Gently tugging her hair, so it would fall perfectly over her lady's back, Norina tried to stay calm, as the Grand Duke was staring in her direction from behind. He hadn't been focused on her of course, but at his daughter in front of her.

She wasn't facing him and her eyes were closed, making her appear to be sleepwalking, when she was deeply lost in thought. She had been this way since the tea party at the palace. Of course, word had travelled fast and Sir Sean had to make a thorough report about the afternoon as well, so everyone knew what had transpired.

"Are you sure you want to attend the Hunting Festival?" It was a question hard to ask, Rowena was sure of it.

Because of the importance of this specific event, it was mandatory to show for everyone who was of age. And she had now been among this specific pool of citizens, she couldn't simply stay at home, otherwise it would reflect badly on her family name.

Carlisle van Varnhagen was a very protective man. He knew what he had to do in order to hold together what little power he had and how to use it as a shield. But those efforts had once caused a lot of damage on the wrong side of that shield's supposed protection.

"I will be fine."

Not only did she deepen the bad reputation she had, which had only a few direct causes and even less witnesses in recent years, but it also affected her mental state. After hearing of what had happened in Kadena, he had already been worried, but to think she might have been traumatized enough to see her attacker in a mere servant was alarming.

'No, I should have known that this couldn't be handled so easily.'

He had been too complacent by the fact that she had looked and acted stable and healthy – more stable and healthy than she had been in ages. To top it off, the Saintess would be there and of course, her closest servant would be by her side. He always had been, even before she had become the Saintess.

Finally, she turned around. He avoided her eyes, as he always would, by subtly looking at her dress instead. She was as beautiful as her mother and as delicate as a flower.

What would he do, were she to have another breakdown because of this? When she was a child, he couldn't bear it. He wouldn't let her go through this a second time.

"I need to show myself. I need to show them that I am standing well on my own two feet." She had to make sure they knew she wasn't prey. At least not any more than they already expected her to be.

Her father had been worried, but the Grand Duchess mentioned that it didn't seem as if the situation had made her look weak. The young noblewomen at the gathering had been frightened by her, but the reason for her outburst was what had happened to her a few weeks prior.

If anything, it had made them a bit more sympathetic toward her, maybe even curious. But that type of attention could be poisonous as well. They might even try to get close to her in order to use her later.

Surely, Rowena wouldn't let that happen, at least not the current one. But the old Rowena was the one that her father had on his mind, which meant that he couldn't see her for who she was now – not unless she proved it to him.

Shaking her head at his missing reaction, she sighed and showed him a polite greeting. "I, Rowena Dynari van Varnhagen, greet His Grace, the Grand Duke of Varnhagen. May we have a pleasant time at the Mountain Range." It would take them quite a while to get there, so they had to get going.

It wasn't until her father sighed in resignation and nodded, that she realized she had forgotten something.

"Charlotte, could you get me that wooden box from the dresser?" Charlotte who had been sifting through jewelry to see what would be the best fit, turned to look at what she was pointing at.

"Here, my Lady."

It was a box made of fine wood, but the important thing was inside. Taking out one of the items, she offered it to the Grand Duke.

"Though I may not be very proficient at it, I made this with utmost care, to wish you luck on your hunt."

He stared at the crudely made tassel in front of his eyes and couldn't quite believe it. It was so bad, he didn't even dare touch it for a while, until he could see her hand was shaking a bit from the position.

"It looks beautiful. With this, I can only win this year, my daughter. Thank you."

"Have a good hunt, Your Grace."

She was lightly smiling at the way he was looking at this dust collector that she knew might get people to laugh at him. He acted as if it was more precious than the sword he attached it to right away.

'Now, why can't you look at me even once?' She felt it before, when Pan had given her an accidental hint. 'Scorn,' she thought, maybe he was afraid that was what he would see, remembering the way the real Rowena hat acted and felt in that one memory she had left her with.

It left a sad feeling behind, as he excused himself to see if the preparations were done, as they would soon depart. Travelling more than a day would otherwise make them get there late. The Duchess had already set off before, together with her brother Alan, in order to finish their own preparations.

Colin had been called back to the Vatican, which was the only reason he had been excused, though Rowena did not know why he had to go back at such an important time for the Arlen Empire. The foreign guests were still there as well, attending the Festival just like everyone else.

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She let Ava, who was in charge of her luggage, pack the wooden box and begrudgingly moved to board her carriage. "It's been a while," she said, when suddenly, a knocking could be heard from the door.

Opening it, revealed and aging man, walking on a stick to support himself. "May I ride along with you, my dear?"

She motioned for Sir Yaakov, who happened to be close by, to help the aging Marquis into her carriage. It was the one that had once belonged to her mother.

On that note, she wondered if those three would forever stay as her entourage, despite Sir Sean being in quite the important position within the Brigade. Maybe they would only stay for as long as there was no war going on that they would have to fight in.

"Do you like the carriage well?" her grandfather asked, after taking a seat and giving the sign for the coachman to go.

"I don't particularly like riding carriages, but if I have to be in one, it would have to be this one." It was the most truthful answer she could think of, when it came to her true arch nemesis.

She tugged a loose strand of hair behind her ear and tried to endure it, while Ava and Norina silently smiled at the peace.

"So, are you sure that you are ready to be out and about for so long, grandfather?"

