Chapter 10. The Rejected Ones

It was around dusk when Iella heard the news that the Grand Duke had left the secondary palace.

Iella, who had been staring intently at the main gate of the secondary palace until then, let out a deep sigh. Since returning to her bedroom, the firmly closed iron gate had not opened even once. This meant that the Grand Duke could easily enter and exit the secondary palace at will without any formal procedures.

Iella turned her gaze after sending Vanessa away. What caught her eye was a book placed at an angle on the bedside table. She had taken it out before encountering the Grand Duke and had held it tightly to her chest like a lifeline since their meeting.

Iella picked it up and opened it. Reading was quite a good way to calm her mind. Fortunately, since it was an old book she liked, she had no trouble focusing on the text.

Flip, flip.

As she turned the pages with a concentrated expression, she noticed a torn part.

“Huh?”

Blinking, Iella flipped the pages back and forth quickly from start to finish. However, the torn part was not tucked anywhere between the pages.

Iella opened the torn page again. The uneven tear marks clearly indicated that someone had intentionally ripped it.

As she traced the marks with her fingers, she saw a word that barely remained in the form of letters at the top.

“S…, exchange…. What does this mean?”

Of course, with so much missing, it was impossible to know exactly what had been written.

“What are they exchanging?”

Focusing on the only word she could fully read, ‘exchange,’ Iella tilted her head.

State, sector…, she muttered words starting with ‘s’ that had been cut off at the front.

“Ah!”

Then, a word flashed through her mind, and she opened her eyes wide.

“Soul?”

It wasn’t entirely impossible. Old books often had difficult and ambiguous language that needed interpretation. However, most of the time, the content was similar once interpreted. It was not about material wealth or glory that people usually chased, but invisible legends or myths.

So far, she had never seen anything about tangible things like territories or domains in the many old books she had read.

“If it really is soul…”

A glimmer of light appeared in her deep pink eyes as she pondered. She felt as if a ray of hope was shining before her.

“Does this mean I can return to my original self?”

Her heart swelled with hopeful expectations.

Taking a deep breath, Iella quickly and carefully turned to the back of the torn part.

Since she couldn’t find the most crucial part immediately, she decided to give up for now. However, there was definitely more related content further back. Old books often elaborated on a subject for dozens, sometimes hundreds of pages, or even an entire volume.

Iella’s judgment proved correct as she discovered something in the middle to later part of the book.

{ Northwest, the village of the rejected ones }

Her slender finger, following the text, stopped.

Ostracism, it was a word that had also appeared in books about ancient history.

{ Ostracism and condemnation were mere illusions or desires of those who wished to suppress them. Their power could never be subdued by such means. }

Swallowing hard, Iella resumed reading, her finger moving down the page. As she read one paragraph after another, her heart pounded loudly.

{ However, as those gripped by fear intensified their oppression, the power they believed to be eternal began to fracture as those who should not have been rejected disappeared. No matter how weak one became, they were no different from ordinary people.

…In the end, they were driven deep into the forests of the northwest. But the oppression did not end there. Those who feared their return branded them with an invisible mark. }

Her finger, which had been moving smoothly, stopped at the next paragraph.

{ Shamans. That was what they came to be called. }

Only after reading to the period of that sentence did Iella exhale sharply. Even so, her gaze remained fixed on the sentence, as if engraving it into her mind.

It wasn’t the first time she had heard of shamans. Anyone who liked old books would have come across the term at least once. They were frequently mentioned beings.

However, it was the first time she had seen such a detailed account. Usually, the content was fragmentary.

She organized what she had read.

There must be a reason why the detailed explanation of the village of the rejected ones, or the shamans’ village, followed the content about soul exchange. Iella speculated that it was related to the power they used.

Therefore, the most likely content of the torn page was… the principle of shamanism. Shamanism had separate principles and implementation methods, and those with the power of shamans used the implementation methods when performing shamanism. Such things wouldn’t have been written down so openly.

If such content had been written, it wouldn’t have been translated into the imperial language. Despite the disdain for shamans, there were always people who would use them when necessary. Naturally, such dangerous content would have been destroyed rather than left open.

Iella thought of one more thing. The content about the shamans’ village should have been handled carefully as well. If there was someone as desperate as herself, they would surely show more interest in the village.

‘Using one shaman and the place where shamans lived were on different levels of discomfort. The atmosphere of rejection would have been stronger during the translation period.’

