Kriemhild's smile bloomed like flowers, making Siegfried's heart skip a beat.

Though this man pretended to be experienced in matters of love, he was in fact nothing more than a lifelong bachelor. Earlier, when interrogating Catalina, he had only dared some light flirtation, lacking the courage for anything more forward.

[Alert! You have encountered one of your stage mission targets: Kriemhild. Please seize this opportunity to complete your task.]

Shannon's voice in his mind snapped the entranced Siegfried back to reality. He quickly composed himself, hiding his embarrassing lovestruck expression. After all, she could be his future employer - and a beautiful young female employer at that. He had to make a good impression!

Siegfried sheathed his weapon and stepped forward to stand before Kriemhild, displaying the refined smile he had perfected during his years as an HRBP: "Lady Kriemhild, I am Siegfried. Your beauty is truly breathtaking."

With that, he took her slender white hand and placed a gentle kiss upon its back.

The sequence of movements was so smooth and swift that it was over before anyone could react.

The 16-year-old princess stood frozen for several seconds before hastily withdrawing her hand behind her back, her face flushing like a ripe peach. She stepped backward repeatedly, her emerald eyes flickering like those of a startled deer.

(Wait, what?)

Roland's eyes instantly blazed with fury. He drew his knight's sword and leaped from his horse to stand protectively before Kriemhild.

"How dare you! You insolent fool! Do you think being from the Meilan family puts you above the law?"

Roland's sword-hand trembled with rage. He truly hadn't expected Siegfried to be so brazen as to openly harass the princess before dozens of royal soldiers.

(What? Why this reaction?)

Siegfried was completely bewildered.

[Note! The Kingdom of Moen has no custom of hand-kissing. Your action was essentially public harassment of a princess.]

Oh... shit...

[Additionally, proper hand-kissing etiquette requires the lady's permission first. Though our time together was brief, it was an honor working with you. Now then, may you rest in peace.]

"Will you shut up!"

The surrounding thirty-plus soldiers uniformly raised their spears. They had steeled themselves - even if it cost them their lives today, they would surround and kill this contemptible man.

"Step back, Your Highness. This scoundrel is cunning and might try to harm you again. Soldiers, surround him!"

While protecting Kriemhild, Roland commanded the troops to begin their encirclement. The veteran Golden Knight demonstrated his experience in this moment.

Siegfried's expression turned cold as he watched the circle slowly tighten.

(It seems joining the Princess's faction is impossible now. Time to change plans - break through, use Catalina to capture Princess Kriemhild, then use that as leverage to join the Second Prince's faction.)

While rapidly calculating his options, Siegfried searched for the weakest point to break through.

At this critical moment, Kriemhild stepped forward.

"No, I'm fine. I was just startled. Roland, tell the soldiers to stand down. Sir Meilan meant no harm."

"But he just-!"

"It's alright. I believe Sir Meilan was simply greeting me in a special way, nothing more. The Light Spirits told me so."

Kriemhild walked to Roland's side and patted his shoulder reassuringly.

Only then did Roland signal the soldiers, who methodically lowered their weapons while maintaining their formation.

Siegfried breathed a sigh of relief - he had been prepared for the worst. He bowed slightly to Kriemhild.

"Please forgive my rudeness, Your Highness. This is a greeting that has recently become popular in the Ophis Empire. I didn't realize it wasn't common in Moen."

Siegfried delivered this fabrication with a straight face, though in truth he didn't even know where the Ophis Empire was located.

Kriemhild covered her mouth and laughed softly:

"The Empire's customs remain quite progressive indeed."

Though this sudden episode was dangerous, it quickly brought the two closer. After exchanging pleasantries, Kriemhild's expression turned serious:

"Sir Siegfried, could you explain what you meant earlier about the cockroach? And is Catalina, my friend, really with you?"

Siegfried glanced around and spotted a certain Garden People scout who had tried to sneak away in the chaos. He smiled coldly and pointed:

"Regarding those questions, it would be more practical to ask the cockroach himself."

Bobo was dragged back, held by the scruff of his neck by a soldier, his short limbs flailing uselessly in the air.

"Bobo, what exactly is going on?"

