PET 07

Chapter 07

The Thread of Past Connections Is Tied Again

After the maids finished dressing her up, Stella finally seemed to give up resisting and simply sat quietly in front of the mirror. Unlike Stella, however, the maids looked thoroughly satisfied with their work.

“Lady Stella, we’re finished. You look absolutely beautiful.”

“It feels like it’s been forever since we dressed you up this elaborately.”

‘Well, I usually kept things simple. Or wore training clothes.’

Once the maids stepped away, Stella looked at herself in the mirror.

Her long hair had been neatly tied up, exposing the graceful line of her neck, while the sky-blue dress that left her shoulders bare emphasized her figure. Combined with the subtle makeup and the luxurious necklace around her neck, every detail only highlighted Stella’s beauty even more.

Stella thanked the maids who had worked so hard on her appearance.

“Thank you for all your hard work today. I’m always grateful.”

At that moment, Haril entered the room.

“Lady Stella, the guests will be arriving soon.”

“Alright.”

Together with Haril and the maids, Stella waited in front of the grand gates of the ducal castle for the knights to arrive. After some time passed, the figures of the knights could finally be seen entering through the castle gates in the distance.

‘Hopefully they’ll just leave quickly. Ah, right.’

“But who exactly are the guests? I already heard they’re the Empire’s knights.”

Haril answered Stella’s question with a detailed explanation.

“They are the Empire’s Second Knight Order, and the one leading them is Duke Kainzges Hyde.”

“Kainzges Hyde.”

Stella quietly repeated the name that came from Haril’s lips.

By then, the knights had approached close enough to dismount and walk toward her. As they drew nearer, Stella could finally make out the face of the man leading them from the front.

The man stopped directly before Stella, and the moment she saw his face clearly, she was more shocked than ever before. Thankfully, however, she managed not to let that surprise escape her lips.

‘That man is definitely…’

Stella steadied her shaken heart and slowly examined his face once more.

Unlike that night long ago, his silver hair gleamed beneath the sunlight, and his navy-blue eyes calmly observed her.

The youthful appearance from ten years ago was gone. He had grown much taller, his features sharper and more mature—but Stella was already certain.

‘He’s definitely the man from back then.’

Certain of it now, Stella greeted Kainzges.

“You must be exhausted from your journey. Though it is only for a day, please rest comfortably at the ducal castle. My name is Stella Adin.”

At Stella’s greeting, Kainzges finally spoke.

“I am Kainzges Hyde, commander of the Second Knight Order. I apologize for arriving so suddenly, and thank you for allowing my knights and me to stay at the castle today, Lady Stella Adin.”

Kainzges’ courteous greeting, delivered in a low voice, reached Stella’s ears.

‘Does he not recognize me?’

Whether he truly failed to recognize her, or whether he was pretending not to in front of everyone, Stella could not tell from his expression alone.

As the two exchanged greetings, Stella suddenly heard a familiar cry overhead. Looking up, she saw Rai soaring leisurely above the knights.

No—he was wary of the strangers’ arrival.

The sharp cry that followed immediately told Stella it was a warning.

Everyone’s gaze shifted toward Rai, and worried that he might attack someone, Stella hurriedly called out to him.

“Rai, come here.”

At Stella’s call, Rai flew past the knights and landed gracefully on the arm she extended toward him. Stella stroked him gently, calming him down.

“Shhh, it’s alright. They’re guests visiting the castle.”

As if he understood her words, Rai accepted her touch before soaring high into the sky once again.

With everyone’s attention now focused on her, Stella explained,

“He’s very precious to me, but he’s especially wary around strangers.”

Then, noticing the knights still standing there, Stella continued,

“Please, come inside. Leave the horses to the servants, and the butler will guide you to your rooms. If you need anything, simply speak to the butler or the head maid. Haril, please lead them inside.”

“Yes. Please follow me.”

The knights followed Haril into the castle, and Kainzges silently walked past Stella as well.

Only after he had completely passed her did Stella finally relax, and Ella approached her.

“Milady, you looked wonderful.”

“I only exchanged greetings.”

While speaking with Ella, Stella’s gaze landed on the black horse Kainzges had ridden.

With a sudden thought, Stella carefully approached the horse.

“Hello.”

As though she were familiar with horses, Stella first held out her hand so it could smell her scent. Then she gently stroked it, and the horse accepted her touch without resistance.

Seeing that, Stella quietly whispered so only the horse could hear.

“It’s been a long time. So you remembered me.”

Thinking the horse must be tired after such a long ride, Stella carefully removed the saddle from its back first.

Once the saddle was off, the horse visibly seemed more comfortable.

“You feel lighter now too, don’t you?”

A servant who witnessed Stella’s actions quickly approached her.

“Milady, I’ll take over.”

But the moment the servant tried to grab the reins, the black horse snorted fiercely and rejected his touch. Startled by its aggressive reaction, the servant quickly let go and backed away.

Strangely enough, however, the horse did not reject Stella at all.

“You’re just as picky as Rai.”

Just as Stella was about to take the reins herself and lead the horse to the stable—

“I’ll handle it.”

The voice belonged to Kainzges, whom Stella had assumed had already gone up to his room.

