Her heel nudged the horse she was sitting on, a black stallion named Magnus, who was already stamping and snorting impatiently. And as expected, she didn't have to ask twice for him to pick up his pace.

"Young lady!" Gren called to her, sitting on a horse himself as he fell back, "don't go too fast! He's trained, but he gets too excited easily!"

He rushed his own mare and tried to catch up to the spearheading pair in front of them. Norina, sitting on a more manageable horse, simply sighed instead.

"It's no use, Mr. Gren. She won't be able to hear you," she mentioned in passing, "let's go after her so we can serve her at our destination."

He couldn't say anything to that and started to follow her instead. It was a decision he had to make, for the lady he was supposed to protect was getting further away from him by the second.

Rowena, on the other horse, felt more free than she had in a long time. She wasn't used to it and her sense of balance was challenged by the unfamiliar feeling of her new body, but that didn't stop her.

"Come on, Magnus," she said and could have sworn that the animal understood her intentions.

It was a nice way to travel and as much as she felt liberated with it, she knew that this was a rare moment when she could do as she pleased. Back at the chateau, the servants' glances at her made it clear that it wasn't just her guard who would be shocked at the way she had chosen to ride.

With a cough, she handed the reins to a stableboy who had come over from the garden.

"My lady, what have you been doing?" a dazed Humphrey asked, his voice trembling slightly.

"Nothing special," she replied as the proud stallion was a little difficult to coax back to his resting place, "would you prepare some tea after I take a bath? I wish to have it at my desk."

Normally, she wouldn't want anyone but Norina to prepare it, but Norina would be busy helping her with her bath since Ava wasn't around to help.

She ignored everyone else, as Norina had arrived on her very calm horse, herself looking visibly nervous and a little shaken by now. Gren had arrived next to her.

"Good timing," she said, "follow me, Norina."

There would be a few things she wanted to do while she was at Vandenberg, and she didn't have much to worry about. It was the kind of peace she needed to savor.

"Down the rabbit hole, you mentioned that beings like mighty dragons or even angels really exist, I gathered that they live in other dimensions, but humans exist there as well. So when you say that we are the same species, just different races, wouldn't that mean that an angel and a human could have a child of mixed race?"

It was a thought she had when her mind wandered, but it wouldn't leave her alone now that she had been sitting alone with her thoughts for so long without being interrupted.

'Rabbit hole?'

"Your lair, I mean." There was a long bout of silence, indicating that her words had been lost on him. "The cave. In your mind space."

She could have sworn she had heard him scoff at her. 'Even though I am a dragon, that was by no means a lair,' he said as monotonously as ever, 'but yes, though it could cause mutations. A young one with a single wing, for instance.'

"Well... Better one than none, right?"

'Having a pair of heavily feathered wings on one's back all day is already arduous, yet having one that couldn't even carry anything up in the air seems rather undesirable to me.'

"Uh, yeah, didn't think about it like that."

'I don't understand your thoughts.'

'Maybe it's better that way.'

Numbered couldn't see through their contractor's eyes. When he was in his mind realm, he would feel it if she was in grave danger, or if she called out to him, but he wouldn't know anything else.

And even when he wasn't away, he would only be privy to her most prominent thoughts and short-term memories of events. He could pry deeper, but that would require more effort.

He had never wanted to invade her privacy in that manner. 'Sometimes, I wish I could understand you better.'

'That would take all the fun out of it, wouldn't it?'

'What fun?'

She snickered at his reply and moved on with her tassel. "I'll have to make another one, won't I?"

Sipping from her teacup, she looked proudly at her work. She had started it only a day before, shortly after her trip to Eisenwacht had ended.

But now she was done. And it didn't even look as if it had been put through the wringer. Sure, there were a few loose threads here and there, but as the experienced sailor knew: Ten percent of wear and tear was always accounted for.

Or as Rowena put it: "It doesn't look like a complete piece of shit. Then it's a win." That would be for her brother to tie to his sword on the hunting grounds.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

She had knowledge that others didn't have, and now she finally had to prepare for the events she knew were coming. One of them was the Hunting Festival, which had been a staple of the Arlen Empire for centuries, a grand event held every two years. But since the Granbell Mountain Range and all of Gloria Forest were infested with Visitors, they had to stop holding these festivals for the better half of a decade at this point.

She knew they would make a big deal out of it this time, because it was not just a Hunting Festival, but their way of celebrating the reclamation of the region and showing off their strength by inviting nobles from other nations to the event.

It would be held outside the regular season - as it was usually a way to welcome spring - right after their Victory Banquet, instead of their Bicentennial Banquet. The latter wasn't something Rowena had ever cared about, as she knew it had never happened in the novel, but now that she was part of the world itself, the knowledge had a much greater meaning to her.

She knew now that she would have to ask her tutor about a lot of things, especially the history that had been largely kept in the dark for the past two centuries or so.

"Everything is always 'two hundred years this', 'two hundred years that'," Rowena muttered into her tea, "what the hell happened two hundred years ago?" Another sip was heard as she stared blankly at the wall in front of her.

It wasn't even two hundred years each time, but one hundred and fifty or around two hundred. A lot must have happened, that was for sure, but not knowing what exactly had begun to feel inadequate.

