The fluffy ball that had been hiding with an invisibility spell had been clinging to Liana’s side from the very beginning.
“You must have been really uncomfortable, huh?”
As she gently petted its soft fur and asked, the fluffy ball panted as if to say it was fine, even nuzzling its cheek deeper against her in a show of affection.
“Really? You were okay?”
Yip!
When Liana let out a chuckle, the excited fluffball, now fully healed, suddenly leaped off the bed and jumped straight toward her.
Startled, she caught it in her arms, and a strong scent of grass—typical of this fluffy ball—wafted up to her nose.
It was strange that a dog would smell like grass, but since Liana had long concluded that this fluffball was no ordinary creature, she didn’t mind.
At that moment, while licking Liana’s cheek, the fluffball started to carefully examine the room.
“This is where we’ll be staying for a while. Do you like it?”
The way it looked around resembled someone inspecting their own home. Liana couldn’t help but laugh as she asked softly.
Whine… whimper…
The fluffball responded with a series of sounds. It was animal whining, so Liana couldn’t understand the exact meaning, but she could tell that it was displeased about something.
“Hm, you don’t like it? Why not…”
Liana followed the creature’s gaze as it scanned the room. There wasn’t anything particularly out of place.
The bedroom was modest, but not lacking. Aside from a few swords she’d received as gifts mounted on the wall, there weren’t any extravagant decorations in her room.
And the fluffball’s gaze was fixed precisely on the wall where those ornate, finely crafted swords were displayed.
“…Don’t tell me, you think this place is too plain?”
Even as she asked, Liana thought it was ridiculous.
But at her question, the warm body in her arms gave a noticeable flinch. No denying it—this fluffball understood her.
And that flinch practically confirmed she was right.
“Oh wow… I never thought I’d see a dog who’s into luxury…”
The fluffball let out a disgruntled whimper at her mumbling.
“What? You’re saying you’re not?”
But when she asked again, it clamped its mouth shut and looked away.
Seeing this, Liana came to a conclusion.
“Hey, who’s your real owner?”
This fluffball clearly had a master.
* * *
The first day of Liana’s return passed without any major incidents.
Though she had discovered that the fluffball belonged to someone, she couldn’t return it to its owner just yet.
And for some reason, whenever she even mentioned the owner, the fluffball would quietly back away.
“…So I was thinking we could hold your welcome banquet a week from now. What do you think?”
Lost in thought while nibbling on her food, Liana looked up at the king’s sudden question.
“…A welcome banquet for me?”
“Yes, of course. You’ve spent the past four years guarding the borders and the front lines. Naturally, we should honor your return. Your knights who came back with you as well, of course.”
Strangely enough, the king was actually saying something reasonable for once.
Usually, whenever he opened his mouth, it was only to trample on others’ pride—but not today.
So he’s really planning a welcome banquet now?
Just then, the king spoke again.
“And…”
Unlike a moment ago, when he’d puffed up like he was bestowing some grand favor, he now had the guilty air of someone with an agenda.
Liana stared at him as he cleared his throat.
“…I’m thinking of officially inducting your guards into the Royal Knight Order at the banquet.”
At that, Liana’s expression turned cold.
Of course…
So that decent talk was just a prelude to nonsense.
The guards Liana had handpicked—fifteen knights and ten mages—were not part of the royal order.
They served Liana, their liege, and Liana just happened to be the Supreme Commander of Rown’s military.
What the king was proposing now was to transfer them under the Royal Order—effectively making them part of the royal household.
“Wouldn’t that be better for your knights as well? Though you appointed them, they haven’t been officially recognized by the palace.”
“…Ha.”
“Ahem, but if they’re your knights, they’re as good as the kingdom’s anyway, aren’t they? You’re a princess of Rown, so even if they’re inducted, they’d still be your guards…”
Even as he glanced nervously at Liana’s expression, which had now turned completely frigid, the king kept going.
He was basically saying, even if her knights became part of the Royal Order, they could still serve her—because she was a princess.
Technically, that wasn’t completely wrong—except he conveniently left out the word “temporarily.”
“…I don’t like that idea.”
Liana cut him off.
She no longer wanted to watch the king speak so shamelessly.
“…What?”
The king had been mumbling on like, “I’ll bring your soldiers under me, but they can serve you until you get married.” Now his face turned red with rage at her blunt refusal.
It seemed he’d never even considered the possibility of her saying no.
Liana’s knights were famous for their strength—none of them older than thirty, yet all elite fighters. Even the king had heard of them.
So it wasn’t strange that this greedy old man wanted to claim that force for himself.
By royal law, once a knight joins the Royal Order, they belong to the king.
So once Liana’s guards were inducted, the king would be their master.
How shameless can you be, trying to steal my knights like that…
The intention was so transparent, Liana couldn’t help but scoff.
She spun her knife between her fingers and stared the king in the eye.
“I said I don’t want that, Father.”
Liana hadn’t tolerated the king’s past nonsense out of fear.
But clearly, the king had misunderstood her silence.
She’d just wanted to avoid the hassle. Had she known it would come to this, she would’ve started pushing back sooner.
“You said no?!”
The king tried to act authoritative, but it had no effect on her.
“Want me to repeat it? I said I have no intention of handing over my knights to you.”
At her firm response, the king’s face flushed with fury.
“You’re too naïve! Can’t you see that strengthening Rown’s military helps you too?”
“How is that helpful to me, exactly?”
“…What?”
“My knights swore loyalty to me. Not to the royal family. Not to you.”
She thought that much would be clear now.
But of course, that was only her wishful thinking.
The king flinched at the truth but quickly raised his voice again like it didn’t matter.
“Come now! You’re a royal. So your knights are royal knights!”
…Wow.
Liana was honestly impressed. She suddenly became very curious about her biological father’s IQ.
To spout such baseless logic so confidently…
Did he think this was some back-alley shouting match where the loudest voice wins?
“Then at least be consistent. If I get married and leave the palace, I can still take my guards with me, right? Because even after marriage, I’m still a royal, no?”
The king’s mouth snapped shut like a clam. She could practically hear the gears in his head turning.
Click—screech—
Liana set the spinning knife down on the table and pushed her chair back as she stood up.
If she kept listening to his nonsense, she might go stupid herself.
“Where are you going?! I’m not finished!”
“I am. No matter what you say, I’m not handing over my knights.”
“You—you…!”
“See you in a week then. Or not. We can skip the banquet too.”
Liana ignored the king shouting behind her and walked away.
“…Ugh, this is so annoying.”
As she strode toward her palace, she paused and sighed.
Now that she thought about it, maybe she’d handled it too mildly. She could’ve gone even harder.
A late regret.
Back in her palace, Liana immediately threw herself onto the wide sofa.
Having lunch with someone she hated, followed by a round of meeting unpleasant people, had left her head throbbing.
“Could this day get any worse…”
At least she hadn’t gotten indigestion—thanks to her sturdy nerves.
Then, a small shadow crept toward her.
Thanks to the thick rug under the sofa, the fluffy feet made no sound.
The shadow carefully timed its move—then jumped.
Waaah! Thump—!
With a dramatic cry, the fluffball pounced—but instead of landing on Liana’s back, it ended up in her arms.
Because Liana had instinctively turned and caught it mid-air.
…Yip?
Landing softly in her arms, the fluffball blinked its golden eyes in confusion.
Its rolling eyes scanned her face, as if trying to figure out what just happened.
