There was a reason why none of the elves identified Lia as a princess. Since she never showed her face to anyone whenever the elves would visit the Vanne Kingdom, none of them knew what the only daughter of the late king looked like.

So Lia continued to pretend as if she wasn't aware of the war. But when she heard about her father's death, her breath stopped. The cup slid down her hands and broke on the ground as the liquid spread on the surface.

​​

Zion, who was still sipping his drink, stopped for a second as he glanced at the princess's expressionless face before putting the cup down. It didn't seem reasonable if he continued to drink his tea when his master had stopped.

After a long time, Lia recovered her voice, but her face was still cold. "The king died?" She asked this question as if she couldn't believe what she heard just now.

Her voice had a touch of hoarseness that made it sound as if she was being rude, but the waiter didn't mind. He just assumed that this traveler's family must be in danger. So he didn't overthink about how Lia was acting as a hint of sympathy flashed across his eyes again. He ordered a human servant to clean up and said, "I'll bring another cup. It's in the house. You don't have to pay."

"How did he die?" Lia's voice finally returned to normal, but her eyes were colder than before.

Zion averted his eyes and continued to look down. He had assumed this kind of thing to happen when the system had brought him the news about a 75% completion rate. So he wasn't as surprised as the princess, but he still felt bad for those citizens who were killed without any consideration. There must be a reason why those black-robbed soldiers were still on a killing spree. When he thought of that, his eyes squinted.

The waiter, on the other side, started answering the question. "The messenger told the chief about how Princess Edda and other officials still alive were standing pale-faced for a long time. Even after reaching the safe zone, they were still trembling in fright. After waiting for a long time, they all uttered one sentence

: Prince Heath risked his life to save them all from a monster."

"Monster…." The princess repeated the last word, and her eyes squinted. "Thank you. I'll be taking my leave."

Zion instantly got up while still keeping his head lowered and walked away as he followed Princess Lia outside. After walking for a while, Lia crossed the inn where they were staying, but she still strolled. The detective felt something was wrong with her. So he glanced in his surrounding area, and when he noticed that they were in the forest without any living soul around, he picked up his pace and stopped in front of her.

Lia was surprised to find her human servant stopping her, and she blinked as if she just woke up from a daze before letting out a weak chuckle. It almost felt as if she understood why Zion stopped her, and for a moment, a trace of warmth engulfed her heart. "Don't worry. I'm good. I have already forgotten my old man. Let's go back to practicing."

And after saying that, she turned and walked back to the village.

Zion stood there for a moment and suddenly missed the system's presence. If 007 were still here, he would have chatted with that stupid system. It would have given him a little relief that could provide him with ample opportunity to think more about what was happening in the Vanne Kingdom. But now, he was forced to watch the helpless and almost depressed princess to the point that even after doing her best to hide her expressions, Lia's emotions still leaked through her eyes.

He felt uncomfortable after watching her behave like that. After all these days of training, he had become accustomed to seeing her ruthless face. But now, when he saw Lia's expressions, he felt a trace of sympathy for the master and temporarily forgave her for throwing water at his face every morning.

But this kind of thought only swirled in his head until they reached the inn and went to the open field for their daily practice. She threw the wooden sword at him that rolled down on his feet. The emotion of helplessness and depression disappeared from her face. Instead, a trace of iciness flashed in her eyes as her expressions became colder than before. It seemed as if she was glaring at him for making her angry, and he didn't even know what she was mad about.

But before he could even say a single word, she took out another wooden sword that was dangling on her waist. Zion's eyebrows raised in surprise. Just when did she find another sword?

After taking it out, she said in an icy cold voice, "Attack me. Be as fierce as you can."

"But weren't you supposed to let me defeat you first before you can use the wooden sword on me?"

"I have changed my mind. Now attack me!"

***

By the time night arrived, Zion was already beaten black and blue. He now realized the reason why it was said that no one could understand women. It was incomprehensible to see how a girl's mood transformed from depressed to anger in the blink of an eye. At this time, he was lying on the ground, both injured and hungry, as he squinted his eyes at the princess, who finally put the sword back on her waist before sparing a glance at him.

She hesitated as she picked out a brown colored pouch that looked like it was ancient. Then she threw it in front of Zion's body lying on the ground. "The medicine to heal your wounds. Good night."

Without even asking if he needed help, she walked away.

Zion rubbed his face and pulled his body up. He didn't hate the princess for treating him as a punching bag today. He knew her father had just died so that he would endure his anger for once, but if something like that happened again, he would retaliate! After thinking like this, he picked up the pouch and staggered toward the inn while flinching on the way because of pain.