When I opened my eyes again, I saw the familiar ceiling. It was the bedroom of the academy dormitory.

“Are you feeling a bit conscious?”

Heese looked down at me with a worried face.

My fingertips twitched, and I found them halffolded, tightly wrapped in bandages.

“Yes.”

I tried to sit up to reassure Heese but winced in pain, feeling as though my whole body had been beaten.

“Lie down. The doctor said the bruises are severe. It would be good for you to rest for a while.”

I laid back down, but my mind was filled with thoughts.

“What happened? Elding, the villagers?”

“Everyone is safe. The Elding suddenly left at one point, and everyone was without significant injury, except for bruises.”

Heese wiped her face.

“Fortunately, the Elding disappeared in an instant, just as they suddenly appeared. It was almost a disaster.”

“Indeed.”

I smiled awkwardly. Fortunately, Heese didn’t notice anything and only sighed heavily.

Still feeling uneasy, I quickly changed the subject.

“The rainy season must be over now, has the king made a decision?”

I was worried that the commotion on the last day would affect the outcome.

“I heard they are still in a meeting.”

It was a dominant victory for the lightning rod, but as I feared, the last day’s commotion seemed to make the meeting prolonged.

“Don’t worry. The last day was just an exceptional situation; nothing will change.”

Heese tried to comfort me, but the ‘exceptional situation’ continued to bother me.

(This is a time separator.)

Upon hearing the news, the Duke and Duchess rushed over immediately. They made a fuss over a minor injury and then left, giving Eliza a special order.

The socalled ‘Princess’s Bed Restriction’ order. Of course, they said, “Let our daughter rest as much as she can until she fully recovers,” but the result was no different from being tied to the bed.

Thanks to that, I couldn’t get out of bed even after my shallow bruises had completely healed, and I was extremely annoyed.

As usual, as soon as I opened my eyes in the morning, I saw Eliza’s face.

“Have you woken up, Miss?”

Eliza asked in a cheerful voice, whether I sighed and buried my face in the pillow or not.

“I’ll change the bandage.”

Eliza diligently took my hand and started to unwrap the tight bandage.

“That’s strange.”

Eliza paused in changing my bandage and tilted her head.

“Why?”

“The bandage is soft as new.”

Eliza shrugged her shoulders and began to diligently wrap the new bandage around my hand.

I fiddled with my now wellstuck hand, waiting for Eliza to tie the final knot.

“Eliza, I’m feeling empty and hungry, can you make me some tea?”

“Of course!”

Eliza jumped up as soon as the treatment was finished.

“I don’t want just any tea…….”

“Tell me anything! I’ll make it exactly as you say.”

I didn’t miss this opportunity and bossed around, acting like the original novel’s princess.

“Exactly 40 degrees warm, clockwise stirred milk three teaspoons, exactly 45 degrees warm, counterclockwise stirred milk four teaspoons, and four and onethird minute’s worth of finegrinded sugar sprinkled like fairy dust by a nail’s worth in the tea. Oh right, don’t forget to add a freshly picked mint leaf from the academy garden.”

Despite the unreasonable request, Eliza clenched her fist as if overflowing with enthusiasm.

“Of course, Miss! I’ll make you the best tea right away.”

I shouted at the quickly disappearing back of Eliza.

“Nothing can be missing.”

As soon as Eliza disappeared, I quickly got out of bed and hastily dressed. But even after leaving the dormitory, I only lingered in place.

I needed to move quickly before Eliza returned, but for some reason, my feet wouldn’t move.

After a long time, I finally found my direction and headed straight for the boys’ dormitory across the way.
But upon arriving at the men’s dormitory, I encountered a new problem.

I couldn’t boldly enter through the main gate, nor could I use the method Kirian had used to enter my room.

As I was going back and forth by the main gate, someone called out to me.

“Princess Reina?”

It was Gerald.

“Can we talk?”

It was Gerald, speaking the same words as last time. But the look in his eyes was completely different. Perhaps mine was the same.

I nodded briefly once.

“Yes. Let’s talk, us.”

(This is a time separator.)

“It’s all Prince Kirian’s doing.”

Gerald looked at my expression for a moment, thinking I’d be surprised, but when I showed no particular reaction, he frowned.

“He approached me first, saying he would teach me how to hunt Eldings.”

He was more nonchalant than I expected. If it had been before, I would have jumped at the fact that he taught someone else the hunting method he never fully taught me.

“When it rained, he prepared the Eldings in the village I was responsible for, so I could catch them easily. Thanks to that, there was no Elding damage in either your village or mine.”

This must have been why he was so busy that he didn’t even have time to have a meal with me all this time.