“I don’t remember the way back.”

Riela confidently declared, despite being terrible with directions. Ah, okay. Mail, now silent, turned to look at Rose. Surely Rose would remember. She had been walking steadily, without distraction, supporting Riela the entire time.

But when Rose noticed the glance, she shook her head.

“I have a terrible sense of direction.”

“…”

“That’s my one flaw.” Rose added. Mail was speechless.

Here stood the princess, the god of destruction, and the hero. The three of them needed to work together to navigate this labyrinth of a palace. And yet, both the princess and the god of destruction were terrible with directions.

Now, a pop quiz. Who among the group should be leading the way for the most effective progress?

The correct answer was, of course, Mail the hero. She was the only one who didn’t have a poor sense of direction. Yet Riela, disregarding this, had confidently taken the lead. Her expression was so determined that Mail hadn’t been able to stop her. Following her rather unreliable guide, Mail asked a question.

“Princess, why did you insist on walking in front? You don’t know the way.”

“It’s a game.”

“A game?”

“A pathfinding game.”

Mail’s eyes wavered at the answer.

‘Everyone, the person with no sense of direction wants to play a pathfinding game. Isn’t this a display of royal audacity, a challenge to attempt the impossible? Let’s give a round of applause.’

And soon enough, Mail’s concerns became reality.

“Why are there only walls everywhere?”

Mail discovered a new talent in Riela. She wasn’t just bad with directions. No, she belonged to a more advanced category.

There’s no other way to explain this extraordinary ability to find dead ends no matter where she goes.

At the fifth encounter with a solid wall, the group decided to have a quick strategy meeting.

“I think this is the same wall we encountered earlier. At this rate, there’s no end.”

“This place is strange.”

“I’ll just break through all the walls. Leave it to me.”

“Really?”

“Princess, don’t get excited. There’s no need for destruction. And Rose, even if you could do it, don’t.”

No progress was made.

In truth, they didn’t have a specific destination they absolutely needed to reach, so wandering around a bit and getting lost wasn’t a huge problem. It was just irritating to keep running into walls.

Riela, who had been relying on Rose’s fists, now looked sullen after Mail’s intervention. It seemed she was already tired of the pathfinding game.

“I don’t want to play anymore. My legs hurt.”

“So, will we head back?”

“Yes. I don’t want to stay here any longer.”

Riela announced her desire to retreat, and Mail nodded in agreement. Now that the game was over, there was a simple solution to escape the palace.

It’s called the “Ask a passerby for directions” strategy. If you don’t know the way, just ask someone who does. Mail was about to tell Riela and Rose to wait for a moment while she went to find someone when—

“What are you doing there?”

A voice called out. It was the same voice Mail had heard last night. Startled, she turned toward the source of the sound and instinctively performed a respectful bow.

“We greet the Sun of Helvern, His Imperial Majesty.”

Both Mail and Rose bowed deeply in unison. Only Riela remained standing, staring blankly.

Mail glanced sideways and hurriedly nudged Riela in the side. Mouthing, “Bow! Bow!” she finally got Riela to awkwardly imitate her posture.

Mail’s mind raced as she kept her head bowed.

“Running into the Emperor like this… What kind of coincidence is this?”

Lost in the palace, standing in front of a dead-end wall, and now encountering the Emperor. It was hard to say if this was good or bad luck. But then again, the more often you see someone, the more familiar you become, so it might be a stroke of luck after all. Mail decided to think of it as a fortunate encounter.

“Hmm… It’s clearly a dead-end, but I sensed someone here, so I came to check. Quite the unexpected group, I see.”

“Excuse me?”

“No. That’s enough, raise your head now.”

As soon as the emperor’s words fell, Riela instantly lifted her head. Her jeweled hair ornament shimmered and swayed as she did so. With her head raised, Riela blankly fixed her gaze on the emperor’s handsome face. Seeing her just staring without doing anything, Mail nudged her in the side again.

‘In-tro-duce-your-self.’

Reading Mail’s exaggerated mouthing, Riela made an “ah” expression and opened her mouth.

“I am Princess Riela de Belthier from the Kingdom of Belthier.”

Even a naive Riela knew how to introduce herself. Her clear, resonant voice made Mail secretly sigh in relief.

