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Chapter 6
“I’m hungry.”
This trip was just Mother and me.
Well, technically, Lisa and a whole procession of knights had come along too.
Father had gone ahead to the capital to welcome my older sisters, who were coming straight from the Academy. That was how this unexpectedly peaceful mother-daughter trip came about.
Of course, traveling with only two women might have been worrying, but we had knights escorting us. Besides, it wasn’t so bad spending some quiet time alone with Mother after so long.
That part was nice.
Only that.
“…Mother. I can’t eat this.”
This wasn’t food fit for human consumption.
Whether I had been Seo Ye-eun or Rose Stacy, I had never considered myself particularly picky.
Back when I was Seo Ye-eun, I certainly hadn’t grown up wealthy. Besides, in Korea, people didn’t really divide food into “high-class” and “low-class.” Sure, I appreciated delicious food, but I wasn’t the type to fuss over meals.
The Stacy family was noble, but hardly rich. The meals served at home were never extravagant—just ordinary, comforting food.
Even though we were nobles, we had chosen what was considered one of the finest inns in the village for this short journey. “Fine” was a generous description; it looked more like an ordinary house. Still, the clean, fluffy sheets showed that the place was well maintained.
So I had assumed the food would at least be decent.
But this…
This was terrible. Even a dog would probably refuse to eat it.
And we’d ordered the inn’s most expensive deluxe meal.
“Then let’s have it taken away. I can’t eat it either.”
At Mother’s words, Lisa, who had been attending us, tasted the food herself and immediately shook her head.
“It’s not to my taste either. If I think it’s bad, I can’t imagine how awful it must be for you, My Lady and Young Miss. Please wait here. I’ll ask if they have any fruit. We still have several days of travel ahead of us, and you can’t go hungry. Especially you, Young Miss! You already suffer from motion sickness, and whenever you find eating troublesome, you skip meals entirely!”
As though she’d been waiting for the opportunity, Lisa launched into one of her lectures.
I grimaced and hurriedly covered her mouth.
“But I do eat when it’s mealtime. I eat well.”
Back when I lived alone, I never skipped my three meals a day. I had actually been rather plump.
Of course, unlike Seo Ye-eun, who gained weight just from drinking water, Rose Stacy had the blessed constitution of never putting on weight no matter how much she ate.
Naturally, after becoming Rose Stacy…
I ate happily.
Our family wasn’t wealthy, but we weren’t poor either. We always had plenty to eat, and the head chef delighted in making desserts for the youngest daughter of the house.
Apparently, though, that wasn’t enough to satisfy Lisa.
“You do eat! But whenever you think eating is a bother, you don’t even think about food! And with your motion sickness, it’s even worse! Traveling on an empty stomach will only make it worse, so you’re staying right here until I get something!”
“Lisa, don’t worry,” Mother said with a smile. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t go anywhere. Go on.”
“Yes, Madam.”
I had even nodded to show I understood.
Yet Lisa still looked at me distrustfully before finally heading toward the kitchen after Mother spoke.
Watching her leave, I couldn’t help letting out a helpless laugh.
Honestly…
What an insolent maid.
Sometimes I couldn’t even tell who the master was.
Granted, I was the young lady of the house, but Father and Mother were the ones paying the bills. Mother outranked me in every practical sense.
Still…
I felt a little wronged.
Perhaps my feelings were written all over my face because Mother smiled gently.
“Don’t be too hard on her. Lisa worries about you.”
“I know.”
I knew that was exactly why neither Mother nor Father ever scolded Lisa.
“That’s why I don’t say anything.”
“What a good girl.”
She spoke as though soothing a child.
Pouting, I grumbled,
“Mom, I’ll be an adult next year. I’m not a little kid anymore.”
The protest accomplished absolutely nothing.
They say that no matter how old children become, they’ll always be little in their parents’ eyes.
Looking at Mother now, I believed it.
She herself had married Father when she was around my age.
Yet she still treated me like this.
She looked so genuinely happy that I simply smiled back.
I didn’t want to ruin that happiness.
“Young Miss! Madam! They had fruit after all! I’ve peeled some for you. Please, eat!”
“Thank you, Lisa.”
After eating the fruit Lisa brought us, I returned to my room.
The moment I washed up, lay down, and rested my head on the pillow…
I fell fast asleep.
Even though all I’d done was ride in a carriage, I must have been more exhausted than I’d realized.
If I was this tired, Mother must have been even worse.
Just as sleep claimed me, I vaguely felt Lisa gently tucking the blanket around me with an incredibly warm smile.
She was probably even more exhausted than I was.
What was she still doing awake?
I wondered that…
But before I could voice the thought, sleep completely swallowed me.
** * * * **
“…Whose carriage is that?”
Early that evening, just as Rose had fallen asleep, a man tilted his head in curiosity as he looked at the carriage and the knights stationed outside the inn.
He wore plain clothing that concealed his identity.
Yet his commanding presence and dangerously beautiful appearance betrayed his noble status all the same.
