Sever’s proposal surprised me. What could it mean for him to enter the forest with knights in this situation?

After all, they had come here to work, and returning to the imperial palace after completing their duties would have been the most convenient course of action for them. They had no obligation to grant the request of a stubborn princess they happened to encounter by chance. 

Knowing this, I hadn’t insisted too strongly in front of Lord Philon. If he had flatly refused, there would have been nothing I could do, and threatening to report this to the Emperor wouldn’t have worked on Sever either.

“R-really?”

Ironically, I was the one caught off guard. Whatever thoughts I’d had earlier, I was genuinely shocked. And apparently I wasn’t the only one surprised—the knights around us also wore astonished expressions.

“Yes. However, you must absolutely not act alone.”

“Well, I-I wouldn’t.”

“You must never touch anything out of curiosity.”

“I understand.”

“And you must never use magic power carelessly. There are magical barriers here that could cause backlash if inexperienced magic is manifested.”

“Okay.”

“And also…”

Had Sever always been this nagging?

I slightly furrowed my brow.

Regardless, Sever continued repeating what not to do in the forest—don’t do this, don’t do that. I suddenly realized how much respect Sever had shown me when I was Emperor. He had never questioned my orders back then.

‘Though his face always showed clear disapproval.’

“I understand. I promise not to act recklessly.”

Sever seemed somewhat relieved by my words. He stared directly into my eyes again. Then, whatever he was thinking, he sighed lightly and continued.

“I apologize for my rudeness.”

“So we can go in now? Can I lead the way by myself?”

“…”

“No?”

Sever hesitated at my question for some reason. But eventually, whatever he was thinking, he slightly curled one corner of his mouth and shook his head.

“Not at all. It is proper for Princess to take the lead.”

This was almost the first time I’d seen him smile like this—or more precisely, the first time in these few years. 

After my ascension to the throne, during the few months he stayed in the capital, he always wore a cold expression on the rare occasions he showed his face. I disliked it then—though thinking about it now, I wonder if I had any reason to dislike it—but seeing him smile now made me feel even stranger.

At first glance it looked like a sneer, but upon closer inspection, there was no mockery in it. Still, it made me feel oddly unsettled, so I asked.

“What’s wrong? Did I do something wrong?”

“No.”

“Then why are you smiling? Don’t rudely mock someone standing in front of you. I hate that. Hasis brother is enough for that kind of behavior.”

“…I’m not mocking you.”

“Then?”

“You reminded me of someone I know.”

Who? I almost reflexively asked. Who could I possibly remind him of?

But I had no reason to ask that.

I narrowed my eyes slightly before dismissing it and turning away. There was no reason to waste more time here. Besides, why should I care why Sever was smiling? Meeting him unexpectedly had already wasted enough time.

“Shall we go then? Lord Philon, would you stand beside me? It feels strange going alone. I like having someone walk beside me!”

“Uh. But…”

Lord Philon hesitated at my words.

The commander of the Central Knight Order was clearly Sever, and if I took the lead with Lord Philon beside me, he would naturally be walking ahead of Sever. In the strict hierarchy and order of the Knight Order, this was practically taboo. Nevertheless, I deliberately blinked my eyes and asked again.

“Is that not allowed?”

“Lord Philon, follow the princess’s orders.”

“Yes, sir.”

Surprisingly, Sever complied with my request. I then turned to the short-haired female knight standing diagonally behind Lord Philon, the one who had been responding to Jasmine’s boyfriend knight.

“You stand beside me too. What’s your name?”

“I apologize for the late introduction, Your Highness. I am Aileen Tenet.”

“Is that so? Then Lord Philon, Lady Tenet, let’s go.”

Having completely blocked any chance of Sever walking beside me, I trudged toward the forest. I wouldn’t have particularly minded if Sever had walked beside me—truly, I wouldn’t have—but the problem was…

‘I might need to use magic in the forest, and that guy has sharp instincts that would make it impossible.’

Being close to Sever restricted my movements.

