During their one-day trip, Melisa was free to ride the horse and enjoy the scenery. That day, Melisa looked so free and happy. But as they got closer to the border of the Sigmund Kingdom, Melisa was forced to get back into the carriage and put on her beautiful dress again.
After half a day had passed, they finally reached the great wall that divided the Sigmund Kingdom from the rest of the country. Melisa had a nervous look on her face when the time came for her troops to retreat, and she would be escorted by the Sigmund Kingdom's troops. The handover process didn't last long. But from the way everyone behaved, Melisa could tell that everyone took the handover process very seriously.
"Your Highness, I have escorted you to your destination. From here on, Duke Andrew of the Alison family will guide you to reach the capital."
"Very well."
Melisa's voice was as soft as cotton, especially when she saw that the captains of the troops escorting her had red eyes when she spoke. Melisa smiled at each of them. With that smile, the troops escorting her finally left to return to the Cyrille Kingdom.
After her kingdom's troops had departed, the carriage began to move forward again, even though the troops escorting her were now troops from other kingdoms. None of them exchanged any words throughout their journey. Melisa could only watch Teresa vigilantly the whole time while she was busy thinking about her fate in the new kingdom.
The journey to the capital of the Sigmund Kingdom was safe, although Melisa was a little tense throughout their journey. Their carriage finally came to a stop again when it was getting dark. For the first time, Melisa could finally see clearly who was the leader of the troops escorting her this time.
What was standing before Melisa was a dashing man with a heroic face, dressed in clothes that clearly showed his social status in the Sigmund Kingdom. The sword at his waist was the sword that had helped him cut down all the enemies of the Sigmund Kingdom over the years. With his skills, Duke Andrew's name was even famous in the Kingdom of Cyrille.
Seeing him in person made Melisa believe that the Sigmund Kingdom sent their war hero to pick her up. Melisa's feelings were a little complicated when she saw Duke Andrew. Since that man was a war hero, it was undeniable that Duke Andrew was the biggest cause of their kingdom being cornered and surrendering under the Sigmund Kingdom's truce.
"Your Majesty, since it is already dark, we will rest at the residence of Marquess Philip, the lord of the area we are currently traveling through."
As Duke Andrew spoke in a low voice, Melisa regained her senses. Melisa nodded briefly in reply to Duke Andrew's words. "Very well," Melisa added when she remembered that just nodding was not polite for her.
After getting Melisa's approval, the carriage finally got going again, though it was heading towards the castle that came into view, not long after they passed through the vast meadow. Someone was waiting for them when they finally arrived at the place. Among them, Melisa could recognize the most luxuriously dressed one and kept smiling at Duke Andrew when the man got off his horse.
"Your Grace! It is my honor to welcome you to this humble place. We have prepared the finest banquet for you within the castle. May you enjoy your night in this place."
From the way she spoke and behaved, Melisa could see that Marquess Philip was trying hard to curry favor with Duke Andrew. Marquess Philip was completely indifferent to Melisa's arrival until Duke Andrew had to reprimand him directly.
"Lord Philip, you forgot to give your greetings to Princess Melisa."
Being reprimanded by Duke Andrew directly embarrassed Marquess Philip, so he immediately corrected his attitude towards Melisa.
"That's right. Please forgive my carelessness, Your Highness. Welcome to my castle. I hope you enjoy your night here."
"Thank you, Lord Philip."
Even though Melisa knew that she had just been humiliated by Marquess Philip just because she came from a small kingdom that had lost, Melisa kept a smile on her face the whole time to cover her disappointment. They were finally brought inside the castle after that. However, since Melisa is no longer in the mood to enjoy the banquet with the people of Sigmund's Kingdom, she ends up using the excuse that she was tired to immediately rest in the room that had been prepared for her.
"Your Highness, since you haven't had dinner yet, someone will come to take your food to your room later."
Melisa nodded in response to Duke Andrew's words. "I understand," she replied then.
After that, someone escorted them to the room Melisa would be using for the night. It was definitely not the best room in the castle. But for Melisa, as long as there was a place for her to sleep and rest, then everything was fine for her.
"They're so outrageous! How could they think that Duke Andrew's existence is more important than yours, Your Highness!"
Melisa realized that too. However, she did not admit it outright this time. Instead, she comforted her knight with a small smile.
"It's alright. I'm fine."
"How can you be fine, Your Highness?! You've already gotten this mistreatment at the border. Honestly, I don't want to imagine what treatment they'll give you in the capital later."
Melisa knew that Teresa was angry in her place, but careless emotions would not get them anywhere with their situation. Melisa comforted Teresa with a few more sentences before the woman finally calmed down. They showered and ate just the two of them before Melisa finally fell asleep while being guarded by Teresa.
***
KNOCK KNOCK!
"Your Highness, I apologize if I'm disturbing you. However, we must continue our journey immediately."
The next morning, Melisa was woken up by the sound of a knock on the door, and Duke Andrew's voice that followed soon after. Melisa answered Duke Andrew's greeting politely. As usual, they prepared themselves before finally going out to re-board the carriage that brought them.
After that, they went on a long journey. Sometimes, when they were still quite far from the castle, they would sleep at the nearest hotel they could find. It took a total of seven days for them to get to the Royal Capital of Sigmund. Melisa realized that they were almost there when she saw the magnificent wall that protected the capital from outside attacks.