The morning of my departure for the Pasha Empire dawned.
"How are you feeling today?"
Linel asked me as soon as I opened my eyes.
"Are you able to ride a horse for half a day without stopping?"
"Are you rebelling again?"
His lips brushed against my forehead and then parted.
Last night, he ordered me to travel by carriage to the port city of Polt, where we would board the ship.
I insisted on riding, claiming it was more comfortable.
However, his cold gaze cooled my whole body, and I felt a surge of joy, so I feigned defeat and gave in.
My words a moment ago weren't out of rebellion.
I was in excellent condition, even capable of riding a horse and swinging a sword.
As I had been informed, the congratulatory delegation gathered in the main palace dining hall for breakfast.
As I left the main palace after the meal, the knights and attendants who were leaving with me were already assembled.
Compared to the Continental Hunting Competition, the number of participants was small, but as a celebratory delegation, it was mostly comprised of important figures.
The only foreign dignitaries departing from the Lapion Empire were Grand Duke Martins of the Kingdom of Shattonil, Emperor Adrian of the Tebello Empire, and Empress Elan.
The other nations' celebratory delegations had likely departed around the same time or even earlier due to the heavy rain.
"Since our departure has been delayed by a day, we will shorten our rest time until we reach the Port of Polt. You will have about two and a half days to rest after boarding the ship, so please do not stray from the formation until we arrive at the dock, and please follow the instructions of the commanders assigned to each column!"
As soon as Linel finished his brief departure speech, the celebratory delegation hurried off for Polt.
I boarded a carriage with Rosie, Rams, and Melanie.
It took a day and a half to travel from the Lapion Imperial Castle to the port city of Polt.
Actually, I wanted to appeal to him again, saying I wanted to ride, but I didn't want to bother him, so I quietly climbed into the carriage.
The fastest way to Polt was through the Kashas Forest.
Kashas Forest was also where Princess Resilia had recently kidnapped Rams and, during a standoff with the knights, accidentally sent him over the valley bridge. As the carriage approached the valley bridge.
"Is this where that crazy Princess dropped Rams? My goodness, it's dizzying just to see!"
Melanie stuck her head out the carriage window, shaking.
"Her Highness Melanie, please close the window..."
Rosie hugged Rams tighter and squeezed her eyes shut until they had crossed the bridge.
Her face was reminiscent of that nightmare.
Melanie closed the window gently with a look of remorse, and her mouth too.
"Rosie, you can open your eyes now. We're over."
After we crossed the valley bridge, I patted Rosie's knee and said.
Rosie slowly opened her eyes and let out the breath she'd been holding.
Contrary to her, Rams, the person who'd fallen into the valley, was beaming.
"Thank you. It's a little warm, so I'll open the window again. By the way, who will Her Highness Pecilini be riding in the carriage with?"
Rosie asked, glancing at another carriage as she opened the window.
"Will she be riding alone? She's quite pregnant, so she'll probably want to be comfortable alone."
I replied, looking out the window. Melanie patted Rams' head and said,
"Her Highness Pecilini is riding with Yulina."
"Really? Not Catherine... Just Yulina?"
"Yes. I asked her a little while ago at breakfast at the main palace. She said she'd be traveling with Yulina."
Melanie, who usually didn't get along with Yulina, said with a pout.
“Oh, now that I think about it, it seems like they became really close after Yulina caught Her Highness Pecilini when she almost fell at the hot springs. After that, they often took walks in the garden of the West Palace, didn’t they?”
Rosie said.
“Really?”
Yulina was close to Roxana, so it was a little odd that Pecilini had opened up to her.
Then it had to be one of two things...
Either Yulina had always been dissatisfied with Roxana, or she was deliberately approaching Pecilini and pretending to be friendly.
If it were the latter, then why bother?
That question lingered in my mind for a while.
The carriage ran nonstop through the Cachas Forest for hours.
The forest path was mostly bumpy, so even with the thick cushions, my body was tossing and turning, and I felt uneasy.