‘He’s the one who saw through my doll being fake.’

With these thoughts, I smiled more innocently than anyone else as I entered the forest with Lord Philon and Lady Tenet on either side of me. Soon, I exhaled a long “hmm” at the unexpectedly dense shadows of the forest environment.

‘It’s much darker than I thought. Definitely good for hiding and carrying out plans.’

Moreover, during hunts, people usually scattered to find their prey. This meant that if you didn’t pay attention to others, it wasn’t easy to know what they were doing.

‘If we exit this way, there’s a lake, and if we go that way, there are deeper cliffs. The cliff area is dangerous but has more prey, so the competitive Duke Delmen will definitely head for the cliffs.’

Duke Shart, being timid, wouldn’t go anywhere near the cliffs, let alone the lake. He would clearly just kill time before leaving… My maternal grandfather, Duke Elvierts, was also quite competitive and likely to head for the cliffs. The rest of the nobles would probably follow him there.

‘Good. Lerrhagen and I will operate near the lake.’

With water nearby, it would be easier to cast illusion magic using it as a mirror. We could monitor the situation in real time and capture anyone who showed vulnerability. 

Even if no one revealed any weaknesses, it wouldn’t matter. Lerrhagen said he would find a way, so we just needed to observe how people reacted and immediately track down anyone who responded with black magic.

‘Of course, realistically, things won’t go that smoothly.’

If matters were that simple, I would have returned to my adult form by now.

‘And there’s no guarantee that no one will come to the lake area. So we need to set up barriers to prevent anyone from approaching. And barriers in the forest too.’

That way, at least everything that happened in the forest would be under my and Lerrhagen’s control. And…

‘Ilian will keep an eye on what happens outside the forest. And Hasis will be responsible for Ilian.’

Given Hasis’s personality, he would probably throw a fit about why he had to do such a thing, but in the end, he would do it. I had figured out Hasis’s nature by now. Despite his constant grumbling and irritation, he usually granted my requests.

While pretending to look around the forest, I secretly planted magical energy at various spots under trees. These were tracking spells, so even if someone got lost, they could follow them to find a way out of the forest.

‘It would be good to mark the air too, just in case.’

With that thought, I flicked my finger slightly. My plump finger made more of a soft “tok” friction sound than a sharp “dak,” but the magic seemed to manifest properly as several white lights appeared in the air.

‘Good. This should be enough.’

I glanced at the knights cautiously. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to notice what I was doing. Thinking it was about time to head back, I deliberately put on a dejected expression.

“Hmm. Why is there nothing here? Should we just go back? My legs hurt.”

“The hunting grounds are quite large, and there are probably too many people around, keeping the animals away.”

“I see… but… huh?”

That’s when it happened. Just as I was about to say “let’s go now,” something white and fluffy caught my eye.

“A rabbit?”

My eyes widened involuntarily.

I wasn’t someone who disliked animals to begin with, and I rather liked small creatures with fluffy fur like this, so I didn’t need to pretend to like it. Of course, that didn’t mean I would make a fuss over it, but for some reason, I was quite pleased by the rabbit appearing at this exact moment. I pointed at the rabbit and smiled brightly.

“It’s a rabbit.”

“Yes, it’s a rabbit.”

“How cute.”

I deliberately made an exaggerated face of wonder, like a child. When I showed an excited expression, the knight who was Jasmine’s boyfriend—who had introduced himself as Lord Isson earlier—covered his mouth from a distance.

“So cute.”

“The princess is cuter.”

“I want to have a cute daughter… but that would be impossible with my face, right?”

“Yes.”

This time, no one stopped him.

I wondered if my reaction had been too excessive. But anyway, it was better than them suspecting I was an adult. With that thought, I was about to turn my head again when I felt Sever’s gaze on me once more.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

I couldn’t help asking him.

Though I should have ignored him completely, I kept noticing his presence, which was different from usual. Sever didn’t immediately answer my question. But soon, he spoke.

“Your Highness resembles His Majesty greatly.”