“Sir Liam, this is Sir Liam’s plate.”

Hall held out two plates, one piled high with meat, the other with a moderate amount.

There were plates with meat and bowls of soup, and the knights were taking similar portions. It was obvious which plate was Liam’s just from the amount piled on.

Liam stared blankly at the plates, then picked up the one with more and showed it.

“This should be given to the princess.”

“Why? The princess eats little, so give her the smaller portion.”

“I don’t know what you might have done. I’ll eat this and have more if needed.”

“Tch.”

Hall took Ormia’s portion of soup, poured it back into the pot and mixed it. Then he served it again.

“Hall.”

“I just added a bit more salt. It’s still edible.”

Liam had expected the aide Hall Lund’s attitude to be disagreeable. Even if not a Wilboyer, anyone closely associated with the family would be hostile towards Beltoa like Hall.

Liam had been the same.

Liam approached Ormia who was sitting in front of the campfire.

With her eyes half-closed gazing at the fire, she looked quite tired.

‘And yet she said she would help.’

Ormia had gotten out of the carriage and staggered towards the knights. She had come forward saying she would help prepare the camp.

The knights absolutely refused, saying she might get hurt. Hall seized the opportunity to make her tidy up the carriage while scolding her.

What a dirty trick to bully her like that. As Liam approached to warn him, Ormia said to Hall with shining eyes:

“Thank you for taking such good care of me.”

She thanked the person bullying her.

‘That’s not it!’ Hall was unable to continue. But such incidents didn’t end there.

“Thank you for talking to me.”

“You’re so kind.”

“Thank you for letting me know.”

Hall was taken aback by Ormia’s thanks. Losing his fighting spirit in the face of her sincere gratitude, Hall no longer bullied Ormia.

“Eat.”

Liam set the plate down in front of Ormia and sat down some distance away.

“Thank you.”

“It’s not the food you ate at the palace, so it’s rough. Once we cross the border it’ll be better, so for now force yourself to eat even if you don’t want to.”

“I’m not picky about food. I’m grateful just to have something to eat.”

Liam’s throat felt dry even though he hadn’t eaten yet.

‘Did the King of Glishia starve his child? Did he even discriminate with food so pettily?’

She had felt too light when he carried her after she collapsed at the banquet.

“Eat more.”

He put another piece of meat on Ormia’s plate.

Ormia took a sip of soup and slowly chewed the meat. The way she nibbled with her small mouth was neat and elegant, just like at the banquet.

Feeling frustrated, he licked his dry lips and tasted sweetness. The candy he had snatched still lingered in his mouth.

The sweetness clings.

It was a drug Liam didn’t need right now, one that eased the fatigue in his shoulder muscles and loosened his nerves.

As he put a large piece of meat in his mouth, Liam frowned deeply. Ptooey, he spat it out onto the ground.

“Hall!”

At the same time, the knights near the other campfire shouted and caused an uproar.

“Ah, damn it! I knew it was ruined!”

“Why does the meat taste like this!”

“Ptooey! Even a dog wouldn’t eat this! I told you we shouldn’t let Hall handle the food!”

“How can it taste like this when it’s just grilled meat?”

In the chaos, a piece of meat fell and a fox quickly ran up and snatched it in its mouth. It froze as if struck by lightning, then spat it out. It turned around and rapidly covered it with dirt using its hind legs.

“Look at that! Even an animal won’t eat it!”

“Why? It tastes good.”

“Maybe to you, Hall! Because you don’t have normal taste buds!”

The moment he bit into the meat with his molars, an earthy smell spread in his mouth. Mixed with a sour taste, it felt like grilled rotten meat.

It was wild boar and fowl that they had caught while preparing the camp.

Liam’s eyes met Ormia’s wide-eyed gaze.

Her small mouth was still moving.

“Don’t eat it. It’s not edible.”

“Pardon?”

“Spit it out.”

“It’s fine.”

Ormia swallowed it.

She ate something that even Liam, who had lived roughly rolling through battlefields, found hard to chew.

“It’s not bad enough to make me ill. I saw it being caught and everyone is sharing it, so I know it’s not poisonous. I need to eat to make it to the border.”

Those were his words.

But that didn’t mean she should force herself to eat regardless of the taste.

“That’s not what I meant! It should at least be decent food.”

“I’ve eaten rotten food before. This is edible.”

“I-I’m sorry. To compare it to rotten food…”

Hall whimpered, having heard Ormia’s words.

Hall, who had persisted saying “everyone’s tastes are different” despite others warning him about cooking and calling his culinary skills the worst, was finally shocked.

“From now on I’ll try harder to improve my cooking sk-”

“”Don’t try!””

Liam and the knights refused simultaneously.

* * *

For dinner, they shared a stew made with meat that Hall hadn’t touched.

They decided to take turns keeping watch, and Ormia went into the carriage.

Liam set up his tent next to that carriage.

He had gone to bed early since he had the dawn watch, but then he heard the carriage door open. Creeak, she came out.

Liam slowly got up.

‘Without a maid, this part must be inconvenient.’