There was little he could do about his face.
Apparently having long since given up trying to hide it, he simply concealed his signature midnight-violet hair beneath his cloak before asking the aide standing behind him.
This village lay along one of the routes leading to the imperial capital, Arwell.
However, it was so underdeveloped that both nobles and ordinary travelers generally avoided it.
Even if this route was technically the fastest.
To the man, that was an absurd luxury.
Regardless…
Seeing an elegant white carriage parked proudly before the inn—a carriage without elaborate decorations, yet crafted from unmistakably high-quality materials that anyone with a discerning eye would immediately recognize as belonging to nobility—was enough to catch anyone’s attention.
Normally he wouldn’t have spared it a glance.
But he happened to be in an unusually foul mood today.
Everything irritated him.
So the carriage naturally piqued his curiosity.
Actually…
What interested him wasn’t the carriage itself.
It was the knights guarding it.
Judging from the carriage alone, its owner didn’t appear to be a particularly high-ranking noble, nor especially wealthy.
Yet the carriage had clearly been built with safety as its highest priority.
Its quality spoke volumes about the family that owned it.
That alone could simply be explained away as practical spending.
But the knights told an entirely different story.
Their armor wasn’t flashy.
It had been designed purely for practicality, allowing maximum mobility while providing exceptional protection.
It wasn’t luxurious.
But it was meticulously maintained.
Perfect armor for keeping its wearers alive.
In fact…
It had probably cost far more than the glittering ceremonial armor many nobles preferred.
The armor itself looked more expensive than the carriage.
A noble who spends more on their knights than on themselves.
That was how things should be.
Yet throughout the vast Genoa Empire, there were only a handful of nobles who actually behaved that way.
Of that, the man was certain.
As though reading his thoughts, his aide answered.
“The carriage bears no family crest. It seems they don’t enjoy attracting attention. Since they’ve passed through this village, they’re likely a noble house from the south. This is the safest and fastest route from the southern territories to the capital.”
“The south?”
“Yes. Probably a little-known provincial noble family. I don’t recognize any of the knights, and while they clearly invested considerable care into their equipment, neither the carriage nor the armor appears to be the absolute finest available.”
He paused before adding,
“Though the knights’ armor is remarkably expensive. I’d wager a single suit costs as much as that entire carriage.”
As expected of the man’s trusted aide, he had noticed everything at a glance.
He let out a low whistle.
“That’s impressive.”
Especially considering the family hardly looked wealthy.
“Interesting.”
The man watched the knights with growing fascination.
Despite traveling all day, they remained alert.
Not one appeared exhausted.
They performed their duties with obvious pride, treating their mission as something honorable rather than burdensome.
It spoke volumes about the loyalty and respect they held for the family they served.
His aide seemed to notice the same thing.
“They’re sincerely devoted. Every one of them looks quite capable. Strange that a noble house like this is completely unknown.”
Even the ordinary knights radiated competence.
Their disciplined posture alone proved it.
No matter how remote the family might be…
A household capable of maintaining knights at this level should have been famous.
Something didn’t add up.
As the aide narrowed his eyes, searching for a hidden family crest—
Swish.
“…What exactly are you doing?”
A cold voice sounded behind him.
“…!”
Before he realized it, a sword rested against his throat.
A knight had silently appeared at his back.
One wrong answer…
And the blade would slice his neck without hesitation.
The killing intent radiating from the knight left no room for doubt.
After the initial shock, the aide calmed himself and looked carefully at the knight’s face.
His eyes widened.
This was the very knight who had been sleeping behind the carriage moments earlier.
Yet he had approached so quickly…
Without the aide noticing even the slightest movement.
He’s no ordinary swordsman.
His surprise soon gave way to excitement.
The man beside him seemed equally intrigued.
After observing the knight for a moment, he murmured,
“A peak-level Sword Expert… I didn’t expect to find someone of this caliber here. Judging by the others, he’s their field leader, but not the captain of the order. He lacks the authority that usually comes with the position.”
A faint smile crossed his lips.
“This is becoming more interesting.”
“…What?”
This time, it wasn’t only the knight who reacted.
The aide practically shouted, forgetting that a sword was pressed against his neck.
His lord’s judgment had never been wrong.
Which made it all the more unbelievable.
Someone at this level would be honored wherever they went.
Whether they wanted fame or not, their name, appearance, and the noble house they served would inevitably become known.
Yet no matter how hard he searched his memory…
He had never heard of a knight matching this description.
More unbelievable still—
A swordsman of this level served an obscure provincial noble family.
And he wasn’t even the captain.
Which meant…
Someone even stronger must exist within that household.
Then why wasn’t such a family famous?
With military strength like that?
None of it made sense.
Meanwhile, the knight holding the sword to his throat seemed utterly unmoved.
Like the man’s lord, he belonged to the type who never displayed surprise, no matter how astonishing the situation.
His expression remained cold and emotionless.
“What business did you have watching us?”
