Just in case, Kai had stationed guards at the castle gate when he entered Verdura Castle.

Thinking they were being replaced by others, the guards vacated their positions, but the actual replacements were Kai’s shadows.

“Lois, long time no see. Did you fare well in the hunt? Any injuries?”

Considering they shared the experience of witnessing what others couldn’t see, Stella felt unexpectedly friendly, as if Lois had shared a secret with her.

“Did you take the handkerchief I gave you?”

Without waiting for an answer to the previous question, another question followed. Stella’s gaze, fixed on Kai, was filled with anticipation.

The moment Kai looked directly into Stella’s face, he realized that the uncomfortable feeling that had lingered with him had eased, as if he had stepped into warm water.

And in that realization, Kai unconsciously took a step back.

Even when facing enemies on the battlefield, he had never stepped back. But now, he found himself retreating because of a princess who had been captured as a hostage. This fact left Kai bewildered and wounded his pride.

“Yes. I tied it to my sword during the hunt.”

He deliberately replied with a stiff and rigid tone. He didn’t want to reveal that he was shaken by Stella’s small gesture, and he couldn’t admit it to himself either.

“Really? I’m glad at least one sheet was tied to the sword. It wasn’t a complete waste of effort.”

“At least one sheet?”
It sounded as if there were other handkerchiefs. When Kai recalled the scene where Stella had shared handkerchiefs with knights other than him, he felt somewhat uncomfortable.

“Yeah. I counted the threads on six handkerchiefs.”

Not two or three, but six.

Suddenly, he found it amusing that he had come here with a mere handkerchief adorned with a carrot pattern. The existence of Eunhwa didn’t even cross Kai’s mind at the moment.

“I gave the remaining six handkerchiefs to the ground fairies, one each. Lois, I gave one to you.”

“Is that so?”

As Kai identified some owners of the handkerchiefs, his mood suddenly improved. However, one remaining handkerchief bothered him. Who could it be?

“Who gave the remaining one?”

Kai hesitated for a moment before asking. Complaining alone was something he couldn’t do due to his innate personality.

“I sent it to His Majesty the Emperor. The princesses who came as maids of honor are obliged to send handkerchiefs. At first, it was bothersome, but thanks to that, I could make handkerchiefs for the ground fairies and you. Mila took the handkerchief with an eagle pattern, but perhaps the Emperor doesn’t even know that I sent handkerchiefs?”

Mentioning the Emperor brought back memories of the incident during the banquet. The short time when she went forward holding the lineage document felt like she was walking to her death.

As that moment flashed back, Stella shivered uncontrollably and found herself absentmindedly stroking her arms.
To Stella, the Emperor was a fearsome presence who could tear her life apart like a piece of paper. When she thought about it, she didn’t realize how fortunate it was that Berdura Castle was located far from the imperial palace.

Kai couldn’t deny the Emperor’s lack of knowledge about the handkerchief. In reality, he didn’t know.

Countless handkerchiefs embroidered by princesses were always stashed away somewhere without being handed over to him. Among them, only about six handkerchiefs with exceptionally skillful embroidery were handed to him, the Emperor.

Judging by the carrot embroidery, Stella’s handkerchiefs seemed unlikely to be among those six.

If it weren’t for mentioning the carrot, he would never have known it was a carrot due to Stella’s lack of talent in sewing.

But somehow, he felt better than before.

Out of the six handkerchiefs, four were taken by the ground fairies, and the remaining two all came to him.

He would have to look for the one embroidered with an eagle to know where it was, but in any case, no one other than him had the handkerchief.

For some reason, he was confident that Stella’s embroidered eagle would be like a sprouted potato even without seeing it.

Kai thought the reason he felt better was that he, as the Emperor, didn’t receive the same treatment as everyone else. And he wondered if this moment felt a bit different for some reason.
“But what’s going on? Did you happen to know about the spinach harvest?”

Kai shook his head, completely unaware of the situation. Fortunately, the only expectation wasn’t as absurd as carrots. Spinach was one of the vegetables Kai disliked.

Therefore, he thought it would never happen that someone would obsess over spinach as absurdly as carrots.

“No, I didn’t. I’ve only received things so far, so I came here wanting to give something in return.”

While answering, Kai couldn’t help but think that he was being too verbose.

“You don’t have to give anything in return.”

He meant it. He had no desire to receive anything from a struggling frontline knight.