When Ibnel returned to the room, Lia, who had been anxiously waiting, immediately approached and asked.

“How did it go, young lady?”

She calmly explained everything from awakening her ability to staying at Karies in exchange for it. Lia couldn’t hide her surprise either.

“So that’s why your eyes changed like that.”

“That’s right. And given various circumstances, I judged it better to stay at Karies.”

“But facing monsters… It’s too dangerous.”

To Lia’s eyes, it seemed like sending Ibnel to her death. There was no guarantee that it wouldn’t actually happen at Karies.

“It’s worth staying here enough to take that risk. So I’ll ask one last time, Lia. What do you want to do? If you wish, you can leave Karies.”

She had no intention of dragging Lia into this. If she wanted, she planned to negotiate with Shuher somehow to let her leave this place.

But as soon as Ibnel finished speaking, Lia shook her head. She too had already made up her mind.

“My place is by your side, young lady. Please let me stay with you.”

“Alright.”

Instead of dissuading her, Ibnel nodded. In truth, part of her hoped she would stay.

At least having one person on her side seemed necessary to endure this place. It also somehow felt like being with Aran.

“You know it won’t be easy living as Aodin’s person in Karies. You know the reason well, don’t you?”

Lia couldn’t help but know. The voices shouting for them to die when chased by monsters were still vivid.

But that must have been even harsher for Ibnel than for herself, a maid. How could she leave her alone?

“I’ve already decided. Young lady, just focus on your tasks. I’ll do my best to serve you by your side.”

“Thank you. It’s really reassuring.”

The two finally smiled at each other.

‘That’s right, I’m not alone.’

Although she hadn’t known Lia for long, physical time wasn’t that important to Ibnel. How reassuring it was to have someone who believed in her unconditionally.

Just then, with a knock on the door, a middle-aged woman entered the room. A maid followed her inside.

“I heard you’ll be staying here from today. Let me introduce myself, I am Emil Perib, the head maid of the Imperial Palace.”

“Ah, I look forward to working with you.”

“Please speak comfortably, Lady Ibnel.”

As someone born and raised in a country of Eastern etiquette, Ibnel found it difficult to suddenly speak casually to an elder.

“How could I…”

“That’s how it should be. The same applies to the maids working in the palace.”

When Emil spoke so firmly, she could only nod. When in Rome, do as the Romans do – if those were the rules here, she had no choice.

Otherwise, it seemed like they would be troubled unnecessarily.

“I will. But what about Lia?”

“Lia will work as a palace maid from today. Jena will help her while she gets used to this place.”

At Emil’s gesture, Jena standing behind bowed her head.

“I am Jena Ruan. Pleased to meet you, Lady Ibnel.”

“Pleased to meet you too.”

“Jena, guide Lia to where she’ll be staying from now on.”

“Yes, Head Maid.”

Ibnel watched Lia leave with worried eyes until the end. How would the other maids view her?

Emil observed Ibnel without missing a single detail. When their eyes met, she asked in a polite voice as if nothing had happened.

“If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.”

“Is there anything I should be careful about? After all, this is His Majesty’s palace.”

“Other than not entering the top floor where His Majesty’s bedroom and private spaces are, it’s fine.”

Ibnel didn’t find Emil’s businesslike and rigid manner of speaking all that bad. Unlike the people she had met so far, she didn’t show outright hostility.

“If you need anything, just pull that cord. And.”

Emil handed her what she had been holding. As soon as she saw the object, Ibnel’s face lit up.

“This is…”

“His Majesty said to give this to you.”

“I was waiting for this.”

Along with the revolver, a holster to wear at the waist and plenty of ammunition were prepared.

“Is there anything else you might need?”

“I need an outfit suitable for training, could you get one for me?”

Emil couldn’t figure out what kind of person she was, with items so unlike a typical noble lady.

From hesitating to speak casually to requesting unexpected items like guns and training clothes.

She had heard about the situation in Aodin, but still, she was a duchess in name.

But she skillfully concealed that expression and replied.

“I’ll prepare it right away. Then please rest comfortably.”

“Wait a moment.”

Ibnel hurriedly called out to Emil as she was leaving.

“Do you have something else to say?”

As she waited for her to speak, Ibnel carefully broached the subject.

“I have something to say about Lia.”

At the mention of Lia, Emil’s eyes lowered. She was surely going to ask for special treatment for someone she cared about.

As someone who had worked as the head maid in the Imperial Palace for a long time, it was absolutely unacceptable behavior.

Just as she was about to firmly say that it wasn’t possible, Ibnel continued.

“Please treat her the same as the other maids here. Praise her when she does well, scold her when she doesn’t, and teach her what she doesn’t know. Of course, you’ll do better than I’m saying even without me telling you.”

“Yes…”

Emil could only respond like that to the completely unexpected words.

‘This is enough for now.’

That one word was exactly what Ibnel wanted to hear.

She didn’t ask for anything else. But at least for Lia, she hoped they would see her as she was.

