64 Imperial Palace 1

"Don't think that trick will work again," Robert evilly grinned as he quickly caught up to me and grabbed onto my hand with a strong grip.

I leaned against Robert as I toppled from the sudden stop. Unfortunately, Robert took this chance to take off my hood.

"It is you," Robert sighed in relief as he finally found the missing runaway noble girl that he desperately searched for the last few days.

"Of course it's me," I sarcastically commented while pointing out the typical commoner clothes I wore.

Robert ignored me as he dragged me inside the typical carriage that merchants traveled in.

The carriage had drab wooden walls and floor. Since it was meant to hold cargo rather than people, the seats were roughly made with planks of wood hammered into each other.

"We're going to the imperial palace," Robert told the carriage driver.

"This is really pointless, what if they discover I'm not the girl you're looking for?" I pretended to worry for him.

"Then I'll just escort you back to the market," Robert shrugged.

With no other choice, I sat down on the bench as the driver pulled the reins of the horses. I pretended to look excited as if I was riding in a vehicle for the first time to show Robert I was truly a commoner.

"This carriage is really luxurious, is this how nobles usually live?" I tried to make small talk while thinking that there was no way nobles would ride in this kind of carriage.

Robert stayed silent to observe my movements rather than to continue the conversation.

"Am I not allowed to talk to nobles as a mere commoner?" I asked like I made a great mistake.

Robert frowned as he continued to stay silent until we arrived in front of the royal palace.

"Of course not lady Rika," Robert finally answered me as he offered me his hand when it was time to get off the carriage.

I ignored the hand in front of me and jumped off the carriage on my own.

"I'm just a mere peasant, so I don't know the etiquette of nobles," I continued my act.

Robert ignored me to introduce me to the palace guards.

The palace guards wore a simple military uniform colored red and gray that represented the national colors of the empire. They held tall spears and thin armory to appear intimidating.

"This is lady Rika, you are to make sure that she never leaves the gates during her stay," Robert commanded the guards.

The guards saluted as they accepted the command while Robert dragged me to the outer part of the palace where there were waiting rooms for visiting nobles.

The waiting room was more luxurious than the room I stayed in Belle's castle. There was the usual suite with a bedroom, living room, dressing room and a connecting room for the servants to stay in. However, the rooms were filled with various high quality decorations of fabric for the bedding and curtains.

"Captain, there is an urgent request sent by the fourth prince that needs to be fulfilled immediately." The palace guard heaved from delivering the message as fast as he possibly could.

Robert sighed as he deliberated on what to do.

"You are to wait here until your guardians pick you up," Robert warned me as he started to lock the room from outside as he made the decision to quickly serve the fourth prince.

I felt thankful that these guards were more negligent than the ones in Belle's castle. I opened the grand windows after making sure that Robert was a great distance from the room to find that I would be easily be able to escape from the room since I was in the first floor.

I stepped into the rim of the window and perfectly hopped onto the over side.

'Now where should I go?' I deliberated on the best escape path.

I started to walk through the same passageway that Robert took me when dragging me to the room from using my memory.

"Lady Rika," a palace guard that was introduced to me by Robert bowed when he spotted me walking casually in the hallway.

"What's with my bad luck today?" I groaned in complaint.

I quickly ran away from the palace guard with panic before the guard could react.

When I finally stopped running due to the lack of energy from not eating enough at Jinny's house, I found myself in the middle of a maze made from large hedges and bushes of flowers.

'Must be another grand garden,' I mindlessly thought.

"Are you the runaway girl that was brought back?" A soft voice came from behind.

I turned back to find a young boy wearing the similar luxurious clothes that Luke wore in the third district.

He wore a shiny suit made from the softest silk that was covered by a thick white velvet cape.

"Who are you?" I asked with suspicion.

"I am the crown prince of the Crugren Kingdom," he replied.

'What was the crown prince of the Crugren Kingdom doing here? Isn't that the country that is trying to declare war on the empire?' I became confused.

"I'm here because of pre-war negotiations," he answered my question.

The young boy didn't look older than thirteen. I started to look carefully around my surroundings to see that I had interrupted his tea time with a full tea set on a round marble table behind me.

"Then let's make a deal," I proposed to him as I thought it was the perfect chance to escape the palace with the help of a royal.

"You help me escape the palace and I'll offer you advice on war in return," I confidently offered him a deal.