Seira in the escort knight's uniform was dashingly gorgeous. Even though she was a woman, she looked better than most men.

'Is her chest tied up with a bandage?'

Even though she was tall for a woman, she wasn't flat-chested. Medea knew from reading the novel that they weren't small, but they were not very voluminous. She had now tied her up so tightly that she simply had her breasts flattened.

"Welcome, Sir Hestia."

As Medea addressed her, Seira's cheeks blushed shyly. Her maids who saw the sight held their pounding hearts.

'She's so cute and pretty, right? I know.'

Seira had brilliant blonde hair and green eyes while dressed as a man, resembling a cute, handsome youth. Her image stimulated maternal love and fawning.

Although there were plenty of other guards in the Empress's palace, they were not as pretty as Seira, so her maids looked at her with sparkling eyes.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you, Empress."

Medea offered her hand as Seira bent one knee and displayed a respectful greeting. She politely kissed the back of her hand and looked up.

At her adoring and admiring stare, Medea became introspective.

'She looks like a puppy.'

"You may be at ease."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

With a bright smile, Seira got up from her bow.

The servants keenly glanced at Medea's excited gaze. Because she knew Seira's true identity, her eyes reflected her simple favor, but her maids did not know that her knight was a woman.

'Will they misunderstand?'

Although she would later reveal Seira's gender later anyway, she had a feeling that there was going to be a problem.

'But if I announce her gender now. Those ministers are going to hound her down without even checking her skills. I have to hide it for now until there is an incident that will prove Seira's worth.'

Whatever troubles were to come, revealing Seira's gender would be her trump card. Medea grinned inside, thinking this would be an opportunity to determine who was indeed on her side.

Since a young and beautiful 'man' was close to the Empress, his existence alone would be enough to create problems.

Medea did not intend to use Seira to create a scandal deliberately, but she was sure that those around her with evil intentions would create problems on their own.

Having made up her mind, she had her maids bring refreshments.

Seira had never before conversed nor had friendships with young women of her age because she was always managing the estate with her brother. There were also no noble peers of her age group in the surrounding territories. The ladies had been much older than her.

She had lived surrounded by people who did not understand her dreams except for her brother, Ian. So meeting Medea, who understood, helped, and supported her aspirations, was too good to be true.

'Even if it's unreasonable to call her sister. I want to get to know you and be friends!'

It was a pity that they could not talk openly and frankly with just the two of them. As she was disguised as a man, the attendants would never leave her and Medea alone.

"...... Shall we take a walk?"

Wanting to inquire about her and Luke, Medea took Seira for a walk in her garden. If they were in the garden, they could avoid the ears of the maids and talk freely, but they wouldn't be able to evade their eyes.

Seira escorted her with a pounding heart full of excitement. Because Medea was pregnant, she was wearing comfortable shoes under the hem of her long dress

Medea held her lightly by the arm as they walked through the rose garden and surveyed how far the attendants were.

'Is this enough?'

None of her maids could read lips, but Medea moderately covered her mouth with her fan. Seira had her mouth hidden from the maids naturally by virtue of her position.

"I wished I had been able to witness when you received your position. I'm sorry I couldn't attend."

Although he did not express it openly, Lyle hated seeing Seira and her together. So Medea, knowing she would be emotional and cry, decided not to attend.

Plus, it would be strange that the Empress would show up where a lower aristocrat was given a title.

"No. It is an honor to be able to become a knight like this by the grace of her Majesty."

"Sir Hestia has remarkable skills. Unfortunately, in order to have Sir Hestia as my escort knight, you had to skip the opportunity to pass the knight examination and be fairly knighted. You may get backlash for it later. Are you okay?"

"It won't hurt me at all. The Empress appreciates my abilities. If the Empress had not sent people to our estate, neither my brother nor I would have been safe."

Seira's cheeks were dyed with rosy happiness and looked lovely.

Well, she certainly looked like a pretty boy.