Chapter 9

“Ahh, the air feels so good!”

When I reached the entrance to the Pedrica Mountains, I spread my arms wide and took a deep breath.

The air was so cold and fierce that it stung my lungs, but the scent of trees and earth mixed into it made my heart flutter all over again.

Whoosh, haa, whoosh, haa.

After breathing in the familiar forest scent several times, I finally took in the sight of the enormous snow-covered mountains of the Pedrica Range.

“Wow……”

This was incredible.

An endless expanse of pure white snow filled my entire field of vision.

Brilliant snow clung to the overlapping mountain ridges, layer upon layer, and whenever the wind swept past, powdery snow rose from the ridgelines and scattered through the air.

Just thinking about climbing across frozen ground again after such a long time made the corners of my lips curl upward.

Hehe.

Contrary to the concerns of the knights and the Grand Duke, I had reached the entrance to the mountain range without breaking a sweat.

My breathing wasn’t even labored, and my legs and shoulders actually felt lighter.

‘Humans really should live with their feet on the earth.’

With my heart soaring, I stepped deeper into the mountains.

The two knights who had rushed ahead when the Grand Duke appeared were already nowhere to be seen.

But there was no need to worry.

A very clear path maintained by the Grand Duke’s knights stretched out right in front of me.

Although the northern mountains were notorious for being rugged and merciless, this was a place the Grand Duke’s knights climbed and descended for training all the time.

Perhaps because of that, the path they used clearly showed signs of human maintenance.

“What a shame.”

I clicked my tongue and smacked my lips.

‘Medicinal herbs and rare poisonous plants don’t grow in places that have been trampled by people this much.’

On top of that, it seemed the two knights who had gone ahead had cleared away the snow that had piled up overnight as they climbed, even while carrying out their punishment.

And it wasn’t just the snow. They had also pulled out the sharp rocks sticking out of the frozen ground and even tough weeds, tossing everything to the side of the path.

Almost as if telling me to be careful and follow behind them.

‘No matter how much they dislike me, knights are still knights.’

The faces of the two men who had worried about me before we started climbing the mountain briefly came to mind, and I let out a small laugh.

They were blunt and rough, but I could clearly feel the quiet consideration characteristic of northern knights hidden beneath it all.

I began properly climbing the mountain, following the path the knights had so kindly prepared for me.

I liked the feel of the firm ground beneath my feet. Even the chill rising through the soles of my feet despite the cleared snow felt wonderful.

After being unable to climb a mountain for more than two weeks, it felt as though my body had finally returned home.

The mountain was far harsher than the winter mountains of the South, but thinking about the poisonous plants that must be growing in such barren conditions only made me more excited.

Hoo, huff, huff—.

How long had I been climbing?

Naturally, I could no longer sense the knights who had run ahead while carrying full gear.

Unless I happened to encounter them after they reached the summit and started coming back down, there was no way I would catch up with them.

I stopped walking.

‘At this rate, there’s no point in climbing the mountain.’

I hadn’t boldly declared that I would share their punishment just to follow this neatly maintained hiking trail.

I stood still and slowly looked around.

Outside the path the knights had cleared, the snow was still piled up high enough to sink above my knees.

Bare branches and black, dried-out weeds protruded grotesquely from the grave-like mounds of snow.

To anyone else, it would have looked like nothing more than the bleak scenery of a dead winter mountain.

But to me, it looked completely different.

My mouth watered.

‘How many medicinal herbs and poisonous plants could be hiding beneath that snow?’

I swallowed hard and reached beneath my cloak.

Then I pulled out a pair of gardening gloves and a small hand hoe that I had hidden around my waist.

A few days ago, when I was cleaning the windows on the outer wall, I had happened to find them while watching Celine search for a four-leaf clover beneath the ladder.

It seemed the gardener had left them behind while tending the flower beds, and I had quietly taken them.

They were small and worn, but sturdy enough to dig through frozen earth.

I tightly gripped the handle of the hoe and abruptly turned away from the safe trail, as though I had no attachment whatsoever to it.

Toward a place untouched by human footsteps.

Toward that perfect, unexplored territory where rare medicinal herbs and deadly poisonous plants seemed sure to be growing everywhere.

The bet with the Grand Duke briefly crossed my mind.

‘It doesn’t matter even if I lose the bet.’

In fact, I had never intended to win the bet in the first place.

Varkan was following behind the Princess while keeping some distance from her.

At the same time, he simply couldn’t understand her bizarre behavior.

Of course, trying to understand someone who wasn’t mentally sound in the first place was unreasonable, but being mentally unstable and possessing this kind of absurd physical stamina were entirely different matters.

If she was the Princess of Delmar, who had supposedly grown up like a sheltered flower in a greenhouse, then merely reaching the entrance to the mountains while being battered by the fierce northern winds should have left her gasping for breath.

