Garcia, who had been silently watching Vanessa struggle, said in a tone of disbelief,

“You have the strength of a fawn. Really, how do you expect to help out at the clinic like this?”

“No… I’m not that weak. This wooden tub is just too heavy.”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure that’s it.”

Vanessa felt truly wronged. It was just that there were so many monstrous humans in this northern region, but for someone like Vanessa, she had above-average strength.

She retorted with a slightly choked voice,

“I may be on the thin side, but I’m actually quite strong. I can even shoot a bow.”

“Well, anyone can shoot a bow with the right technique.”

Garcia easily lifted the wooden tub that hadn’t budged no matter how much strength Vanessa applied, and moved it into the room.

Seeing this unbelievable sight, Vanessa thought with wide eyes. Right, Jurgen and his knights are just abnormally strong.

“What do you eat to be so strong? Most of the Flügel Knights are like that. What kind of training do you do……”

Garcia chuckled, glancing at Vanessa who was muttering in disbelief. He reached into the bathtub and pulled out a small water container. Though small, it was about the size of a large pot.

“We run with sandbags tied to our ankles as a basic exercise. Every morning. 100 laps.”

“…Won’t you die?”

“And then, strength training with stone-filled bags tied to our waists, 100 squats with a log on our shoulders… Oh, of course, we also do martial arts and sword training. Some practice spear or archery too.”

“You do this every day? Won’t you die…?”

“That’s not enough to kill us. It’s you southerners who are too weak. Spoiled by peace.”

Vanessa bristled at those words for a moment, but thinking about it, she had to admit it might be true, so she closed her mouth. After all, it was the north that was solely bearing the dangerous task of fending off the armies of frost monsters…

“…I suppose the spread of the plague in Drake’s duchy is a much more serious matter than I thought.”

“Well, yes. If the city becomes isolated due to the plague and falls into chaos, it will also hinder our efforts to defend the northern front.”

“If only I could use more divine words.”

As Vanessa muttered gloomily, Garcia, who was heading to the corridor with the water container, stopped and turned to look at her. Then, in an uncharacteristically serious voice, he said,

“You’re already doing an amazing job, Your Highness, so don’t dig yourself into a hole. Just get ready to wash up. I’ll quickly fetch the water and then I need to wash up too.”

“I-I’ll help too.”

“No need, just sit down. It’ll be faster if I do it alone.”

That was true. Garcia went back and forth between the water tap and the room quickly, fetching water without seeming tired at all.

After repeating this more than 10 times, the bathtub was filled with cold water.

Vanessa took out the magic stone Jenelly had given her from her pocket, chanted the activation word “Become hot,” and put it into the bathtub.

In less than 5 minutes, the bathwater became hot, and misty steam rose from it.

As Vanessa lightly dipped her hand in the water to check the temperature, she heard a voice tinged with amusement from behind her.

“It’s fortunate you have that. Otherwise, the esteemed princess would have caught a cold bathing in cold water.”

“What are you saying, Sir? I’m the ‘Blessed One’, remember? I don’t catch colds.”

“Well, you never know. You might become the first ‘Blessed One’ to pathetically catch a cold.”

“……”

This guy… he never loses an argument. While glaring at Garcia with annoyance, Vanessa sincerely expressed her gratitude.

“Thank you for fetching the bathwater, Sir Garcia. Thanks to you, I can relax and sleep well.”

“It’s nothing. Even in a place like this, someone as radiant as you shouldn’t look shabby. …Anyway, I’ll take my leave now. Just leave the bathwater as it is after you use it, I’ll clean it up in the morning, so don’t exert yourself and just go to sleep. Well then, have a good night.”

For some reason, Garcia left the room as if fleeing. Vanessa furrowed her brow slightly in puzzlement, but then dismissed her questions, thinking it didn’t matter, and began preparing to wash.

After dissolving the herbs and dried flowers Jenelly had given her in the bathwater, she undressed completely and slowly entered the water, starting from her toes.