But Melanie, who surprisingly had the strongest stomach, was the one who talked about lunch.
“When can we have lunch? It’s almost mealtime.”
“We won’t be able to eat on time like we do in the palace. It might be a little, no, a lot later. His Majesty already told us before we left.”
“Yes, but you also said we could eat a little early, didn’t you?”
“...That’s true, but even if we start eating now, it won’t be too early, right?”
I took out my pocket watch, checked the time, and held it up to Melanie.
“Wow, my belly clock is always accurate, isn’t it?”
Melanie confirmed it was exactly 12 o’clock and patted her belly, laughing.
Just as Rosie and I burst into laughter, the carriage slowly came to a stop.
“Huh? Why did the carriage suddenly stop?”
Melanie tried to look out the carriage window, but I was faster.
“Yes. Why?”
I pushed Melanie away with force and looked out the window.
“I think we should go out...”
It wasn’t just our carriage that had stopped.
The entire congratulatory delegation suddenly stopped.
“Why?”
“What’s going on outside?”
Melanie and Rosie asked simultaneously, their faces trembling.
“I guess we’ll have to cross that bridge before we can have lunch.”
I sat back down and pointed out the window.
Melanie quickly poked her head out, almost fainting.
“Huh?”
“...What’s that?!”
Rosie followed Melanie, then looked out the window and asked me with a stern face.
“ Is it a suspension bridge?”
“Oh my God! Do we really have to cross that bridge?”
“I’ll go out and check.”
As I said this, I got out of the carriage, but my legs were shaking just as much as the suspension bridge, perhaps because I’d been up for so long.
“What’s going on, Your Majesty?”
I approached Linel and asked.
“Everyone’s going to get off their horses and carriages and cross that bridge.”
He pointed to the suspension bridge, which swayed like a swing in the wind.
“Is the road... all the way here?”
“The fastest way. The other route would take too long, so we can’t do it.”
He spoke firmly, as if he wouldn’t accept any other opinions.
“It’s not a dangerous bridge. It’s just... a bit... shaky.”
“...Isn’t that comforting?”
A few members of the congratulatory delegation protested that they should take the other route even if it meant arriving in the Pasha Empire a day or two later, but Linel’s decision remained firm, unwavering, unlike the swaying bridge.
The bridge was wide enough for two carriages to pass side by side.
But that only served to heighten their anxiety.
The first to cross the bridge were the drivers in their carriages.
They casually lined up, two abreast, and crossed the bridge.
They said they had crossed this swaying bridge more than once in their careers as coaches.
Following them were some of the knights of the escort.
They each held the reins of their own horses and those of the congratulatory delegation, and crossed the bridge at a pace comparable to walking on flat ground.
The congratulatory delegations, watching the two groups safely cross the bridge, also mustered their courage and joined in small groups, holding hands and taking even more shaky footsteps onto the swaying bridge.
I looked around.
Rosie and Rams were under the protection of Prince Norton, Melanie was practically in Hetor's arms, Catherine was supported by the twin concubines from the Principality of Aklatto, and Roxana was supported by her maid, Nancy, and Hetor's adjutant, Palto.
Linel and I held Grand Duke Joseph's hands on either side, waiting for our turn to cross.
Then, Pecilini, who seemed to be almost last in line, caught my eye.
I looked around and made eye contact with Grand Duke Martins, who was standing alone, his expression hard.
"Grand Duke Martins, could you help Pecilini?"
I gestured to where Pecilini was standing.
Pecilini was holding Yulina's frail hand and watching the people crossing the swaying bridge.
"...Me?"
Grand Duke Martins asked, poking his finger into his chest.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"I'm afraid of heights, too."
"That's good. Please come across while leaning on each other."
Perhaps comforted by my words, Grand Duke Martins approached Pesilini, took her hand, and escorted her.
Crossing the swaying bridge first, I saw that Pesilini was actually comforting and escorting Grand Duke Martins.
Before the sun had completely set, the knights of the guard, under Emperor Linel's instructions, quickly set up barracks for the night.
