The party didn’t end until well past midnight.

When Mila entered the party hall and saw Stella, her breath caught. In a silver dress, Stella looked like a goddess of the moon. Colorful decorations in her hair followed the direction she walked.

There were many things Mila wanted to ask, but she bit her lips.

Princess Stella seemed quite tired, and Mila was not in a position to inquire, even though she wanted to. If it were Beth, she would have asked more than enough, but Mila was not Beth. In moments like these, Mila envied Beth’s personality a little.

Inside the carriage returning to Verudra, Stella slumped down absentmindedly. She felt much heavier than the day she spent working in the fields and running around in the hunting grounds.

Startled each time her head drooped involuntarily, Mila quietly sighed and moved to sit next to Stella after a while. After a moment, she gently supported Stella’s head with one hand. Mila’s eyelids, too, drooped slowly with the rhythmic sound of Stella’s regular breathing.

Upon returning to Verudra, Stella, who had barely washed and slept, finally got out of bed when the surroundings were brightly lit. It was an unusually late awakening.

After wearing high-heeled shoes all day, her feet were swollen, and her waist ached. She thought it would have been less strenuous to spend the day digging the ground with a pickaxe.

“Are you feeling okay?”
Stella looked at Mila with swollen eyes and nodded.

“I didn’t know a tea party would be so tiring.”

When she heard it was a tea party, Stella thought it would be simple, just having tea and returning. However, despite being called a tea party, it was more splendid than most receptions, and there were many people.

Perhaps because Melissa took care of Stella, some noble young ladies showed interest in her and approached.

They exchanged greetings and made small talk, but now, a day later, Stella could hardly remember any names properly. Throughout the party, the thought of wanting to go back quickly filled her mind, given yesterday’s events that came to mind.

As Stella, exhausted again by the recollection of yesterday’s events, shook her head, she noticed the dress hanging on one side. It was truly a beautiful dress. Stella didn’t know if she could afford it even if she sold all ten dresses she owned.

Suddenly, the thought of selling the dress to make some money crossed Stella’s mind, but she quickly dismissed the idea. Selling the dress that Lady Melissa graciously provided was an unacceptable and shameless act.

“My dress will be returned after Lady Melissa has it laundered. I’m not sure if the wine stains will come out.”

She didn’t want to discard the dress just because of spilled wine. If the stain couldn’t be completely removed, she thought she could attach some decorations to cover it up. Stella worried that Melissa might throw away the dress if laundering failed.
“I should have just asked them to send it even if they couldn’t launder it.”

“The servants of the Marquess are very competent, so they will cleanly remove the stains from the dress and bring it back.”

Mila quickly reassured Stella, understanding her concerns.

“Really? Well, that’s a relief.”

Upon hearing Mila’s words, Stella felt considerably relieved.

Stella drank the warm milk Mila brought her. Mila had been preparing freshly heated milk every morning without being asked, as if she knew Stella liked it.

Whenever Mila handed her the warmed milk in the morning, thoughts of Rudina naturally crossed Stella’s mind.

‘I need to gather money quickly. Tomorrow, I’ll go to the market with Daelen to see if I can exchange a silver coin for money.’

She planned to go to the market early in the morning with Daelen tomorrow. To do that, she needed to harvest additional spinach in the afternoon.

“Mila, could you tell the gardeners to harvest the remaining spinach in the afternoon?”

“Yes, I understand. Princess, please don’t go outside today and rest well. If fatigue accumulates, it may lead to illness.”

“Yeah. I plan to read a book for a while.”

“Would you like me to bring you some different books?”

Stella had been reading the same book repeatedly. Despite reading the same parts over and over, she nodded as if discovering them for the first time and made notes in her notebook.

“Yeah. By any chance, are there books about magic dismantling in the royal library?”

“Books about magic are restricted, so they cannot be borrowed.”

“Is that so? Nothing can be done then.”
They had to break the curse bound in the lineage document. That way, someday, when they became free, they could fly away freely. It felt suffocating to think about their real situation, wrapped in comfortable times.

However, life was much richer and enjoyable in Amalun compared to the cursed state. Getting to know the earth fairies, acquiring a pickaxe, and starting to farm made life even more fulfilling.

“Can I borrow a book about swordsmanship?”

“Yes, that should be possible.”

“Then please.”