Red stared at Adrian with black eyes as if to say, “What are you talking about?”

“You’re not an ordinary horse, are you?”

Seeing Red only blinking, Adrian grinned.

“See, you’re not an ordinary horse. Any other time you would have spat a mouthful of saliva at me or chewed on my hair by now, but since you seem to have noticed I’m onto something, you’re behaving… Aagh! What are you doing?! Let go!”

Red chewed on Adrian’s hair. Adrian, who barely escaped, brushed back his saliva-soaked hair as he backed away and glared at Red.

“As expected, you’re not an ordinary beast. Lion and Nice are the same, and that eagle too… What on earth is going on? They don’t seem to be demons… What kind of creatures are they? Why are they hanging around the princess?”

“What about you? What are you doing?”

Turning his head at the voice coming from the stable entrance, Adrian saw Hexten leaning against the entrance with his arms crossed, giving him a look of disdain. Adrian pointed at Red.

“Hexten, listen. This guy… Aagh! Stop biting! Are you carnivorous or what?”

Hexten burst into laughter, dumbfounded by the sight of Adrian screaming while clutching his finger bitten by Red.

“You’re still out of your mind, Lord Tellis.”

“I’m not out of my mind, it’s really strange. When I went to the garden earlier, this guy, Lion, Nice, and some huge eagle I don’t know were around the princess, and suddenly they turned to look at me… Ah, how should I describe it? It was very…”

Scary. But he didn’t want to let anyone know that he had felt scared of four beasts. Roxiana seemed to have noticed, but it was fortunate that only she had. Roxiana wouldn’t tease others about such things.

But if Hexten found out, he would surely spread it around, and before the day was over, rumors would spread throughout Gania. It would probably even reach the ears of Arsen and Cain far away.

While Adrian was struggling to find the right expression for various reasons, Hexten walked up and stood in front of Red. As always, Red spat at Hexten as soon as he came close.

Hexten wiped the spit off his face and said,

“This one’s still the same?”

“No, that’s what I’m saying… He’s acting right now.”

“What reason is there to act in a stable? And if he were acting, he’d pretend to be docile and obedient.”

“That’s not it… Ah, forget it.”

Adrian rubbed his spit-soaked hair and walked towards the stable entrance. When he turned back for a moment, Red was lifting one corner of his mouth as if sneering.

“Look at that, Hexten!”

When Hexten turned his gaze following Adrian’s finger, Red was quietly chewing on grass. Hexten asked Adrian incredulously,

“What exactly am I supposed to be looking at?”

Adrian pounded his chest in frustration, shook his head, and left the stable.

After everyone had left, Red spat out the grass and stood still when the eagle landed on the stable railing.

“You’re quick-witted.”

Red chuckled at the eagle’s muttering.

“Not really. I’ve been here for 10 years and he’s only noticed now, so he’s too slow. How about Lanian Franche? Still no trace?”

“It’s strange. Sometimes it seems like he’s there, sometimes not… Considering how well he’s hiding despite our serious search, it seems the dark mage has considerable skill.”

“That’s worrying. They use a lot of gloomy magic. If they attack head-on, it wouldn’t be a problem, but if they ambush, it could be a bit dangerous.”

The eagle sighed. It was such a deep sigh that its feathers ruffled.

“If only I weren’t trapped in this body, things wouldn’t have gotten so troublesome. I should go out again. I felt something strange outside the city. I need to search that area thoroughly.”

“Yes, take care, Lady Minerva.”

“Watch over Roti well, Ignis.”

As the red horse called ‘Ignis’ stared up at the rapidly disappearing eagle, Adrian, who had entered the knights’ quarters with Hexten, was also watching from an open window.

+++

Since the head maid Eledrun did not accompany this trip to Gania, Petria, Roxiana’s dedicated maid, naturally became the highest-ranking maid among those who came here.

Of course, there were a few maids with better backgrounds and more experience than Petria, but Petria’s status naturally rose from the moment Roxiana became engaged to Floyd.

Petria knew there were gazes that resented her, a former commoner maid who suddenly became the maid of the ‘future grand duchess’, and she was well aware that some maids disrespected her and didn’t follow her requests.

But she didn’t want to bother Roxiana by tattling about every little problem between employees, so she was enduring it alone.

