58 The Carnival 1

The maid winked as the other maids looked horrified.

"Martha, you know the masters of the house have strictly ordered-"

"Don't you think it's too pitiful that a small child has to miss the carnival that happens once every five years!" Martha defended herself.

'Yes Martha, continue!' My hopes went up.

The maids nodded as they agreed from their recollection of all their younger siblings that looked forward to the carnival for the past year.

"Don't think about it Martha," the head maid warned her as she dismissed Martha from my room.

However, I secretly called for Martha back when I dismissed all the maids as they finished helping me to get ready for lunch.

"Is there really a way for me to go out?" I asked Martha very tearjerkingly.

"Yes there is lady Rika," Martha smiled heartwarmingly.

That's how I met up with Martha after successfully sneaking out of my room in the dead night. Martha held a jar of sticky honey and some cups in front of the walls surrounding the castle.

"We can climb up the wall," Martha winked as she spread honey on the edges of the cups.

"Here," Martha passed the cups covered in thick honey.

"Will this really work?" I questioned Martha.

"I've done this before lady Rika!" Martha pretended to get mad when I doubted her.

Surprisingly, I found myself on the other side of the walls surrounding the castle with not much effort.

"It really worked!" I cheered.

"Unfortunately, I have to help my older sister with her restaurant so I'm afraid I cannot accomp-"

"It's fine!" I quickly refuted.

"If you really say so," Martha looked like she was in a dilemma.

Martha hesitantly separated from me at the fork road not so far from the edge of the residential district where the nobles of the empire resided. I eagerly tried to convince her it was fine before she left.

'There's cotton candy here!' I thought as I looked around the busy night market.

The night market was filled with stalls selling candy, cute accessories, street food and games to play with to win prizes. The bright lanterns with tiny flames dancing around the candles lit up the space as if the darkness of the night was fictional.

"Hey young lady!" a merchant in one of the stalls called out for me.

"Would you like some cotton candy?" the merchant asked.

I apologized to the merchant as I didn't bring any money in the fifth district currency with me since I sneaked out of the castle.

"I forgot to bring some money with me," I dejectedly answered.

"It's fine! You remind me of my daughter. So I'll give you one for free since you probably came from a faraway place to come to the carnival," The merchant kindly offered me one of his goods.

"Really?" I excitedly asked.

I accepted the cotton candy as the merchant gave me one of his largest puff of pink cotton candy on a stick.

"Just enjoy the capital! Once you come here again with more money, you can pay me back," the merchant casually handed me a cute bunny ear headband.

Knowing that the merchant was simply a good-hearted person, I accepted the accessory and placed it on my head.

"Thank you!" I brightly smiled.

I left the stall to explore more of the fifth district as I knew I didn't have much time before Luke sent the knights out for a search party as soon as he figured out I sneaked out of the castle. When I walked deeper into the night market, the smell of various meat being grilled made me hungry again.

The dinner I had with Cillian and Luke was simple and resembled the typical meals we ate in the first district. We had our usual steak, salad and fruits for desert, but it was lower in quality.

There were no signs of 'junk food' that I desperately craved these days after finishing my supply of junk food that I bought in the third district.

However, all the street food sold in the night market were the definition of junk food. Unable to resist the delicious smell of the food while having no money, I quickly left the night market despondently.

"Hello, young lady," a noble from the fifth district greeted me politely just outside the night market.

The noble looked dignified with his military uniform decorated with badges from various accomplishments.

"I was wondering if you got lost from your parents," the noble kindly asked me.

'How were there nobles in this area? Weren't there only supposed to be commoners here? If that noble reports me as a lost child, there's a chance that Luke will find me more easily,' I thought with irritation.

"I came out here alone," I honestly confessed so that the noble wouldn't report me as a lost child.

"A runaway child, I see." The noble mumbled quietly to himself.

"Ummm... my parents were too busy to take me to the carnival so I came out here on my own!" I quickly denied.

"John! Check if there's any noble families in this area that is looking for a young girl." The noble shouted to his colleague.

"Yes, Captain Robert!" John yelled back.

'Why couldn't you come up with a better excuse Rika?' I ridiculed myself.

"I'm not a noble," I tried to convince Robert.

"No matter how you feel, you should never try running away from your family. You know there's lots of bad people in this world!" Robert started to scold me.

"Besides, you're wearing a similar design that my younger sister wears. And only nobles can shop at that boutique," Robert sternly faced me like he was indirectly telling me to not take him as a fool.

Of course, I had to wear this fancy dress outside! I was so used to the fancy outfits I wore in the first district that I naturally wore this dress outside as if it was a downgraded and out-of-fashion dress from the first district.

'Why didn't you steal one of the maid's uniforms during the morning?' I reprimanded myself.

Seeing that there was no other option, I starting to run away from the noble as fast as I could as the noble focused on talking with his colleague. Thankfully, when I stopped to catch my breath, I found myself alone in the streets of the fifth district.

When I determined that it was safe to walk from here on, I walked towards the direction of the carnival. I saw the royal palace getting closer as the noticeable white marbled walls stood out from the far distance.

'I better walk carefully to avoid getting noticed by more nobles and knights,' I thought as the streets were bound to get more crowded as I got closer to the carnival.