My face tensed with apprehension before I could catch myself. While debating whether to proceed forward or return for reinforcements, I suddenly heard heavy footsteps followed by the boisterous arrival of several young men.

“Hmm? Someone’s over there. Something tiny… a squirrel perhaps?”

“You fool, anyone can see that’s not squirrel-sized. Your brain needs fixing more than your eyes.”

“Wait, it looks like a child. Who could it be?”

“What? A child? On imperial private grounds? And such an adorable one at th— hold on, that hair color seems familiar…”

“Your Majesty?!”

“This idiot’s eyes and brain are completely broken… Our Emperor is an adult! Taller than you, even!”

“Are you mocking my height right now?”

“Everyone shut up. Must you fight even here?”

“Excuse me, might you be Her Highness the Princess?”

The knights’ conversation gradually eased my wariness, though a strange headache began to throb at my temples. While their voices weren’t particularly familiar, something about them sparked an intuitive recognition.

I slowly turned my head and, sure enough, spotted the familiar neat black uniforms. Simultaneously, shock registered in the knights’ eyes as they got a clear view of my face.

“Oh! How cute—”

“Shh!”

Something odd seemed to have been said, but I was too focused on planning my next move to pay attention. I scanned their uniforms carefully.

‘The Central Knight Order, just as I thought.’ 

The Emperor’s external security was their responsibility, so their advance arrival to secure the terrain wasn’t unusual. However, the hunt was still days away, and safety checks were typically conducted the day before or the morning of the event. I hadn’t expected the knights to be here today.

‘Well, this complicates things.’

I examined the knights, who were staring at me with inexplicably sparkling eyes. My appearance was surely known to those responsible for security, and even if not, revealing my identity wouldn’t be difficult with the princess’s seal I carried.

However, that would require explaining how and why I came here alone, and whether they would accept my explanation remained doubtful.

‘So much for entering the forest today.’

I rolled my eyes at the thought.

Just then, the knight who had asked if I was the princess glanced at his companions before slightly bending his knee to meet my eye level.

“Ah, I am Chains Philon. We are knights of the Central Knight Order, under Duke Kelliard’s command. Might you be Her Highness the Princess? We’ve never had the honor of meeting you directly, so please forgive our rudeness.”

Though his speech was formal, his neat, gentle appearance and kind voice didn’t come across as threatening. Since they had identified themselves, I couldn’t just stand there silently. With an internal sigh, I nodded.

“Yes. I’m Esht de Leviathe, Arsizes. Here’s my seal.”

The knights’ faces bloomed with smiles as they examined the seal I extended. Their eyes reflected emotions I couldn’t quite identify, which I interpreted as relief. From their perspective, failing to stop an unauthorized entry would constitute a serious mistake.

Given Sever’s character, he wasn’t one to overlook such failures, so naturally they would be tense if someone other than royalty or authorized personnel had entered.

Perhaps they were simply happy to avoid punishment. As I pondered this, the brown-haired young knight who had introduced himself as Chains Philon spoke up.

“First Division of the Central Knight Order, pay respects to Her Highness!”

At his command, the knights who had been whispering among themselves immediately snapped to attention, transforming into different people entirely.

“We are honored by Your Highness’s presence. Glory and infinite blessings to the future of Arsis.”

They placed their hands between their shoulders and hearts, slightly bowing their heads and waists. True to their reputation as elite knights, their movements displayed impeccable discipline and formality.

‘Is this because they’re led by Sever? With his personality, he must have trained them to be just like him.’

Now what should I do? Should I just leave? While I was considering this, the knight who had earlier called me a squirrel and mentioned “Your Majesty” asked curiously:

“But why is Your Highness here? Has His Majesty also come?”

“No, that’s not it…”

I looked around at all the knights, letting my words trail off. Then, with a bright smile, I continued. Yes, now that things had come to this, I couldn’t back down.

“I was just curious.”

“Curious about what?”

“There’s going to be a hunt here in a few days, right?”

“That’s correct. That’s why we’re here preparing for that day.”

“Yes! That’s why I came to look! There must be lots and lots of animals here.”

Oh, my life. How did I end up in this situation? I spread my arms wide, speaking with all the innocence I could muster. Surely this would sound plausible enough. It seemed strange that I had once been disgusted by being mistaken for calling someone “Papa,” yet here I was, acting like this.

Nevertheless, I was now a princess, supposedly about seven years old, and regardless of whether it was true, I had an obligation to appear that way to those before me. I deliberately raised my voice a pitch higher, with an unmistakably excited expression.

“I was curious, so I came to see! Papa’s lair doesn’t have animals like these. I’ve never seen them before!”

How would I know whether Lerrhagen’s lair had animals or not? But if I didn’t know, these knights certainly wouldn’t either, which made my lie somewhat convincing. However, contrary to my expectations, the knights’ expressions subtly changed instead of simply accepting my explanation. I seriously wondered if I had made some mistake in my childish act.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong?”

I asked nervously with an anxious face. Suddenly, one of the young men in the back covered his eyes with his hand and heaved a deep sigh.

“Haah… I’m definitely proposing to Jasmine tomorrow. I’ll get married this year and have a daughter.”

“Here he goes again, asking for another beating from Jasmine.”

“Both of you, hush.”

Though their voices were low, I clearly heard every word. I made a sour face. What? So it wasn’t that I had done something strange? I sighed with relief but simultaneously lost all patience. They created this atmosphere for such a trivial reason? As I was thinking this, Sir Philon suddenly spoke.

“You came to see the animal friends? Alone?”

Why would animals be my friends? Damn it.

“Yes!”

Despite my internal thoughts, I nodded cheerfully. Whatever it took, I needed them to lower their guard so I could enter the forest. Meanwhile, my adult self’s sense of self-loathing kept surfacing intermittently. But for the sake of my objective…

I smiled brightly with that thought.

“Mother said I could come! That’s why I came, by myself!”

“But without knights? And how did you get here? Did you come by carriage?”

“I came by warp. Papa helped me!”

What parent would allow their seven-year-old to wander around outside so dangerously? But I had decided to attribute all implausible actions to Lerrhagen. As expected, the knights wore somewhat puzzled expressions. The knight with Jasmine as his girlfriend opened his eyes wide.

“Did you really come alone? Without even a lady-in-waiting?”

“Yes. I came by warp. I was just going to look around and leave. Is that not allowed? Am I not supposed to be here?”

“No, that’s not it, but…”

“It’s too dangerous, Your Highness. Besides, the animal friends in this forest are all too fierce and might eat Your High—ow! Why did you stab me?”

“This idiot has no filter with Her Highness. That’s not true at all, Your Highness. The animal friends would never eat you. They’re just a bit shy around strangers.”

“What do you mean ‘shy’? I saw wolves being released this morning.”

“How can you frighten Her Highness like that? What if she gets traumatized!”

“Huh.”

I heard everything. If I were going to be traumatized, it would have happened long ago. I made a disgruntled face at their remarks, which increasingly diverged from my image of the Central Knight Order. The knights I had seen until now had always greeted me with the same disciplined demeanor as Sever, and I had never witnessed them being so rowdy or bantering back and forth.

‘Well, I suppose they act differently before the Emperor. Wait, does that mean they don’t need to maintain formality before a princess?’

I grumbled internally. Just then, Sir Philon spoke with a concerned expression.

“Your Highness, this place will soon host a hunt and is mostly filled with fierce beasts. I’m afraid you won’t be able to see the animal friends you’re hoping for.”

I looked at Sir Philon, who kept mentioning “animal friends” with an exceedingly polite face. It seemed they were absolutely not going to let me in, but I couldn’t just leave it at that.