The temperature of the slightly cooled water was just right for bathing. Vanessa took a deep breath as she soaked her body in the warm water. The flower petals, now filled with water, were floating on the surface.

‘It smells nice.’

I should thank Jenelly again tomorrow. Vanessa blinked her wet eyelashes and smiled softly.

✦ ✦ ✦

When the princess of Roengreen first volunteered to help with the clinic work, everyone was skeptical.

While they were extremely grateful that she, as the ‘Blessed One’, would bestow her divine words, it seemed absurd to entrust her with other menial tasks — nursing patients, cooking in the kitchen, cleaning, and so on.

Everyone was secretly anxious, thinking how could a delicately raised princess do such hard work, and didn’t even have the slightest expectation. They only hoped that the princess wouldn’t get in the way of the already busy clinic work.

However, once the princess actually started working, her reputation was turned upside down in the blink of an eye.

The princess really did whatever work came her way. She didn’t mind doing laundry at the well in this cold winter, and she nonchalantly cleaned the clinic corridors with dirty rags.

She even helped in the kitchen, and while her skill at peeling potatoes was understandable, it was inexplicable how she was even good at butchering animals.

But the surprises didn’t end there.

“You’re worried about running out of food?”

“Yes… The territory doesn’t produce much grain, so we try to buy as much as we can when merchants come from outside to make up for the shortage. But now, because of the plague, merchants can’t come in…”

“Hmm…”

After listening to a nurse’s explanation, the princess seemed to think deeply for a moment, then suddenly asked the Guard Captain to guide her to the armory.

When the Guard Captain asked the reason in bewilderment, he received an unbelievable answer from the princess.

“I’ll go to the forest outside the outer castle and hunt some animals. That should help solve the food problem a little.”

The Guard Captain asked back, shocked almost to the point of fainting.

“What…?! You mean Your Highness?”

“Well, who else could go? Even the soldiers are forbidden to go in and out right now. As the ‘Blessed One’, I won’t catch the plague or spread germs outside, so I’m the only one who can go.”

“But still…”

The Guard Captain became increasingly anxious, thinking that if this reached the Duke’s ears, it could be a big problem.

He looked at the knight who had come with the princess, his mouth twitching. Sir Garcia, as the Duke’s closest aide, was the only person who could stop the princess in this situation.

However, Sir Garcia just shrugged his shoulders and mouthed ‘Why?’ … He didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping the princess. The despairing Guard Captain let out a deep sigh.

“But, Your Highness, it’s dangerous to go to the forest alone. You never know what kind of beasts you might encounter. Sometimes hungry wolves or bears come down to the edge of the forest…”

Despite trying to scare her with an eerie tone, the princess just blinked her eyes with an expression that seemed to say ‘So what?’

The Guard Captain despaired once again, but fortunately, it seemed the princess wasn’t completely thoughtless.

“I’ll go to the forest with Sir Garcia. I’ve already used the divine word twice today, so there’s no chance of spreading the plague. If you’re still worried, we can dunk Sir Garcia in a barrel of alcohol.”

The belief that washing the body with alcohol prevents disease was a kind of superstition. The Guard Captain pressed his forehead with his eyes closed, then after telling them to wait a moment, he secretly sent a message to the Duke.

Before long, the Duke arrived at the outpost. Appearing majestically on a black warhorse, he frowned as soon as he saw the princess and leapt off his horse.

The surrounding air seemed to freeze with his appearance.

“……”

Vanessa stared directly at Jurgen as he approached her. Finally, as he stood before her, the corners of his mouth twisted into a sneer. His golden eyes, staring directly at her, were as sharp as ice blades.

“You’re doing unnecessary things.”

He started with criticism, as always. Vanessa just blinked calmly, as if she had expected this. Without showing any signs of anger or upset.

The words that eventually came out of her mouth were something no one had expected.

“Duke, why don’t you come with us?”