I was in the reception room with Clemens, eating a whole pumpkin pie that had been served as his portion.

“Is it really okay for Clemens not to eat?”

“Yes, baby, eat it all.”

I took a big bite of the pumpkin pie. The sweet pumpkin pie filled my mouth.

Clemens’s lips curved into a gentle smile as he watched me.

“Is it delicious?”

“Yes!”

As I was happily scraping up the sweet pumpkin pie, the Duke and Grand Duke Consta entered one after another.

‘Did they fight?’

It wasn’t just because of the Duke’s particularly stiff expression. Even Grand Duke Consta, who had been smiling and laughing until just now, had his lips set in a hard line.

“Princess.”

“Yes, me?”

“Yes, I mean you, Princess. First, I must apologize. Actually, what I originally intended to propose to the Princess was,”

“Gerogie.”

Before the Grand Duke could finish his sentence, the Duke cut him off mercilessly.

‘Why the sudden apology?’

I looked at the Grand Duke with a puzzled expression. At that moment, Clemens, who was next to me, gently tapped my shoulder.

“Baby, don’t worry about them. Do you want more if it’s not enough?”

Clemens’s sudden offer tempted me. I was about to reflexively answer ‘Yes!’ but I rationally calmed myself down.

“No, if I eat more, I won’t be able to eat dinner.”

I always ate all the food that was served as my portion.

If I filled up on snacks, I wouldn’t be able to eat everything, and it was obvious that would arouse Sophia’s suspicion.

“I understand your words well enough, so don’t worry.”

The Grand Duke, who had raised both hands with palms out towards the Duke, slowly approached me.

“Princess, I apologized earlier because we were trying to involve you in adult matters. As the Duke said, it’s nothing to worry about.”

‘Adult matters?’

Puzzled, I glanced at the Duke, but I saw him subtly avoiding my gaze.

‘What was that all about?’

I briefly narrowed my eyes but quickly relaxed them. I thought about asking, but if they were going to tell me, they would have done so from the beginning.

“It’s alright.”

“Thank you for saying so, Princess.”

The Grand Duke rose from his seat. Taking a deep breath and exhaling, he spoke with what seemed to be a relieved expression.

“Now I must return as well. Because of someone, my son has already returned to the kingdom.”

“I think you know best whose fault that is.”

“Well, in the end, it’s a shame my son wasn’t invited to the banquet, but…”

“You didn’t invite Oliver Consta to the banquet?!”

Shocked, I jumped up from my seat. The people around me also seemed surprised by my reaction.

“Diane, why are you concerned about that?”

“Baby, it’s okay. There were reasons why we couldn’t invite Oliver.”

The Duke asked in a chilly tone, and Clemens tried to soothe me.

I couldn’t calm down easily.

‘Oliver is the prince of the Balkandian Kingdom, isn’t he?’

It was good to get close to Grand Duke Consta, but it would be much more beneficial to directly befriend the inventor who would invent things that could earn tremendous amounts of money.

Moreover, Oliver would currently be attending Bistel Academy with Clemens.

He might move to an academy run by the Magic Tower when he gets a bit older, but I knew that Oliver’s current interests were more in history and kingship studies than magic, which is why he was attending Bistel Academy.

That means Oliver had been staying in the empire until recently, and if invited, he could have come easily.

‘Why on earth didn’t they invite him?!’

As far as I knew, they had quite a good relationship in the original story.

Surely they haven’t fought, have they?

“Princess, could it be that you’re interested in my son?”

The Grand Duke asked in what seemed to be an excited tone. I nodded vigorously.

“Yes! I really want to meet him and talk!”

If possible, I wanted to share ideas about the inventions he would make in advance.

I was planning to put my foot in the door of Oliver’s future achievements!

‘It’s not like I’m causing any harm.’

Maybe with my help, Oliver could succeed even faster.

‘Of course. This isn’t just for my own greed.’

“Good, good! Actually, I wanted to make that proposal to the Princess too! I thought the Princess and my son would get along very well!”

The excited Grand Duke grabbed my hand and shook it up and down vigorously as he continued speaking.

“Our kingdom is connected to the Baias Empire by land, but it’s much faster to cross the sea. The breed of carrier pigeons that can cross the sea is extremely rare. Even here, Count Crustel could find them without much difficulty if he looked, but I don’t think he would find the right carrier pigeon for you!”

I glanced at the Duke’s face, and he was looking at us with a fierce gaze. Seeing that expression, I sympathized with the Grand Duke’s words.

“As soon as I return to the kingdom, I’ll send you a carrier pigeon that can exchange letters with the kingdom! Using that carrier pigeon, you’ll be able to easily send letters to the kingdom!”

[This is the timeline separator]

Outside of Hesera, in an area closely bordering Keduark, there was hardly any human presence due to the proximity of monster habitats.

There, figures that had been hiding behind a large rock gradually revealed themselves.

“Ah, these damn things.”

“Damn it, I’d rather be caught by those Leviche bastards than spend another day in this hole.”

“I know. How long do we have to stay in this stinking monster pit?”

“Why don’t we just move to another territory at this point?”

Just then, not far away, an eerie cry that was neither animal nor human was heard.