Roland's face darkened as he pressed the scout without mercy.

He wasn't a simple-minded man focused only on strength. Earlier he had been blinded by concern for his disciple, but now thinking clearly, Bobo's story was riddled with holes.

Faced with the Golden Knight's unconcealed killing intent, Bobo curled into a ball, though still trying to argue: "My lord, what's wrong? What did I do wrong?"

"If you did nothing wrong, why did you run so far?"

"I- I needed to relieve myself urgently!"

Bobo's thinking was simple - if he absolutely denied suggesting the village attack and pushed all blame onto Catalina, he could escape punishment. After all, he had only proposed the plan; Catalina had carried it out. Now that things had gone wrong, it was only right that she bear full responsibility.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

What Bobo never imagined was that Siegfried hadn't come to investigate the village attack at all.

Looking at the dwarf who refused to confess, Siegfried leaned close to Bobo's face and smiled.

"Little shorty, care to guess what Catalina and her squad are up to now?"

Bobo's expression froze.

"Let me give you a hint - I know who you are, who your master is, your meeting locations, your contact signals, everything about you."

Dark eyes bore into the Garden People scout. In those obsidian-like eyes, Bobo could see his own pale reflection.

"Come now, guess what Catalina is doing right now?"

The man's smile was bone-chilling, one that would become an inescapable nightmare for many across the continent in years to come.

(Impossible! How could this be? Even Kriemhild with her truth-seeing ability didn't suspect me - how could an outsider discover it?)

His service to the Second Prince was the most closely guarded of secrets. He had always left special marks at specific locations to pass information to his contact, never appearing in person before anyone. Only Second Prince Roderick himself and one personal female guard knew his identity.

What was happening? How was he exposed? Bobo couldn't comprehend it no matter how hard he thought.

He gritted his teeth, planning to maintain his act of ignorance to the end, when urgent hoofbeats suddenly approached from the distance.

Catalina galloped up on her white horse, far ahead of her squad. She waved from horseback and called out, her excitement evident even in her voice.

"Your Highness! Master! I have extremely important matters to report!"

"Looks like everyone's here now." Siegfried stood up, no longer looking at the ashen-faced Garden People scout.

The current mission objective was to join one of the royal heirs' factions and gain their trust. Though it seemed like two tasks, they could be accomplished as one - joining a faction meant gaining trust, and gaining trust would naturally lead to joining the faction.

Siegfried had formulated a plan to demonstrate his abilities and quickly gain trust. Although there had been several unexpected developments, things had still proceeded smoothly.

He looked around at those present and smiled, clasping his hands: "Everyone, it's awkward standing here talking. Why don't we continue this discussion in the village?"

When this large contingent arrived at Fengtao Village, the villagers were startled, fearing yesterday's marauders had returned with reinforcements. However, they relaxed upon seeing Siegfried leading the group. A few bolder villagers even trailed behind, hoping to witness some excitement.

During their return journey, Catalina provided a detailed report of her mission.

Following Siegfried's instructions, Catalina had led her unit to the spies' rendezvous point that morning and left special coded messages. The message read: "In two days, we will ambush the Princess's forces here."

As planned, a group would arrive at Siegfried's designated location in two days. However, instead of finding the Princess, they would meet Roland and his mighty sword.

This counter-ambush operation, once successful, would provide the soldiers with much-needed supplies from their pursuers. More importantly, it would end the relentless six-month pursuit.

This persecution campaign that had nearly cornered the Princess's faction - Siegfried had dismantled it effortlessly in just one day. When describing Siegfried's brilliance and power, Catalina's expression radiated such admiration that she seemed ready to elevate him to divine status.

Notably, this lady knight completely omitted yesterday's village raid, merely mentioning their chance encounter with Lord Meilan while passing through.

"Sir Siegfried, how did you discover Bobo was a spy?"

Kriemhild questioned the source of Siegfried's intelligence.

Though Siegfried had prepared his cover story, and despite its flaws, his [Deceptive Speech] ability would have made them negligible. However, before he could speak, Catalina eagerly answered:

"It's the [Eagle Eye], of course! The Meilan family's hereditary Divine Miracle. I witnessed it myself - Lord Meilan merely gazed at my face and read my memories. Exposing a mere spy would be trivial for him."

