“Are you feeling better from your motion sickness?”

Klaus, who had his horse close to the open window, cheerfully struck up a conversation.

She was already exhausted just from riding in the carriage, but the knights seemed more energetic day by day, as if they were happier to be out of the castle.

She nodded and replied.

“I’m feeling a bit better today. Margaret is still struggling though. By the way, where are we now?”

“We’ll be arriving in Thule soon. It’s a small village at the edge of the Schleicher region, but it has one of the best inns in all of Vitzleben. It’s not only clean, but the chef’s cooking is exquisite.”

He said with a friendly demeanor, licking his lips.

Just from seeing how eagerly he devoured the trout last time, it was clear that he not only liked good food, but practically worshipped it.

If his activity level had dropped even a little, he definitely wouldn’t have been able to maintain his current slender figure.

Adel asked with a bit of curiosity.

“Is the cooking at that inn really that amazing?”

“Yes. All the dishes are good since they use herbs they grow themselves, but the venison stew is especially famous. It’s incredible when eaten with freshly baked bread. I highly recommend you try it since you have the chance this time.”

“I’m really looking forward to it. But how do you know it so well?”

“Because if you keep going northwest past this village, you reach Nordhofen. That’s the battlefield where we were stuck for years.”

Ah, so that’s why. As her curiosity was satisfied, Adel smiled faintly, and Klaus grinned back, adding:

“Even back then, I always made sure to fill my stomach generously whenever we passed through here. By the way, it’ll be nice to have a proper meal for once. After chewing on dry food for days, all the fat’s been sucked out of my belly.”

“Klaus.”

The blonde knight brought his horse close to them and joined the conversation.

“Don’t speak rudely to Her Highness.”

It was Knight Joachim. The handsome man with blonde hair and blue eyes often felt like a prince straight out of a fairy tale.

As a result, he was very popular among the maids regardless of age, and even Adel remembered his name.

When their eyes met, Joachim bowed his head in respect with a stern face.

As always, Adel got the impression this time too that Joachim didn’t particularly like her.

Was it a misunderstanding because of his lack of facial expressions and few words?

Adel hurriedly spoke up.

“I’m fine. I didn’t feel it was rude at all.”

“Klaus. Please be mindful.”

As if he hadn’t heard her words, Joachim only warned Klaus again, then quickly rode his horse back to the front of the group.

Embarrassed by Joachim’s brusque attitude, Klaus scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

Noticing that Adel’s expression had hardened, he quickly offered words of comfort.

“He’s just like that because he’s the type to stick strictly to principles, so please don’t think too deeply about it, Your Highness.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

“Then I shall come see you again in a little while.”

After Klaus also went to the front of the procession, a boring silence fell over the carriage once more.

Margaret had been asleep the whole time due to motion sickness, so she wasn’t a good conversation partner, and there were too many eyes subtly watching to concentrate on magic training.

The village that had looked close when seen with the eyes was much farther than she had thought.

Only after the midday sun had completely set behind the mountain ridge were they able to arrive in Thule.

It was a time closer to midnight than evening.

“This is bad.”

They had been waiting for a long time after arriving in the village, with no signal to disembark.

Margaret, who had gone to check on the situation outside, returned to the carriage with a frown. Adel pulled up her shawl and asked.

“Has some problem occurred?”

“It seems there aren’t enough rooms at the inn. Originally, there would have been enough for everyone, but apparently the knights escorting the lord of Linzingen have already claimed most of the rooms. It looks like they also plan to use the Thalia Highway that leads straight to the capital from here.”

“How many rooms are lacking?”

“It seems there are only two or three left. And even that’s not certain.”

“Ah.”

“Everything else is fine, but I’m most worried about the safety of you two. We may have to skip this village after all.”

Adel swallowed her disappointment and nodded.

They couldn’t stay at an inn that couldn’t even accommodate the minimum guard force to protect them.

Especially not in a place crawling with another lord’s knights.

As she was pondering if there was any other way, Adel startled at the sound of someone knocking on the window.

“Adel.”

It was Valentin. Her husband’s face, which she was seeing for the first time since leaving Ansgar territory, looked gaunt, sunk in deep fatigue.

