When I pulled my family out of the well, I couldn’t do it, but when I sent Ranian off, I wanted to smile. I wanted to smile purely and brightly, so that the last image reflected in Ranian’s eyes would be a smiling face.

I’m okay, Ranian. So sleep peacefully.

I wanted to give a smile that conveyed such feelings.

To do that, I had to cheer up. There was no time to flounder in darkness over problems that wouldn’t be solved by suffering.

“It’s a festival.”

As Roxiana said while pulling back the curtains, Floyd shifted his gaze from the curtains to Roxiana. He slightly furrowed his brow as he saw the smile on Roxiana’s lips.

“Don’t smile. You’re not in the mood.”

“You told me to smile. Even if I’m not in the mood.”

“I didn’t mean for you to smile even at times like this.”

A sigh mixed into his voice. Roxiana found it strange that he seemed to be in more pain than herself.

“Even if I’m depressed and anxious now, it’s not like I can find Ranian. Isn’t this the mindset Your Highness has been living with?”

“That may be true.”

He ran a hand over his face.

“But it doesn’t work for the princess’s situation.”

Instead of asking what that meant, Roxiana stared out the window.

“I’m going to smile, Your Highness. I have to smile.”

When Roxiana smiled, Lucas and Elise turned pale. They were shocked to see Roxiana unharmed and bewildered to find no trace of the slave’s brand. They even seemed to feel fear at Roxiana’s appearance, unchanged from when she was in Ider Palace.

As Floyd had said before, Roxiana’s smile disgusted them.

So she must smile. She must constantly make this life brilliant.

‘That way, Elise. My life will become your hell.’

+++

As soon as Floyd arrived at the Grand Duke’s palace, he summoned the ministers holding important positions to the conference room. Floyd, who had been lost in thought while perfunctorily receiving the ministers’ greetings, finally opened his mouth after a long time had passed.

“Soon, the people of Kanta will enter Torkan.”

The ministers gathered in the conference room knew about what had happened at Ider Palace in Kanta. They were furious to belatedly learn that such pain had befallen the princess of Lily Palace, who always went around with a faint smile.

Therefore, although they knew that accepting citizens of another country would cause various problems, no one objected.

“We will expand the land. We’ll start with southern Torkan first.”

Torkan was vast, but there were quite a few areas that had been abandoned due to cracks or contamination by evil energy. Especially in the southern region, a considerable amount of minerals was buried, but due to the dense evil energy and unstable cracks, it had been abandoned with high walls built around it.

“Do you plan to relocate the people of Kanta there?”

Asked Conrado Vietren, the Marquis who was the Minister of Security.

“Yes.”

“Even if we clear out the monsters, we’ll need priests to purify the evil energy and stabilize the cracks. I’m not sure if the temple will be willing to lend their power.”

“That…”

Floyd furrowed his brow and recalled the conversation he had with Roxiana in the carriage.

−”The people of Kanta need a place to live. But if they come in, there will be various problems like when the people from the forest village entered Selchar City before. I don’t want that.”

−”We can solve problems slowly.”

−”I don’t want to cause trouble for Your Highness or anyone else.”

Although his heart sank at her tone that seemed to be drawing a line, Floyd, without showing it, heard Roxiana say:

−”We need to purify the land. Starting with the land in Torkan first.”

Although he knew with what determination she was saying such things, Floyd didn’t want her to overexert herself. Even if he could heal her, he couldn’t eliminate the pain she felt right after using her power.

But knowing how much anguish and resolve it took for her to say such things after losing her family and having her only younger brother go missing, he couldn’t easily dissuade her.

−”It’s alright, Your Highness.”

As if reading Floyd’s concern, Roxiana smiled gently. As she raised her hand, wind blew in the enclosed space.

−”The spirits said so. That now I can purify the land without overexerting myself.”

Whether that was the truth or a lie to ease Floyd’s worry, Floyd nodded.

Until now, Roxiana had constantly proven her abilities, and he couldn’t stop such a person just because he was worried.

−”The people of Kanta will live on the land I purify.”

Feeling his own powerlessness again as he had felt then, Floyd said to his ministers.

“It will work out somehow. The princess will take care of that, so you don’t need to worry too much about it. The important thing is that we’ve entered into a hostile relationship with Gania.”

No one lamented. They had expressions that suggested they thought it was something that should have happened.

“Gania won’t move easily, but focus on strengthening border defense and properly inspect those coming in from Gania. And…”

While Floyd was discussing the changing political situation with his ministers, Roxiana was sitting in the Lily Palace garden with Robert.

