After spending a night sandwiched between Lydia and Bir, I woke up to a gentle kno our door. At first I believed it was Bir. She always woke up before me, and was responsible fetting me ready in the m. I quickly realized it couldn't be Bir, because she was ying right beside me, still out cold.

  Crawling over Lydia I got out of bed and made for the door. Flipping the tch I ope to find one of Edna's maids. I believed the maid's name was Frey, not that it mattered. With Lydia and Bir still asleep, there would be no way for us to verse.

  Frey looked a bit startled to see me ahe door. Her surprise sted for only a moment. Frey quickly regained her posure and bowed. "Good m princess ne. I've bee by Lady Edna to fetch you and your maids, though it seems as if they both are g discipline."

  Without anything else to do, I nodded. Not that I wao get Bir and Lydia in trouble, but they really could've got their own room. Using me as an iween was a little much.

  "If you don't mind, princess, I'd like to ehey do not disgrace you further."

  With another nod I stepped out of the way and allowed Frey to step into the room. Without a moment's hesitation she marched to the foot of the bed and tore the bs off of it.

  "Ladies! Wake up this instant!"

  Bir was the first to wake. Her eyes parted slowly and then shot wide open all at onearly leaping from the bed, Bir looked around the room. First at Frey standing with her hands on her hips, and then at me by the door.

  "Oh no!" Bir began to fret, running around the room. "I 't believe I overslept. Is it time to leave already? I 't believe Lady ne's still in her pajamas. Please don't worry, Lady ne, I'll get you dressed at once!"

  ?It really doesn't bother me.? Personally, if I was going to spend the entire day in a carriage, I would've rather kept my nightgown on. At least then I'd be a little more fortable. Of course that was way too uncouth for Bir to ever allow. It was ohing for a maid or close friend to see you in your bedclothes. For a strao see them, it was dht exhibitionistic.

  Shutting the door, Bir began to dress me for the day. As she did so, Lydia finally came to. Stretg out her tail, she yawned and rubbed her eyes. "~Good m," Lydia mewled.

  "Lydia," Frey huffed. "I know that you have only retly joined us, but you're embarrassing your mistress. Get out of bed at once."

  Not yet awake enough to prehend what Frey was saying, Lydia gave her a fused look. "My mistress? What're you talking about? It's just ne."

  Frey gasped and Bir stiffened. Frey was one of the maids Edna believed she could trust, but that didn't meant we'd shared everything with her. The fact that Lydia ractically family to me, was likely something she didn't know. Which meant Lydia had just made a major mistake.

  "You ungrateful little..." Frey seethed, grindieeth together. "Princess, I suggest you fire her immediately. You need not worry yourself with someone as crass as her just because she's det at magic. Lady Edna take over all of your studies, and I'm certain there are other battle-trained maids you could hire for your prote."

  Battle-trained? Has Edelling everyone about Lydia's bat prowess? I was fused. Edna had said that Lydia would serve as my st line of defense. If that was the case, wouldn't it have beeer to keep Lydia's abilities hidden?

  "You fet that Lydia apanied Edna on her mission to rescue Azmoria," Rochelle noted. "Even if they did battle with no ohat alone would've outed Lydia as someoh signifit skill. If she wasn't, a hero like Edna would've never asked for her help."

  ?I'm sorry Frey, but I don't want to fire Lydia.?

  "I uand," Frey bowed to me after Bir firansting. "Five me for speaking of matters that are not my , princess."

  ?Thank you for g about my wellbeing. I appreciate your .?

  "I'm hoo receive yratitude."

  "Sorry for my ck of respect, princess," Lydia said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her head. Despite being my big sister, she was still trying hard to be a good maid in front of others. She was likely really embarrassed to have made such a blunder in front of someoher than Bir.

  "Yes, I'm sorry too. For oversleeping when you needed me," Bir lowered her head for a moment before turning to Frey. "Five us for f you to e wake us, Frey."

  "It's no bother. The carriages are ready for departure whenever you're ready. We'll be waiting just outside Rofair's northern gates."

  After saying farewell to Frey we finished getting dressed and packed before making our way toward the carriages. "For all of her talk about embarrassing Lady ne," Lydia huffed. "Is it not more embarrassing to make a princess walk all the way to the gates? They could've picked us up."