Not surprised, the old man's smile never faded. "I can do this much, after resting at home for so long." It wasn't as easy as he made it sound, of course, but that was a worry he would not share with his granddaughter.

"And what about your trip up to the capital, was it comfortable? You didn't bring any knights with you, it seems," Rowena asked while taking a look outside the window, looking at the knights riding alongside their carriage. They were all Silver Lion Knights.

It would have been too dangerous to travel alone, so he must have hired mercenaries. It wasn't a bad thing to know where to find additional manpower, if she ever needed some she couldn't get from her family.

"You see, I wouldn't have wanted my absence to cause a lack in security. And since those Merchants are already affiliated with our family, it was easy to hire them for the trip."

"Agbaria&Volt, the merchants who help us deal with the Northern Peak, right?"

A small laugh answered her question before words did. "You're learning well. It's important to know who you're allies are in this world, my dear," he said, "those merchants have been befriended with the Varnhagen Duchy for two generations, they favor your blood over anyone else."

"Right." That's why they still had some monopoly left – the warhorses, for instance, weren't shipped through anyone but the Grand Duchy. "I would like to meet some of them one of these days." Another connection that should be appreciated. Especially since she already had some friendly relations with a certain merchant group, though she did not yet know what to make of those connections.

At first, she had to brave the storm that was coming from up ahead and then, maybe, she could put out the fires on the side – or light new ones, if she had to.

'Are you planning on burning down Gloria Forest?'

'Of course not, I would never do that.'

'I was simply inquiring,' Pan commented, 'your thoughts were inconclusive.'

'Oh, shut up.' Well, of course, simply burning down the entire mountain range would not exactly solve her problems, so she had to face them in a different manner.

The Duncan County was in a rush, as they hadn't felt this type of commotion in a couple of years now – and it was bigger than ever, with Royalty from foreign nations and high ranking nobility from all over the Arlen Empire.

It wasn't a mandatory event, though of course, the Hunting Festival had to be attended by the upper echelon, otherwise, they would be looked down upon. And why was that? Of course, because it wasn't a simple gathering of hunting enthusiasts, but a competition among the men of all the noble houses of Arlen.

This year though, even the lower ranking nobles would try to attend. It went so far, they had to put up more tents on the festival grounds, where normally the servants would be housed, in order to place the lower ranking nobles there.

Count Duncan's family had a great mansion at the mountain range, which luckily wasn't disturbed by years of a harsh environment, but hundreds of first class servants had to clean and polish the place for it to be ready on time, in order to lend rooms to anyone who came from far away.

"Luckily, they don't all have to sleep here," a kitchen maid bemoaned while hoisting up a heavy basket full of peeled potatoes onto a bench, "If the Marquis hadn't stepped in, we would've to deal with those nobles threatening us to give them a room for the entire weekend."

"Don't forget the Baron, he also put in a hand, has he not?"

They were both right. Thanks to their lord's close friendship with the two, the Neuhaus Marquisette and the Baron of Hershley offered to open up some houses for nobles to stay in at the fringe regions of their territories, which bordered the Duncan County.

A young boy with ashes on his face ran in after burning some coals for the big fire place at the main hall of the mansion. If he did it right, he could get a good glance at the carriages and horses being brought to rest at the stables.

"New ones coming!" he yelled, "And their horses are mad. Martha, look!" The boy was like a nephew to the old kitchen maid, which was exactly why his words frightened her.

"Then stop yelling, Dan," she sternly said, throwing down a towel she used to dry her hands after working with the freshly peeled potatoes, "don't offend them. It ain't good for your health. Just do as the lord says."

"But Martha, look, they're awesome."

She did took a look, but mainly to grab the boy's ear and drag him back to his workstation. She did recognize immediately what he was talking about, as she had never seen horses that big and grim looking. They weren't normal animals, that was for sure.

They must have made that horrible noise as well, that she had thought he imagined coming by. But the carriage attached to those horses was indeed beautiful.

"The Grand Duchy, eh?" she commented absentmindedly as she saw a coat of arms she had seen once before, "Don't touch that, Dan."

As the kid looked at her, the woman who was indeed careful, but never seemed to fear anything, he wondered what had made her so vary.

"Why?" he asked, because he took a glance and out of that great carriage came just an old, haggard man and a girl that looked like a delicate doll. "I'm not scared."

Just seeing the crest made the maid remember the first time the Visitors had broken through in their mountain range and they had to leave the mansion, because it got dangerous, even though the lord had stated that they wouldn't come this far.

There was a man who had come down the mountain range, he seemed taller than the mountains themselves, a king among humanity. And rather than being in awe, she saw the possibilities of her kind, and yet felt as little as she never had. It had made her feel fear deeper than ever before.

"Don't touch it, I said. No go back to work."

On the other end of the yard, a young girl took her first breath in the open mountain range, taking in the faint smell of rot and disease, mixing with the holy appearing power of the Saintess' blessing. It sent shivers down her spine, feeling something she hadn't felt in a while.

Utter ruin and annihilation were close to this place, but now it had been saved – or had it? She thought of the dress she would be changing into once the actual Hunting Festival started. A little gift made by a certain seamstress who still had to clear her name with the young lady.

She looked at the grass beneath her feet, felt the current in the air and thought to herself: 'I may not be able to hunt here this weekend, but I guess I'll still be ready for a hunt.'