Riena, seated in the first-class seat, repeatedly covered and uncovered her ears with her palms.

It was because of the sound of the train wheels rolling. Still, thanks to the excitement of leaving the domain alone and the romance of travel, it was bearable.

‘I’m going to live splendidly, just watch.’

This was what she had been prepared for since deciding to run away. She was confident in her swordsmanship, so she wasn’t worried about protecting herself.

Still, since you never know what might happen, she thought she should stay somewhere familiar.

A place where she had memorized the roads a little, and where she had lived before.

So the girl’s destination was Artenbach.

‘When I arrive, I should find a hotel first? Then I’ll go eat something delicious.’

Having money made her feel at ease. Riena grinned as she looked out the window, indulging in various fantasies.

That’s when it happened.

“Young lady, are you traveling alone? The seat next to you is empty.”

A voice interrupted her pleasant daydreams. Turning her head, she saw a middle-aged man with his hair combed to the side, forcibly hiding his white scalp in the middle, smiling slyly.

“If you don’t have anyone to go with, shall I keep you company?”

Riena’s cheeks twitched. It was a good opportunity to show the attitude of a proud noble.

“No need.”

She spoke with her eyes lowered as much as possible, trying to look haughty. But the response was unexpected.

“Aw, why are you refusing?”

The man ignored the girl’s words and plopped down in the seat next to her. Riena showed him two train tickets from her pocket and said,

“The seat you’re sitting in is one I bought. So unless you’re willing to pay me proper compensation, it would be best if you got up.”

“Ah, we can work this out nicely.”

As he said this, two men sitting nearby approached with large strides. Hearing their snickering laughter reminded her exactly of the thugs loitering in the bustling square of Terabita.

“Now do you feel like chatting?”

The man’s face, which had been sly, now fully revealed his true intentions. Riena clicked her tongue.

“You people, if you knew who I was, you wouldn’t dare act like this.”

The man replied with a broad smile.

“Everyone says that. But we’re not interested in who you are at all, young lady. We’re only curious about that bag.”

Riena hid the bag she was holding behind her back. She hadn’t expected to meet villains so quickly.

“If you’ve read the situation, quickly hand over that bag and get lost.”

As the man’s tone changed abruptly, the girl’s small brain worked hard. Just as she was imagining pushing the man away, defeating him this way and that, and coolly escaping the train, it happened.

“Targeting one person’s luggage in a group, isn’t that cowardly?”

The words came from directly behind where Riena was sitting. First-class seats were three times more expensive than regular seats, so there were many empty seats. That’s why such an encounter with thugs in a secluded area was possible.

Riena, out of kindness, not wanting the man behind her to be harmed, spoke even more boldly.

“I’m going to call the attendant.”

The men snorted at the girl’s words.

“Go ahead and call. But know that you won’t arrive at your destination in one piece.”

It was a threat. Riena regretted not bringing her sword.

‘If only I had my sword, I wouldn’t let those guys make a peep.’

At that moment, there was a dull sound from behind. The startled man jumped up from his seat and shouted.

“You, what are you do… Urgh!”

A large fist flew into the head of the man who had stood up. The girl froze like ice at the sudden situation. It happened in an instant.

“Are you alright?”

The man from the back seat asked quietly, showing only half his face. Riena nodded instead of answering.

Meanwhile, the attendants who had appeared after hearing the call bell shouted upon seeing the thugs writhing on the ground.

“My goodness! Why are these guys here again?”

Several strong men rushed in and grabbed the thugs. One attendant asked Riena if she was okay and if anything had happened.

The girl said she was fine and glanced back at the rear seat, but the man was reading a newspaper as if nothing had happened, so she couldn’t see his face properly.

While the attendants were handling the situation, Riena learned that there was a call bell in the first-class compartment to summon attendants, and if she had pressed it, those thugs could have been dealt with easily.

“Thank you for your help.”

Riena thanked the man in the back seat. He said he had only done what should naturally be done and raised his newspaper higher to hide his face.

The girl, sitting back down, sank into thought with a slightly gloomy expression.

‘…I didn’t know at all.’

Because she had only been in the safe castle.

When she had taken the train before, elder sister Rieta had been with her. And back then, she couldn’t afford first-class seats.

She had no idea how to handle a crisis situation. It felt strange.

Because she couldn’t solve something she could have solved if she had known how.

For a very brief moment, what the home tutor had said flashed through her mind.

She couldn’t understand those words then, but now she seemed to know.

Experience was indeed important.

Henry, the loyal knight of the Terabita ducal family, felt his chest swell with pride at having rescued the young lady from danger on the train he had secretly boarded.

‘I was worried about what would happen if she recognized me, but….’