  "Lady Edna likely doesn't want to make a fuss. It's ly on knowledge that a surviving princess of Ezin is staying in Nakara. Our kingdom doesn't have many non-human nobles either."

  "Once Lady ne bees known, Nakara will crumble," Lydia said, her predi sending a shiver down my spine. Even if I wasn't a fan of the kingdom as a whole, I didn't wish ill on Nakara. After being discovered as the saint, my world had expanded a lot. There were too many people I thought fondly of who'd be in danger if the kingdom colpsed.

  "There will definitely be some turmoil. From what I know, many of the beastkin houses are marginalized. They hold little status and are given poor territories to govern. The knight's order almost never mobilizes on their behalf. Evehey beg for aid."

  ?That's terrible.?

  "I'm surprised they're even allowed to retain their nobility," Lydia hissed. "If you don't want someone around, why not just elimihem entirely?"

  "I don't know. I assume the beastkin nobles exist to appease the various tribes living within Nakara's territory."

  Strong as the warriors of my tribe were, I couldn't imagihem frightening the nobles of Nakara. We didn't have living heroes like Edna. Even if she chose not to fight, we'd still be overwhelmed. Perhaps the other tribes were more powerful. Until I met them, I'd never know.

  "Lady ne," Edna waved and approached us as we stepped through Rofair's northern gate. Her wounded hand was noed in a leather glove. It gave the illusion of her fingers being intact, but the fake fingers were too stiff. Anyone who knew of her injury would likely quickly notice it hadn't been healed.

  ?I hope you had a good time off Edna.? My tail wagged as I hurried my footsteps to close the distaween us. After everything she'd done for me, I'd feel bad if I got to spend a day rexing while she was doing work.

  "Lady ne says that she hopes you had a good day off, Lady Edna." Bir transted. Normally she shared what I signed verbatim. This time Bir added a bit of flourish to it. It didn't bother me to have her dress up my words, but I was a little fused she felt the o.

  "I did," The ers of Edna's eyes creased as she smiled. Turning behind her she beed over a man I hadn't seen before. He wore some of the fa leather armor I'd ever seen, ated with a moss-green sash around his waist. Pg a fist over his heart, the man lowered himself to one knee in front of me.

  "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance princess ne. I am Pierce Marwood. At my aunt's suggestion I'll be joining you on your trip."

  My eyes widened. Pierce was too smooth. He reminded me of Prince Edmond when we first met. Was he going to court me just like the prince did? I felt uneasy just imagining it. Why would Edna allow someone like him to join us? Was his aunt the friend she'd goo see?

  Likely thinking something simir to what I was, Lydia slipped between Pierd me. "Your introdus have been received Lord Pierce. But my dy is quite shy, so I'll ask that you e no closer."

  Pierce looked up at Lydia, matg her gaze. As the two of them silently stared at one another, Edna began to ugh.

  "Lydia, Pierce isn't here to court Lady ne. He's my nephew."

  "Your nephew?" Lydia tilted her head in fusion, and I mimicked the act, equally fused. I couldn't believe Edna had a nephew. I'd thought her whole family had perished.

  "Yes," Edna stepped forward and pced her hand on Pierce's arm after he stood. "Pierce is the eldest of my younger brother's three children. I never expected to run into him here, but since he nning to return home, I offered to let him travel with us."

  "Aunt Edna has told me a great deal about all three of you. It'll be my honor to travel alongside you, and to wele you to Wylrune Castle."

  ?Wylrune castle??

  "Wylrune is the capital of my domain," Edna answered. "The castle there is my family's historie. My brother Markus and his children look after it on my behalf."

  "We also have a garrison for Marwood's Rangers within the castle's walls. You'll be well protected there."

  ?I'm looking forward to seeing it.?

  "I'm excited to show you all of my domain," Edna smiled before motioning for us to follow her. "The only issue is deg which route to take."