Iella’s lips curled up slightly.

This was a key. A key to finding those who had become accustomed to hiding without revealing themselves.

It was no coincidence that such content was in the book she picked, that only this part was conspicuously torn, and that there was a grand explanation about the village.

Perhaps it was fate. Then the hope of restoring her life, which had changed in an instant, was also fate.

“It’s decided.”

Iella, holding the book with both hands, leaned back. Soon, her back touched the soft bedding. Her platinum blonde hair spread widely on the white blanket. However, her determined eyes remained unwavering and resolute.

“A place to escape.”

Her destination was firmly set.

* * *

Now, the only thing left was how to get to the destination.

The distance from the imperial palace in the center of the empire to the forest in the northwest was quite far. Naturally, walking was out of the question. The options were narrowed down to horseback riding and a carriage.

However, Iella didn’t feel confident about arriving safely on a long journey on horseback. Her soft body wasn’t particularly accustomed to riding.

In the end, the only remaining means of transportation was a carriage…

‘To ride a carriage, I have to go out to the city.’

The problem is that I can’t leave the imperial palace by carriage. Not only would it be like announcing my escape, but it would also reveal my destination. This would make the search for a new destination meaningless.

Moreover, I planned to execute the escape at nightfall to avoid surveillance. Using the imperial palace carriage at that time? It would be blatantly suspicious.

Therefore, I had to go out to the city and find an ordinary hired carriage. Fortunately, as long as you pay, hired carriages are available late at night or early in the morning. Looking at it positively, just getting to the city would mean half the success.

‘Then…’

The quill, which had been moving back and forth on the paper, stopped. When Iella placed the hand holding the quill on her chin, the soft feather at the end tickled her cheek.

‘The most important part of this escape is, of course, how to get out of the imperial palace.’

However, she was so deeply focused that she didn’t even feel the tickling. Her gaze, containing deep pink eyes, lowered.

‘Can I find a way within two weeks?’

Right after setting her destination, Iella subtly inquired about the Grand Duke from Vanessa. Fortunately, contrary to Iella’s concern that she might arouse suspicion, she easily obtained an answer.

It seemed that not being able to prevent the meeting between the Grand Duke and her had weighed on Vanessa’s mind. Thanks to that, she obtained more information than expected.

The most helpful information was that the Grand Duke visited the secondary palace approximately every two weeks. And he didn’t force meetings against Ailexia’s will.

‘Is the Grand Duke’s position actually leisurely?’

When Iella first heard about the two-week interval, she thought Vanessa was lying.

A two-week interval would surely be frequent for the Grand Duke, but his indifferent attitude towards seeing or not seeing Ailexia was incomprehensible.

It wasn’t just a waste of time, but she couldn’t understand why he continued such seemingly purposeless visits.

However, Vanessa’s face showed no sign of lying, and Iella believed that Vanessa had met the Grand Duke more often than she had.

Above all, if it was true, it was excellent news for Iella. She wouldn’t have to prepare for escape while nervously anticipating the Grand Duke’s unexpected visits.

Iella only needed to make sure her escape didn’t coincide with the Grand Duke’s visits to the secondary palace.

However, she couldn’t completely relax.

She was only vaguely remembering and fabricating Ailexia’s appearance from the novel. So, there was always a chance of arousing suspicion unknowingly.

Especially if the Grand Duke, the owner of the cage, was likely to notice faster than others. That’s why she decided to perfect her escape plan before the Grand Duke’s next visit.

So she could escape right after his next visit.

‘Ailexia wouldn’t have been completely cut off from the outside world. The men in her harem had diverse statuses.’

Recalling the novel, Iella thought about how to leave the imperial palace.

The novel didn’t kindly describe all the men in the harem.

It mentioned a few, including the main male character, and stated that Ailexia included them in her harem regardless of their status if they suited her taste.

So, where did Ailexia meet such men?

Although the exact route was unknown, she was confident that the meetings didn’t occur only within the secondary palace. It was unlikely she met commoners or slaves inside the imperial palace.

‘There must be a way out.’

The walls of the secondary palace she inspected were high and solid, with no common holes. But there must be at least one way for a person to escape somewhere. There might be a hole she hadn’t discovered yet.

Determined to inspect the outside again, Iella stood up abruptly.

At that moment, thunk—

A dull yet hollow sound came from under the desk, as if something had opened due to her enthusiastic movement.