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Terabita’s little troublemaker young lady didn’t recognize him. Rather, she muttered to herself that it was natural for such things to happen during travel and that she had done well to run away.

‘If the lord heard this, he would faint.’

He had been ordered to protect her from any potential threats. It seemed that the situation to protect had come too early, but that wasn’t the important thing.

Somehow, he had a feeling that similar incidents would occur frequently with a very high probability.

He had good intuition about these things, and the train carrying the little lady who was like a time bomb quietly sped towards its destination like the calm before a storm.

Artenbach Station had changed a lot from a few years ago. There were restaurants where people lined up to wait, and among the carriages filling the roads, there was even one car set up for promotion.

‘Good. Now, let’s find a hotel first.’

Riena, gripping tightly the bag that felt heavy from carrying it continuously, stepped out of the station with firm steps. The sunshine of Artenbach, as winter was ending, was very warm, and the faces of the people were full of bright smiles.

The girl, neatly dressed in a bright yellow dress, took a rickshaw to the bustling area.

Throughout the journey, the rickshaw puller asked why she had come to Artenbach, but due to the bad experience on the train, she couldn’t easily answer questions from strangers.

After giving a vague answer and turning her head away, familiar streets came into Riena’s view. They had already arrived at the square.

As soon as she got off the rickshaw, the girl walked to find a hotel.

Honestly, she wanted to stay at the Artenbach Hotel, but since it was the largest hotel even in the domain, she thought the accommodation fees would be expensive. So she approached a slightly smaller hotel nearby.

‘Deli Hotel.’

It had a newly built atmosphere, but the accommodation fee was less than the Artenbach Hotel.

Entering the lobby with a satisfied feeling, a hotel staff greeted her with a bright smile.

Feeling good about being treated like an adult, Riena cleared her throat and approached the desk. After filling out the register and showing her ID, she was about to pay when the hotel staff tilted their head and asked,

“Did you come alone by any chance?”

“Yes, I’m alone.”

At Riena’s answer, the hotel staff said with a troubled look,

“Minors cannot stay without a guardian. I’m sorry.”

It was like a bolt from the blue. The girl argued where such a law existed, but the only answer was that it was imperial law.

In the end, Riena’s shoulders slumped as she came out again without even checking in.

She learned that clean and large accommodations cannot be stayed in alone by minors.

She had imagined a future of looking at the elegant city night view in a white gown while sipping a glass of juice.

‘There are too many things I can’t do.’

Can’t do because I don’t know.

Can’t do because I’m young.

‘What exactly can I do?’

She had boldly taken the train to escape from things she didn’t want to do, but the inability to do things caught up with her.

Riena came out of the hotel again carrying her heavy bag. Feeling hungry and sleepy, she thought even a shabby inn would be fine as long as she could just stay somewhere.

She trudged along a street a bit away from the bustling area. There were fewer people passing by, and there were groups gathered on the street examining passersby.

Then she spotted a place in the distance that served as both a tavern and an inn. A facility like that probably wouldn’t require leaving a record, she felt.

Riena puffed out a brave breath. She raised her chin to not look like a girl, and even cleared her throat once. Just as she was about to take a step to enter the inn.

“Young lady, are you going in?”

She turned her head at the voice calling from behind. The voice was the same as the one she had heard on the train earlier. The person who had knocked out the thugs with his fist and then calmly read the newspaper, saying he had only done what should naturally be done.

“Oh? We meet again?”

Riena smiled brightly without realizing it. The man opened the door with his hand and said,

“Your luggage looks heavy, so I’ll open it for you.”

The girl nodded, impressed by his manners.

Entering the inn with the man, Riena approached the counter through the noisy atmosphere. It was to rent a room.

“I want to stay for a week, is it prepaid?”

Riena thought she had delivered the line she had been rehearsing in her mind quite stylishly. The innkeeper rubbed his palms together and said,

“Oh my, of course we had… but now we don’t have any.”

He had clearly welcomed her with a bright smile, but suddenly the atmosphere changed.

“What do you mean you had but now don’t?”

When a confused Riena asked, the innkeeper glanced behind the girl. Wondering if there was something there, Riena also turned around. But there was only that man from the train, whistling and pretending to be nonchalant.

“I forgot that I had a reservation. Unfortunately, there are no vacant rooms.”

He looked genuinely regretful. Riena sighed deeply, feeling she had come for nothing.

“If that’s the case, it can’t be helped. I’ll rest for a while before leaving, so bring me something to eat.”

“Yes, I’ll bring you a menu if you take a seat!”

As she was walking towards the table with heavy steps.

“Young lady.”

The man from the train called out to Riena. The drooping corners of the girl’s eyes turned towards the man.