Discernment must be done carefully.

It was foolish to be swayed by rumors that others spread and to believe what one hadn’t witnessed personally.

Nevertheless, it was also a bad idea to be misled by the words and actions of the person in front of her, and ignore the information she has in your hands.

Because of Harriet’s execution, the Sigwell Kingdom was forced to choose warfare instead of joining Garkhain’s ranks. Of course, I would like to avoid that…

Then she heard the voice of the head maid.

I’d like to thank you for your kindness. You must not take advantage of the kindness of Lady Reece.

“Listen, Harriet-sama. We must not take advantage of Lady Rishe’s kindness.”

Her tone was dignified and stern. Combined with the head maid’s age, she reminded Rishe of her own mother.

“You must leave them a good impression on us, so they’d have a good relationship with Fabrania in the future. A friendship with Garkhain is a long-cherished wish of His Majesty.”

“I-I understand… I’m sorry. I’m terribly sorry.”

Harriet buried her head deeply and repeated in a small voice.

“Oh, I’m a princess…If I’m not useful to my father, brother or husband, I don’t deserve to exist…. I have to work hard. I must work harder…”

“Harriet-sama!”

“Hiya!!”

Harriet jerked up with a start, and Rishe smiled.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. There was no problem, so let’s go to the store.”

“Huh, ha-hi…!”“There are plenty of wonderful shops along the way. I heard that this city attracts a lot of goods through trade. Besides…”

Harriet listened with her head down as Rishe walked while explaining.

Rishe spent the rest of the evening guarding and making sure there was no sign of anything suspicious in the area.

***

Then, after returning to the castle, Rishe walked Harriet to her room and left after bidding her goodnight.

I’ll take a break from escort work until we go out tomorrow.

Garkhain knights guarded the castle.

The guests did not have their own personal guards there, because to do so would be an expression of ‘I don’t trust the guards’.

The man in a robe once again came to Rishe’s mind.

Should I report that man’s existence to His Highness Arnold?

What kind of purpose did Arnold have for coming to this city?

The best course of action to take would depend on that. At the moment, she couldn’t see them yet. While thinking about this, she headed for the servants’ quarters.

“I’m back. Is Elise here? I need to ask her a little favor… ―― What’s up?”

The dozen or so maids were all huddled in one place, sullen.

“R-Rishe-sama, um…”

Elise stepped forward, pale and trembling.

The words she said took Rishe’s breath away.***

A few hours later.

Rishe looked up quickly when she heard the footsteps of the person she had been waiting for in the dining room.

“Your Highness Arnold!”

“…What’s up?”

Arnold raised an eyebrow when Rishe got up from her chair and ran over to him.

He realized that something unusual might have occurred when he noticed Rishe’s complexion.

“Did something happen when you were guarding the princess?”

“…”

Rishe shook her head. Scared of the presence around her, Rishe grabbed Arnold’s jacket tightly.

“Nothing like that. I just wanted to ask a favor of Your Highness, but it’s really impolite of me…”

“Then say it. Don’t be afraid, I’ll do whatever you want.”

Even with reassuring words directed at her, Rishe’s eyes remained lowered.

She almost stuck to Arnold and said, as if trying to summon up courage.

“…I want to sleep in the same room with Your Highness.”

“…….Huh?”

This was not enough to get the message across, of course.

She knew it, so she made sure there was no one around except Arnold before continuing.

“Because…”

She didn’t care that she got one eye almost plucked in an alleyway just hours ago. Faced with a more serious fear, Rishe struggled to appeal.

“The maids said they saw a ghost…!!”

“………………”