#003. Esteban
Warm bathwater had been a luxury she hadn’t experienced in nearly fifteen years. She had been locked away at the age of ten and died at twenty-five.
“…Now that I think about it, my life really was utterly miserable.”
The temperature that warmed her body felt pleasant.
In the past, if she couldn’t get up early enough, Diana would drench her with buckets of water she brought in. On those nights, she had no choice but to sleep in a wet bed.
Even mages couldn’t escape colds.
“…Father forbade my use of magic.”
It wasn’t merely a prohibition.
Unless it was a day she had to go out to use magic, iron shackles made of black steel were always fastened around Anastasia’s slender ankles.
Originally, they were restraints designed to suppress the manifestation of magic. But now that witches and mages had all but disappeared… the same metal was used as bridles and shackles for the wyverns ridden by knights.
Each time the cold iron touched her ankle, it felt as if her insides twisted.
Perhaps it was because they restricted the natural flow of mana that witches possessed so effortlessly.
“…What is this, exactly?”
Anastasia was still holding a long strand of his black hair in her small hand. For some reason, she felt she shouldn’t throw it away.
And that wasn’t the only thing.
Anastasia quietly placed her hand over her solar plexus.
The distinct sensation of a scar beneath her fingertips. Of course, in her previous life, as the only witch of the Etranger family and as a tool, she had been used for tasks like capturing wyverns…
But all the scars and injuries from that time were completely gone.
Moreover, this thin, vertically elongated scar was clearly from the wound she had received when her body was pierced during her final duel.
There was no room for doubt.
Each time she touched the scar, a dull ache pulsed in her head—just like when she first grasped that long strand of hair.
“…I definitely… died.”
She began to think this might be one of the mysteries she had to solve in this life.
If not that… perhaps there was a reason she had been brought back.
Something she was meant to do.
A mission.
Anastasia decided she would find it. She also felt uncertain about what she should do going forward.
Simply… simply taking revenge on all those who had tormented her would make life far too meaningless.
“Alright. I’ll accept it.”
She tucked the long black strand of hair into the locket hanging from her necklace.
A necklace inherited from her mother.
Her only keepsake.
In fact, Anastasia didn’t even know her mother’s name.
“I’ll reclaim what I’ve lost.”
Her status.
Records about her mother.
Her own freedom.
And… the cursed knight of Aquila Castle, the nameless man who had taken the lightning meant for her at the end.
That was enough bathing for now.
Anastasia finished getting herself ready and stepped out. The maids of the estate, who saw her neatly and elegantly dressed, couldn’t help but marvel.
The name “golden osmanthus flower” suited her perfectly.
“…Unbelievable…”
Even Diana stood there with her mouth agape, staring blankly at Anastasia.
Her outdoor attire was not an extravagant dress, but something closer to rough riding clothes.
And yet, her inherent beauty remained undiminished.
“…Your Highness. May I ask you something?”
Anastasia waved her hand dismissively, as if it were bothersome.
“Is the carriage ready?”
“Y-Yes, of course! It’s ready!”
Outside the window stood a luxurious carriage with a sleek black body and silver decorations.
A custom-made masterpiece owned solely by the Etranger ducal house. The work of Esteban Hosongel, the kingdom’s finest painter, architect, and designer.
Only the finest black-coated horses were granted the honor of pulling this black carriage.
“Well done.”
Diana felt a strange sense of joy.
From Anastasia, the poise and ease of nobility already radiated, and she instinctively realized that such praise carried great value.
“And the driver?”
Frankly, she hadn’t expected to find a driver. If someone were to take her into the capital and get discovered…
That driver would likely be dismissed on the spot.
“There was one volunteer.”
“…A volunteer?”
For my carriage?
Anastasia’s eyes widened, and soon an elderly man slowly approached from down the hallway of the estate.
“Your Highness.”
“…Is that you?”
“Do you not remember me? That saddens me, Your Highness.”
The old man slowly lifted the brim of his wide hat. Only then did Anastasia recognize his face.
Back when she was young.
Before she was confined to the tower.
When she would hide and cry in a corner of the garden, bullied by Zenis and Aslan, he would always come to her.
— “Your Highness, why are you crying?”
— “No one… no one likes me…”
— “Please don’t say that. I may be an old man… but I can keep you company.”
— “Really…?”
“…Enoch? Is that really you?”
Though he had been a man in his fifties, Enoch had once been someone who eased Anastasia’s loneliness, even if just a little.
“Indeed, it is I. Thanks to Miss Diana’s screaming, I woke up fully in the stables.”
Because of that, he had been marked by Zenis and her mother and demoted from head butler to stable hand.
“You’ll get fired like this.”
That was why Anastasia didn’t want to burden Enoch any further.
“…Your Highness.”
“Why?”
“What if I do get fired? My son is a free farmer in the neighboring estate. I could go there and live peacefully, perhaps even watch my granddaughter grow. And aren’t you heading out to get fitted for clothes?”
“…That’s true. How did you know?”
Enoch glanced at Diana. Diana’s complexion turned pale in an instant.
“Diana, was it?”