  Stopping at a small table, Edna poio a map. "I figured, we'd let Lady ne decide, sihe rest of us are at an impasse. It is possible to tiraveli. We'll eventually run into the Saint's Tears. Luckily there's a pretty sizable pass between the peaks, so it'll be the quickest of the two. The issue is that there's a lot of rain on the far side this time of the year. It could cause problems if the road bees too muddy.

  "Alternatively we go north and around, but that'll add at least another week to our journey. Not to mention some of the territories we have to pass through are antagonistic toward me specifically."

  ?Why would they be antagonistic toward you? You're a hero!?

  "A few decades ago I igheir pleas for help when a demon appeared. Many people were harmed, and the here have never fotten. I don't believe they will harm any of us, but I'm sure they won't be weling."

  I didn't know which was better. Traveling through the rain and mud, potentially getting stuck. Or travelling through vilges that didn't want us there. But Edna khe territory way better than I did, if she was letting someone as ignorant as me make the decision, she likely didn't believe either option was actually bad. With that in mind, I decided to avoid the rain.

  ?I think we should—?

  "Wait ne!" Rochelle called out, stopping me mid-sign. *"The city where the Seeds used to have their headquarters is due east of here. If you decide to gh the mountains you'll pass right by it. This will be a perfect time to look into whether they're still there."

  ?Gh the Saint's Tears. I'd also like to make a stop here,? I poio a dot on Edna's map meant to represent a city. Acc to Rochelle, if the Seeds still existed, that's where I'd find them.

  "Zeipher, why?" Edna asked looking at me.

  ?I think... a friend of mine lives there.?

  Everyone looked as if they didn't believe me. I was raised in a by Elise, and never ventured far from Duwan. Even those who thought I rincess believed I was in exile from a pletely different try. They likely found it hard to believe I had any allies in Nakara.

  "A friend?"

  I nodded.

  "Alright, I guess you'll tell me more ter," Edna sighed. "Just so you know, Zeipher isly the pormally we go around it entirely, but I don't mind stopping for you. Just stay by my side the whole time we're there, okay?"

  ?Okay.?

  The moment we boarded the carriages, Lydia grabbed me by the shoulder. Only she and Bir were riding with me, so it wasn't going to raise any eyebrows, but it still shocked me. "ne, who is it you know in Zeipher?"

  ?What??

  "Who is it? I don't remember you meeting anyone from there. I don't remember Elise having any friends from Zeipher either."

  ?Well, they're not a frie. Rochelle said I might be able to find an anization dedicated to the saint there. Ohat isn't part of the church.? Now that both Lydia and Bir knew about Rochelle, it was so much easier to expin things. I just o tell Edna, but I couldn't with her nephew and so many servants lingering around.

  "Is everything alright?" Bir asked. "You're starting to look really pale Lydia."

  "Yeah, everything's fine. Sorry."

  ?What's got you so worried??

  "I'm inally from Zeipher," Lydia sighed and fidgeted with her tail. "I guess I'm just a little nervous about going home."

  Lydia's admission stunned me. For as long as I'd known her, I couldn't say that I ever asked where she'd e from. Nor did I ever ask if she had family or friends anywhere else. The fact that she stayed with Elise and me made me think she was an orphan just like us.

  ?Do you have family in Zeipher??

  "You're really the only person I sider family," Lydia replied, huggiightly. "But, there might be a few people living there who share a bloodlih me. I'll do my best to make sure we don't run into them."

  ?Are they bad people?? I asked. Thoughts of my father casti resurfaced. Had Lydia suffered something simir?

  Leaning forward, Lydia rubbed her forehead against mihey'd never celebrate a birthday, but would throw an eborate party to orate a lucrative kill. I'm sure they'll be quite cross at me for abandoning my p the family. Which is why it is best we avoid them."

  ?Will they hurt you??

  "They might try. But I'm more afraid they'll e after you. My... retives might believe that you are the reason I failed to return to them when they see us together. They might think killing you will bring me back to them."

  "Maybe it would be best to ge pns now, before we go too far," Bir ented. "Even if Rochelle believes we may have allies in Zeipher. It isn't worth it if ne could be harmed."

  "It's fine," Lydia took a deep breath. Her gaze grew unfocused as she sank deep into her own thoughts. "If they e after ne, I'll be the st of my bloodline."

  eri