No—more accurately, he had approached because of his black horse.

‘That startled me.’

Stella took a step back, and Kainzges skillfully grabbed the reins before following the servant toward the stables.

Just as Stella was about to return to her room, she suddenly noticed something and turned back again, staring at Kainzges’ retreating figure.

‘I was too shocked earlier to notice, but that man…’

As soon as Kainzges disappeared from sight, Stella also returned to her room with Ella.

After arriving at the stable, Kainzges carefully examined his horse. Thankfully, there were no visible injuries, so he instructed the servants to feed it.

“Rest well tonight.”

Leaving the stable, Kainzges walked back toward the castle while recalling Stella, whom he had just met.

The lady who introduced herself as Stella Adin handled horses skillfully, and even his own horse had accepted her without resistance.

But more than anything—

‘What is this strange sense of familiarity?’

Kainzges was certain he had met the Adin lady for the first time today, and yet she did not feel unfamiliar at all.

After a moment, he dismissed it as nothing more than a pointless thought and headed toward the room he had been assigned.

Back in his room, Kainzges had just removed his clothes to wash when someone knocked on the door. After receiving permission to enter, a man who appeared to work at the castle stepped inside and introduced himself.

“My apologies for disturbing your rest. I serve as the physician here at the castle.”

At the mention of a physician, Kainzges’ expression stiffened instantly.

“What business does a physician have here?”

“I was instructed to come because it seemed Your Grace was injured.”

“Whose instruction?”

Despite the pressure in Kainzges’ voice, the physician calmly answered.

“It was the butler’s instruction.”

[“Absolutely do not say I sent you. Understood?”]

Remembering Stella’s warning, the physician deliberately left out her name.

“I confirmed there was no one nearby before entering. And I will keep everything I see here confidential.”

After observing the physician for a moment, Kainzges finally removed his clothes and revealed the injury.

A long slash wound stretched across his left shoulder, and the blood from it had already dried.

It looked painful enough to make anyone wince, yet Kainzges himself remained completely calm as he looked at it.

The physician immediately began treatment.

Though the medicine touching the wound should have hurt considerably, Kainzges’ expression did not change at all, allowing the physician to finish swiftly.

“If you were in the capital, magic could heal this instantly. But that isn’t possible here, so it will take some time to fully recover. I’ll take my leave now.”

With that reminder, the physician exited Kainzges’ room.

As though taking over immediately afterward, another servant entered.

“I’ve come to assist you with bathing.”

At those words, Kainzges asked the same question again.

“Whose instruction?”

“Ah, well… it was the head maid’s instruction.”

After a slight hesitation, the servant named the head maid.

‘The butler, and now the head maid.’

This time, Kainzges refused the offer.

“That won’t be necessary. You may leave.”

The servant immediately bowed and left the room.

Afterward, Kainzges sat silently for a while in thought before finally rising and heading into the bath.

Later, after washing and changing clothes, Kainzges was resting when another knight entered the room.

It was the same man who had kept trying to talk to him before they arrived at the castle.

“Commander, were you resting?”

“How are the other knights doing, Vane?”

The man entering while ruffling his short dark-gray hair was Vane Royden, vice commander of the Second Knight Order.

“The castle prepared everything well, so everyone’s resting comfortably. The injured ones were treated too.”

As Kainzges listened, he abruptly brought up Stella.

“Vane. Do you know anything about the lady we met today?”

“Commander, you haven’t heard the story?”

At Kainzges’ look telling him to continue, Vane explained what he knew.

“About ten years ago, I heard the young lady made a mistake during a party and was sent to the North because of it. It was actually a pretty widespread story in the capital.”

Ten years ago—that would have been around the time Kainzges had first arrived in the capital.

“What kind of mistake would send her all the way to the North?”

“It wasn’t even a major mistake, and no one was hurt. But since the Crown Prince was present at the event, apparently they couldn’t simply overlook it. The other nobles thought it would be a chance to bring down Duke Adin, but when the Duke himself declared he would send the young lady to the North, no one dared say another word.”

“I see.”

But Vane didn’t stop there and continued with the rest of the story.

“Even now, Duke Adin’s influence is overwhelming. He’s the head of the ducal house, commander of the knights, and a loyal subject close to His Majesty. Anyway, that’s what I heard. But why ask all of a sudden?”

Seeing Kainzges showing interest in Stella, Vane asked curiously.

“It’s nothing. I was simply wondering why a ducal lady would be here instead of the capital.”

“Fair enough. Though after ten years, you’d think they would’ve called her back by now. Still, when I saw her earlier, I was honestly startled.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know if it’s just her appearance, but for a moment I got this overwhelming sense of Duke Adin from her. I guess blood really doesn’t lie.”

Even Kainzges had to admit that the black hair and golden eyes immediately brought Ister to mind.

Aside from that, nothing particularly stood out about her, yet Kainzges still couldn’t shake the strange feeling that he was missing something.

‘What exactly is this feeling?’

At that moment, there was another knock at the door, and Haril entered Kainzges’ room.

“Your Grace, dinner preparations are complete.”

Pushing aside his complicated thoughts, Kainzges headed toward the dining hall together with Vane.