“Thank you, Emil.”

Emil looked at the eyes full of sincerity before bowing politely and leaving the room. But the bewildered feeling didn’t easily subside.

Before meeting Ibnel, she had somewhat anticipated what kind of demeanor she would show.

Being anxious, intimidated, or even arrogant and rude using her ability as an excuse. But she defied all those possibilities.

What surprised her most was the last words she said for Lia. It was very unexpected to see her worry more about her maid than her own well-being.

“Is she such a precious person to her.”

Emil, standing there blankly, recalled the brief conversation she had with Shuher before meeting Ibnel.

[“So you’re telling me to watch over her.”] [“Yes, just watch. That’s all the head maid needs to do.”]

She immediately grasped his intention. Not to intervene or interfere no matter what happened to Ibnel.

Emil understood well enough. Ibnel was a person from Aodin after all. That alone was reason enough.

‘She’ll probably come to know it painfully while staying here.’

How terrifying it is to directly experience the hostility she had only heard rumors about.

[This is the timeline separator]

After meeting Ibnel, Shuher immediately convened a nobles’ meeting. Looking at the nobles filling the long table, he calmly began to speak.

That she had awakened her ability, agreed to stay at the Imperial Palace, and promised to help.

The nobles who had only heard the gist of it couldn’t hide their surprise. Soon their reactions split into two.

The stance that they should use Ibnel’s ability, and the stance that they should eliminate the future trouble right now without needing to.

The atmosphere clearly favored the latter.

“We’ve already established our own system to some extent. There’s no need to receive help.”

“Aodin might make demands using this as an excuse. Or she might be secretly passing Karies’ information to them.”

“Setting all that aside, we can’t keep a person from Aodin, moreover the Istela ducal family’s lady, in the Imperial Palace. If they learn we killed her despite her ability, we can clearly assert our intentions.”

Shuher was just silently listening to the nobles’ conversation. Unlike when he was with Ibnel, his face was full of boredom.

Like someone just waiting for this debate to end.

Then voices of opposition were also heard.

“Rather than that, it might be better to properly utilize a person from Aodin. There’s nothing bad for us if we make her stand at the forefront when facing monsters. Even now, damage from monsters is occurring constantly.”

“That’s why the families endowed with power are protecting us. It’s their mission.”

At those last words, Shuher’s expression gradually turned cold. It looked like nothing more than passing off troublesome tasks under the name of mission.

‘They just prattle on with their mouths while speaking so eloquently.’

The very people babbling about this issue had no direct connection to monsters. Those from families endowed with power couldn’t leave their territories as they had to watch the monsters’ movements.

He had already informed them of Ibnel’s situation in advance, and had received replies that they would follow his will.

While those actually facing monsters and risking their lives were elsewhere, it was just absurd how they only thought of their own face.

“It seems you’ve all made a serious misunderstanding. This meeting is to inform, not to seek permission. If you had ever directly faced monsters even once, the conversation now would be different. If you want, I’ll let you experience it directly.”

At the toneless voice, silence fell over the conference hall for a moment. The nobles belatedly watched Shuher’s expression.

Then one person broke through that heavy atmosphere and spoke.

“How could that be? I think we should naturally do so for Karies.”

It was none other than Duke Halan Jeyzen. As he broke the ice like that, one by one they agreed and changed their stance.

Then, as if he had a good idea, Halan said.

“Didn’t you say you were planning to lead the knights to subjugate monsters in Perti territory two weeks later, Your Majesty? How about taking her there? It will be a chance to confirm if she’s really helpful.”

Shuher stared at him before nodding. He was thinking the same thing anyway.

“If she becomes a force for us, it’s rather something to welcome. Don’t you all think the same?”

“That’s right.”

As the meeting ended and Shuher left the conference hall first with Demil, nobles gathered around Halan in groups of two or three.

“Is it alright to leave it like this?”

“Honestly, how much help could she be? She’ll probably just run away scared. It’s a place crawling with monsters after all.”

“Isn’t that why you brought it up first?”

Everyone waited for Halan to speak as if it were obvious.

In the past, when Aodin’s betrayal forced Karies to fight monsters with only its own strength, the status of families endowed with power naturally grew.

They were respected by people here to the point of being hailed as heroes.

But gratitude for protection from the monster threat was short-lived, and as their fame grew, families not endowed with power felt a sense of crisis.

Fearing that their own position would shrink and they might even lose power at this rate.

That’s how they came to band together, and at the center of it was Duke Halan Jeyzen.

‘Of all times, to awaken her ability now.’

From Halan’s position, Ibnel’s sudden appearance couldn’t be welcome either.

If she joined forces with the powered families and slayed more monsters, it wouldn’t be good for them.

“How about bringing her over to our side?”

“Let’s wait and see about that. It’s not too late to decide after confirming whether she’s useful or not.”

Contrary to Ibnel’s wishes, she was already standing at the center of all the commotion.