The men who had been whispering to each other quickly shut their mouths.

Even after the cry had stopped, they remained silent for a long time.

The previously quiet grass in front of them rustled and showed movement. The eyes of the gathered men fixed on one spot.

Soon, what emerged from the grass was a large man.

“Boss, are you alright?”

As soon as he appeared, one of the men in the group stood up. The man called boss, Montry, waved his hand as if bothered.

“We’ll camp here tonight.”

Montry, who had the best stealth skills among them, had just returned from scouting the area.

At Montry’s words, the subordinates who had been crouching down stood up with reluctant expressions and began tidying up the surroundings.

“Boss, just a moment.”

The two moved to a spot a little away from the group.

“What are you planning to do now?”

“About what?”

“About our lodgings, sir. We can’t keep camping here forever. Everyone’s very dissatisfied.”

Montry frowned and pondered.

“I’ll tell them myself.”

At those words, his right-hand man, Sala, felt a bit relieved.

It had already been a week since they had fled from the safe area to the border region of Keduark, chased by the Leviche Knights, and everyone was reaching their limit.

‘If the boss speaks directly, the complaints should decrease.’

Of course, Sala expected Montry to say they would move to another territory.

“We’re moving back to Hesera tomorrow.”

Sala urgently asked about this completely unexpected statement.

“Boss, what do you mean? The Duke’s side won’t just sit still.”

“It’s been a week since we left Hesera. And they know we fled towards Keduark. So they probably stopped chasing us. By now, they must have given up pursuing us.”

“But those dogs have an incredibly good sense of smell, don’t they? It’s still dangerous to return right away.”

“That’s right, boss! Did you hear me complaining just now? I misspoke. Rather than being bitten by those mad dogs of Leviche, being eaten by monsters…”

Despite the objections of other subordinates, Montry shook his head firmly.

“I’m not saying we’ll stay there permanently. Our stay there will be brief.”

“Ah! Then is it to get forged identification? Because we need IDs to go to other territories,”

“Our purpose lies elsewhere.”

“Another purpose?”

The subordinates’ eyes were filled with question marks at these incomprehensible words.

“We’re going back to find the white snake.”

“!”

The subordinates’ eyes widened. A snake? What nonsense was this all of a sudden?

“What do you mean, a snake?”

“Sala, check on the boss. I think he might have been bewitched by a monster…”

Despite the murmuring of his subordinates, Montry continued speaking without concern.

“On the day those mad dogs invaded our hideout, I saw a white snake using magic.”

In fact, if it had just been words, even Sala, who was loyal to Montry, wouldn’t have believed it. But Sala had also seen the divine beast that day.

‘…It’s a snake.’

At the same time Montry muttered, Sala’s head also turned sharply. What Sala saw was a white snake that disappeared in an instant, impossibly fast.

“I saw it too, so don’t dare doubt the boss with such impertinence.”

Despite Sala and Montry’s words, the doubts of the others were not easily dispelled. As Sala, angered by this, was about to step forward, Montry raised a hand to stop him.

“Those who believe my words, follow me. Those who don’t, are free to find their own way.”

At Montry’s words, everyone around fell silent. After all, it was their boss, Montry, who had taken them in when they had nowhere else to go.

Moreover, hadn’t they just seen the foolish fate of a comrade who disobeyed Montry’s orders and lost his life?

They all chose to follow Montry’s words by remaining silent.

“Um, boss. I have a question.”

One of the subordinates cautiously raised a hand. When Montry nodded slightly, he asked.

“What do you intend to do once we find the white snake?”

It was quite a good question. Montry grinned.

[This is the timeline separator]

A few days after Grand Duke Consta left, a carrier pigeon arrived from the Balkandian Kingdom.

Sophia, quicker than anyone, brought me the news.

“It was a huge bird, young lady. Its beak looked incredibly sharp too.”

Sophia, who had seen the bird’s appearance in advance, gave a brief review.

‘Since it crosses the sea, I guess it would be huge.’

My steps unconsciously quickened. I was very intrigued by the carrier pigeon that could send letters to a kingdom in another country.

Soon after entering the room where the carrier pigeon was said to be, I couldn’t help but be surprised for various reasons.

The bird was sitting in a large cage. With its thick beak grooming its black feathers, it looked more like an eagle ruling the sky than a carrier pigeon.

“Come on, eat this, ouch! Aaargh!”

Philen made a strange noise and threw the bird feed he was holding upwards.

As small bits of bird feed fell on his head with a pattering sound, the bird, which had been acting as if it would bite his fingers with its beak, elegantly turned its head and groomed its feathers.

“What a temper, oh, young lady, you’re here?”

“Squawk!”

[It’s not tasty!]

“Yes, Philen, but just now…”

I looked around with wide eyes.

“What’s the matter?”

At that moment, the large bird opened its beak again and squawked loudly.

[I said it’s not tasty!]

“Ugh! Since it’s big, its cry is no joke. Young lady, it has a fierce temper, so don’t get too close… Young lady?”

It wasn’t a mistake. I stared quietly at the bird making the loud cry.

‘Why can I understand what it’s saying…?’