Yes, judging by her personality, one could assume that she had somehow endured through sheer stubbornness and made it to the entrance.

But once the Princess started climbing the mountain, she remained excited the entire time.

Literally.

She was as excited as a puppy stepping onto snow for the first time, and as nimble as a fox darting through a snow-covered mountain as though it were its own backyard.

Her steps were light, and her breathing was incredibly steady.

Was that even possible?

Varkan found himself wondering why the Princess was abnormal in the first place while watching the abnormal Princess.

A long while passed as he quietly followed behind her.

They had already reached the middle of the mountain.

Varkan narrowed his eyes.

‘She has extraordinary stamina.’

He suddenly remembered Hendrick’s report that the Princess had performed her maid duties without ever seeming tired.

At the time, he had simply interpreted it as meaning she was surprisingly capable for such a frail princess.

But now he realized that wasn’t it.

That kind of stamina genuinely shouldn’t have been possible for such a delicate frame.

Varkan looked up toward the summit.

‘The ones who went ahead must have already reached the top and be on their way back down.’

Varkan surveyed the contours of the mountain before continuing to follow behind the Princess.

Then.

The Princess, who had been moving steadily along the path, suddenly stopped.

She reached beneath her cloak and began fumbling around before pulling something out.

Varkan’s brow furrowed slightly.

‘……A hoe?’

It was an object completely unsuited to her small, white hands.

‘Where on earth did she get that……?’

Ha.

Varkan pressed a hand against his throbbing forehead and sighed.

Before the sigh had even ended, the Princess looked around, stepped off the path the knights had cleared, and abruptly changed direction.

Varkan followed after her, thinking,

‘So it’s finally starting.’

Yes, he had thought it was strange that she had been climbing the mountain so quietly.

He followed silently behind her, deciding that if a dangerous situation arose, he would use it as an excuse to take her back down the mountain.

If it were up to him, he wanted to snatch the hoe from her hands right away and drag her back to the Grand Duke’s residence.

But then—

Whack! Whack-whack! Whack-whack-whack!

“……”

The Princess began rapidly clearing away the snow piled beneath a dead tree.

‘What on earth is she……?’

Then—

Thud! Thud! Thud!

She brought the hoe down against the frozen earth.

Varkan was rendered speechless.

A woman who looked perfectly normal—and more beautiful than anyone—was tearing into the rock-hard ground like a beast with a hoe that looked more like a weapon.

It was the kind of sight that would have sent chills down the spines of the other knights or servants if they had witnessed it.

But Varkan was puzzled for an entirely different reason.

‘……She’s skilled.’

This was earth that had frozen and thawed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of times.

Digging it up with nothing more than a small hoe, using the strength of those slender, delicate hands, could not possibly be easy.

Yet the Princess changed angles from one side to another, expertly breaking apart the soil.

Her movements were far too practiced.

After digging for quite some time, the Princess picked something up and placed it into a pouch she had prepared beforehand, then moved to another spot.

She dug again, unearthed more plants, and then smiled brightly as though she had gained the entire world, carefully sweeping them into her pouch.

Watching her, an old memory suddenly surfaced in Varkan’s mind.

His mother, who had been abandoned by her biological father and lost her mind.

Not everyone was like this, but people who lost their reason after suffering severe trauma often developed an obsessive fixation on something.

Varkan’s own mother had been like that.

At dawn, she would go out to the winter beach wearing only thin clothes and collect small, useless pebbles.

Without even realizing that the tips of her fingers were turning black from frostbite, she would lovingly gather those worthless stones as though they were precious jewels, filling boxes and pouches with them.

Perhaps that Princess, too, had suffered some terrible loss and had become obsessively attached to meaningless stones or weeds for some reason.

The Princess blew warm breath over her dirt-covered fingertips before moving farther away.

For some reason, her retreating figure overlapped with the final image he had of his mother.

The corners of Varkan’s eyes softened slightly.

Feeling an inexplicable heaviness settle in one corner of his heart, Varkan silently continued following the Princess’s bizarre behavior for quite some time.

Then the Princess began climbing a steep slope.

Varkan’s brow furrowed slightly.

‘That’s dangerous.’

The direction the Princess had excitedly run toward was a steep section of the Pedrica Mountains notorious for its unstable ground.

It might look like level ground because it was covered in snow, but beyond its edge lay a dizzying area that led to a thousand-foot precipice.

‘It’s time to take her back down.’

Varkan decided that he had given her enough time.

Just as he made up his mind and took a step toward her—

“Wow!”

Suddenly, accompanied by a short cry of admiration, the Princess disappeared from his view, seemingly dropping straight into the air with a sudden whoosh!

“……!”

Startled, Varkan instinctively sprinted forward.

He raced across the snow toward the edge of the hill where the Princess had been standing moments ago.

“Princess!”

Varkan’s voice tore sharply through the snow-covered mountains.