The celebratory delegation went to their assigned barracks early to rest, while others spent time by the campfire, waiting for dinner.
Pesilini, after stopping by Yulina's, was about to enter his own, but turned back and sat alone by the nearby campfire. Grand Duke Martins, who was collecting extra blankets from his servant, spotted her.
Remembering Pesilini's help on the swing bridge earlier in the day, he couldn't help but walk over and sit down next to her.
"Let's cover up. It's cold."
Grand Duke Martins absently placed the blanket he had on her lap.
Pesilini's eyes widened, then quickly broke into a smile.
"Thank you."
"Come inside. It's warmer in the barracks. Why are you out here?"
"The air is nice. And the campfire is nice."
An awkward silence fell.
Grand Duke Martins spoke first.
"By the way, what was it you were going to say yesterday?"
"Oh, it was really nothing..."
“So, let’s hear it.”
Grand Duke Martins urged, and Pesilini hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“Yesterday... I suddenly remembered the day I first met Your Highness, the Grand Duke.”
“It’s been a long time. I remember it too. You, Your Highness, walking down the royal corridor, holding the hand of the Marquis Astor. You were fourteen, right?”
“No. I was sixteen. I was a bit shorter than my peers.”
“...Oh, yes.”
Grand Duke Martins nodded awkwardly.
Pesilini had often visited the Shattonil royal court since childhood, accompanying her father, who led a trading company.
“Yes. Your Highness, you were with Prince Tesla. Back then, if you had answered my letter... I suddenly wondered if my future would have been different.”
A letter?
Grand Duke Martins raised both palms as if hearing the story for the first time.
“In all my life, I’ve never received a letter from a noble lady.”
“Didn’t the Prince say he definitely delivered it to the Grand Duke back then? I heard the Grand Duke tore up my letter as soon as he received it, and they even got into a physical fight, saying it was too much...?”
“Ha, it seems Prince Tesla lied.”
“No way...”
“It seems he really liked Your Highness. In the end, you ended up being bait for the Prince’s ambitions.”
Grand Duke Martins sighed.
Pesilini smiled dejectedly.
“If I had met His Highness in person and delivered the letter back then, wouldn’t this misfortune have been avoided?”
She muttered to herself,
“I’m sorry. You’re not my type, then or now,”
Grand Duke Martins retorted coldly.
But Pesilini, far from being offended, burst into a cheerful laugh.
“I know. I know who the Grand Duke has in mind.”
“?”
Grand Duke Martins flinched at Pesilini’s words.
“You adore Her Highness Zelda, right?”
“!”
It was a silence of recognition.
“Your gaze. I saw the way the Grand Duke looked at Her Highness Zelda. That’s when I knew.”
“You could be my gaze expert. Well, how could someone so knowledgeable about others...”
Embarrassed, I challenged him, but Pesilini readily admitted.
“Yes, humans are inherently impervious to their own affairs.”
Grand Duke Martins’s self-deprecating tone caused Pesilini to fall silent.
“It’ll be a tough journey until we board the ship. It won’t be as arduous as the Continental Hunting Tournament, but it’ll still be harder than palace life.”
“Yes, I can already feel it.”
Pesilini smiled, looking back at the barracks.
Grand Duke Martins smiled back, then adjusted his expression and gave a cold warning.
“Just because you said you liked me when you were young, you shouldn’t expect me to suddenly protect or look after you, Your Highness. That’s what I meant.”
But Pesilini’s smile remained.
“Why are you smiling?”
I’m serious.
Grand Duke Martins asked with a displeased expression.
“You’ve always been as grumpy as you were when you were young. For a moment, I saw Your Highness, the Grand Duke, back then, and I apologize for my rudeness. Please forgive me.”
Pesilini politely slapped her and went back into the barracks.
Grand Duke Martins stared at her barracks for a while with a cold expression. He hadn’t even been slapped, but his face felt cold.
The congratulatory delegation spent the night in the barracks and arrived in the port city of Polt before sunset.
