Chapter 37

The morning sun filtered through the canopy as Maya kicked dirt over the smoldering campfire. She tossed a small, leather travel pack toward the blue-haired princess.

Melty caught it, blinking in surprise. "I thought you travel alone, Sir Hero?"

"Plans change," Maya said flatly, adjusting the straps on her silver Gauntlet. "The capital is no longer safe for you. There are factions moving against the King, and they will use you as a pawn if you return now. You’re coming with me to find the Filolial Queen."

Melty’s face lit up with a mixture of immense relief and sheer, unadulterated joy. "The Filolial Queen?! Truly?! I have read every book about them! Oh, thank you, Maya-sama!"

Maya held up a hand. "Don't thank me yet. If you're traveling with me, you aren't going to be dead weight. You have high-tier water magic affinity. We are going to refine it. You are going to learn how to heal, how to buff stamina, and how to cast offensive ice spells under pressure."

Melty nodded fiercely, gripping her small wand. "I won't let you down!"

For the next three days, they pushed deeper into the untamed frontier. Maya was a relentless instructor. Whenever they encountered low-level monsters, Maya would deliberately take minor hits just to force Melty to practice her casting speed under fire. Under Maya's strict guidance, the Second Princess quickly transformed from a sheltered royal into a highly competent, focused combat medic.

By the third evening, they were both covered in dirt, monster ash, and sweat. They made camp near a wide, slow-moving river hidden beneath a canopy of weeping willows.

Maya stripped off her heavy leather armor and the padded tunic beneath it, wading into the cool, crystal-clear water. She let out a long sigh as the river washed away the grime of the road.

A moment later, the water rippled. Melty waded in beside her, holding a bar of floral soap she had packed from her royal carriage.

"Let me help you, Maya-sama," Melty offered softly. "You took so many hits today to help me practice my timing."

Maya turned, offering a gentle smile. "Thank you, Melty."

As the young princess carefully scrubbed the dirt from Maya's shoulders and back, Maya closed her eyes, her mind wandering. The contrast between the two sisters was staggering. Myne would never offer to wash someone without a manipulative ulterior motive. Melty, on the other hand, was genuinely kind, deeply empathetic, and worked incredibly hard without a single complaint.

*I have to admit,* Maya thought, stealing a glance at the blue-haired girl beside her, *she is beautiful too. But more importantly, she actually has a good personality. Unlike that toxic viper back in the capital, Melty is exactly my type of girl.*

Maya let the cool water rush over her collarbone, her thoughts turning purely pragmatic. *I still prefer Myne's older, more mature figure right now. But Melty has the same royal bloodline. When she grows up, she’s going to be just as stunning as her sister, but without the absolute psychotic cruelty.* A small, hidden smile tugged at the corner of Maya's lips. *If we actually survive this apocalyptic mess, and when she's old enough… I might just propose to her. Having the true, uncorrupted Queen of Melromarc as a girlfriend wouldn't be a bad endgame.*

"Is the water too cold, Maya-sama?" Melty asked, noticing Maya's quiet smile.

"No, it's perfect, Melty. You're doing a great job," Maya replied warmly.

After they finished washing and dried off on the riverbank, Melty quickly fell asleep by the newly built campfire. Maya, however, sat awake, staring into the flames. The relaxing bath was over. It was time to go to work.

Maya knew Myne's assassins were coming. The Princess wouldn't leave a loose end like her younger sister wandering the woods. But instead of running and hiding, Maya decided to flip the board.

*If I leave a trail, they'll follow it right into a bottleneck,* Maya calculated.

She stood up quietly. **[Equipping: Spider-Silk Gauntlet]**.

Maya spent the next hour moving silently through the trees surrounding their camp. She deliberately snapped a few branches on the outer perimeter to lead trackers inward. Then, she used her silk to weave nearly invisible tripwires between the thickest trunks. She painted the silk with the paralyzing spores from her **[Venom-Mush Gauntlet]**. Finally, she commanded Onyx to sink into the shadows directly beneath the tripwires.

It was a flawless, lethal kill zone.

Two hours past midnight, the forest grew unnaturally quiet. Not even the crickets chirped.

Maya sat by the dying embers, her eyes closed, pretending to sleep.

*Snap.*

It was the faintest sound of a boot crushing a dry leaf.

Three figures clad in pitch-black leather dropped from the canopy, their daggers drawn and coated in lethal poison. They moved with terrifying silence, aiming directly for the sleeping blue-haired princess.

*Twang.*

The lead assassin hit the invisible silk tripwire. Before he could even register the paralyzing spores seeping into his skin, the shadow beneath his feet erupted. Onyx’s massive jaws clamped onto the assassin's leg, dragging him soundlessly into the darkness of the underbrush with a muffled crunch.

The other two assassins froze in shock.

That was their last mistake.

Maya moved faster than their eyes could track. **[Equipping: Granite Gauntlet]**.

She crossed the campfire in a single bound. Her heavy stone fist slammed into the side of the second assassin's head, shattering his skull instantly and dropping him like a stone.

The third assassin panicked, raising a hand to cast a silent spell.

"Aqua Prison!" a clear voice rang out.

Melty, who had been awake and waiting for Maya's signal, pointed her wand. A sphere of highly pressurized water encased the final assassin's head, cutting off his spell incantation and his oxygen in the same second.

As the assassin thrashed, Maya casually stepped forward, shifting to her **[Iron Gauntlet]**, and delivered a single, brutal punch to his sternum, knocking him entirely unconscious.

The ambush lasted less than ten seconds.

Maya looked down at the three elite royal assassins. She quickly stripped them of their identifying insignias—the personal crest of the First Princess, Myne.

"You did perfectly, Melty," Maya praised, tossing the insignias into her inventory as evidence. "Your timing on that spell was flawless."

Melty lowered her wand, her hands shaking slightly, but her eyes were filled with a hardened resolve. "They… they were sent by my sister, weren't they?"

"Yes," Maya answered honestly. "But they won't be reporting back. Now, go back to sleep. I'll clean this up, and tomorrow, we find the giant bird."