Stella spoke again, but there was still no reply.

“Did I imagine it?”

Given her fatigue from the long journey, she wouldn’t have been surprised if she was hearing things. Although it left her feeling uneasy, she decided to dismiss it as her imagination.

After drinking the tea brought by the maid and lying down on the bed, Stella felt her body relax and closed her eyes.

She thought she had slept well even on the rocking ship, but once she lay on the soft bed, she realized just how uncomfortable her previous sleeping arrangements had been.

‘Am I really suited to be a hostage?’

When she arrived at the Credion Empire, she felt like livestock being led to the slaughterhouse.

However, with this kind of treatment, she thought she might be more like a pet than livestock. Despite the talk about being a candidate for Empress, Stella considered it a distant matter unrelated to her.

There were plenty of princesses who came to the Credion Empire as hostages, or rather, as candidates to be Empress, so she didn’t feel the need to play along.

As Stella pondered these thoughts, her eyelids grew heavier, and she drifted off to sleep.

Her breathing became steady.

Once only the sound of her even breathing filled the bedroom, a figure hiding behind the curtain peeked out.

“Esta, I can’t see!”

Someone nudged the figure who had only poked their head out to spy on Stella.

“Ouch!”

Fortunately, Esta didn’t fall but dangled from the curtain like a swing, then landed softly on the bed.

“So, what do you think? Is it her?”

Ark, who stood by the window, asked with a serious expression. The one with unusually chubby cheeks held a baby carrot in one hand and took a loud bite.

As the sweet carrot crunched in his mouth, a satisfied smile spread across his plump face.

“Well, it seems like it might be her, but then again, maybe not.”

Esta tilted his head in doubt, then tiptoed closer to Stella’s face.

As his feet sank into the soft bedding, burying half of his body in the blanket, Esta began crawling across the duvet.

“Don’t go! What if it’s not her?”

Ark mumbled around the carrot that bulged in one cheek.

“If it’s not her, she wouldn’t have heard our voices!”

“There are humans who hear voices but aren’t the ones we’re looking for! Remember?”

“But this time feels different.”

Ark stomped his short legs in frustration, but Esta, with a keen glint in his eyes, pushed through the blanket and moved closer to Stella.

“Look, I can feel the earth’s energy from her.”

Esta pointed to the pillow under Stella’s head. Ark, who had been anxiously watching Esta, climbed down the curtain with a grunt.

“Grab me.”

The curtain was too short to reach the bed, so Ark couldn’t jump down and called out to Esta while wriggling. The carrot he had tucked into her pocket stuck out halfway.

“Why come down if you’re scared?”

Esta sighed deeply and approached the bottom of the curtain, stretching out his arms. Seeing Esta coming to help despite his grumbling, Ark smiled broadly.

“Jump!”

Esta shouted, bracing himself for the impact. At the same time, Ark let go of the curtain he was holding.

But what landed on Esta wasn’t Ark’s plump body.

As the moonlight streaming through the window was blocked, a large shadow loomed over Esta’s head.

Esta, ready to catch the falling Ark, slowly tilted his head back as his view suddenly darkened.

“Huh?”

Above him, a large hand was held out like a roof. Ark, whom Esta was supposed to catch, was sitting on that hand, with only his small feet sticking out.

“You two speak well, don’t you?”

Stella’s face suddenly appeared above the heads of the two figures.

“Ahhhh!”

“Ahhhh!”

Ark, sitting on the palm, flailed his legs as if he were having a fit, and Esta collapsed, screaming as his legs gave out.

Startled, Stella quickly shook her hand, causing Ark to tumble onto the bed. The carrot in his pocket rolled onto the bed.

“Run!”

Esta picked up Ark, who had fallen headfirst with his legs in the air.

“My carrot…”

Ark reached out for the carrot he hadn’t managed to grab, but Esta leaped to the window and jumped outside.

“Wait a minute!”

Stella, coming to her senses too late, called after the fleeing figures, but they had already disappeared.

“They’re really fast.”

Stella stared blankly out the open window and sat down on the bed with a bewildered expression.

Feeling something strange in her hand, Stella lifted it from the bed and found a carrot lying on the white sheet.

Stella picked up the half-eaten carrot between her thumb and forefinger and examined it closely. The carrot, smaller than her little finger, had been bitten off in a round shape, as if someone had chewed it.

As she studied the carrot, Stella bit off the end with her teeth. As the piece entered her mouth, a sweetness that ordinary carrots could never offer spread throughout her mouth.

“Hmm? What is this?”

After a moment of hesitation, Stella tossed the remaining carrot into her mouth and chewed it thoroughly. The more she chewed, the stronger the sweetness became. The carrot was so delicious that she hesitated to swallow it.