If all went as planned, they'd spend the night in Polt and board the ship early in the morning, but heavy rain delayed the schedule by a day, so they headed straight to the dock.
About a hundred people, including the celebratory delegation, escort knights, and attendants, all boarded the ship.
The sky was turning crimson before they set sail.
It was before dusk.
Before retiring to their cabins, the celebratory delegation watched the ship depart from the Lapion Empire, basking in the romantic sunset.
As the sky began to darken, everyone was guided to their cabins by their attendants.
Hetor also entered his cabin, took off his uniform jacket, and lay down on the bed to rest.
"I wonder if she's adjusting well..."
He sat up, worried about Melanie, who was on her first ship.
After boarding, he looked around her cabin, and the loose door handle kept bothering him.
With the celebratory delegation from the Lapion Empire aboard, nothing much would happen overnight, but...
"Ha, she needs a lot of work."
Hetor rose from bed and picked up the uniform jacket he had taken off.
At that moment, the cabin door opened without a knock.
Roxana entered, her robe hood pulled down.
The reason she had come to his cabin so late at night was, perhaps,
“...is today the night you need Galaco?”
Hetor asked Roxana in a low voice.
Knowing that Emperor Adrian wouldn’t be up to anything on his first day aboard, he had nothing else to say, but he spoke up.
“No. I have other plans tonight.”
Roxana replied reverently.
“What plans?”
Hetor frowned, hearing this for the first time.
“It’s nothing. I just stopped by briefly before going out to the deck.”
“Deck at this hour?”
Hetor asked with a puzzled look.
It was quite windy.
And nights on a ship were often more dangerous than days.
“Actually, I have something to tell you... We’ll have to talk about it later.”
Roxana was about to say something when she looked at the pocket watch in her hand and started counting the seconds.
“One, two, three, four, five—”
"How are you feeling today?"
Linel asked me as soon as I opened my eyes.
"Are you able to ride a horse for half a day without stopping?"
"Are you rebelling again?"
His lips brushed against my forehead and then parted.
Last night, he ordered me to travel by carriage to the port city of Polt, where we would board the ship.
I insisted on riding, claiming it was more comfortable.
However, his cold gaze cooled my whole body, and I felt a surge of joy, so I feigned defeat and gave in.
My words a moment ago weren't out of rebellion.
I was in excellent condition, even capable of riding a horse and swinging a sword.
As I had been informed, the congratulatory delegation gathered in the main palace dining hall for breakfast.
As I left the main palace after the meal, the knights and attendants who were leaving with me were already assembled.
Compared to the Continental Hunting Competition, the number of participants was small, but as a celebratory delegation, it was mostly comprised of important figures.
The only foreign dignitaries departing from the Lapion Empire were Grand Duke Martins of the Kingdom of Shattonil, Emperor Adrian of the Tebello Empire, and Empress Elan.
The other nations' celebratory delegations had likely departed around the same time or even earlier due to the heavy rain.
"Since our departure has been delayed by a day, we will shorten our rest time until we reach the Port of Polt. You will have about two and a half days to rest after boarding the ship, so please do not stray from the formation until we arrive at the dock, and please follow the instructions of the commanders assigned to each column!"
As soon as Linel finished his brief departure speech, the celebratory delegation hurried off for Polt.
I boarded a carriage with Rosie, Rams, and Melanie.
It took a day and a half to travel from the Lapion Imperial Castle to the port city of Polt.
Actually, I wanted to appeal to him again, saying I wanted to ride, but I didn't want to bother him, so I quietly climbed into the carriage.
The fastest way to Polt was through the Kashas Forest.
Kashas Forest was also where Princess Resilia had recently kidnapped Rams and, during a standoff with the knights, accidentally sent him over the valley bridge. As the carriage approached the valley bridge.
"Is this where that crazy Princess dropped Rams? My goodness, it's dizzying just to see!"
Melanie stuck her head out the carriage window, shaking.
"Her Highness Melanie, please close the window..."
