The knights removed fallen bricks and used mortar to secure new bricks brought by the servants to the wall.

After removing old rotted planks and attaching new ones, they continued the work of fixing them to match the structure.

While the knights repaired broken window frames and replaced glass with new panes, the servants continued cleaning the corridors that were covered in dust and cobwebs.

Unlike the noisy movements of the knights, the servants moved silently with disciplined motions as if they had rehearsed.

They rearranged furniture and decorations, and removed old carpets and torn curtains.

From dawn until sunset, the renovation of the annex, which would normally have taken a month, was completed surprisingly early.

However, since the knights were not professional repairmen, they did not realize that the speed of restoration was unrealistically fast.

“Amazing! As expected, the knights work well together.”

Litania smiled brightly and praised the astonishingly changed state of the annex. Bain, the captain, bowed awkwardly in response.

“You’re too kind, my lady.”

“I was planning to have the staff clean up, but I’m sorry for making you work hard as soon as you arrived.”

“We only did what was necessary.”

Was it because the butler and other servants’ attitudes were too blunt? Or because the dragon lord, the master of the Dragon Castle, hadn’t shown his face even after a day of arrival?

Seeing the bright and cheerful princess wandering around in a fluttering dress, praising them, seemed to melt away their tired bodies and minds.

‘So this is what she’s like.’

When serving at the imperial palace, they hadn’t noticed her presence. When they had briefly crossed paths, they thought she was simply naive and innocent from lack of social interaction.

But now, directly encountering her at the Dragon Castle, Litania was lovely enough to completely shatter their preconceptions.

‘Why didn’t we recognize such a warm person until now?’

Even knowing about the contrast effect, Bain couldn’t help but feel grateful to her, as she was the only one welcoming them in this desolate Dragon Castle.

“You must be hungry, so I’ve prepared a meal. Today you can eat in the main palace dining room.”

The meal after finishing the rough and hard work tasted even better than what the best chef in the imperial palace could make. They chatted noisily, shaking off the fatigue accumulated from repairing the castle.

“Does the food suit your taste?”

The knights who had been chattering like common folk quickly shut their mouths and sat up straight, pretending to be refined gentlemen as soon as Litania appeared.

Litania mistakenly thought they had suddenly gone quiet to focus on her words and felt pleased.

“This is Pepper, the head chef. He’ll be in charge of cooking for all of you from now on.”

“We cooked together with the chef sent from the imperial palace.”

The bear-like man standing next to Litania bowed his head with a gruff expression.

The man, who truly resembled a bear with his huge body, large ears, and broad face, had a mysterious gaze as expressionless as the butler’s, though his appearance was completely different.

Seeing the chef’s rough-jointed hands covered in thick hair, the knights looked down at their empty plates.

‘Can those hands really perform such impressively delicate work…?’

‘Could this chef actually be a master swordsman?’

The knights exchanged glances as if they had similar thoughts, but no one voiced them aloud.

“Um, and… what else do you need? Would you like some alcohol?”

Alcohol!

Sweet alcohol after hard labor!

The knights’ eyes lit up with excitement. Unable to show their enthusiasm in front of Litania and the Dragon Castle’s chef they were meeting for the first time, they bit their trembling lips and stared at their captain Bain with burning eyes.

Bain brushed off his subordinates’ gazes with a sour face and politely declined in a firm voice.

“We’ve only just prepared our lodgings, and haven’t even set up the training grounds or weapon maintenance yet. We can’t toast so soon. I must decline, my lady.”

Why not!

Despair settled on the knights’ faces, but Litania, unaware of their inner thoughts, tilted her head before smiling brightly.

“Then I’ll have warm tea brought out so you can all sleep comfortably tonight. It’s a sweet fruit tea.”

The woman’s gentle voice, like a spring breeze, was the only comfort in this place. They drank the sweet fruit tea bitterly and trudged back to their quarters.

Another day passed like that in the Dragon Castle.

From the next day, the gardener and chef’s schedules began as planned.

