But…

“Let’s go quickly.”

“Ah, so busy.”

Her thoughts were wrong. All the Ivanstein servants she encountered treated her as if she didn’t exist. As if she was visible but non-existent. Yet they weren’t entirely disrespectful either.

“Excuse me, where is the library?”

“It’s on the 6th floor, right corridor at the end, on the right side of the mansion.”

“Where is the Duke’s office?”

“5th floor of the central staircase.”

When she stopped anyone and asked a question, the people of the Ivanstein ducal family answered faithfully.

“…This is nice?”

Mel thought she might be able to adapt well to the Ivanstein mansion, albeit in a subtle way. The Ivanstein ducal family people acted as if they didn’t care where she went or what she asked. It was the same even when Mel deliberately bustled around the mansion, poking her nose into various places.

From the laundry room, storage, and stables used by the servants to the knights’ training grounds and central garden. Even those guarding these places would glance at Mel’s face and then let her pass by, pretending not to notice.

“This is comfortable.”

Mel walked through the mansion’s corridors with a smile on her face. The fact that no one was pretending to know her gave her unexpected peace.

Before long, moonlight began to settle on the Ivanstein mansion. The number of servants moving around inside the mansion had also decreased significantly. As the whispers about her became less frequent, exploring the mansion became even easier.

“Where is the kitchen?”

“At the end of the right corridor from the central hall of the main building.”

“And the food storage?”

“It’s at the very back of the kitchen.”

Even on their way back to their quarters after finishing a tiring day’s work, the servants answered Mel’s questions to the end. With faces that seemed to wonder why she was asking such things.

“Where is the central hall of the main building?”

“…From here, turn left and follow the corridor where the Ivanstein ducal flag is hanging.”

Mel briefly thanked them for their kind answer before heading to the kitchen. She could feel the gaze of the servant who had given her directions lingering on her back for a long time.

Among the servants, rumors had already spread that the captured princess was busy touring the Ivanstein mansion. The gossip for today would conclude with the fact that the last place this princess headed to was the kitchen.

‘I’m hungry, that’s why.’

Due to walking around too enthusiastically, her already starving hunger had worsened. Although it was too late to call it dinner time and closer to a late-night snack, she felt she needed to make something to eat to be able to sleep.

“It’s my first time in an imperial kitchen. I wonder if it’ll be okay.”

Entering the kitchen, Mel looked around once. All the servants working here must have gone home, as there was no one in the kitchen. Except for the two guards at the kitchen entrance.

“This is too good.”

Mel forgot her decision to start by taking out ingredients from the food storage and instead looked around the kitchen in a daze.

Even when she was in the Reibritton royal palace, she often went to the royal kitchen to make early morning snacks at the princess’s urging, but the kitchen of the Ivanstein mansion was incomparably more modern. There were even cooking appliances that the royal chef had said were more expensive than ten thousand slaves and wouldn’t let anyone touch, as well as an abundance of cooking utensils she had never seen before.

“……”

Embarrassingly, Mel felt the prestige of the Ivanstein ducal family more deeply than anyone else right here in the kitchen. Her life had not been about war and armies, high honor and power. Only when faced with a place so directly connected to life did she finally realize it.

“Let’s focus and make a late-night snack.”

Mel shook her head and headed to the food storage.

“Surely the size of the food storage isn’t several times that of the royal palace too, right?”

Bad premonitions are never wrong. Mel had to waste time again, wandering around the food storage in amazement for a while.

“……”

What remained in the end was a timid selection of ingredients and a stomach that was not just hungry but aching. Mel, who had intended to have a somewhat hearty meal, decided to make a light stew that would be easy on her stomach amidst the growing pain. Although it was quite difficult to take just a few vegetables from the food storage full of luxurious and precious ingredients.

Still, with her experience of working in the kitchen, she was able to quickly whip up a clear vegetable stew using a few utensils she was somewhat familiar with.

“A place to eat… There isn’t really one.”

There must be a separate dining room, but the Ivanstein mansion was too large and complex, and the servants who could show her the way had already returned to their quarters. There were guards in front of the kitchen, but they kept their mouths shut as if they had no interest in Mel’s actions.

Mel eventually decided to take the stew to her room to eat.

“Hmmmm.”

Even to her, the smell wafting from the stew was very appetizing. So much so that her steps naturally quickened. While she was moving her feet diligently, trying to reach her room before the stew cooled, a familiar silhouette began to appear in the distance.

“Huh?”

Long silver hair shining from afar, a slender yet muscular body, clothes that were neat but exuded dignity.

“Where have you been wandering off to?”

Genoa Ivanstein. The master of this mansion.

Genoa was standing alone in front of Mel’s room without anyone by his side. While Mel was taken aback by Genoa’s unexpected visit, his gaze fell on the stew she was holding. Then, as his eyes returned to look at her, her face flushed for no reason.

“How is it that Duke Ivanstein is here at this hour……”

“If I had known this was Your Highness’s usual mealtime, I would have avoided it.”

At Genoa’s question, Mel momentarily pressed her lips together, feeling a bit wronged. Who could have known that the servants wouldn’t give her anything? If she had been a real princess, rather than Mel, her former master would probably have been starving until now if she had come here.

There was much she wanted to say, but in any case, it would be greatly disrespectful to speak ill of the servants in front of the mansion’s master. So Mel decided not to say anything to Genoa. In any case, there had been no discomfort, and she had confirmed that it was okay to move around freely from now on, so that was enough.

“I was a bit hungry. I just made a simple late-night snack.”

“By yourself?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

At Genoa’s question, she opened her mouth with an “Ah.” Nobles couldn’t even boil a cup of hot water with their own hands. Because they didn’t know how. Much less the princess of Reibritton.

Mel’s fingers holding the stew fidgeted, trying to grip the bowl more firmly. It felt like the bowl might slip due to sweat. After pondering for a moment, Mel decided to mix in some appropriate facts.

“There was always a maid with me, and I was quite fond of her.”

“And?”

“She liked to make things to eat, so I used to watch her. I saw it over her shoulder then.”

In reality, Amelia quite liked Mel, who was useful in various ways, and sometimes even pestered her to make late-night snacks. Of course, she watched Mel cooking over her shoulder, accompanied by the royal chef, doctor, priest, and knights. This was because they couldn’t trust what Mel might do to the food. Mel hadn’t told the whole truth, but she hadn’t lied either.

“Hmm.”

Genoa’s elegant eyes narrowed, and his purple irises deepened. He was recalling the information about the princess that he had investigated beforehand.

Looking at the princess’s face, which was as clear as if it were innocent, it didn’t seem like she would lie, but Genoa had once been badly deceived by that face resembling the princess. For the time being, he would probably trust the heavy stack of documents his informants had brought more than the words coming out of the princess’s mouth.

“I know that you often brought a maid with a covered face to royal parties or discussions with scholars. Is that the maid you’re talking about?”

“…Yes! That’s her.”

Genoa swallowed the laughter that was about to escape as he looked at the princess’s eyes, which had grown about twice as large. With such an inability to hide her expressions.

He could clearly imagine what expression the princess would make if she knew that what he had found out wasn’t just one piece of information about a maid. Genoa recalled anew the words describing the princess before him.

A benevolent, wise, witty, and beautiful princess.