Though there was a sentry, they hadn’t assigned a separate guard for the princess.

Liam lifted the tent flap and went outside.

He made eye contact with the knight on watch near the campfire. He gestured for him to go in and looked at Ormia.

She was standing not far from the carriage.

The forest night was cold, but she was looking up at the sky without even a shawl over her shoulders. The wind lightly touched her dress.

He was reminded of her back view as she approached the water barrier at the castle gates.

As Glishian royalty, she must know well the power of a duke’s ability, yet she showed no fear. She likely had faith that the duke wouldn’t harm her, but it’s not easy for a delicate woman to do so.

Though his stay at the royal palace wasn’t long, Liam had seen much.

He could infer how Ormia had been treated and raised. He couldn’t claim to fully understand her life, but despite being a princess, she wasn’t treated as one, and it seemed this wasn’t just a matter of a year or two as Ormia accepted it as natural.

She looked like someone who had given up many things. She had no lingering attachment to her family.

He had thought something was off since she proposed leaving Glishia to Liam.

He had been surprised several times, but when she stepped forward at the castle gates, he was overwhelmed.

“Withdraw your ability, Duke Bersi! That’s an order!”

She gave orders to the duke and stood before the spear-wielding soldiers.

She knew what she possessed and how to use it.

“It’s Glishia sending me away. Your Majesty and Duke, you abandoned me first.”

“By the King’s order, I am on my way to the Empire. Duke Haiman, do you intend to block me and commit treason by defying His Majesty’s orders?”

She also had the cleverness to see what the dukes would fear, to read their psychology.

‘Why did someone like that live that way until now?’

If not that, then.

‘What made the princess change?’

She was delicate yet firm.

That means she was that desperate.

‘Unexpectedly defenseless.’

Recalling what happened before entering the tent, Liam rubbed his jaw. He swallowed a groan.

As they were discussing the upcoming journey and deciding on the watch, Ormia, who had been quiet, froze everyone.

“I’ll share the tent with Liam.”

Even Hall, who had been disapproving of Ormia’s actions, was at a loss for words. Receiving everyone’s stares, Ormia tried to persuade the shocked group.

“If I sleep in Liam’s tent, won’t it confuse any attackers?”

“Are you in your right mind? You’re saying you’ll sleep in the same tent as Sir Liam? In that small space?”

“Ah, I don’t have any bad sleeping habits. I sleep quietly.”

“That’s not the issue, he’s an unrelated man! A fully grown adult man!”

“I don’t see Liam that way, so it’s fine.”

Liam listened to Hall and Ormia’s conversation and then neatly settled it.

If he kept listening, he felt he wouldn’t be able to bear it. The mental shock was great.

“The princess will sleep in the carriage and we’ll keep watch. Decide on the order.”

Recalling that time, Liam shook his head.

‘She was married before, so why does she have no sense of caution? Is she trying to seduce me?’

Even in the Empire, there was no end to noblewomen’s seductions. Ormia didn’t give off that kind of atmosphere at all.

The sweetness of the candy, which should have disappeared by now, lingered in his mouth.

He had chewed on a toothbrush tree after dinner, so the taste shouldn’t remain.

“Aren’t you cold?”

Ormia was looking up at the sky without moving.

They need to leave early tomorrow morning, so she should try to sleep even if forced. Liam draped his cloak over Ormia’s shoulders and then was taken aback.

Ormia was crying.

She was quietly shedding tears while looking up at the pitch-black night sky.

“It’s my first time.”

“…What is?”

With a feeling of pressure choking his throat, Liam barely managed to speak.

This was the woman who didn’t cry even when enduring everyone’s mockery and being hit by the Olan women.

She remained calm even when the chandelier fell and she saw her family only worrying about others right in front of her.

This person only cried when she opened her eyes after barely surviving, when her father, the King of Glishia, had given her infertility drugs.

“It’s my first time seeing the night sky.”

Liam couldn’t take his eyes off Ormia.

Her tears sparkled in the moonlight.

“I always only saw my family. I was always looking at the people around me, then lowered my head. What shoes I was wearing, what flowers were blooming, only the patterns on the hall floor caught my eye.”

Haah, Ormia sighed deeply and murmured.

“When I lift my head, the sky is like this.”

She was crying but smiling.

“Such a beautiful night sky unfolded every night… and I’m seeing it for the first time now.”

Liam’s brow furrowed at the uncomfortable emotion heavily pressing on his chest.

He had seen many noblewomen cry after being rejected by him. He knew how to comfort them. He should say kind words and tell her it will be alright.

“Don’t become weak.”

Liam said coldly.

Only then did Ormia’s eyes turn to him.

“The princess hasn’t left Glishia yet. Have such sentimental thoughts after you arrive at the Grand Duchy of Wilboyer.”

“Yes.”

Not seeming to mind his cold comfort, Ormia answered firmly.

Her expression looked better than when she was lost in sentiment gazing at the sky.

“We leave early tomorrow, so go in and sleep. You’ll see the night sky to the point of boredom for decades to come, until you die.”

Ormia didn’t answer and just smiled.