Though her mind might be an enigma that couldn’t be opened immediately, outwardly, Riela’s demeanor was graceful and lovely. Her radiant blonde hair and glittering golden eyes gave her the appearance of an angel descended from the heavens. Just based on her looks, standing her next to the emperor wouldn’t seem entirely out of place.

Feeling a sudden sense of satisfaction, Mail averted her gaze. Having successfully gotten Riela to greet him, Mail now intended to gauge the emperor’s reaction. However, when she looked at him, she was immediately taken aback.

‘Why is he looking at me?’

Their eyes met. This time, the emperor didn’t avoid her gaze, and surprised, Mail was the one to quickly lower her eyes. She had been trying to sneak a glance, but when their eyes locked directly, her heart began to pound anxiously. Mail stared at the floor, trying to calm her racing heart.

Come to think of it, something similar happened during last night’s banquet. The emperor had deliberately avoided her gaze back then, but they had locked eyes, nonetheless. What is this? Mail’s thoughts were in turmoil.

‘Why does he keep looking at me…? Could it be… did master say something bad about me to the emperor?’

A sudden realization flashed across Mail’s face. The only connection between her and the emperor was through her master, so this seemed like a plausible assumption. Moreover, her master did have a past—*Marigold*, after all.

As this budding suspicion started to grow like a cloud, the emperor shifted his gaze away from her and opened his mouth.

“Well, Princess of Belthier?”

“Yes.”

“Let me ask you again. What were you doing here?”

The emperor cast a glance at the hallway, which was nothing but walls. He certainly didn’t think they were planning to break through that.

Since the question was directed at Riela, Mail anxiously looked at the princess, unable to butt in. ‘Please just answer honestly, princess. Calmly. Nicely. Politely.’

In response to Mail’s silent plea, Riela answered.

“I was wandering after getting lost.”

Phew. Mail sighed in relief. Getting lost wasn’t exactly something to boast about, but at least it wasn’t a problematic answer. Just then, Riela continued speaking.

“It’s all because some strange person at yesterday’s banquet gave us the blessing of ‘Hemera’ and—”

“Ahem! Ahem!”

Mail hurriedly cleared her throat, cutting off Riela’s words. Cold sweat ran down her back. ‘No, why is she even remembering something like that? And it’s wrong, too! That’s not the Hemera she meant!’

“Princess, you can’t just turn around and smack me in the back of the head like that after making me feel relieved.”

“What? You’re so quiet I can barely hear you.”

“I said there’s something on your dress.”

Mail lightly dusted off Riela’s dress as if fixing it and flashed a bright smile, pretending it was nothing.

‘That was close. Almost had her flaunting her ignorance right in front of the emperor.’ That would never do. Despite the smile, her heart was still pounding in anxiety. Maintaining a calm facade, Mail respectfully bowed her head to the emperor.

“Apologies for interrupting your conversation.”

“It’s fine. So, you were lost in my palace?”

“Yes, regrettably so.”

“Where were you trying to go?”

“There wasn’t any particular place we were looking for… we were just on our way back to the annex.”

After hearing Mail’s answer, the emperor remained silent for a moment. He had a thoughtful expression, as if he were considering something. After a brief pause, the emperor finally spoke again, his words surprising them.

“Very well. Since you got lost in my palace, I must take responsibility.”

“Excuse me?”

“Follow me.”

With that, the emperor turned and began walking. He said he would take responsibility, meaning he would personally guide them. It was clearly an offer to show them the way. Mail’s mouth hung open in disbelief. ‘Is this for real?’

“What are you doing? Mail, Rose, come along.”

Completely unaware of the gravity of the situation, Riela was the only one who remained entirely nonchalant. Snapping out of her daze, Mail quickly followed, her mind still in a whirl. Even though she was now walking right behind the emperor, it still didn’t feel real. What kind of situation was this?

‘The emperor personally guiding us? Why?’

Not that she was complaining. After all, no one would extend kindness to someone they disliked. This had to mean the emperor saw them in a favorable light. It was definitely something to celebrate. The only issue was that Mail had no idea why.

‘Could it be that he’s taken a liking to the princess? Really? Is his type pretty airheads?’

As Mail pondered this, tilting her head in confusion, the emperor, who had been silently leading the way, suddenly spoke.

“Princess, I’ve had the opportunity to hear quite a lot about you before.”

‘Huh?’

“I hear you’re quite an exceptional person. Especially your br—”