I exchanged letters swiftly with Noxia through Kevin.

Noxia expressed her joy at my survival more than anyone else and declared her enthusiastic willingness to participate in the plan I had devised.

Fortunately, since we were on the brink of a massive war with the Calua Empire, Noxia—who possessed the water affinity—moving toward the border raised no suspicion whatsoever.

Thus, we arranged the time and place for the switch.

Noxia would visit a high-end tailor’s shop near the Lazent Empire, using the excuse of changing her soiled dress.

Even the new dress Noxia would “choose” had been meticulously prearranged.

I had already entered the luxurious, spacious changing room, wearing a long robe and concealing my face. Ascan stood beside me.

How long had I waited anxiously?

Faintly, Noxia’s voice drifted from outside the changing room.

“Wait here for a moment. I’ll change my dress and come out.”

“Yes, Your Highness the Crown Princess.”

After those words, no further sounds of her attendants could be heard.

Tap tap—

Only a single set of footsteps approached the changing room.

I knew without looking—it was Noxia approaching.

Creak. The changing room door opened, and Noxia stepped inside. Immediately, she scanned the room, searching for me.

I slowly walked out from the corner, pulling down the hood of my robe. Seeing Noxia after so long, I couldn’t help but smile.

“Noxia, I’m here.”

“Sister!”

Noxia quickly came over, grasped my shoulders, and checked me for injuries. Then, with a face full of delight, she spoke.

“I’m so relieved to see you safe. I’m here under the pretense of scouting the border, so I can return to the capital immediately. I’ve already informed Father and His Highness about our plan to switch places.”

“Well done.”

Orland would recognize me at a glance no matter how perfectly I disguised myself as Noxia, and Roel—being her husband—would be even harder to deceive.

It was necessary to reveal the truth to them in advance.

I glanced at Ascan standing beside me and told Noxia,

“From now on, stay with Ascan. I’ll go to the laboratory to investigate what happened and contact you afterward.”

“Understood. Be careful not to get caught.”

“Oh, and there’s one thing I couldn’t mention in the letters—I got married.”

“What? What did you say?”

Noxia blinked incredulously, glancing between me and Ascan. It was obvious whom I had married.

She continued in a flustered voice,

“What? When did you even hold the wedding without me or Father?”

“It just happened—we had a simple ceremony between the two of us. Given the circumstances, I’m sorry for telling you so late.”

“No, don’t apologize. It’s just so sudden—I don’t even know what to say… But belatedly, congratulations, Sister.”

Noxia’s eyes glistened as she lightly embraced me.

I had so much I wanted to say—I could talk all night and still not finish—but right now, there were things I had to do.

“Let’s save the rest of our conversation for after everything’s over. Also, be careful not to let anyone else see your face.”

“Mm, I will.”

Thus, Noxia donned the long robe I had been wearing, while I—already dressed in the gown she had selected—only needed to put on a wig.

Once I placed the pre-prepared silver wig on my head, my reflection in the mirror looked strikingly similar to Noxia.

In the original story, Tanashia often disguised herself with silver hair to mimic Noxia, but this was the first time I had fully impersonated her myself.

We stared at each other, completely swapped in appearance.

Noxia was the first to speak, her eyes filled with worry.

“If anything happens, contact me immediately, Sister.”

“Don’t worry. No one will realize I’m pretending to be you.”

Before leaving the changing room, I glanced one last time at Ascan. Merely meeting his gaze, I felt I understood what he wanted to say.

Ascan spoke in a low voice,

“I can’t accompany you, so be extra careful. If danger arises, forget everything else—think only of your own safety.”

His words, heavy with concern, made me smile unconsciously.

Ascan and I couldn’t travel together to the Arwen Empire—we had to conceal our survival from the Calua Empire, and his presence would risk exposure.

Though Ascan seemed uneasy about sending me alone to the Arwen Empire, there was no more perfect plan, so he reluctantly accepted it.

I answered firmly, as if to reassure him,

“I’m not some helpless woman. Nothing will happen that warrants your worry—so put your mind at ease.”

I absolutely had to go myself to investigate why the magic stones weren’t functioning. Ascan knew this well, so he nodded.

Swallowing any lengthy farewell, I turned my body—now ready to step outside the changing room.

Just as my hand reached for the doorknob—

Thud. Ascan grasped my shoulder. From behind, he pulled me tightly into his arms and whispered softly,

“Promise me. Not even a single strand of your hair will be harmed.”

“I told you not to worry. Who in the Arwen Empire would dare lay a finger on me?”

Even if my true identity was concealed, as “Noxia,” I held the exalted status of Crown Princess of the Arwen Empire. No one would dare harm me while I was disguised as her.

Noxia, watching our affectionate moment from the side, gave us an envious look. I patted Ascan’s hand soothingly, my face slightly flushed.

“I’ll be back.”

Reluctantly, Ascan slowly loosened his arms around me.

I looked up at him one last time, smiled, and stepped out of the changing room. Though I had only taken a few steps from inside to outside, it felt as though the entire world had changed.

At the entrance, many people who had accompanied Noxia here were waiting for me—maids attending to her, guards responsible for her safety, and others.

When I appeared in my new dress, one of them spoke,

“You look beautiful, Your Highness the Crown Princess. Would you like to see other dresses as well?”

I shook my head. I had come to the tailor’s shop solely to switch places with Noxia.

Now that the objective was accomplished, it was time to proceed to the main matter.

“No, this is sufficient. Let’s hurry back to the capital.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Tap tap. I led the way out of the tailor’s shop, my brilliant silver hair fluttering behind me. No one realized I was Tanashia, not Noxia.