“W-Well… everyone asks the reason… They said they wouldn’t drive if I didn’t tell them… Though even after telling them, they still refused…”
Not surprising.
Until yesterday, Anastasia Etranger, the second princess of the ducal house, had been treated worse than the horses that pulled the black carriage.
“Then, Enoch, you understand as well.”
“Of course. I can imagine how breathtakingly beautiful you will be when you are properly dressed and appear in the capital.”
“…Enough nonsense. So, will you truly do it?”
“It is always my honor.”
By asking this much, Anastasia had shown all the mercy and consideration she intended to offer.
She quietly sighed and extended her hand. Enoch knelt on one knee, kissed the back of her hand, and lowered his head.
“You may rise. Go prepare. I’ll follow shortly.”
“Thank you.”
Only then did Enoch stand again. His now-white hair spoke of the passage of time.
He must have had a hard life.
Though he had been fifty, strands of his dark brown hair still remained, only lightly streaked with gray.
Now… no longer.
“Still, Your Highness, you’ve grown so much. I’m truly overwhelmed.”
“Don’t lie.”
Enoch chuckled, then bowed formally and walked toward the carriage.
“…You don’t scold Enoch?”
Diana, ever oblivious, chimed in from the side.
“Do you think Enoch is you, Diana?”
Inside the swaying carriage, Anastasia reflected on how long it had been since she had ridden anywhere other than in the cargo section.
“…I can barely remember.”
In truth, she had rarely ever ridden in a proper carriage.
She had always been treated like cargo in a freight wagon.
Even when she was summoned to receive her knighthood from the king, she had been locked away in a cargo carriage.
“…It must have been because of the war with the Sered Kingdom.”
She still remembered the horrific smell and sights of the battlefield, where mud was mixed with blood.
Nobles often forgot how brutal war truly was, and the war with the Sered Kingdom that would occur three years later was a result of that ignorance.
“…What are you talking about, Your Highness?”
Diana blinked and looked at Anastasia.
“Hmm?”
“The war with the Sered Kingdom?”
Ah.
Had she spoken aloud?
Realizing her mistake, Anastasia pressed her lips shut, then quietly glared at Diana.
“…Your Highness?”
“It’s nothing. Just something I thought might happen.”
Diana looked puzzled but didn’t press further—likely fearing she might end up hanging upside down again.
The 120-day war between the Sered Kingdom and the Arfrain Kingdom over the Honsorn territory had resulted in a severe waste of manpower on both sides.
The reason was simple.
“…It had been nearly fifty years since the last war.”
Everyone had grown complacent in peace.
No one truly remembered the horrors of war, and young people instead admired the glory of war heroes.
Thus, many voluntarily went to the battlefield… and died.
At that time, Anastasia had been deployed to support the collapsing front lines.
With a single powerful lightning strike, the enemy formation was shattered, and rumors of the “Great Witch of the Golden Osmanthus” spread throughout the military.
Then her father handed her over to the enemy nation in exchange for Aslan, who had been taken prisoner.
A prisoner exchange.
It wasn’t that he was willing to discard the prestige of being the only magical family. Rather, he assumed she could escape on her own anyway.
A surge of heat rose within her.
“…Um, Your Highness?”
“…What now, Diana?”
Just as Anastasia was about to coldly dismiss her, Diana instead placed a handkerchief into her hand.
“…Why are you crying…?”
Meeting Anastasia’s sharp gaze, Diana quickly fell silent.
“…It’s nothing you need to know.”
“Y-Yes…”
“Esteban Hosongel.”
A brand created under the name of Esteban Hosongel, the kingdom’s greatest designer and artisan.
Located in the capital city of Ainor, the center of the Arfrain Kingdom ruled by the Yanpots royal family, it could truly be called the most refined, bustling, and prestigious establishment.
The main store of Esteban Hosongel only allowed entry to those who possessed sufficient status, decorum, and nobility.
Diana was worried.
Going to the Esteban Hosongel flagship store in riding clothes…
It was absurd. Perhaps Anastasia simply didn’t know the strict dress code.
And as expected—
Anastasia Etranger had to stop in front of the lavishly decorated storefront.
“…You’re saying I cannot enter.”
Anastasia spoke in a gentle tone to the clerk.
“I’m terribly sorry, but we cannot allow entry in riding attire. Please adhere to the dress code.”
“Even if I am the second princess of Etranger?”
The clerk’s face lost some of its color.
The Great Witch of the Golden Osmanthus.
People both revered and feared magic. That was only natural.
“…We apologize.”
At that moment—
An elderly man knelt on one knee before Anastasia and performed a knight’s salute.
Without hesitation.
“…Who are you?”
The unfamiliar old man looked up at her with remarkably clear, intelligent eyes.
In his entire life… he had never seen such beauty.
“Please allow me to properly pay my respects, Your Highness.”
With solemn and refined etiquette, Anastasia extended her hand to the man.
The elderly knight, dressed in formal attire, gently kissed the back of her hand in accordance with old customs.
“May I ask the name of this noble lady?”
“I am Anastasia Etranger, the second princess of Etranger. And you?”
“Esteban Hosongel, master of this establishment. What are you doing? Open the doors!”
