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Even if it took a little more time, May would recognize that the enemy of the enemy was a comrade, and Elena waited for May's hand.

Finally, May, who couldn't make any choice, said her goodbyes instead of answering and left the room. Elena, who was left alone, sat on the window frame. She opened the window and raised her head, and the full moon fell.

"When the moon falls…."

Elena reached out her hand and clenched her fist like a clasp in the moonlight.

"My morning is coming."

***

In front of the main residence of the Grand Duke all the servants gathered to see Elena off to the Frontier Academy.

"How long has it been since you've come back… to be away from home again. I don't feel comfortable."

Grand Duke Friedrich gently hugged Elena and let her go. His face was full of anxiety about his daughter heading to the academy.

"Don't worry about me and take care of yourself, Father."

Elena also played a filial daughter who loved her father very much and acted like they had a kind father-daughter relationship. Some maids, too, seemed to be sad and moved to tears.

"Liv, I'll be right back."

"I look forward to you becoming a more intelligent lady, Your Highness."

"I'll try to live up to your expectations."

Elena, who said goodbye, loaded herself into the top-of-the-line carriage. It was not long before the horseman's whip began to move the wheels of the carriage.

Clattering, clattering.

The carriage, which slowly began to accelerate, escaped the Grand Duchy at a rapid pace. The Frontier Academy, located on the outskirts of the Empire's capital, was about a couple of hours on carriage. Elena sat with her chin on her hand and organized her thoughts by looking out the window at the panoramic view of the capital.

'Whether I want to or not, I'll see people with deep connections.'

The first person that came to mind was Ren. He was currently attending the Faculty of Swordsmanship at the Academy, and there was a high possibility that he would get involved in some way. Because he was a human who saw bullying Veronica as the pleasure of life.

Also, there was him.

'Sian.'

The emperor and husband whom she once loved more than life. They lived as a couple, but she didn't want to see him if she could because it was a relationship that was worse than others. Because seeing him in itself revealed the hurt.

'It won't work out my way.'

Living in the academic institute, she had no choice but to encounter him by chance. Especially if they stayed in a single dormitory that was only available to the royal family, the sons of noblemen of ducal rank or higher, or the descendants of those who had made great achievements in opening up the country, she would encounter him by chance.

'I'll pretend I don't know him even if I bump into him by accident. Hurting each other ends with the previous life.'

By the time Elena was determined, the carriage arrived at the front gate of the Frontier Academy. After a brief identification, the carriage entered the academy.

Elena looked out the window at the panoramic view of the academy. She passed the familiar clock tower and sculptures, the fountain and the training grounds of the swordsmanship department, and the walls continued all the way around the spacious main street. Beyond that, she could see the two-story roofs of the old western-style building, which looked like a small villa.

"We've arrived at the dormitory, Your Highness."

When Elena pointed out the outside with her chin, Anne quickly opened the door of the carriage. When she got off, she bowed down in silence.

Elena looked around carefully. It was like a garden in a forest where the harmony between a single dormitory building, a small pool of water, and a laurel tree was well harmonized.

"Are you guys in the back? Move the luggage."

"Yes, Miss."

Anne, who had been transfixed by the exterior, hurriedly began to carry the luggage. May also helped, still with both arms around her. Hurelbard looked around the outside of the dormitory, taking in the surroundings. Elena stood in the living room and reception room on the first floor and pointed out eyesores one by one.

"The curtains are old. Replace it. When was this done? Take it off."

Erasing the traces of Princess Veronica, Elena filled the space with frames, curtains and carpets from the Grand Duchy. She was willing to endure this much trouble because she had to spend a year.

Elena went upstairs to the bedroom when she was somewhat organized. Elena, who looked around and checked the cleaning condition, sat on the bed with satisfaction.

"We'll have a lot of visitors in the next few days. Make sure your hospitality is up to snuff. Anne, you should pay special attention to the tea and snacks. Wouldn't May be able to follow suit if you set an example?"

"Of course! Just trust me, miss."

Anne's expression immediately brightened. Even if she hadn't, Anne was troubled by the fact that May was older than her. When Elena tried to sort out the pecking order, Anne had no choice but to be flattered.

These reactions were induced by Elena. Elena was going to train Anne without using her own hands. She was going to use May. Anne, with her dour personality, would certainly use May as her "predecessor". Even so, she had a lot of age, and was difficult to deal with, and her enthusiasm was obvious.

'Can you handle May?'

She was holding her breath now, but May was a poisonous snake. Otherwise, she wouldn't even have attempted to assassinate the Grand Duke.

"Anne, go down and clean up."

"Yes! Your Highness the Princess."

Anne, who responded forcefully, left the bedroom. Over the closed door, a creaking wooden staircase was heard. By the time the sound was quiet, Elena took out an emerald brooch from the drawer's jewelry box.