“It’s a splendid place.”

Robert seemed surprised by the beautiful garden and quiet, cozy atmosphere.

“The Grand Duke must have been very generous to the princess.”

“Yes, he really was.”

“I’m glad. I was worried you might have had a hard time…”

Seeing Robert’s eyes turn red, Roxiana laughed softly.

“You were a crybaby.”

“As I get older, I’ve become more tearful. You’ll understand when you reach my age, Princess.”

“Even without reaching your age, I’ve been crying so much lately. I decided not to cry anymore.”

“You should cry when you want to cry.”

“That’s right. When you want to cry, you should cry.”

Roxiana stroked the head of Lion, who was sitting quietly beside her. As the two people and one animal sat quietly watching the passing clouds, Petria came to inform them that there was a visitor.

“Bring them here.”

The person Petria brought was Nelly, the head of the Karan merchant guild. Nelly smiled brightly at Robert, who had already stood up and was standing next to Roxiana.

“Congratulations on reuniting with someone you missed, Master.”

“As expected, your information is fast.”

“Of course. I heard about the exciting incident at Ider Palace with great pleasure. I wish I could have been there in person… I lamented so much that I couldn’t see it directly due to being busy with work.”

When Roxiana pointed to the bench, Nelly quickly sat down next to it.

“So, what’s the reason for calling me today?”

“Can you place someone around the crown prince of Gania?”

“It depends on the purpose.”

“I want to know who the crown prince meets and associates with.”

“That’s easy then. We just need to observe. Who should the crown prince meet?”

“A dark mage.”

Nelly’s smile stiffened.

“A dark mage?”

“There should be a dark mage near Lucas Pelur. He probably won’t keep them around openly, but there will be times when he meets them secretly. Especially in difficult situations like now, he’ll need the power of a dark mage even more…”

“W-wait a moment, Master. A dark mage… Is this information really accurate?”

“About 70 percent?”

“Ah, a dark mage… This is getting too big…”

Dark mages who worship the evil god instead of Shin Weden and use evil energy. Their existence is known, but it’s not certain where they are or what they do. Therefore, although it’s known that their magic is dangerous, it’s not known exactly what kind of magic they use.

“I’ll send someone, but it seems we won’t be able to identify if the person is a dark mage. We don’t have anyone on our side with the eyes to recognize such things.”

“It’s an important issue, so please do your best within safe limits.”

At Roxiana’s earnest voice, Nelly nodded.

“Alright. I’ll handle it as a top priority.”

On the way to Torkan, Robert had heard from the knights’ captains about what Roxiana had accomplished. He also heard that Roxiana was the guild master of a guild called Inferno and ran a tea house called Forget-me-not.

But there was a difference between just hearing about it and actually seeing it. Watching Roxiana converse with the head of a merchant guild, he felt overwhelmed anew and his eyes stung once again.

Floyd arrived just as Nelly, who had received various instructions from Roxiana, was about to leave.

Nelly, with a slightly tense expression, greeted him with “Your Grace, the Grand Duke,” and then left abruptly without even waiting for Floyd to respond. Robert was the one confused by Nelly’s attitude.

‘Is that okay?’

When greeting a country’s monarch, one should keep their head bowed until the other responds. Even nobles of considerable rank should do so, and Robert was concerned that Floyd might be offended by Nelly’s rude behavior as a commoner.

But Floyd approached as if nothing had happened and asked Robert:

“Will you be comfortable staying in Torkan?”

“Ah… Yes, Your Grace. It’s not too cold even though it’s December, and the garden is beautiful.”

“The garden being beautiful in this weather is thanks to the princess.”

Robert, who had watched over Roxiana since she was young, had some idea of the power Roxiana possessed. Roxiana could summon wind in closed rooms and create huge water channels from small ponds. Although she would get scolded heavily by Queen Angelia each time.

“As for your lodging…”

“A room in the corridor of the princess’s bedroom will be fine for me.”

“No, that won’t do. You’re getting on in years now…”

“That’s right, Robert. This place is safe, so you don’t need to guard me all night.”

At Roxiana’s words, Robert shook his head.

“It’s not because I’m worried someone might attack the princess, but because I’m concerned the princess might sneak out at night.”

At those words, Floyd’s eyes widened, and then he put on an expression of deep understanding as he gently placed his hand on Robert’s shoulder.

“You understand my heart, sir.”