Three days after staying in the village, Ard, Eva, and the others decided to push on toward the Rellios Kingdom. Their route took them across a massive, sturdy bridge connecting a northern peninsula to the western continent—specifically, the coastline of the Fredonia Kingdom. They stood before the gate next to a long, covered carriage drawn by two horses, a rugged vehicle typically used by the barbarian tribes to transport their warriors.

Osgrelf walked them to the village entrance and reached out to Ard. Ard shook his hand firmly once everyone had boarded the carriage.

"Safe travels. We'll be waiting for news from you and... please, look after Claudia," Osgrelf said with a smile.

"Thank you, Chief. I'll be in touch soon, and I'll take care of her," Ard replied, smiling back.

Suddenly, Osgrelf pulled Ard into a bone-crushing hug, squeezing him so hard he had a little trouble breathing, though Ard didn't say anything. Osgrelf eventually let go and brushed off Ard's clothes with the smile of a father seeing off his son—or in this case, his son-in-law. Ard tipped his head, turned, and hopped into the carriage.

"Hyah!"

The driver snapped the reins, and the carriage lurched forward. Everyone leaned out from the open back curtains, waving at Osgrelf and the villagers, who waved back to see them off. Eventually, Ard pulled the curtains shut and leaned back with a sigh. When he looked around, he was startled to find Eva, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, Patricia, Mirea, and Claudia all staring at him with blushing cheeks.

"What?" Ard asked.

"Nothing," replied Eva. She had returned to her black-haired form and tried to act cold, though it was a total fail.

"Sorry, I just wanted to look," Alicia said, turning her head away.

The others followed suit, looking away in silence, while his three male friends pretended not to notice, acting busy while stealing the occasional glance.

"Huh... what is with them? Weird," Ard muttered, peeking through a gap in the curtain at the road behind them.

The carriage rolled on without stopping, and three hours later, the scent of the sea began to mingle with the smell of fresh grass. Ard opened the curtain and leaned his head out to look ahead. A massive, solid-looking bridge was visible in the distance. At the foot of the bridge was a fortress gate serving as the Ateras Kingdom's border checkpoint, guarded by several knights. Beside the checkpoint sat a stone fort where the border guard garrison was stationed.

Ard ran a hand through his hair and changed its color to red—the signature trait of the Fredonia royal family. Eva and the others immediately turned to look at him. Aside from Eva and Alicia, everyone else felt certain that Ard really was a prince of Fredonia.

"Wow... red hair suits you. You really look like a prince," Mirea remarked.

"Yeah, he does. But... I think I prefer you with black hair," Beatrice added.

"For once, I agree with the Princess," Rosalind chimed in.

"But why change your hair, bro? We haven't even crossed the border yet," Geoffrey asked.

"Isn't it a bit early?" Milia questioned.

"No, I'm changing it precisely because we're about to cross," Ard said casually.

"So that means we'll reach the Fredonia Kingdom before we get to Rellios?" Patricia asked.

"That's right. That's why I changed it," Ard replied.

"Hmm... I get it. You want an easy pass through the border," Ainsley said, adjusting his glasses.

"Since the Ateras and Fredonia kingdoms are allies, we'll breeze through both checkpoints," Claudia murmured.

"Exactly," Ard said.

"We're almost at the checkpoint," Irwin noted, looking ahead.

The carriage arrived at the post, and several border guards signaled it to stop. A guard reached for the back curtain, but Ard immediately stood up, hopped down alone, and spoke to him. The guard looked Ard up and down, then back up again. He instantly snapped to attention, pulling his spear to his side.

"Greetings, Third Prince of Fredonia. Why are you traveling in a barbarian passenger carriage? Is your visit to Ateras an official royal matter?" the guard asked.

"I just wanted to keep a low profile. And yes, I was officially meeting with the barbarian tribes, who are part of the Ateras Kingdom. So, can we pass?" Ard asked casually.

"Please proceed, Prince!" the guard shouted, ordering the men ahead to clear the way.

The two guards at the front moved aside to let them through. Ard jumped back into the carriage and stood by the door. As the carriage began to move, Ard waved to the Ateras royal guards, who stood at rigid attention to salute him. He then sat down and closed the curtain. Suddenly, Eva reached out and took his hand.

"Thank you," Eva said with a smile.

"Oh, you caught on to my plan," Ard said.

"You turned yourself into my favorite prince just to protect Eva, didn't you?" Alicia asked.

"You kept the guards from looking inside. Of course they wouldn't check once a prince stepped out in front of them," Irwin added.

"Yep, that's it. It would have been a mess if they searched the carriage and started asking a bunch of questions," Ard replied.