"May, you should go on an errand separately."

Elena put out the emerald brooch.

"Go to the academy and find out if there is a student named Lucia in the first year of the archaeological department. If there is, find her and give this to her."

"Yes, Your Highness the Princess."

"You should know one more thing. Anne should never know about this. Right now, from now onward. Do you understand me?"

May nodded silently. Her face was slightly young, but she swallowed it without asking.

After May was let out, she was so tired.

"Wait a minute. Can I get some sleep?"

Elena lay on the bed as if she were falling. Sleep poured out because of the fatigue accumulated throughout the ride in the carriage. Elena woke up after a long sleep and opened her eyes. A dark night came as the sunset stretched beyond Seosan.

"… How long has it been since I slept with such a peace of mind?"

It seemed that the tension was relieved when she left the Great House to avoid Leabrick's surveillance. She couldn't believe she slept so long in broad daylight.

Knock, knock.

She heard a knock as she was touching her messy hair and clothes.

"This is May."

"Come in."

May, who opened the door, held out a brooch wrapped in a handkerchief.

"I heard she was in school, but I couldn't find her. I went to the dorm and met her roommate, and she said she hadn't seen her in a few days."

"Really? I can't help it. Well done."

When May turned around and left the bedroom, Elena put the brooch back in the jewelry box.

"What kind of person are you, Lucia?"

Elena had never seen Lucia. Despite taking the same liberal arts course, Lucia never attended, so she had no chance to see her. It was even said that Lucia was the first person to sign up for classes and skip lectures all year round.

"Did you have any symptoms before the start of course?"

As she found out later, Lucia was unable to stay at the academy and attend lectures.

The northern fever, known as the indigenous disease of the northern region, is accompanied by a high fever and cough similar to a cold, showing early skin exfoliation. It was a rare disease in the empire that encompassed the central and southern parts of the continent, but was often seen among the three-nation alliance and the indigenous people of the north.

The reason why the northern fever was so scary was that there was no proper treatment. Unlike a common cold, any medicine was useless. It was enough for doctors to say that the best treatment was prevention.

Lucia said she had early symptoms of the northern fever and had rushed off for medical treatment without having enough time to take a leave of absence. Without the circumstances, she would not have even taken a leave of absence. That's why she was never able to attend even though the name Lucia was written in the attendance book of the lecture.

Elena remembered a name that was inseparable along with Lucia. Emilio, the Lord of the upper levels of the Castrol Chamber of Commerce, who was named one of the ten highest levels on the continent. The first time she heard that name was when she was just promoted to queen. It was because rumors spread that Emilio of the Upper Dan Province, who had been going up and down between the North and the Empire, was pouring an enormous amount of money to treat his daughter Lucia.

Emilio happened to visit the tribe of the grasslands when he heard that some eastern grassland tribes had been completely cured of fever. Impressed by the denial to save his daughter, the tribe of the grassland allowed him to stay in the grassland despite being a stranger.

Did that sincerity reach the sky? Emilio found the medicine that would eventually cure the northern fever. The medicinal herbs were laminergia petals. Looking for reasons why grassland tribes did not develop the northern fever, he noted that they regularly ate the leaves of laminergia flowers.

In the north, where the winter was long, laminergia flowers were not in bloom, so he found out that laminergia flowers were not edible like the grassland tribes. In the process, the trading company he had devoted his life to building had gone bankrupt and he had spent all his money, but as long as he could bring his daughter back to life, that was enough. How could his wealth be compared to the life of his precious daughter?

Convinced of the efficacy of the medicine, he was filled with hope that he could bring his daughter back to life. Wanting to cure her as soon as possible, he hurried to visit Lucia. However, Lucia, who had fought the disease for a really long time, believing only in her father's assurance that he would cure her, couldn't hold out for just one day.

Emilio screamed. He cried for several days in front of Lucia's grave. When Emilio finally calmed down, he wrote a letter to the doctors about what he had learned about the treatment of Northern Fever. At the end of the letter, he wrote that he hoped no one else would die of Northern Fever like his daughter. A few days later, Emilio, who had lost his reason to live, also breathed his last. It was really a regrettable tragedy.

Elena hated tragedy. This is because she had faced a tragic ending as well as them.

"Lucia, in that sense, you're such a lucky girl."

Elena sat at her desk and took out the finest parchment. After printing ink with a fountain pen, she wrote it down with a single stroke, folded it, and put it in an envelope.

"Your life, I'll save it. Think of it as a price for borrowing your name."

A year from now. Elena will be touring the academy with her name and status.

The only daughter of the castol merchant and a book-loving archaeological schoolgirl. Her name was Lucia.