Upon closer inspection, every inch of their bodies was a mess with mud. Even Auton had mud sticking to his hair.

“Did you come after playing in the mud?”

Stella asked, thinking that they might enjoy playing with mud even on ordinary days. However, whether they didn’t hear, intentionally ignored, or for some other reason, none of the earth fairies responded.

Stella asked again, but they continued to pretend not to hear, each looking in a different direction. The next day, Stella could find out what the earth fairies had been up to.

“Princess!”

In Brin’s desperate voice, Stella put down the book she was reading. Having lived together, Stella was not surprised by Brin making a fuss over trivial matters.

“What’s wrong?”
As if having leaped up to the fifth floor in one go, Brin gasped for breath, panting heavily.

Despite furrowing her brows as if in agony from the sudden jump, Brin’s lips were rounded, revealing a neatly arranged set of teeth.

“Well, yesterday, huff huff!”

“Take your time. It’s not urgent unless it is.”

Stella looked at Brin with concern, but Brin still seemed preoccupied, frantically moving around, busy with something other than speaking.

“Don’t be surprised! After finishing the class, all the princesses in Muge Castle, who were returning, got covered in mud and had to go back.”

“What? Why?”

“They say something attacked them in the garden bushes. No one saw the attacker. Even after releasing the soldiers to thoroughly search the garden, they couldn’t find any suspicious person or animal.”

While Brin spoke, alternating between exasperation and laughter, Mila still wore a puzzled expression. However, Stella somehow seemed to know whose mischief it was.

It was strange that everyone was covered in mud.

With Brin’s arrival, the earth fairies subtly moved away, thinking Stella might get angry. Even Auton and Esta were sneakily climbing up through the window, whimpering.
The earth fairies still seemed to be unfamiliar with Stella. Stella spoke in a fairly loud voice, as if telling the earth fairies to listen.

“Yeah, if we know who did it, I’d even give them praise.”

As Stella finished speaking, the earth fairies, who had been ready to flee immediately, brightened up and gathered around Stella with cheerful laughter.

“We did it!”

“I suggested it!”

“I made the most mud clumps!”

“We completed the revenge of blood!”

Thinking they were in trouble, the earth fairies, who now felt elated, eagerly listed their achievements one by one.

Stella, to signal approval that they did well without Mila and Brin noticing, raised her thumb toward the earth fairies.

It was the most enjoyable day since arriving in the Credion Empire.

Encouraged by Stella’s support, the earth fairies bumped heads and joyously chattered.

“Next time, shall we gather poop and throw it?”

“Ew! That’s dirty, I don’t like that!”

“Then let’s dig a mud pit trap. Sink their legs deep. How about that?”

“Hmm… we might not have enough hands. Humans have big feet and legs.”

“It’s okay. If we suggest doing it together, they’ll come rushing in, won’t they?”

Feeling uplifted by the good news since morning, Stella’s mood reached its peak as she went to the garden.

“Princess, is there something good happening?”

Seeing Stella looking unusually light-hearted compared to other days, Darren asked.

“Oh, I’m just in a good mood today, that’s all.”
For reasons unknown, when the princess’s mood was said to be good, Darren and Doodle also became cheerful.

“Today, we’re going to harvest sugar peanuts. Doodle, have you ever harvested sugar peanuts before?”

“No, I haven’t. This is my first time.”

Doodle responded, looking at the sugar peanut leaves that were similar yet strangely different from regular peanuts. Sugar peanuts had thicker and more delicately hairy leaves compared to regular peanuts, visible only upon close inspection.

Even Doodle, an outstanding gardener with knowledge of almost every plant, was unfamiliar with this plant. Stella, looking at the elongated oval-shaped leaves of the peanuts, unintentionally swallowed a dry spit as if nervous.

At first, she worried, as Darren suggested, whether she had been deceived by the old woman when she first planted them.

However, Stella’s concerns faded as the sugar peanut shoots began to grow at an alarming rate just three days after planting.

And on this morning, exactly the second week since planting, Iver approached Stella as she tossed and turned in bed and whispered.

“We need to harvest the sugar peanuts. After today, the taste might decline.”

Though learned belatedly through an esteemed farming book, there was an optimum time for harvesting sugar peanuts.

The value of sugar peanuts was determined by whether they were harvested at the right time, coinciding with the peak of their flavor.

However, the challenge was that it was difficult to determine the exact ripening time without digging or pulling them out from the soil.
Because of this, sugar peanuts were considered quite challenging to grow among various crops.

However, Stella’s sugar peanuts quickly grew due to the blessing of Terra, and thanks to Iver’s guidance, she could easily determine the optimal time for harvesting.

Stella was confident that the sugar peanuts would sell at a high price when she took them to the market.

Once again, Stella took the lead in demonstrating.

“Grab the stem near the roots, like this, similar to spinach!”

Stella pulled out the peanuts along with the roots. As she did, robust sugar peanuts, the size of two walnuts stuck together, tightly attached to the roots, came out. Even though it was Stella’s first time, it was so much fun.

“After pulling them out, gently shake off the soil, and carefully pick each peanut.”

As if showing off, Stella shook off the soil and skillfully detached the sugar peanuts one by one. Just pulling them out of the soil caused a sweet fragrance to waft in the air.