Rosie hugged Rams tighter and squeezed her eyes shut until they had crossed the bridge.
Her face was reminiscent of that nightmare.
Melanie closed the window gently with a look of remorse, and her mouth too.
"Rosie, you can open your eyes now. We're over."
After we crossed the valley bridge, I patted Rosie's knee and said.
Rosie slowly opened her eyes and let out the breath she'd been holding.
Contrary to her, Rams, the person who'd fallen into the valley, was beaming.
"Thank you. It's a little warm, so I'll open the window again. By the way, who will Her Highness Pecilini be riding in the carriage with?"
Rosie asked, glancing at another carriage as she opened the window.
"Will she be riding alone? She's quite pregnant, so she'll probably want to be comfortable alone."
I replied, looking out the window. Melanie patted Rams' head and said,
"Her Highness Pecilini is riding with Yulina."
"Really? Not Catherine... Just Yulina?"
"Yes. I asked her a little while ago at breakfast at the main palace. She said she'd be traveling with Yulina."
Melanie, who usually didn't get along with Yulina, said with a pout.
“Oh, now that I think about it, it seems like they became really close after Yulina caught Her Highness Pecilini when she almost fell at the hot springs. After that, they often took walks in the garden of the West Palace, didn’t they?”
Rosie said.
“Really?”
Yulina was close to Roxana, so it was a little odd that Pecilini had opened up to her.
Then it had to be one of two things...
Either Yulina had always been dissatisfied with Roxana, or she was deliberately approaching Pecilini and pretending to be friendly.
If it were the latter, then why bother?
That question lingered in my mind for a while.
The carriage ran nonstop through the Cachas Forest for hours.
The forest path was mostly bumpy, so even with the thick cushions, my body was tossing and turning, and I felt uneasy.
But Melanie, who surprisingly had the strongest stomach, was the one who talked about lunch.
“When can we have lunch? It’s almost mealtime.”
“We won’t be able to eat on time like we do in the palace. It might be a little, no, a lot later. His Majesty already told us before we left.”
“Yes, but you also said we could eat a little early, didn’t you?”
“...That’s true, but even if we start eating now, it won’t be too early, right?”
I took out my pocket watch, checked the time, and held it up to Melanie.
“Wow, my belly clock is always accurate, isn’t it?”
Melanie confirmed it was exactly 12 o’clock and patted her belly, laughing.
Just as Rosie and I burst into laughter, the carriage slowly came to a stop.
“Huh? Why did the carriage suddenly stop?”
Melanie tried to look out the carriage window, but I was faster.
“Yes. Why?”
I pushed Melanie away with force and looked out the window.
“I think we should go out...”
It wasn’t just our carriage that had stopped.
The entire congratulatory delegation suddenly stopped.
“Why?”
“What’s going on outside?”
Melanie and Rosie asked simultaneously, their faces trembling.
“I guess we’ll have to cross that bridge before we can have lunch.”
I sat back down and pointed out the window.
Melanie quickly poked her head out, almost fainting.
“Huh?”
“...What’s that?!”
Rosie followed Melanie, then looked out the window and asked me with a stern face.
“ Is it a suspension bridge?”
“Oh my God! Do we really have to cross that bridge?”
“I’ll go out and check.”
As I said this, I got out of the carriage, but my legs were shaking just as much as the suspension bridge, perhaps because I’d been up for so long.
“What’s going on, Your Majesty?”
I approached Linel and asked.
“Everyone’s going to get off their horses and carriages and cross that bridge.”
He pointed to the suspension bridge, which swayed like a swing in the wind.
“Is the road... all the way here?”
“The fastest way. The other route would take too long, so we can’t do it.”
He spoke firmly, as if he wouldn’t accept any other opinions.
“It’s not a dangerous bridge. It’s just... a bit... shaky.”
“...Isn’t that comforting?”
A few members of the congratulatory delegation protested that they should take the other route even if it meant arriving in the Pasha Empire a day or two later, but Linel’s decision remained firm, unwavering, unlike the swaying bridge.