However, the knights had to start by preparing the ground across the lake to set up a training field.

There was only one main road from the Dragon Castle to outside the lake. They circled around outside the lake to select a suitable space, then built a new embankment connecting from the east annex to that location.

They leveled the terrain to make the training ground floor even, marked areas with stones, and installed wooden fences.

Click-clack. As if they had discovered their talent for construction in just one day, the knights’ handiwork became quicker.

Not realizing it was only possible because of the Dragon Castle, the knights were all amazed that they had developed a new skill they hadn’t noticed before.

Some even joked that they could open workshops when they retired.

Since there were no horses in the Dragon Castle except for those pulling the carriage they had arrived in, new horses had to be brought in from outside.

First, they built stables and calculated the amount of feed the horses would need, placing an order with the butler. Afterwards, they prepared spaces for tactical training and built temporary rest areas.

The armory was set up in the basement of the east annex, but a weapon storage room was also needed within the training grounds for systematic training.

As voices were exchanged to decide on castle security, weapon management, and future horse duty rotations.

“Everyone’s working hard. Would you like some snacks?”

The harsh autumn sunlight changed to bright spring sunshine. It was Litania’s appearance.

“The knights seem to like them, so I prepared a lot. If there are leftovers, please return them to the kitchen.”

“These guys would eat the plates too, so no worries, my lady.”

Captain Bain expressed his gratitude and nodded to the knights. They quickly cleaned up the area, moved with disciplined motions to distribute the snacks, and expressed their thanks to Litania.

Though they were called knights, they were ordinary people who liked to be relaxed except during official occasions.

‘The lady is a good person.’

‘The captain said he knew the lady before coming here.’

‘He said she helped his sister as soon as they met…’

‘I can see why he volunteered to come here.’

Not just Bain, but everyone was gradually coming to understand.

In the isolated Dragon Castle, among the expressionless, blunt, and all-male servants, Litania’s presence was like sunshine to them.

‘Why didn’t we recognize such a person before?’

They had only thought of her as an unwanted princess and hadn’t paid her any attention.

‘If only we had known and gotten close to her earlier.’

A quiet regret filled their hearts. Thinking of the dragon lord who still hadn’t shown his face, if it weren’t for Litania, they would have had to endure each day doing hard labor to follow the imperial order in this remote place without even a master.

More than the splendid castle scenery or delicious food, they were more grateful for Litania’s presence, who acknowledged their hard work and brought them smiles.

“Oh, right. Since the knights are using the east annex, I was wondering, have you repaired the east tower?”

“We heard from the butler that the tower is managed by the staff.”

“But it’s connected to the annex, isn’t it?”

“There is indeed an outer wall connecting to the tower, but there’s no passage from the annex to the tower.”

“Oh… is that so?”

Didn’t I cross from the east annex to the tower that day? As Litania rolled her eyes and tilted her head, Captain Bain asked.

“Is there a problem with the east tower?”

“No. It’s not a problem, but I think it’s better not to go there. They said it’s a restricted area.”

“A restricted area?”

It was a bit different from the butler’s words asking them not to encounter the staff’s area. If it was a restricted area, it meant even Litania, the lady of the house, couldn’t go there.

“Could it be that?”

One of the knights suddenly spoke up.

“That what?”

“The Door of Farewell. I heard rumors it’s in the Dragon Castle.”

There was a mixture of murmurs from knights who knew the rumor and those who didn’t. Litania, her curiosity piqued, quietly slipped in among them.

“What’s the Door of Farewell?”

“It’s a door that appears in legends. They say if you cross that door, you’re no longer a person of this world.”

Is it like the River of Death? My love, don’t cross that river… Litania’s eyes grew hazy.

“You mean it’s a door of death where you say farewell to this world? There’s no way something so dangerous could be in this Dragon Castle…”

“It’s probably not dangerous for dragons. The prevailing interpretation is that such legends were created because it’s a place humans shouldn’t casually enter.”

“I see…”