As she got up in the morning, tired and with a mind far too preoccupied with things other than getting ready, Rowena let herself be guided through the process of washing up and getting dressed. She wondered if she would ever be able to do all of this on her own if this continued.

Chasing the thought away, she looked around. There was an unknown maid who had helped her along with Norina.

"We need to check on Ava," she said, more to herself than to anyone else. She hadn't barged in on her during the night because everything else had distracted her, but now she needed to know if she was healthy enough to get back on a carriage.

As she left the room, however, the polite smile of the girl with the dark brown hair greeted her. "Good morning, my lady. Did you sleep well?"

"Oh, I was just about to find you..." As the young noble looked her up and down, she seemed fine, but you never knew. "Why are you up already? Do you think you can travel again?"

It was a straightforward question. If she wasn't well enough, she would be left behind, that was for sure. Of course, she could lie either way. If she didn't want to go, saying she wasn't well was the easiest thing to do.

But Rowena didn't like risks, so she'd rather leave her behind than try to force it and make things worse.

"I got up so as not to be left behind, my lady." Ava had woken up about two hours ago, having spent the last few hours sleeping comfortably.

With a doctor and a High Priest monitoring her regularly during this process, there was no way she wouldn't recover from a slight bruise on her head. Well, a scratch at most, in her opinion.

"All right, if that is what you want and the doctor has given you a pass, then we will leave together." The servants of the estate had already collected all the luggage from the bedroom and taken it downstairs.

The sun hadn't even risen yet, but the whole manor had gone into a state of frenzy. They were preparing a filling and nutritious breakfast for all the members of the envoy. This would be the first time she would even see the other people who went with her.

She hadn't met them after getting off at the estate, as she had been taken somewhere else with her substitute carriage. They hadn't eaten together the night before either.

When she entered the dining room, she cared enough about her manners to pause for a second and acknowledge the people sitting around the table, while her two maids stood behind her. There was a young looking man, a man in his fourties, as well as an old man.

And then there was Alan, who stood out the most. A quick glance at her first brother revealed that he was watching her from the side, but he hadn't said a word.

"One of your guards will be absent from the delegation until further notice," he said as she finally sat down in an empty chair and waited for tea and food to be brought in. "Mr. Logan Randall of the first division will have to be excused. He asked me to inform the lady."

She took a cup and didn't even look at him as she nodded, trying to appear surprised but unaffected at the same time. Like a noblewoman who didn't want to seem bothered at all.

"From the first division? That is a great loss. Was there a reason?" The oldest man spoke instead of her, who had been addressed first.

It wouldn't have been his concern, since etiquette dictated that her guard was her responsibility, but as they already had to involve her brother, since he was the member with the highest authority in terms of security on this diplomatic mission, it had become a problem that involved all of them.

The old man was Hilmond Cyrus Klein, a count who had been chosen as the new ambassador of the Arlen Empire in all matters concerning the Lodden Empire.

From the books, Rowena already knew that there was a different ambassador for each country they had close relations with. There was one for the Aurora Empire as well, but there hadn't been one for Lodden because they had never had serious relations with each other. Originally, there was no ambassador present when they had these negotiations in the book.

'Probably because I am here.' They weren't going to make any big offers, nor agreements, so the normal bureaucratic staff was more than enough to basically say, "No, we're not going to help you" and "Yes, we'll find our way out, thank you".

But now that Rowena wasn't actually dead at the time of this delegation, they could go ahead with their plans for bargaining, so they needed someone with the authority to make or break various deals while they were out of the country, without having to wait for a letter to be sent and a response to be returned.

Well, they came up with someone else to marry their notorious tyrant later on, because Rowena's sudden death had some consequences after all. They had to put their talks on hold for a while because the Grand Duke didn't take too kindly to them ignoring his daughter's death and carrying on.

But even so, after they had narrowed it down to a Marquise's daughter, nothing was finalized, because the Shifting Ages had switched into full gear and there was no time for such talks anymore.

Lost in thought, she ate in silence until she felt the uncomfortable sensation of a piercing gaze directed at her. When she looked around, the entire table seemed to be watching her from the side, though she had no idea what was going on.

She didn't want to start a fight, so she just pretended not to now, dabbed at her lips with a napkin and turned to Norina, who smiled at her brightly while handing her another plate, as she had done a moment earlier, when Rowena was still occupied with her own thoughts. The fact that someone helped her with her sister must have greatly relieved her.

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'Right, that is something I have to mind as well,' she thought, 'I don't like making empty promises. But where should I start looking for Chaos?'

'He should be close to his brother's contractor.'

'So you said. But who is close to a sickly thirteen-year-old?' At that moment, Rowena looked up and blinked slowly before turning her head like a robot to look at the frizzy blonde hair bobbing around where its owner was tending to some empty dishes. 'No way. Pan?'

'She was away from her sister for a while, it seems unlikely.'

With a sense of relief, she could barely keep from sighing as she resumed eating a serving of the fluffiest pancakes she had ever eaten, doused in syrup. It was a refreshing taste, but knowing that her favorite handmaiden would not be dragged into the world where she had found her doom was what truly delighted her.

"They must be to your liking, my lady," Norina commented, "would you like another helping?"

Noticing that her plate had mysteriously emptied in an instant, she took another quick scan of the table. It seemed that she was the only one still eating, but no one had gotten up.