The bridge was wide enough for two carriages to pass side by side.
But that only served to heighten their anxiety.
The first to cross the bridge were the drivers in their carriages.
They casually lined up, two abreast, and crossed the bridge.
They said they had crossed this swaying bridge more than once in their careers as coaches.
Following them were some of the knights of the escort.
They each held the reins of their own horses and those of the congratulatory delegation, and crossed the bridge at a pace comparable to walking on flat ground.
The congratulatory delegations, watching the two groups safely cross the bridge, also mustered their courage and joined in small groups, holding hands and taking even more shaky footsteps onto the swaying bridge.
I looked around.
Rosie and Rams were under the protection of Prince Norton, Melanie was practically in Hetor's arms, Catherine was supported by the twin concubines from the Principality of Aklatto, and Roxana was supported by her maid, Nancy, and Hetor's adjutant, Palto.
Linel and I held Grand Duke Joseph's hands on either side, waiting for our turn to cross.
Then, Pecilini, who seemed to be almost last in line, caught my eye.
I looked around and made eye contact with Grand Duke Martins, who was standing alone, his expression hard.
"Grand Duke Martins, could you help Pecilini?"
I gestured to where Pecilini was standing.
Pecilini was holding Yulina's frail hand and watching the people crossing the swaying bridge.
"...Me?"
Grand Duke Martins asked, poking his finger into his chest.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"I'm afraid of heights, too."
"That's good. Please come across while leaning on each other."
Perhaps comforted by my words, Grand Duke Martins approached Pesilini, took her hand, and escorted her.
Crossing the swaying bridge first, I saw that Pesilini was actually comforting and escorting Grand Duke Martins.
***
Before the sun had completely set, the knights of the guard, under Emperor Linel's instructions, quickly set up barracks for the night.
The celebratory delegation went to their assigned barracks early to rest, while others spent time by the campfire, waiting for dinner.
Pesilini, after stopping by Yulina's, was about to enter his own, but turned back and sat alone by the nearby campfire. Grand Duke Martins, who was collecting extra blankets from his servant, spotted her.
Remembering Pesilini's help on the swing bridge earlier in the day, he couldn't help but walk over and sit down next to her.
"Let's cover up. It's cold."
Grand Duke Martins absently placed the blanket he had on her lap.
Pesilini's eyes widened, then quickly broke into a smile.
"Thank you."
"Come inside. It's warmer in the barracks. Why are you out here?"
"The air is nice. And the campfire is nice."
An awkward silence fell.
Grand Duke Martins spoke first.
"By the way, what was it you were going to say yesterday?"
"Oh, it was really nothing..."
“So, let’s hear it.”
Grand Duke Martins urged, and Pesilini hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“Yesterday... I suddenly remembered the day I first met Your Highness, the Grand Duke.”
“It’s been a long time. I remember it too. You, Your Highness, walking down the royal corridor, holding the hand of the Marquis Astor. You were fourteen, right?”
“No. I was sixteen. I was a bit shorter than my peers.”
“...Oh, yes.”
Grand Duke Martins nodded awkwardly.
Pesilini had often visited the Shattonil royal court since childhood, accompanying her father, who led a trading company.
“Yes. Your Highness, you were with Prince Tesla. Back then, if you had answered my letter... I suddenly wondered if my future would have been different.”
A letter?
Grand Duke Martins raised both palms as if hearing the story for the first time.
“In all my life, I’ve never received a letter from a noble lady.”
“Didn’t the Prince say he definitely delivered it to the Grand Duke back then? I heard the Grand Duke tore up my letter as soon as he received it, and they even got into a physical fight, saying it was too much...?”
“Ha, it seems Prince Tesla lied.”
“No way...”
“It seems he really liked Your Highness. In the end, you ended up being bait for the Prince’s ambitions.”
Grand Duke Martins sighed.
Pesilini smiled dejectedly.
“If I had met His Highness in person and delivered the letter back then, wouldn’t this misfortune have been avoided?”
