary to Kai’s nature of solving things quickly and rationally.

Before he could even question why he felt this way, an answer slipped out of his mouth.

“I can manage once a week.”

Even as he spoke, Kai cursed himself for being foolish. As the emperor of the Credion Empire, he had no leisure to teach swordsmanship to a princess held as a hostage.

“Can’t it be twice? If I learn faster, you’ll find out the coin’s origin sooner.”

Thinking that Royce knew about the earth fairies, he believed she might tell him the truth. The only concern was whether she would use the earth fairies to take the rest of the coins.

But Kai quickly reassured himself that the earth fairies, who considered him a benefactor, wouldn’t do such a thing.

Twice a week.

“Let’s set a time limit. I can’t endlessly devote my time to someone with no talent for swordsmanship. I’ll give you just one month.”

One month seemed a bit short, but Stella had no other choice.

“Fine. But if my skills improve so much in that month that you’re surprised, extend the period by another month. Of course, I’ll also tell you the coin’s origin then.”

The earth fairies watched their conversation with great interest.

Occasionally, murmurs about who might win could be heard, but Kai tried to ignore them. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he would keep getting entangled with Princess Stella.

“Agreed. But if you give up halfway—”

“That won’t happen. If I do, I’ll give you all the silver coins I have.”

Of course, it had been a lie. Kai wouldn’t know how many silver coins she actually possessed, so she figured giving him five or six would suffice.

After a brief consideration, Kai concluded that he wouldn’t be at a disadvantage. Naturally, this conclusion was based on his own personal standards.

‘Maybe, like Melissa, this woman might have some hidden talent.’

Still, the woman standing before him didn’t seem suited for swordsmanship, no matter how he looked at her. Handling a sword was a completely different realm compared to throwing daggers or shurikens.

“Swordsmanship is not something that can be learned easily,” Royce said, his tone somehow condescending, which wounded Stella’s pride.

“I caught several purple-horned lizards at the Rose Hunting Festival,” Stella replied, recalling how she had caught several of those lizards with nothing but a lousy dagger.

It was surprising to see Stella fearlessly throwing a dagger at the large lizards. However, the purple-horned lizards were slow for their size and less aggressive than other monsters, which made it possible.

If the lizards had been a bit faster or more ferocious, catching them with such a pathetic dagger would have been impossible.

Seeing no change in Royce’s expression even after she talked about her achievements, Stella thought she had no choice but to show him directly.

“Watch this,” she said.

Stella pulled out a dagger she had kept hidden. After Will visited the garden, she had started carrying the dagger with her.

Originally, she should have returned it after the festival, but when she went to do so, the temporary weapon rental station was already gone.

This dagger was one of the items she had brought back that day. The rest of the shurikens were carefully stored in her room along with her pickaxe.

“Okay,” Kai said.

When she saw Kai’s indifferent reaction to her taking out the dagger and shurikens, Stella felt a surge of determination.

‘I’ll make sure he desperately wants to teach me,’ she thought.

Stella took a deep breath and threw the dagger with all her might at a wooden post standing at the garden entrance.

Thwack!

Despite her awkward form, the speed at which the dagger flew was incredibly fast, and its blade embedded quite deeply into the wooden post. The unexpected power of the throw caused Kai’s eyebrows to twitch.

“Did you see that?” she asked.

“Where did you learn to do that?” Kai’s previously indifferent voice now carried a tense edge. No matter how he thought about it, Stella didn’t seem like an ordinary princess.

He could sense the shadows watching him, ready to attack from all directions if Stella made even the slightest suspicious move.

Kai signaled the shadows to stand down with a gesture only they could see. The tension in the shadows, which had been moving silently in the dark, eased slightly. They reacted keenly to every breath and word from Kai.

“I never learned. I just threw it. Maybe it’s natural talent,” Stella shrugged, unaware that dozens of watchful eyes were fixed on her.

The earth fairies, who had been happily eating, glanced around warily at the sudden change in the atmosphere.

The only reason the earth fairies didn’t attack the shadows was that they didn’t seem to pose a threat to Stella.

However, Oton kept staring intently at the nearest tree, not taking her eyes off it.

“What’s wrong?” Ark asked with a puzzled expression, noticing Oton’s unusual demeanor.

“Don’t trust that Royce guy too much. You never know when he might betray Stella,” Oton replied.

“No way. Royce is nice. And kind of dumb,” Ark said.

“You’re the dumb one,” Oton said irritably, looking at Ark, who was eating salad with an oblivious expression.

Kai, with disbelief on his face, pulled the dagger out of the tree. Despite being thrown by a weak arm, the dagger was embedded deeper than expected, requiring considerable effort to remove.

‘What on earth is this woman?’ he wondered.

It was the first time he had encountered someone who became more enigmatic the more he learned about them.

* * *

The reception room in Ore Castle was bustling with maids waiting for their turn to report.

Sarah, a maid of Princess Annette, spotted Milla sitting quietly in one corner of the room and approached her with a group, threateningly.

She never liked Milla much, but thinking about the recent chaos caused by the wretched peonies made her dislike Milla even more.

“You’re not wearing that brooch today? Did you lose it again?” Sarah taunted.

It was obvious to anyone that she was picking a fight, but Milla acted as if she didn’t hear, quietly focusing on her notebook.

“Can’t you hear me? Well, given the princess you serve, what more can be expected of her maid?” Sarah continued.

Milla, who had been listening silently, closed her notebook and looked at Sarah with a cold gaze.

“What do you mean by that?” Milla asked.

Sarah found Milla, who always acted high and mighty despite being just another maid, annoying and irritating.

“You can’t be unaware that your princess deceived our Princess Annette and stole precious seedlings, can you?” Sarah accused.

Milla was taken aback.

“Get your facts straight. You were there that day, too. Princess Stella clearly asked if she could take the seedlings Princess Annette was about to discard, and Princess Annette readily agreed. She even sent other seedlings that weren’t requested. Who here doesn’t know that?”