On the battlefield, every day was on the brink of death. Getting injured was expected.

While there were lucky days when only scratches from armor were all, there were also unlucky days when Gauwe’s sword would suddenly strike.

The sharp sensation of a sword plunging into flesh was always unfamiliar, but losing consciousness meant death.

At the end of fierce battles lasting from three days to countless, Nerea could only relax when she saw Alejandro’s face in the distance.

“Lady Knight, the doctor will be here soon! Please, just wait a little longer!”

Nerea smiled wryly at the voice trying hard to speak through a tear-stained face. With supplies cut off, all the doctor could do was gather herbs from the mountainside to make and apply medicine.

Alejandro, who always cried with a red face when she opened her eyes, stopped crying at some point. Instead, he stood guard by the bedside, devoted to nursing.

“I brought these herbs separately. I had forgotten about them.”

The herbs Alejandro brought were more effective than any medicine. Perhaps like the expensive ointments sold in the capital.

The numbing pain stopped, and the area where skin sensation disappeared healed quickly. The strange, dreamy feeling that she could do anything was also pleasant.

Then one day, Alejandro, pale-faced, brought a peddler who claimed to know about medicines. And he tearfully begged for forgiveness.

“Lady Knight. I’m so sorry. I, I made a mistake.”

His trembling voice was pitiful. But before she could comfort him, Alejandro spoke with shaking hands.

“You know the herbs I’ve been using? They were all given to me by the Countess’s deputy’s wife. She said they’d be useful someday. To make sure to give them to you if you got hurt.”

Then she remembered. Helen’s family, the Tylesbury barony, had built their foundation on the herb business.

“But the grass where I threw away the water from boiling those herbs all… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have used those herbs. Those herbs to the body…”

The herbs that Alejandro said needed medical examination while crying. No one knew that those weeds would gradually eat away at her bones.

But even then, she clearly said that if Alejandro hadn’t used those poisonous herbs, she would have surely died.

If it weren’t for those poisonous herbs, the gushing blood wouldn’t have stopped, and the burning pain wouldn’t have left her.

“Foolish boy.”

Why did the wrong person suffer when it was she who didn’t understand the sincere advice?

Her stomach churned. Her face felt hot as if something burning was stuck in her throat, and her heart ached as if it would burst.

Nerea laughed weakly, feeling upset yet pathetic about Alejandro’s past time of suffering, which was just like her own.

A pathetic loser knight and her foolish servant.

“Young lady, why are you out here? Let’s go inside.”

Heather, who had heard their laughter, quickly came out and supported Nerea back inside.

Although worry filled young Heather’s face, having overheard bits of their conversation, Nerea couldn’t say anything to reassure her.

Even if the method she thought was protecting actually troubled Alejandro, what could she do?

All she could do was just stay quietly holed up here. That was the promise to keep the Baron, to keep everyone at peace.

Knock knock−.

At the polite knocking sound, Heather hurriedly ran.

“It must be Sir Alejandro, young lady.”

But Heather, who opened the door, stepped two paces back from the doorway.

Two fully armored knights with intimidating presences spoke to Heather with emotionless faces.

“Where is Countess Nerea Esteban?”

Countess Nerea Esteban. At the formal title she hadn’t heard in so long, Nerea went out to the entrance and said,

“Heather. Come here.”

Heather, with a frightened face, quickly hid behind Nerea. The knights hesitated for a moment upon seeing Nerea. At their hesitation, the one behind spoke.

“We meet you, Countess. I am Owen Stedbin, captain of the Crown Prince Consort’s knights.”

After a polite salute, the knight captain pointed outside.

“Come out and show proper respect. Her Highness the Crown Princess is arriving.”

Even without going out, the sound of the approaching carriage was unusually loud.

Standing still at the entrance, Nerea watched as if time had stopped as the rushing carriage slowly came to a halt in front of the house.

The door of the elegant and luxurious carriage opened gently. A maid came out first and extended her hand into the carriage.

The hem of an intricately decorated dress appeared, and soon a beautiful woman who seemed to deserve an escort revealed herself outside the carriage.

Golden hair flowing like waves and blue eyes containing subtle malice.

It was Brianna.

One step, two steps, three steps.

The closer she came, the more Nerea’s heart pounded. But that was all.

Brianna surveyed the cabin with narrowly squinted eyes from where she stood.

Only after her eyes, filled with appraisal, swept over the cabin with contempt did Brianna part her pretty lips.

“This place suits you well, Nerea.”

Eyes filled with mockery met Nerea’s.

