Steel Empire
The journey of Honoria 5

As the ship was towed to the city of Gyr, Honoria helped dock as she helped tie the ship to the dock. In doing so, he felt an incredible sense of accomplishment. It was a simple and ordinary task, yet this was the first time he had done something like this. 

The sweet smile that emanated from his face while helping the crew docked on the ship brought an atmosphere of optimism and happiness to the people on board whom they had not felt for a long time. After anchoring in the city, Agnellus approached Honoria and gave her instructions.

"This time, make sure to stay by my side. I don't want a repeat of what happened when we were in Wallachia."

Honoria's smile faded, and she nodded her head with a serious expression. After doing so, he followed Angellus to the city. Heraclius flew overhead once more, watching over the girl, this time the eagle made a mental note not to chase after the prey as the princess roamed.

Agnellus leads Honoria to the city, where they begin shopping for supplies. Throughout the time she spent locked in the captain's cabin, Honoria had time to think for herself. He realized if he immediately revealed his identity to Berengar, he would likely send him back to Constantinople.

The man was probably a brilliant commander with a strong army. However, he would not be able to deal with the Empire's pressure alone. Therefore, he chose to look for something to disguise his appearance and identity. As he and Agnellus were walking around the city, he saw a small shop.

The store sells beauty products for women, and Honoria thinks it would be a great place to check out something she could use to disguise her appearance. Therefore, he pulled on Agnellus' arm and spoke to her.

“I want to check out that store; maybe they have something useful for me. Seeing that it was a female beauty shop, Agnellus sighed before following Honoria.

As Honoria walked into the store, she was surprised to find the young woman selling the beauty product had smooth white hair that glistened like oil. She was beautiful but not comparable to the natural beauty Honoria possessed. 

Seeing the woman's hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes as white as snow, Honoria quickly asked the woman how she could do such a thing.

"Excuse me? I'm wondering, how do you get your hair like that?"

Hearing a beautiful young girl like Honoria question her about the fashion trends she wants to start, the woman smiles before answering Honoria's question with a proud expression on her face.

"It's all thanks to this product here!"

As he said that the woman took out a can of pomade produced by the Berengar industry. Berengar had long decided to sell the product for extra profit, and along the river trade on the Danube, some of his creations had reached Hungary.

After showing off the wax-like fine substance, the woman continued her thinking.

"I had a brilliant idea to mix a fine white powder with a wax-like substance, and in the end, it created the snow-white hair you see on my head! Too bad most women are not interested in this style! Although I recommend trying it, with your natural pale skin and mint green eyes, I'm sure it will enhance your beauty!"

Hearing this, Honoria quickly decided to buy a little fine white starch powder and pomade. Therefore, he looked at Agnellus with puppy-like eyes indicating he wanted the items, and the man had no choice but to give up.

So, he handed the necessary coins to buy the product to the woman. After doing so, the woman made another offer.

"If you want your hair to be as white as my hair for an extra five coins, I can help you through the process!"

Hearing this, Honoria immediately agreed, and thus she sat on the chair where the woman was guiding her through how to care for her hair so that it became a snow-white color with a smooth texture. By the time they finished taking care of Honoria's hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes, she looked like a different person.

Although her face was the same, the huge difference between her previously brown hair and her now snow-white hair was striking. With pale skin and mint green eyes, her white hair complements her natural features better than her natural hair color. 

After witnessing the transformation, Agnillus was shocked; he could not believe the young girl could be more beautiful than before. Although some people have seen Honoria in her life as a princess, it is still better to be safe than sorry, and thus her new disguise, though simple, has a significant effect. 

Honoria looked at the expression on Agnellus' face and smiled with her pretty pink lips before asking the man a question in her mind.

"Well, how do I look?"

Traveling jewelers and sailors struggled to find words to praise the young girl in front of him. However, after careful consideration, he finally found the sentence.

"only divine"

Hearing such overwhelming praise, Honoria began to blush, her natural pale complexion flushed with a pink tone, praising her snow-white new hair perfectly. The woman who helped take care of Honoria's hair started to frown; her last customer had beaten her beauty by a wide margin. 

After paying for the woman's help, Agnellus and Honoria leave the store and enter the street. Now that Honoria had a disguise, she no longer cared about covering up her appearance, and her beauty attracted a lot of eyes. Despite this, no one would have guessed that she was the daughter of the Byzantine Empire.

Although the young beauty walking through the streets showed her stunning appearance, not a single man approached her. This was because of Agnellus' escort, he was a tall and powerful man by nature and naturally intimidated anyone who thought of interacting with the young beauty by his side. So he walked through the crowd with a beautiful smile on his face, attracting the gaze of all the men and boys. 

Of course, Honoria herself was unaware of the lustful gaze directed at her and thus continued without a care in the world. Throughout the rest of the day in town, Honoria follows Agnellus around, where she buys the necessary supplies for the rest of the trip. He even sold some jewelry to some local noblewomen, making a small profit. 

Before long, he and Honoria return to the ship; the crew is still busy scouring the city to run their business. Well, aside from the many slaves who rowed the ship, that is, they were tied to the ship. When Honoria is alone with Agnellus, she begins to thank him for paying for her disguise.

"Thank you, Agnellus. Not just to pay for the product I want, but for everything you've done for me to date."

The agent only scratched the back of his head in embarrassment before responding to the princess.

"That doesn't matter; after all, you are the princess of the Empire. That's what I'm supposed to do."

However, for this response, Honoria simply shook her head. He had decided to hide his identity, and thus he could no longer make Agnellus call him by his real name or title; therefore, he began to inform the man of his intentions.

"I'm no longer the princess of the Empire, I ran away from home, and I have no plans to return. From now on, you should refer to me as Valeria; I think it's best to use a pseudonym in the future."

Hearing that, Agnelli was startled and immediately asked the question in her mind.

"What about Count Berengar? Aren't you going to reveal your identity when you arrive in Kufstein?"

To this, Honoria responded with a wry smile on her face before revealing her plans for the future.

"If I reveal my identity to Count Berengar immediately, he will definitely send me back to Constantinople, he said, or at least tell my family that I am in Kufstein and hold me there until they arrive to take me back to the Palace.

Instead, I will let him believe that I am Valeria Zonara, a noblewoman from Antioch. Once I succeed in making her fall in love with me, I will reveal my true identity. After all, relationships built on lies can't last long."

Hearing this, Agnellus was surprised how the young girl thought about her future since they had departed from Constantinople. He has to say that he is getting emotionally mature every day, and that's a good sign. He was also afraid of Berengar's response when he learned the fleeing princess had fled into his territory.

Therefore, Agnellus patted the girl on the head and smiled at her before saying the words in her mind.

"I think it's a smart idea; I pray that your dreams come true."

After saying that, Agnellus let go of his hand and looked at the moon in the sky before commenting once more.

"It's late; I think you should take a break. We still have a long way to go before we reach Kufstein."

Hearing this, Honoria smiled and nodded before going towards the designated place. While doing so, he made sure to thank Agnellus once again.

"Thank you again! I appreciate it!"

As he said this, Heraclius swept down from the sky and landed on his shoulder, where the two of them set off for their residence. The eagle was not the least bit surprised that Honoria had changed her hair color and just gaped at him while nodding her head as a sign of approval.

The last thing Agnellus heard the princess say before entering the cabin was the young girl talking to her pet.

"Thank you, Heraclius!"

With this, Agnellus simply shook her head and looked at the moon once more before saying her thoughts out loud.

"The girl is too sweet ..."