In the midst of this, a grand party was to be held, and Petria found herself in a very difficult situation. Roxiana had called in a few experts to assist the inexperienced Petria, but it was still Petria who had to oversee everything.

From the day they arrived in Gania until today when the party was to be held, Petria had to direct, check, and confirm everything one by one, even cutting back on sleep.

After sleeping for only two hours and getting up at dawn to tour the huge hall where the party would be held, going to the kitchen to double-check the menu, checking the serving staff to see if anything was lacking, the day was already breaking.

As she was walking towards the dressing room to check the dress Roxiana would wear, a black figure in the corridor moved. Used to this, Petria continued walking without surprise and greeted the person.

“Sir Cenare.”

“You’re working hard.”

Robert spoke in a voice that sounded like scraping metal. It was an odd voice, but Petria didn’t think so.

She had heard that when the tragedy occurred, Robert’s voice changed after being stabbed in the throat while trying to protect Roxiana. Yet she thought it was amazing that he still led the rebel forces for the Franche royal family with unwavering loyalty.

“I have many shortcomings, so I’m worried. It would have been better if someone more skilled had been the princess’s dedicated maid…”

“You’re doing well enough.”

“What if I fail to prepare properly and cause trouble for the princess? I heard the upcoming parties in Gania are important, and I’m worried that the princess and His Highness might be embarrassed because of me.”

Having become quite close to Robert through their brief conversations, Petria could say things to him that she couldn’t to Roxiana. Robert, as always, spoke kindly and leisurely.

“The princess assigned this to you knowing you would do well, so there’s no need to worry too much. The princess has a good eye for people.”

Robert was the only one here who called Petria ‘lady’. So whenever he called her that, it made her toes tingle for no reason.

She had told him many times that she was just of commoner origin, but Robert kept calling her lady.

Feeling embarrassed, Petria tapped the floor with her toes and said,

“Well then, I’ll go in now. I need to check the princess’s dress.”

“Please do.”

Robert stepped back slightly with a small bow. Feeling her face flush for no reason, Petria hurriedly entered the dressing room.

The dressing room had clothes racks and display stands in all directions. Dresses filled the racks, and hats, gloves, shoes, and accessories packed the display stands. Even though she had seen it many times, her heart still raced every time.

When she first became Roxiana’s attendant, her dressing room was empty. But now it was filled with dresses made by Gania’s most famous designers using the finest quality fabrics, making it difficult to choose what to wear.

People believed that Floyd had bought all of this, but only Petria knew the truth.

‘Our amazing princess.’

This was all bought with money Roxiana had earned.

Roxiana earned an enormous amount of money operating a guild. Petria didn’t know the details, but she said the money coming in from tolls, information fees, and the sale of restaurants, teahouses, and seafood was substantial.

Who would have thought that Roxiana, who had drifted into Torkan penniless and branded as a slave, would become so successful?

Suddenly remembering Roxiana’s miserable appearance when she first saw her, Petria’s eyes stung.

‘Back then, she always said she wanted to die…’

In just over two years, Roxiana had firmly established her position. Thinking about how much anguish and pain she must have gone through until then made Petria’s heart ache.

Petria sniffled a little, then quickly pulled herself together and selected a few dresses for Roxiana to wear today.

‘Since it’s warm, blue tones would be good. Light green symbolizing spring might be nice too. Ah, this purple would really suit her well…’

Indeed. What wouldn’t suit her?

In Petria’s eyes, Roxiana looked the prettiest in the world, so whenever she chose dresses, she fell into worry thinking everything would suit her well.

‘She said not to be too excessive, so purple or violet tones would be good. It will give a calm and elegant feeling.’

The head maid Eledrun had trained Petria, saying that as the dedicated maid, she needed to develop an eye for fashion, and made her study countless dress catalogs. Thanks to that, she had developed some sense and could now choose dresses suitable for the occasion.

Feeling deeply grateful for Eledrun’s foresight, Petria also selected shoes and gloves to match the dresses.

Not knowing what Roxiana would like, she chose several outfits and came out, by which time it was already fully light outside.

Since women’s grooming takes a long time, it was time to start preparing Roxiana.

Robert was still standing in front of Roxiana’s bedroom.

“Do you think the princess has woken up?”

“There was some movement, so we should hear something soon.”