Then Ard turned to see Beatrice, who was starting to look restless as she peeked through the gap in the window curtains.

"What is it, Beatrice? It'll probably take about five hours to reach the end of this bridge. There's a rest stop in the middle if you're tired, just let me know," Ard said.

"Ugh... this trip is going to be so boring. I'm honestly sick of looking at the ocean," Beatrice grumbled.

"Don't be a baby, Princess. You should be glad we listened to you and aren't on a ship anymore," Rosalind said.

"Shut up," Beatrice snapped back.

"At least you can't get seasick in a carriage," Eva noted.

"True. But it's still boring, isn't it? All you can see is the vast ocean and the bridge," Beatrice said.

"Exactly. That's why I'm planning to sleep. Wake me up when we reach the end of the bridge. Goodnight," Geoffrey said, leaning back comfortably and closing his eyes with his arms crossed.

"Must be nice, escaping to dreamland just like that," Milia said, kicking Geoffrey's leg, though he didn't react.

"Alright, alright, just try to enjoy the ride. Goodnight," Claudia said, settling in to sleep as well.

"Huaaah... fine, I'm sleeping too," Patricia added.

"Same here, I need to close my eyes for a bit," Ainsley said, taking off his glasses and folding them.

Eventually, the carriage fell silent as most of them drifted off due to the tedious journey. Only Ard stayed awake; he couldn't sleep at all because his friends were snoring loudly, creating a synchronized, unintentional orchestra.

"Unbelievable... but I guess it makes sense. We didn't sleep at all last night discussing the plan. Oh well," Ard thought to himself as he covered his ears and leaned back, closing his eyes.

***

"Ugh."

Ard opened his eyes and immediately saw a ceiling he had known his entire life. His eyes went wide. He looked around and, realizing something, began frantically touching his face and body. He jumped out of bed and rushed to the mirror.

"Wait... why am I in my room at the palace? Did my life just reset again?" Ard wondered in a panic.

Panicking, he sprinted out of his room, leaving several servants startled in his wake. He ran straight to his father's study in the palace and "Bam!" he threw the doors open, gasping for breath. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw Eva, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, Patricia, Mirea, and Claudia all sitting in the chairs along the right side of the room. Behind them, Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin were seated in the back row.

Ard quickly looked straight ahead. He saw his father, who appeared so furious that he was looking down, his face a deep, boiling red. His brother, Alexis, sat in front of their father with an expression that clearly said, "You are truly dead meat this time, sorry, I can't help you with this one." Still completely lost as to what was going on, Ard finally turned to Eva.

"Um... why are you all here? Where are we?" Ard asked, bewildered.

"At the bridge border, the guards recognized you. They brought you straight to the palace because apparently, you were being hunted for running away," replied Eva, whose hair had returned to silver.

"Oh... I see. But why didn't anyone wake me up?" Ard asked.

"That's because I'm the one who put you to sleep. I happened to be out inspecting the border with the Ateras Kingdom,"

Abel, who had just walked in, placed a hand on Ard's shoulder. Ard turned to see his brother standing beside him.

"You're back, brother? What about Prince Edmund? I heard he returned to the capital," Ard said.

"I'll tell you later, but that's not what's important right now," Abel said, pointing toward Arthur, their father and the King of Fredonia.

"Slam!" Ard watched as Arthur hammered the desk and stormed out from behind it, approaching Ard in a towering rage.

"Oh boy," Ard muttered.

"Ard, what on earth were you doing?!" Arthur screamed, grabbing Ard by the collar with a face full of fury.

"Um... sorry I ran away from the palace, Dad... but I'm back now, right?" Ard said, forcing a nervous smile.

"That's not the point! Why on earth did you come home with eight fiancées? Two of them are princesses, and then there's Alicia, your fiancée since you were children. What were you actually doing at that academy? Why were you out sowing seeds instead of studying? You've gone way too far... you really are a useless son! You've brought shame to my name. What am I supposed to say to their fathers, huh?" Arthur roared in a blind rage, glaring at Ard as if he wanted to swallow him whole.

"Oh... ah... that... hahaha... anyway, I'm home," Ard stammered, having no idea how to answer.

Arthur immediately went on a rampage, screaming at Ard, who hung his head in resignation. Abel and Alexis tried their best to calm Arthur down as every insult imaginable poured out of the King's mouth. Meanwhile, Eva, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, Patricia (now as Pyria), Mirea, and Claudia sat calmly without saying a word, occasionally sipping their tea. In the back, Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin pretended to be fast asleep, eyes squeezed shut, wanting absolutely no part of the drama unfolding before them.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.