Regretting that the carrot had disappeared from her mouth so quickly, Stella looked around to see if they had left any more behind, but there was nothing.

Searching even under the blanket, Stella suddenly stopped and laughed at herself.

“What am I doing right now?”

Stella had given up on finding the carrot, but a question lingered in her mind.

Why could those creatures speak so well?

There had been similar creatures in Amalrune.

They would appear when she was alone, smiling brightly, and often mimicking her words with a chuckle. But the ones she had just encountered were different.

Their appearance and fluent language skills were more human-like. The instinctive aversion she usually felt was absent with them.

They approached quietly, but when she spoke first, they ran away, which was unusual. If they had been the ones from Amalrune, they would never have fled.

“What on earth are they?”

Stella stared blankly at the half-open window before crawling back under the covers. The night wind was quite chilly, but she couldn’t close the window in case they returned.

***

In the Sun Hall, preparations for the banquet that was to take place today were in full swing.

The maids spreading the snow-white linen tablecloth over the thick woolen cloth on the tables wore expressions that were almost solemn.

“It looks like it’s tilted to one side.”

“Could you lift that side a little more?”

The height of the tablecloth corners had to be even, and the spacing of the folds needed to be uniform.

Once a maid completed her task and stepped back with a sigh of relief, the waiting maids began setting the centerpieces and decorations on the table in order.

“Make sure the petals and leaves look fresh. We can’t have withered flowers in the princesses’ view.”

The vases placed at regular intervals between the tables were all arranged to face the same direction. To prevent the petals from falling, the maids handled the flowers as carefully as they would a baby.

“Will it just be a formality again this time?”

One of the maids, arranging a vase with beautiful pink roses, asked an older maid.

“Probably. Last time, all the princesses left disappointed.”

“Why is that? Princess Veronica was truly beautiful.”

Veronica was someone who captured everyone’s attention just by appearing.

With black hair reminiscent of the night sky, eyes like finely crafted emeralds, red lips, and flawless fair skin.

Her beauty was impeccable. Yet, the Emperor didn’t even blink at such beauty before him.

“Why do you think? It’s all because of Lady Melissa.”

“Weren’t they old friends?”

“You don’t know. They’re more than just friends. I’m sure Lady Melissa already loves His Majesty. That’s why she saved his life twice on the battlefield!”

Melissa was the first female marquis of the Credion Empire and a swordmaster.

She had fought alongside the Emperor in countless battles, defeating innumerable enemies, leading wars to victory, and saving the Emperor from the brink of death twice.

Given that she had nearly lost her life in the process, their relationship was bound to be special.

“Indeed! His Majesty is also very special to Lady Melissa.”

“Exactly!”

For various reasons, there were about a hundred princesses residing in the palace, but the Emperor never met them outside of regular gatherings.

Even though they came as hostages, the princesses from each country were also precious individuals with the potential to become the Empress.

The reason the kings of each nation sent their beloved daughters to a distant foreign land was perhaps because of the faint but thrilling possibility that their daughter might become the Empress of the Credion Empire.

Therefore, it was almost natural for subtle power struggles or tensions to arise among the princesses during these banquets.

“If their feelings for each other are certain, why do they hold these banquets every time? If Lady Melissa is the only one who will become the Empress, what’s the point?”

“That’s politics for you.”

The older maid said with a knowing air, causing the younger maid’s eyes to widen.

“Politics?”

“If you work in the palace for a few more years, you’ll understand what I mean. But for now, let’s remove the discolored rose petals from that vase.”

“Oh! Yes!”

The young maid picked out a rose that had a slightly yellowed leaf among the beautifully blooming pink roses.

“Still, I hope Lady Melissa becomes the Empress. Then these meaningless banquets will stop.”

“Well, at least after the banquet, we get to eat delicious food, so it’s not all bad.”

“Right! I really don’t understand why the princesses leave such delicious food every time.”

After the banquet, the leftover food was either given to the servants or distributed to the poor outside the palace, so many people looked forward to it.

They chatted about what food they hoped would be left over today as they finished setting the tables.

***

“Your Majesty, it’s really time to get ready.”

Chamberlain Harman repeated the same words for the fifth time.

“Yes, yes.”

But Kai only replied absentmindedly and didn’t budge. His gaze had been fixed on the pile of documents for hours.

Harman was getting anxious.

“The princesses are already arriving in the Sun Hall.”

Only then did Kai toss the documents he was holding. Harman’s eyes sparkled, thinking the Emperor was finally moving.

But the Emperor remained glued to his chair, and Harman’s face crumpled like a piece of paper.

“You’re going to cry if you keep this up.”

Kai finally stood up and chuckled at Harman, who was pulling a face.

—

T/N: Been able to confirm Esta’s gender in the latest chapter, so I will change his name again ㅠㅠ