“It was quite inconvenient to come here. You should have just stayed at the summer mansion. Then my feet wouldn’t hurt like this.”

Only three steps since getting out of the carriage.

Brianna smiled broadly on the long and uncomfortable path that was truly far for her dizzying high heels to tread.

“Still, it’s been a while, Nerea. My beloved sister.”

.

.

.

Goodness. Could there be a place this wretched?

Brianna’s expression said as much. Her brows furrowed as she looked at the house, then Brianna shook her head.

“If you don’t like it, leave. You forced your way in, I never invited you.”

“It hurts my feelings when you say that. You opened the door for me. And there’s nowhere to sit.”

If it weren’t for the threat hinting at spreading rumors about a black knight living here, she wouldn’t have opened the door.

Nerea quietly looked behind Brianna. In the small house, all the knights had gone out, leaving only the noble lady’s maids.

Heather trembled behind Nerea, seeming intimidated by the noble ladies’ obviously disdainful looks.

“What’s that?”

Brianna’s expression changed strangely as she looked around the house with a smile.

“What?”

“That chair.”

It was the cream-colored chair Alejandro had brought. True to its cozy color, it was soft and had been Nerea’s frequent seat these past few days. Fearing Brianna might covet the chair, Nerea quickly went and sat in it first.

One of the maids exclaimed in shock.

“Her Highness the Crown Princess hasn’t even sat down yet!”

“Just state your business.”

Brianna sat in the chair the maid brought and gracefully arranged her dress. Then she began speaking leisurely.

“Father was worried, so I came to see you.”

The combination of words felt unfamiliar. Father and worry. As Nerea slowly mulled over those words, Brianna covered her mouth and giggled like a young girl.

“Do you know what rumors are going around all of Castarty these days? They say the Black Knight Nerea Esteban is returning.”

The blue eyes in her gently curved gaze flashed with malice.

“It seems everyone has forgotten how you ran away, how you ruined the victory banquet.”

Nerea smiled faintly. Perhaps it was because she had regretted more than enough lately. The words that would normally have pierced her heart sharply didn’t really affect her.

Displeased, one of Brianna’s eyebrows rose coldly.

“Do you remember the uniform you wore when the cup broke that day? Those wine stains just wouldn’t come out. I was about to throw it away after keeping it all this time. What should I do? Throw it away or not?”

“…”

“Well. There’s no point in keeping it when you’ll never wear it again. I should throw it away. You who couldn’t even hold a cup because it was too heavy.”

The memory of cup fragments scattering everywhere came to mind. Brianna seemed to be thinking the same as she spoke gently.

“It’s fortunate if fragments don’t hit the person next to you, no matter what. Baron Jenax. You remember? Don’t trouble others unnecessarily. Okay?”

Nerea held her breath imperceptibly. Unaware that those words just now were the most painful among what she had said, Brianna slowly stood up.

A gentle hand patted Nerea’s shoulder as if dealing with a subordinate.

“So you should keep the promise you made, Nerea.”

The contempt in her melodious voice stabbed Nerea sharply.

“You begged in front of Mother that you’d stay holed up here without moving an inch.”

Helen’s voice overlapped with the gentle voice.

“My, you’re not an animal. Speak so I can understand clearly, Nerea. What are you?”

“Nothing…”

“How strange. You were shouting that you were a countess just a moment ago. Can you say it more clearly?”

“Just nothing, nothing at all. Please… Send a doctor to the Baron. And send me anywhere for recuperation.”

“Then it’s a promise, Nerea?”

Brianna shrugged. The blue eyes that keenly observed Nerea’s face were full of displeasure.

That shabby dress and tablecloth with lint. Even the worn-out house. Surely seeing such an unsightly appearance should have made her feel good.

She almost felt bad for a moment because of the chair Nerea was sitting on. It looked too much like the premium product in the catalog that the Rosa Company only presented to the imperial palace.

Of course, someone like Nerea couldn’t possibly own such an expensive item.

In a bad mood, she tried probing with sharp words, but Nerea showed no reaction. No emotion flickered across those listless eyes. Well, she was always like that.

If that was all, she would be somewhat satisfied. But why did she still look precious?

The thought striking her mind was ridiculous even to herself. Precious? The most precious person here right now was Brianna Esteban Castarty herself.

Finding the pointed thought amusing, Brianna smiled brightly.

“By the way, Nerea.”

“…”

“I’m the Crown Princess now. Yet you still hold your head high.”

Unlike her gentle voice, the meaning was overbearing.