Adel hesitated a little before opening the window wide.

“What’s the matter?”

“First, get out of the ca-rriage. Margaret. Would you leave us for a mo-ment?”

His manner of commanding Margaret now exuded the dignity befitting a lord of the north.

Although his pronunciation was still slightly imprecise, there was hardly anything to fault in his attitude alone.

Since they hadn’t hired a separate etiquette teacher, it seemed he had somehow managed to revive the memories he had swallowed from the Grand Duke of Ansgar.

Margaret nodded and stepped down from the carriage. She didn’t leave immediately, but hesitated and added:

“Her Highness has weak stamina. She must be much more tired than Your Grace.”

Margaret, who had started to feel attached to Adel, even left an indirect request for His Grace not to be too clingy, as Her Highness must be fatigued.

Adel blushed at Margaret’s meddling and asked again.

“Has something serious happened?”

“Ah. No. I came to tell you that it seems diffi-cult to rest in this village…”

“If that’s all you wanted to say, why didn’t you send a servant or attendant?”

“I thought you might be disap-pointed.”

He smiled obliquely in the darkness. His golden eyes shone beautifully in the soft light leaking from the inn.

Adel deliberately averted her gaze from his face and said:

“Actually, I heard the story from Margaret. That there aren’t enough rooms at the inn. Do you plan to leave for the next village right away?”

“It seems we’ll have to. But they said we can still have a meal, so I rented a room for you to rest while the soldiers eat.”

“A room?”

“Bath water should be pre-pared, so go up and wash and rest for a bit. We’ll leave again in three hours.”

Bath water!

Adel let out a small exclamation. Her whole body ached from traveling on the bumpy forest road, and she felt grimy all over from not washing for three days.

Moreover, the temperature dropped sharply at night, and even wrapping herself in shawls and blankets wasn’t enough to drive away the chill completely.

She happily took Valentin’s outstretched hand and stepped down from the carriage.

“I’ll have food sent up for you too. Follow this maid.”

“It’s an honor to serve you, Grand Duchess. This way please.”

At Valentin’s gesture, the woman standing behind him greeted gently.

Adel followed the maid into the inn. As Klaus had promised, the inn was large compared to the size of the village, and seemed to be run relatively cleanly.

It was thanks to fully enjoying the geographical advantage of being located at the starting point of the Thalia Highway.

Soldiers and knights were already freely seated around round tables, eating venison stew.

Although her stomach growled at the delicious smell, a bath was the top priority above all else.

“The threshold is high. Please be careful.”

Following the guidance of the maid holding a candle, Adel entered the room to find clean new clothes, towels, and bath water with wisps of steam rising prepared.

“Shall I assist you with your bath? If you’re uncomfortable, I can also call the lady-in-waiting you brought with you.”

“It’s alright. I can manage on my own.”

At Adel’s words, the maid’s face turned pale.

She seemed surprised and bewildered to have received such polite treatment from the Grand Duchess of Ansgar.

The maid seemed to be pondering whether or not to carefully point out this fact, but then she tightly closed her lips and hurriedly left the room. She appeared afraid of possibly incurring any unnecessary fault.

As soon as she closed the door, Adel quickly undressed and slipped into the water.

“Ahh…”

At first, the hot water felt unbearably stinging on her skin that had grown cold.

But soon her stiff body began to loosen up comfortably, and drowsiness washed over her.

She soaked her body thoroughly in the heat, then carefully washed her hair and entire body with soap that lathered richly.

Then she happily emerged from the tub with her cheeks flushed red.

She had just finished drying off the moisture with a towel and changing into clean new clothes when there was a knock at the door.

It was probably the meal that Valentin said he would send up.

“Come in.”

Adel turned towards the open door while drying her hair with a towel.

However, it wasn’t the maid or Margaret who entered the room. It was Valentin.

Adel blinked, frozen stiff in surprise and bewilderment.

“…”

Even though she was fully clothed, she felt embarrassed as if caught in an intimate moment.

Was it because of the hazy steam filling the room? But he paid no heed to her consternation and strode across the room to set down the tray he was carrying on the table.

“How are you fee-ling?”