'Maybe it turns out to be just another history lesson, but I can't be sure unless I know.' She had already made up her mind to concentrate on learning when she returned to the capital, since no one in their Territory would be able to teach her.

Teachers with that kind of knowledge had to be hired officially, and no one else had access to it. Even her knights, who had made themselves scarce since her arrival, wouldn't know much about it.

Now that she thought about it, she wondered if they were doing well. Sir Sean and Sir Yaakov had been asked to oversee some changes made to their local security measures after the incident where Rowena had been harmed. As first division knights, they had more experience and a better strategic understanding than the second division ones.

"And Norina went to help at the chateau." It was her own decision to say that she needed some time alone, but now she felt strangely bored and alone in her room.

Knowing about the Hunting Festival, she had asked one of the servants to teach her the art of making a tassel. It was to be a peace offering to her brother. But when she thought about him, she also remembered the conversation they had in her room on the day they departed.

It was embarrassing for her, and it bothered her even more. A way of being bothered that she couldn't place yet, so she pushed the feeling away. Instead, she concentrated on what he had said about their father.

While she was at it, she grabbed some more materials and started over. Maybe she should make him some kind of peace offering as well, it might help her in her quest for a life without obstacles.

One obstacle would definitely be the attack of the Visitors she had to endure during her stay at the Hunting Festival. 'No problem for the other people, as the Saintess is going to be there anyway.'

Right, she wasn't worried about her family, since they hadn't suffered any losses back then. Of course, in the novel, they had to attend because it was such a big event. Like the Victory Banquet itself, it was an event that no one could excuse themselves from attending; even her second brother had to bend the knee and stay away from the Academy for the time being, even though he really hated social gatherings and ballrooms.

It was one of the rare occasions when even youngsters who had not yet made their debut were forced to attend, which was why Rowena was so concerned about it. Not just the banquet, but the festival as well.

Laughing silently to herself, Rowena shook her head. "I'm going to see the Saintess' 'shield' for myself now, huh?" Good thing she was alone, otherwise she might have been called a crazy lady for the first time in a while.

"Realistically, I have no idea why the novel had the word 'shield' in it, but was most likely referring to be the Prince and Scarlett's plot armor," Rowena mused, 'I honestly only know of one Numbered who could put up an actual shield. It was the one they called the Spectre, and he reigned supreme with his Number 4. Was there ever one with a higher Number on our old Earth?'

Now that she had indirectly encountered what she assumed to be the 'King of All', a mere Number 13 or even Number 4 felt almost inadequate.

'How rude.'

'Just the truth.' She shrugged and sighed. 'I don't even know much about Scarlett herself, to be honest, let alone what she might be capable of.'

She hadn't even been able to use Uriel's Absolute Space until the book was finished. And yet she managed to win the battle.

In fact, one of the most noticeable things about "The Saintess' Unbreakable Shield" was the way it described all the events from only one point of view. In most cases, the reader was not invited to understand the thoughts and motivations of the protagonists.

'Although that might sound like a bummer, it created this consistent air of mystery around the leading pair.' It caused the fandom around the novel to create entire books of possible backgrounds and aspects around them. 'Though the biggest remaining mystery around the Crown Prince was how he got to be in that position in the first place.'

In the end, the lack of information, coupled with the nonetheless compelling characters, made people want to understand them rather than turn away. Rowena never paid much attention to such matters, so most of these things remained unread and unknown to her.

If this dubious organization hadn't appeared in the novel, would that mean that the battles they would have now would be different from what she knew, since they showed themselves? It wasn't that she wanted to get involved, as she knew they were usually capable of handling such adversities anyway, but now that changes had already occurred, what else could she expect?

While her head was circling the drain over the possibilities that the appearance of this particular group would open up, the door behind her also opened abruptly, after only a short but hectic knock.

Blinking, she turned around with her cooling tea still in her hands as a servant burst in and handed her two letters.

"I have been instructed to deliver this message from the capital," he explained hastily, "with the words that Your Ladyship is to return with the utmost haste." And just as quickly he had to deliver it.

With that, he bowed and asked to be excused. Rowena simply waved him off, after she had put down her cup with one hand and looked at the letters she held in her other.

The one at the top had a very obvious seal on it. It was from the Imperial Palace of the Arlen Empire. It must have been her invitation, but she had originally thought that she wouldn't receive an invitation.

'Shouldn't I be invited indirectly with the letter addressed to the family head?' She thought she remembered it that way, but she could have been wrong. The other letter came from her own family.

When she opened them and put them side by side, she blinked again. And had she not put down her tea, she might have spit it out by now.

One was, as expected, a form of invitation, but it was different than she had expected. Instead of an invitation to the Victory Banquet, it was a formal confirmation that her debut had been approved by the Emperor himself and the Pope of the Church of Aurora. It would be formalized with her social debut at the Victory Banquet itself.

The corresponding letter from her family home in Avarinth was sent by her father, of all people. The Grand Duke had sent word to inform her of the inevitable decision to make her debut at the banquet after all, as it had once been decided, which required her to return immediately in order to prepare.

"What kind of bullshit are they planning now, for fuck's sake?"