I’m going to drown. Laila thought. Not just her throat, but she felt bubbles rising from her airway to deep in her lungs, filled with water.

“How is it? Less dizzy?”

That sensation vanished in an instant when Eustar’s voice was heard. Laila gasped for breath like someone just pulled out of water, unconsciously grabbing her throat. The suffocating feeling had disappeared without a trace.

Laila, rolling her wide-open eyes back and forth, said.

“Is this what all portals are like? Do you have to jump off a cliff or experience vivid drowning?”

Eustar burst into laughter.

“Not all of them are like that. There are better ones. More ordinary. Well, but I should tell you in advance that there are some that aren’t? Since you’ll be using portals here and there from now on.”

“Are there worse ones than this?”

“There are. But you’ll get used to it quickly. It’s just an illusion anyway.”

What kind of person with bad taste made this. Laila looked down at her clothes with an unbelievable expression. She clearly felt like she had fallen into deep water, but not a single drop of water was on her, making it feel like wandering in a strange dream.

“Where is this?”

Looking around, Laila unconsciously raised her head high. The dizzyingly high ceiling made her feel vertigo. It seemed circular, but it was too far to be sure of its shape.

“Is there a hole?”

Laila said, seeing light pouring from the point at the very top. Eustar looked up at the ceiling in a relaxed posture.

“No, it’s not a hole. If it were a hole… It would be a disaster if it rained, wouldn’t it?”

“Then is it fitted with glass?”

“Something similar, but not exactly glass. I’ll explain later. Let’s get out of here for now.”

Eustar gently embraced Laila’s shoulders as usual and led her. Meanwhile, Laila continued to look back and examine the interior.

Unlike Branch 1 she had just seen, everything here was white or close to white. There wasn’t a single person walking around, only occasionally low vibrations leaking from machine-like devices with a “woong…” sound.

“Is this the capital?”

When Laila asked, Eustar nodded.

“That’s right. This is Sercita of Benalis, the headquarters of the Tentinella Knights.”

“Are there no people here?”

“It’s not that there aren’t any, but there aren’t many permanent staff.”

Laila, who had been lost in thought for a moment, said.

“You’re the head of Tentinella headquarters, right?”

Eustar glanced at her with an amused look.

“Why do you think that?”

“The place we just went, Branch 1 named after God Romul… The head there showed respect to you. He called you ‘Sir Eustar’. That’s because your rank is higher than his, right?”

A faint smile appeared on Eustar’s lips.

“That’s right. I’m the head of Tentinella headquarters and oversee all the knight orders. But I’m not always sitting and just receiving reports. I have the authority to visit any headquarters without permission or prior notice, and can access syncs of any scale. So I move around busily. That’s why Sercita, the headquarters, is always a place with an empty head seat.”

“Where are we going now?”

At that moment, the door that seemed tightly closed opened wide on both sides. Outside the thick stone door with elaborate and antique patterns engraved on it, soldiers in armor were lined up at regular intervals.

That wasn’t all that surprised Laila. Beyond the door, in the long corridor, was a luxurious carpet she had never seen since birth.

Behind the lined-up soldiers, columns placed at regular intervals were as white as freshly fallen snow, and the decorative brackets were adorned with various jewels, boasting brilliant light.

Laila, who was standing dazed with her lips parted, mumbled as if talking to herself.

“Where on earth is this…”

Eustar smiled and playfully bowed.

“Welcome to Sierou Royal Palace, Miss Laila Kristrad.”

“Royal palace…!”

Laila’s body immediately shrank. She glanced down at the hood she was wearing and the dirty hem of her skirt underneath, then looked up at Eustar with an expression as if she had been slapped.

“Did you say royal palace? Here?”

“Yes, that’s right. Sercita, the Tentinella headquarters, is connected to Sierou Royal Palace. It’s the corridor we just passed through.”

“Why… What am I doing in the royal palace?”

Eustar shrugged.

“Well, first it would be good to wash up with some warm water and satisfy your hunger? Look, someone’s coming to meet you.”

Laila turned her head sharply.

A woman who looked dignified and solemn was walking towards her with her chin elegantly raised. She seemed a bit older than Laila or Eustar.

Eustar leaned in and whispered.

“Don’t worry, Laila. You look like someone who’s just arrived at a slaughterhouse right now.”

“Isn’t it actually like that? If I accidentally step on that person’s dress, my head will roll, right?”

A short laugh burst out.

“That won’t happen.”