Kriemhild nodded in understanding. She was familiar with the Eagle Eye Divine Miracle - the history of Heroes was mandatory education for royal children.

However, what truly surprised her was her friend's current behavior. This same friend had always been tougher than most men, wrestling wild boars bare-handed at fourteen, and achieving Great Knight status at nineteen, two years before Roland - truly a once-in-a-century prodigy.

Yet now this same Catalina was fawning over Siegfried like an infatuated girl.

(Has she fallen for him already? That was remarkably quick...)

The Princess marveled internally.

Meanwhile, Siegfried was completely baffled.

(Eagle Eye? What's that? The x-ray vision skill from Berserker's Creed?)

"Right, Lord Meilan? You can actually read all our thoughts right now." Catalina suddenly directed the conversation to Siegfried, her sea-blue eyes brimming with expectation.

"Ah? Oh, yes, that's correct."

Caught off guard, Siegfried instinctively agreed.

"I knew it! See, Your Highness?"

(This is troublesome... now I'm stuck with a non-existent ability...)

Leaving the soldiers in the village square, the main party entered the reception hall - actually the harvest church's main hall, hastily redecorated as the most presentable venue in Fengtao Village. They could hardly receive a princess in the village chief's house.

The church now featured a long table laden with roast duck, chicken, fish, suckling pig, and ale. Upon learning of the First Princess's arrival, the village chief had instantly sobered up and mobilized all villagers to prepare this feast with utmost haste.

For a farming village, this feast was extraordinarily luxurious. One could hardly complain about the limited selection - after all, royal chefs were not to be found in such remote locations.

"Remember to pay after eating. If you're short on funds, you can settle the bill later." Siegfried remarked dryly, noticing Roland's obvious salivation.

Everyone present, including Kriemhild, appeared somewhat discomfited.

(Joke's on them - even Emperor Qianlong himself would have to pay here.)

At the doorway, little Towa struggled with a roast lamb nearly her size, stumbling as she entered.

Just as Siegfried moved to assist, a pair of delicate hands reached out faster to steady the falling girl.

Kriemhild took the roast lamb and offered a perfect smile:

"Thank you for your service, little sister. Please inform the kitchen to distribute the remaining dishes to the soldiers in the square - we have plenty here."

Towa, never having seen anyone as beautiful as Kriemhild, blushed shyly.

Siegfried stepped forward and gently ruffled her hair.

"Thanks! Run along now. And be sure to tell everyone the Princess will pay." He emphasized the last two words.

"Um, yes sir... Hero!" Towa stood at attention, as if entrusted with a grand mission.

Now only five remained in the vast hall, with Siegfried, Kriemhild, Roland, and Catalina seated around the long table. Bobo, bearing bruises from the soldiers' beating, stood aside watching their feast with evident longing.

"Sir Siegfried, on behalf of the Moen royal family, I extend our gratitude for your assistance."

Though Kriemhild hadn't enjoyed such a feast in ages, years of etiquette training prevented her from devouring the food like her two famished knights. She first offered a graceful curtsy to Siegfried, then skillfully wielded her fork to consume the food before her - matching the knights' pace while maintaining perfect composure.

Watching these three ravenous souls, Siegfried seriously questioned his choice to align with Kriemhild's faction.

His current mission stage aimed to facilitate historical correction - reclaiming the four borders, ending civil strife, and unifying the kingdom.

But with just this handful of people and weapons in the Princess's faction, they might as well disband entirely. Siegfried felt rather absurd, like joining the Nationalist army in 1949.

"How many people remain in your forces?" Siegfried inquired once they appeared satisfied.

"Besides these soldiers, about ten more guard Wind Cave. In total, only 48 remain."

Catalina's expression fell. Half a year ago, when they fled the royal capital, they had commanded nearly a thousand troops. She had witnessed countless comrades fall and depart as their forces dwindled into desperate straits.

Siegfried's face darkened.

He wasn't concerned about having too few people. On the contrary,

The remaining number,

Was far too many.

"You still have... 48 people?"