I gently tugged Lilia toward a nearby bakery stall situated along the outer edge of the market square.
The rich, mouth-watering scent of freshly baked bread, roasted garlic, and sweet yeast drifted through the warm afternoon air, instantly reminding my stomach—and Lilia's—of how long we had gone without a proper meal.
Lilia leaned close to my side, her eyes wide as she stared at the wide array of golden pastries and thick, crusty loaves stacked neatly behind the wooden counter.
Her stomach gave a very audible, embarrassing rumble, causing her cheeks to flush deep red.
"Hungry, princess?" I asked with a faint smirk, pulling a few silver coins from my pouch. "Let's fix that first before we figure out where we're staying tonight."
The two of us finally headed to a small eatery located not far from where we were standing.
"Uncle, two bowls of hot soup, please," I said to the middle-aged man who was busy preparing orders for other customers behind the counter.
"Alright, got it! Just find a seat. I'll bring your order over when it's ready," he called out without looking up.
Lilia and I chose a secluded table in the far corner of the tavern to avoid drawing unnecessary attention. As we sat across from each other, the lingering question in my mind finally surfaced.
"Why didn't you run?" I asked, leaning back against the wooden bench. "When I fainted, my body was completely paralyzed."
Lilia fell silent for a moment, her gaze dropping to the worn wooden table. She lowered her head before finally speaking in a soft, trembling whisper.
"If I had left you... my fate would have been far worse," she whispered, her voice carrying a quiet, heavy conviction that cut through the noisy background chatter.
"The moment the other passengers or the border guards realized I was a branded slave without an active master present, they would have abused me." Lilia clenched her fist.
"They would have sold me to the highest bidder, or worse, dragged me back to the capital to claim Hendrix's bounty for my head."
She slowly looked up, her stunning blue eyes locked onto mine, radiating raw emotion and visible exhaustion. "I would have ended up as a political plaything for corrupt nobles, or a broken slave in a foreign land."
"But more than that... you saved me. Even though you claim you do not care about my survival or the fate of this kingdom, you fought that nightmare to protect my life—even risking your own."
Lilia glanced toward the glowing afternoon sky, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "If I am fated to suffer in this lawless world, I would rather stay beside the only man who has treated me with honesty—even if that honesty feels cold and merciless—than end up as the nameless slave of a master I do not know."
I stared at her for a long, silent moment. Her eyes held no deceit, no trace of her former royal arrogance. The spoiled, naive princess who had falsely accused me a year ago was truly dead, burned away by the harsh flames of reality.
In her place stood a pragmatic, fiercely loyal survivor who had fully accepted her new place in this world as my property.
"The sun is starting to set, and my body is still recovering from the fight with that damned monster," I said, shifting my gaze toward the crowded market square outside.
"We'll lodge in the city tonight. Tomorrow morning, we will cross the border."
"I understand...," she replied submissively, bowing her head in a graceful gesture of absolute obedience. She then reached inside her dusty cloak. "Um... this... Miss Liora gave it to me earlier while we were still in the supply wagon and you were still unconscious."
I was taken aback by the object Lilia carefully placed on the wooden table.
It was the Mutated Ogre General Core (Rank A). The deep crimson crystal hummed with residual, high-density magical energy, vibrating softly against the air as the ambient sunlight caught its polished facets.
In the game's original storyline, a standard Rank B core was already valuable enough, but a Rank A Ogre General Core was an absolute treasure. It could easily fetch at least 2 or 3 Gold coins on the open market.
To put that into perspective, 2 Gold coins was equivalent to 2,000 Silver coins, or a staggering 2,000,000 Copper coins. For an unranked exile and a runaway princess, this single crystal represented a massive, life-saving fortune that would easily fund our entire journey through the Fenix Federation.
If I sell this, along with the gold from the corrupt Soldier Captain I defeated earlier, I'll have around 12 to 13 Gold coins in my inventory.
"Here are the two hot soups you ordered!" The tavern owner approached our table and placed two steaming clay bowls before us.
Before heading back to the kitchen, he cast a strange, lingering look in our direction—his eyes narrowing slightly as he took in our appearance before walking away without a word.
"Eat up, you won't be able to march tomorrow if your stomach is empty," I told Lilia, picking up my spoon and digging in immediately.
Fighting for hours without proper sustenance had pushed my physical stats to their absolute limits. Lilia nodded quietly and began eating her portion, savoring every warm bite after days of starvation.
However, as we finished our meal and I set my empty bowl down, an uncomfortable chill washed over my neck.
The atmospheric chatter inside the tavern had noticeably quieted down.
I glanced around sideways and realized that almost every patron around us—from low-tier mercenaries to local travelers—was staring directly at our table.
Their eyes weren't filled with simple curiosity, there was a tense, calculating edge to their whispers.
Lilia stiffened beside me, her hand subconsciously reaching for the hem of her cloak to pull her hood lower over her face. She had picked up on it too.
'Don't tell me Lilia's disguise has been blown already!?'
I thought, my pulse quickening as my hand quietly slid toward the hilt of my sword under the table. 'But how!? Did someone from the capital recognize her... or...'