Whether Laila wanted it or not, she finally approached right in front of the two. One person was burdensome enough, but behind the woman were seven or eight more people.

Among them, two were dressed in elegant dresses like the woman in front, but the rest were dressed relatively simply, probably employees of the royal palace.

“Your Highness the King’s Brother, you have returned.”

“Marchioness Himierd, I’m glad to meet you alive again this time. Was there nothing unusual at the palace?”

“No, everything was fine.”

The woman standing at the front, whom Eustar called Marchioness Himierd, turned her head towards Laila. Her jade-like beautiful eyes showed a momentary confusion, but Himierd skillfully hid her emotions.

Eustar said:

“This is my guest, Miss Laila Kristrad.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Kristrad.”

Marchioness Himierd said. Her voice was a bit stiffer than when she greeted Eustar, but not to the point of being considered rude.

Laila, still with a dazed expression, looked down at the hand Marchioness Himierd extended.

A beautiful glove, so thin it seemed woven from the thinnest fabric in the world, almost transparent enough to see the skin beneath, was worn. Could it be a hand extended for a handshake? Laila, imagining what state her own hand might be in, slightly bent her knees.

“Hello, I’m Laila Kristrad.”

“Are you not shaking hands?”

When Marchioness Himierd asked in a monotone, Laila’s cheeks turned slightly red.

“My hands are a bit… dirty.”

At that moment, the Marchioness’s expression moved strangely. It seemed like she was sneering, or perhaps pitying.

The Marchioness said in a lively voice:

“Oh, don’t worry about that.”

She reached out her arm before Laila could step back, and grabbed the hand hidden under the long hem of her hood as if snatching it. It was closer to forcibly pulling out her hand than a handshake, but anyway, Laila exchanged greetings with Himierd.

Eustar said:

“Himierd, could you prepare some bath water, tea, and snacks for Miss Kristrad? I need to go meet His Majesty first.”

“Understood.”

As Marchioness Himierd curtsied gracefully, all the people standing behind her also bowed towards Eustar. He smiled gently at the bewildered Laila and said:

“I’ll be back shortly, so get some help from Marchioness Himierd.”

Laila couldn’t even manage to reply. Her mind was in chaos due to the influx of too much information at once.

Just when she thought she was jumping off a cliff, she had to forcibly eat something like a nauseating candy, and after eating that, she experienced drowning again…

‘And this is Sierou Royal Palace, and these people are all nobles. If I were still in Rijikerus, I wouldn’t even have been able to look at these people straight. Moreover, Eustar is…’

Your Highness the King’s Brother. Himierd clearly called Eustar that.

“Miss Kristrad, are you alright? You don’t look well. If you’re feeling unwell, should I call for a servant to carry you?”

At Marchioness Himierd’s words, Laila felt truly dizzy.

“No, no… I’m fine. No, I am fine.”

“That’s good. Now, this way. You must have come a long way, so let’s get you some rest first.”

The royal palace was almost like a maze.

Laila tried to memorize the path they had come, just in case, but after turning the fifth corner, she completely lost her sense of direction.

No wonder, as everywhere she looked, there were lavish lighting and wallpapers, bracket ornaments, and countless huge tapestries, sculptures, and massive reliefs that seemed to be made of real gold and jewels.

For Laila, who had spent her entire life in the small village of Rijikerus, and even then had barely explored the village properly, this place was truly a different world.

She completely gave up on memorizing the path and gazed in awe at the magnificent chandeliers and portraits that seemed to be painted with real diamonds.

Marchioness Himierd, despite wearing a dress of indeterminable layers, moved very quickly and lightly, so Laila had to take small, quick steps to keep up with her.

“This place should be suitable.”

No sooner had Marchioness Himierd’s words fallen than the servants guarding both sides of the door opened it. Though they were different people, their similar hair colors and clothes made them look like twins for a moment.

Laila, who had imagined a small room beyond the door, was once again surprised to the point of being unable to close her mouth. It was a room, but not a room as Laila knew it… It could have been believed to be an entirely new castle.

When Marchioness Himierd said something quietly, the employees at the back hurriedly disappeared to the left of the spacious hall. The rest of the employees disappeared to the right and out of the door respectively.

Laila slowly looked around the interior as if entranced, not knowing who was going where.

The widest wall facing her was shining in an unbelievably deep honey color, and upon closer inspection, it seemed like minerals had been polished and attached piece by piece.

Marchioness Himierd said:

“It’s a beautiful wall, isn’t it? The entire wall is made of amber.”