As expected, the plan succeeded perfectly. Now, only visiting the laboratory remained.

I hastened without rest all the way to the capital of the Arwen Empire. Upon arrival, I headed straight to Marquis Brellof’s residence—not the imperial palace—because my laboratory was located nearby.

Since the Brellof family was also Noxia’s parental home, no one found my visit suspicious.

“Wait here. I’ll go meet Father and return shortly.”

“Understood, Your Highness the Crown Princess.”

Currently, Orland was deliberately inside the laboratory—so I could naturally head there under the pretense of meeting him.

At present, the Arwen Empire’s greatest concern was war, and it was only natural to maintain magical engineering weapons before engaging the Calua Empire.

Thanks to this, my visit to the laboratory to “meet Orland” flowed as smoothly as water.

Thus, I shook off my entourage and entered the laboratory alone.

My laboratory, which I hadn’t visited in a long while, felt not strange at all—in fact, I could find my way around it even with my eyes closed. I had spent considerable time here researching weapons.

Orland, who had arrived earlier and waited for me, approached upon spotting me.

“You’ve come.”

“Yes, I’m sorry for causing you worry.”

“I have much to say, but seeing you safe is enough for now. I heard the magic stones are showing abnormal symptoms. Time is short—examine them quickly.”

“Then please wait here a moment, Father.”

Given the urgency, I postponed further conversation with Orland and began inspecting the magical engineering weapons.

Since I had come here under the pretext of meeting Orland, he needed to remain present to substantiate my alibi.

Meanwhile, I planned to examine the magical engineering weapons and determine why the magic stones weren’t generating mana.

As I surveyed the many magical engineering weapons alone in the laboratory, unexpectedly, I confirmed that every weapon was functioning normally.

Had I not personally experienced the failure on the small island, I might have thought it was all a dream.

‘What on earth is going on?’

The fact that the magic stones lost power at a critical moment clearly indicated a problem. Yet now, they functioned perfectly—this made no sense.

I placed a magic stone on the desk and examined it meticulously using observation instruments. Visually, however, I detected no abnormalities.

‘If not all magic stones are malfunctioning… then something must be preventing mana from accumulating in them?’

Normally, magic stones were secured with locks preventing unauthorized tampering—making such interference impossible. But since I had witnessed it firsthand, I had no doubt.

I shifted my thinking approach.

‘If I were to render magic stones useless, how would I do it?’

I mentally placed myself in the adversary’s position and considered the most efficient method to drain mana from the stones.

Swish, swish.

My hands naturally began constructing a new magical formula.

It involved dismantling the locking mechanism engraved onto the magic stones.

‘Hmm, if I built a large-scale device like this, it could block mana from accumulating in the magic stones.’

By reversing perspectives, I now understood what kind of device had interfered with mana generation in my magic stones.

The problem lay elsewhere.

‘If my hypothesis is correct, aside from me, there is only one person in the world capable of creating such a device…’

That person was my master, Barnen.

Barnen himself had originally designed the fundamental framework of the magic stone’s locking mechanism—thus, only he could undo it.

‘But why would Master…?’

I couldn’t comprehend it.

Barnen had spent a long time with me. He desired the advancement of magical engineering more than anyone, and I learned so much from him.

I had entrusted countless magical engineering weapons to Barnen over the years. Had he harbored ill intentions, he could have exploited them long ago.

No matter how I thought about it, Barnen wouldn’t have created such a device without reason.

‘It seems likely something has happened to Master’s personal safety.’

I knew that before Ascan and I embarked on our journey, Barnen and Matela had vanished without a trace. I had found it odd at the time but dismissed it as insignificant…

Now, looking back, the probability was high that problems had begun then.

This wasn’t mere speculation. Since Barnen was the only person in the world capable of unlocking the magic stone’s mechanism, considering other possibilities was unnecessary.

‘Whatever the reason, if Master unlocked the magic stone’s mechanism, I can roughly guess how he constructed the device.’

Now, only one solution remained.

I needed to create a device that would neutralize Barnen’s device—attacking the reversal with a reversal.

Having made my decision, I swiftly moved my hands. Disguised as Noxia, I couldn’t linger here too long.

To avoid detection, I had to return to the imperial palace promptly—so I hurried.

Lacking time to build the new device myself, I instead drew up its blueprint—detailed enough for any other magical engineering expert to construct it.

Holding the completed blueprint, I went to where Orland waited. I handed it to him and said,

“I’m not sure why, but it seems Master developed a device to prevent mana from accumulating in my magic stones. Something likely happened to his personal safety—please investigate, Father.”

“Barnen?”

Orland asked gravely, then nodded.

Whatever the reason, if Barnen was in danger, we had to rescue him.

“And this blueprint I’m showing you can neutralize Master’s device. Since building it myself would take too long, please assign the task to another magical engineering expert.”

“Agreed.”

“Though no one will discern the device’s purpose from the blueprint alone, proceed secretly just in case. The Calua Empire likely assumes our magical engineering weapons remain nonfunctional—they’ll certainly be complacent.”

Had time continued flowing as it did in the original story, the Calua Empire would have won the war.

But I intended to exploit their complacency and completely reverse the outcome of this war.

Since Dekain had declared he wouldn’t break the alliance, we could count on support from the Lazent Empire. With my newly developed device, our magical engineering weapons would be usable again.

Moreover, Ascan—the strongest character in this world—was now even more powerful than before.

Using all these advantages, I could deliver a crushing blow to Helsion while he remained complacent—ensuring he’d never dream such hollow dreams again.

With a meaningful smile, I said,

“I should devise a strategy—so the Calua Empire falls straight into a trap.”