The bag handle slipped from Kelita’s hand with a tick, veering off course.

“Haah, haah.”

Taking the opportunity, Kelita sat down on the ground and pushed back her sweat-soaked hair.

In the distance, the outline of the portal was gradually becoming visible.

“Ah, I didn’t bring the portal permit, but it should be fine, right?”

She still had about two days left until the promised departure date.

Her current goal wasn’t to go through the portal, but to find the wealthy noblewoman she had met near the portal.

“‘Princess Kelita, it’s an honor. I’ve always admired you. If you have time, please come to my castle. I’m prepared to grant you anything you desire.'”

At the time, she thought it was just an expression of common interest, like other nobles showed.

But the current Kelita had to grasp at straws.

She needed a place to hide from Gerard.

“‘I could die unknowingly like my other brothers.'”

Kelita decided to shed the seemingly perfect princess shell that had always enveloped her.

The reason she wore a pretty mask in the royal court was to meet a wonderful man like Lakrahan and escape from there.

The only way to survive in the vicious royal court was to present herself as non-threatening.

But given how things had turned out, Kelita also had to find a way to live.

A fact everyone had forgotten: she also had the same bloodline as Gerard.
The journey to Lakrahan’s castle had been effortless upon exiting the portal, but attempting to return to the portal alone was anything but easy.

“Kissing in front of me? Twice, no less! How little must you think of others.”

The image of Lakrahan and Bercheria kissing wouldn’t leave her mind.

“Bercheria.”

In truth, Kelita wasn’t certain that the woman was Bercheria when she shouted.

She simply couldn’t remain idle the moment she saw the two of them kissing.

Her subjects, who had always loved her, would surely view her as a loser, a thought she couldn’t bear due to her pride.

So she blurted out whatever came to mind.

Even as she spoke, she doubted it could actually be Bercheria.

It’s only logical, right? There was no sense of divine protection.

“This country is doomed. Absolutely.”

There had already been issues when the Goddess’s protection disappeared, but the absence of such protection despite the Goddess being on this land pointed to an even greater problem.

“Better to avoid getting swept up by staying near them…”

Holding her heavy bag and struggling to move, Kelita came to an abrupt halt, astonished by the sight before her eyes.

“What?”

Somehow, a woman in a lavish carriage was waiting in front of the extinguished portal.

“How could there be such a coincidence?”

Summoning the last of her strength, Kelita ran toward the woman.
Already overwhelmed by the thought of locating a nearby castle, Kelita was pleasantly surprised to find someone had come to meet her.

Clearly, luck had not yet abandoned Kelita.

The coachman who had spotted her from afar hurried over and took her luggage.

As she approached the carriage with buoyant spirits, the woman inside waved her fan and addressed Kelita.

“Princess, I’ve been waiting.”

Her tone indicated she had been waiting for quite some time.

Without a hint of doubt, Kelita cheerfully asked, “How did you know to come here?”

The woman with the fan smiled and answered.

“It’s a secret, but I possess a mysterious ability that others don’t have.”

“Really?”

The woman with the fan stepped outside and faced Kelita.

“Among my abilities, there’s one even better. I’d very much like to show it to you, Princess.”

“Please do show me,” Kelita responded in a cheerful voice.

Her face seemed incongruous with her disheveled hair and soiled clothes.

As the woman with the fan brushed the dust off Kelita’s face with a smile, her cheeks flushed red.

Then, suddenly—boom—a resonant sound echoed, and a portal lit up.

“What?”

Kelita was so shocked she almost screamed.

Portals were definitely not supposed to open this easily.

The emperor in the capital had to give permission, and only then would the portal manager inject mana to open the gateway.
Then the light also illuminated the opposite portal.

Therefore, when returning, one had to strictly adhere to the predetermined schedule.

“How did you…?”

Kelita opened her mouth wide.

“Could it be, a witch…”

Then she quickly covered her mouth with both hands.

“I’m, I’m sorry.”

Emperor Gerard had an extreme aversion to witches or anyone who used magic.

He would starve them to death by throwing them into underground dungeons at the first opportunity.

The fact that there were sometimes survivors was nothing short of miraculous.

Kelita often pondered what those survivors ate to stay alive.

“As for me, I don’t concern myself with who anyone is. I am different from His Majesty, the Emperor.”

“How like you, Princess. It seems my judgment of people hasn’t rusted.”

The two women looked at each other and laughed.

“Now, come this way, Princess.”

The woman with the fan took Kelita’s hand and approached the portal.

The portal, illuminated in the dead of night, shone like a gentle moon.