She muttered to herself,
“I’m sorry. You’re not my type, then or now,”
Grand Duke Martins retorted coldly.
But Pesilini, far from being offended, burst into a cheerful laugh.
“I know. I know who the Grand Duke has in mind.”
“?”
Grand Duke Martins flinched at Pesilini’s words.
“You adore Her Highness Zelda, right?”
“!”
It was a silence of recognition.
“Your gaze. I saw the way the Grand Duke looked at Her Highness Zelda. That’s when I knew.”
“You could be my gaze expert. Well, how could someone so knowledgeable about others...”
Embarrassed, I challenged him, but Pesilini readily admitted.
“Yes, humans are inherently impervious to their own affairs.”
Grand Duke Martins’s self-deprecating tone caused Pesilini to fall silent.
“It’ll be a tough journey until we board the ship. It won’t be as arduous as the Continental Hunting Tournament, but it’ll still be harder than palace life.”
“Yes, I can already feel it.”
Pesilini smiled, looking back at the barracks.
Grand Duke Martins smiled back, then adjusted his expression and gave a cold warning.
“Just because you said you liked me when you were young, you shouldn’t expect me to suddenly protect or look after you, Your Highness. That’s what I meant.”
But Pesilini’s smile remained.
“Why are you smiling?”
I’m serious.
Grand Duke Martins asked with a displeased expression.
“You’ve always been as grumpy as you were when you were young. For a moment, I saw Your Highness, the Grand Duke, back then, and I apologize for my rudeness. Please forgive me.”
Pesilini politely slapped her and went back into the barracks.
Grand Duke Martins stared at her barracks for a while with a cold expression. He hadn’t even been slapped, but his face felt cold.
***
The congratulatory delegation spent the night in the barracks and arrived in the port city of Polt before sunset.
If all went as planned, they'd spend the night in Polt and board the ship early in the morning, but heavy rain delayed the schedule by a day, so they headed straight to the dock.
About a hundred people, including the celebratory delegation, escort knights, and attendants, all boarded the ship.
The sky was turning crimson before they set sail.
It was before dusk.
Before retiring to their cabins, the celebratory delegation watched the ship depart from the Lapion Empire, basking in the romantic sunset.
As the sky began to darken, everyone was guided to their cabins by their attendants.
Hetor also entered his cabin, took off his uniform jacket, and lay down on the bed to rest.
"I wonder if she's adjusting well..."
He sat up, worried about Melanie, who was on her first ship.
After boarding, he looked around her cabin, and the loose door handle kept bothering him.
With the celebratory delegation from the Lapion Empire aboard, nothing much would happen overnight, but...
"Ha, she needs a lot of work."
Hetor rose from bed and picked up the uniform jacket he had taken off.
At that moment, the cabin door opened without a knock.
Roxana entered, her robe hood pulled down.
The reason she had come to his cabin so late at night was, perhaps,
“...is today the night you need Galaco?”
Hetor asked Roxana in a low voice.
Knowing that Emperor Adrian wouldn’t be up to anything on his first day aboard, he had nothing else to say, but he spoke up.
“No. I have other plans tonight.”
Roxana replied reverently.
“What plans?”
Hetor frowned, hearing this for the first time.
“It’s nothing. I just stopped by briefly before going out to the deck.”
“Deck at this hour?”
Hetor asked with a puzzled look.
It was quite windy.
And nights on a ship were often more dangerous than days.
“Actually, I have something to tell you... We’ll have to talk about it later.”
Roxana was about to say something when she looked at the pocket watch in her hand and started counting the seconds.
“One, two, three, four, five—”
At that moment, a short scream came from somewhere, followed by a loud splash.
“...What is that sound?”
It was the sound of something falling into the sea.
“I wonder? Isn’t it the sound of an eyesore disappearing?”
“What? What is that...what are you talking about?”
Hetor asked urgently, as if he had a bad feeling about it. However, Roxana smiled and leisurely left the cabin. A few seconds later, at the sound of people’s commotion, Hetor also ran up onto the deck.
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