Instead, they were all still looking at her, more or less obviously.

She put down her fork and knife and smiled a little awkwardly at the girl. "No, I'm fine."

Norina seemed a little shocked. "Already? If you want something else, don't hesitate to say so."

It made her feel uncomfortable when she realized why they probably kept looking at her. Someone like Alan or Colin would have a stable body by now, eating more, but not excessively. Besides, even as Celia, she had always eaten a little more than others and gotten by just fine.

Besides, her metabolism was the worst. She had just started using Mana, so her body burned through it much faster than others, not to mention the microscopic damage she was still healing in her cells, along with the setback from what had happened in Eisenwacht.

With nothing more to do, she excused herself from the table, taking her maids with her as she cleared her throat and mentioned: "I'd like to say goodbye to the Marquis." Nothing like keeping an amicable relationship, even if that ship had sailed years ago.

As she made her way to the courtyard, where they were still preparing the battered carriage to return to the road, she expected Nelson, the overseer, to be there. Not surprisingly, she was right, but at the same time, she had to stop and do a double take.

"Grandfather?" Wasn't he too sick to go around like that?

The old man with the walking stick turned and smiled at the lavender-haired lady. "Oh, Rowena, it's good to see you."

"I was coming to say goodbye and was going to ask Nelson where to find you," she explained, "but I see there is no need, for you found me first."

"I was just doing my due diligence, don't mind me too much," he said in return, "Nelson told me there was a problem with the carriage that had the accident."

Furrowing her brow, she looked at the Marquis in confusion. "But the damage could be repaired, I thought?"

"That is correct. But your journey will be a visit to another empire. You can't look shabby in such an environment, but the carriage still looks too rough. They couldn't fix all the cosmetic issues overnight."

With that, she understood. "I see."

The scratches must have reached deep into the wooden frame, and simply applying a coat of paint wouldn't do the trick.

"No use crying over spilled milk," her grandfather added, "I wanted to show you something."

Perplexed, she hooked her arm into his as he offered it, and they walked to a shed a little farther down. As they entered, the light of lamps brought in by servants revealed the frame of a carriage.

It was white, decorated with lavender roses growing on silver vines. On the side was a coat of arms showing them a two-headed lion.

"This was the gift we gave your mother when she married His Grace, the Grand Duke. I thought it would encourage her to visit often if she could see that she would be able to be proud of her husband even when she was down here." A smile formed on his lips. "It never worked. She hardly ever came back, especially after her health began to decline."

It seemed like he was hurting, but his smile wasn't sad. If anything, it was a peaceful face.

"She was happy in the north." Rowena didn't know why she said that, but it made her grandfather chuckle.

There was nothing more to say for a while, until he called one of the servants over. "Oh, I also sent someone to look for the music sheets after our conversation yesterday. Turns out they weren't far away." He handed her an envelope. "Take this with you, and perhaps you can play it for me when you return from our neighboring empire."

With a wry smile, Rowena nodded. "Yes, I will. I don't know how to thank you."

She thought she said it without meaning, but when she spoke the words, her heart felt as if it would burst. What she was doing mattered, she could tell.

But... did it matter to her, or to the real Rowena? There was no way to tell.

"Anyway, I would be happy if you took your mother's carriage. It hasn't seen the world for ten years." He shook his head as soon as he said it. "Don't worry, it has been kept in perfect condition."

"I would never doubt that."

With a bittersweet feeling, she agreed to take the old carriage, which looked as shiny and new as any other, as they set out on the last part of their journey. And this time there was nothing to disturb them.

Someone was already waiting for them at the border. Two knights in full armor, including helmets, showed official documents to pick them up at the frontier.

One of them rode beside the carriage carrying the ambassador, the other beside Rowena and her maids. It took them a few hours, the sun had already risen, moved across the sky, heading for the horizon, but hadn't quite reached it yet.

A knock on her window made her open the soft curtain and open the pane a crack.

"Is this your first visit to the Lodden Empire?" the knight asked.

Was it normal for knights to speak to nobles of foreign nations in such a blunt tone? Ava, still feeling a bit sluggish if she was honest, couldn't believe her ears.

"How rude," she said under her breath.

In this carriage, the knight from another realm didn't have much higher status than her, so she could have said it out loud, but it would have reflected badly on her lady if she had made her dissatisfaction more audible.

"It is," Rowena replied, not looking at him.

"You're going to love it."

"I don't know. Is everyone there so... direct?" She didn't know this guy, so why would she want to talk to him.

"Well, we tend to be very outgoing," he said, "maybe you should try it sometime.' He didn't say that last part out loud, because he didn't want to sour the relationship between the two empires.

But he had to laugh when he saw the suspicious way she narrowed her eyes at him. 'The lack of respect shown from them might be a bad sign.'

Meanwhile, the knight suddenly looked up. "We have arrived."

As she opened up the window all the way and climbed out dangerously, Norina and Ava jumped up to try to hold onto their mistress.

"Wow," she said, not even noticing their efforts, as her lavender waves were flowing with the breeze - they were already going quite slow, as they closed in on their destination.

There, in front of them, was a city clad in white, shimmering as it was kissed by the red of the setting sun. It smelled like the ocean, and when she saw a waterfall cascading from a building, her head went straight back to the knight.

"It is Kadena, my lady," he said, "the city embraced by the sea."