By now, greeting earth fairies had become completely natural for Stella. She sometimes worried about being seen talking to them, but she had become adept at handling such situations.

When someone approached, Stella would hum a song. As a result, the servants of Berdura Castle simply thought that Princess Stella loved to sing.

As Stella walked towards the carrot patch with Esther, more earth fairies joined them.

Upon arriving at the patch, Stella marveled at the carrots that had grown another finger’s length since last night.

“Do they always grow this fast?”

Though not well-versed in farming, Stella had never seen or heard of crops growing so rapidly.

She gently stroked the fluttering carrot leaves as if they were a puppy’s fur. The immature leaves felt as soft as a baby’s cheek.

“In three days, they’ll be fully grown and ready for harvest.”

Esther looked at Stella with a satisfied smile. Watching a diligent student always brought joy.

“So, I just have to wait now?”

“That’s a good question. See that carrot?”

Esther pointed to a carrot whose orange root was bulging above the soil. Stella nodded affirmatively.

“You need to hill up the soil so the root doesn’t stick out.”

“Hill up?”

“Yes, cover the root well with soil.”

“Ah!”

“Watch!”

Esther sat in front of the carrot and carefully covered the protruding root with soil. Her tiny hands were surprisingly adept.

After heaping soil up to the green leaves and firmly pressing it down with her palm, Esther’s work made the carrot leaves look relatively larger.

Stella realized the carrots she was growing seemed much larger than the ones she had eaten before.

“Esther?”

“Yeah, I’m done now.”

Esther finished her task and looked up proudly.

“Why is this carrot bigger than the ones Ark gave me?”

“Well, it’s because you grew it. Fairy carrots vary in size depending on who grows them.”

“Really?”

“Yes. A giant’s fairy carrots would be bigger than you.”

It was a fascinating thought.

“If I were taller, would the carrots have grown even bigger?”
At Stella’s question, Esther giggled as if she had heard something quite amusing.

“People only grow so much, after all.”

Stella hadn’t expected to be belittled for her height by an earth fairy of all creatures. She looked down at Esther, who was gazing up at her, with a very intentional and blatantly obvious stare.

Catching the meaning behind Stella’s piercing look, Esther averted her gaze slightly and stumbled over her words.

“It varies by race. So, if that carrot thief from yesterday planted them, they’d grow this big too.”

While Esther was conducting the carrot growing lesson, other earth fairies who had followed along helped cover the protruding carrots with soil.

Stella quickly joined in, anxious that the earth fairies might finish all the work before she could contribute.

From the window, Mila watched Stella, who was seated in the carrot patch. Her expression was a mixture of complexity and perplexity.

She couldn’t comprehend why a princess was laboring like a peasant in the fields from early morning, especially when Stella’s efforts were far from proficient.

After covering the soil, Stella would move to a new spot, occasionally stepping on and crushing the sprouts, reacting with shock each time. Even to someone inexperienced in farming like Mila, Stella’s efforts seemed clumsy and awkward.

“Yet, they grow so well.”

Mila’s gaze shifted to the lush green carrot leaves. The carrots she had glimpsed in passing seemed to grow unusually fast, with the leaves becoming denser every day.

Although Mila couldn’t see Stella’s face due to the distance and angle, she felt she could sense how happy the princess was just from her back.

Stella’s movements, hopping lightly from spot to spot as she touched the soil, resembled a small bouncing ball.

“I should go.”

Having stood and observed quietly, Mila finally moved. She was almost desperate to know why the princess was behaving in such a manner.