The exhibition hall was full of energy.

Inside a structure made of glass and iron, paintings and sculptures, mechanical devices, and curious inventions stood on display side by side.

It was a space where the ornamental beauty of the old era and the straight-lined practicality of the modern age coexisted awkwardly.

Adeline stopped in front of a few paintings and passed by tapestries and crafted pieces.

At one window, a small crystal ornament catching the sunlight and sparkling caught her eye. It was palm-sized, something that could hang from a window.

“This is pretty.”

When Adeline murmured softly, Tanya stepped forward right away.

“This one? I’ll go pay for it.”

With Tanya’s quick thinking, the ornament was soon in Adeline’s hands.

The next place they headed was a high-end boutique street, a little less crowded than a department store.

They passed along a cobblestone road where carriages and trams moved slowly, and turned onto a street lined with neat storefronts. They entered one that caught her eye, and at the direction of a staff member, took their seats. Tea and desserts were soon set before them, and Tanya opened a catalogue with delight.

“This design, I think it would suit you beautifully, Madam.”

Tanya spoke with a deliberate brightness that was livelier than usual, and Adeline nodded and turned the pages.

But she had no idea what she was actually looking at. It was a meaningless flipping through. Only her hands moved while her thoughts stayed somewhere else.

After sitting by the window and soaking in the sun for a while, Adeline chose one pretty dress and one elegant pair of shoes.

She was guided into a fitting room and had just lifted the hem of the dress when a sudden wave of nausea hit her. The distinctive smell of new clothing had unsettled her stomach.

“Mmph!”

She pressed a handkerchief to her mouth and headed for the powder room. When Tanya tried to follow, Adeline shook her head and gestured her back.

“I’m fine. Just a moment.”

Having eaten nothing, she brought up only a little of the tea she had been served at the boutique.

She washed her face and splashed cold water over it, then slowly raised her head.

The face looking back at her in the mirror was, truly, a sorry sight.

Colorless skin, hollow eyes, lips gone completely dry.

Adeline stood there for a moment.

Then, very slowly, she raised her hand and smoothed back the loose strands of hair. She tucked the stray pieces behind her ears, straightened her head, and reached for her cosmetics.

She began layering color onto her lips. And as that color grew more vivid and red, Adeline’s expression shifted little by little to match it.

“……”

Until now, Adeline had endured everything.

She had endured too much, and lived only following the directions others laid out for her.

It had been that way with her mother, and it had been that way with Kailen.

But now……

At least now, just this once, she wanted to do things her own way.

When she finished her makeup, Adeline looked quietly at her face, a little brighter than when she had walked in. Then she gathered her things and opened the bathroom door.

She didn’t go straight outside but stopped for a moment.

Turning right led back to the fitting room and the shop floor, and turning left led to a narrow exit at the back of the building.

She didn’t hesitate for a single moment more.

Adeline turned left.

Truly, on impulse.

But it was the first step she had ever taken of her own will.

She hurried out of the building and hailed a public carriage.

The moment the carriage door closed, she drew in a short breath. Her destination was already decided before she even said it aloud.

“To the train station, please.”

The driver nodded, and the carriage began rattling along the cobblestone road.

She looked out the window. Familiar streets rushed past behind her. They were buildings and storefronts she had always seen, but today, strangely, they all felt unfamiliar, like scenery she was seeing for the first time. The moment she became aware of that, her heart began to pound wildly.

She stepped out of the carriage and arrived at the train station, which was busier than she had expected.

The smell of steam and metal mingled and filled the air, and on the platform, people carrying luggage and voices exchanging farewells tangled together.

The steam locomotive let out a low cry, like it was catching its breath.

Adeline stood before the ticket window.

“Please give me a ticket for the earliest departing train.”

“And the destination?”

Adeline hesitated for a moment and gave a vague answer.

“Anywhere is fine. Please give me a ticket to wherever I can get to the fastest.”

The attendant glanced at her once and said,

“The earliest departing train only has second-class seats remaining.”

“That’s fine.”

The moment she took the ticket in her hand, the thin feel of the paper was unusually vivid.

Adeline walked slowly along the platform. She found herself a little amused at her own behavior, doing all this without a destination or a reason.

She didn’t even have a single bag.

All she held was a small handbag.

Inside it were a pearl brooch and bracelet she had once worn often, her identification, and a small amount of cash. Only the things that proved who she was right now remained.

‘…… Should I go back even now.’

Tanya’s face came to mind. She was surely worried.

Mrs. Lien’s composed expression and the escort knight’s stiff bearing flashed through her thoughts too.

If Kailen found out, they would surely be in serious trouble.

‘But……’

It was then.

Whooooooooooo.

The sound of the incoming train rang out loudly, cutting through her hesitation.

The sound of iron wheels scraping against the rails, the sound of steam bursting out.

The air on the platform changed in an instant.

Adeline didn’t think any further.

She boarded the train in one swift motion.

The second-class carriage was noisy.

The wooden seats were hard and the windows creaked faintly. A man who looked like a laborer, a couple traveling with a child, an elderly gentleman quietly unfolding a newspaper. The train was a space packed with each person’s own circumstances. There were likely plenty of people on board with stories just as dramatic as Adeline’s, if not more so.

Her clothing did stand out among them, but it didn’t hold anyone’s attention for long. People were only interested in their own destinations.

As the train moved, the scenery outside the window rushed past.

Past the outskirts of the city, past fields and factory districts, lower and lower buildings began to appear. Adeline rested her forehead lightly against the window. The rattling was rougher than she had expected, but even that gave her a sense of reality and she didn’t find it unpleasant.

A little while later, the train stopped at a small port city.

Adeline got off there for no particular reason.

A salty sea breeze brushed her face, and fishing boats and cargo ships sat moored together at the dock. The sound of seagulls circled through the air. The harbor was busy, but it had a looseness to it that the capital did not.

Then, she noticed the gazes of people at the dock all gathering in one direction.

It was a passenger ship that would be passing through Aurelia.

Adeline moved her feet almost by reflex.

“Would it be possible to buy a ticket?”

The attendant at the window shook their head.

“Reservations are already full.”

Adeline stepped back with a look of disappointment.

So she had no choice but to wander slowly along the dock, when someone spoke to her.

“Excuse me.”

She turned her head and saw a woman who looked to be around twenty. The woman began speaking to Adeline in a hesitant tone.

“If you were perhaps…… looking to board the ship. I don’t think I’ll be able to go because of my parents. If you need a ticket…… would you like to buy it?”

Adeline looked at the woman for a moment and asked.

“How much would you like for it?”

“If you could just add a little on top of what I paid for it……”

“No. I’ll give you several times the current price.”

The woman’s eyes went wide with surprise.

A moment later, she held out the ticket and her identification with trembling hands.

Adeline didn’t hesitate. She handed over the money and took them.

And she boarded the ship without looking back.

From the deck of the passenger ship, the harbor slowly grew distant.

* * *

〈Master, something terrible has happened.〉

〈What is it?〉

〈It’s just that, the madam……〉

He had been handling business during the day when a call came in from Mrs. Lien. The fact that Mrs. Lien was calling him in the middle of the day was already unexpected, and she was flustered in a way that was unlike her.

Kailen received the call and left the office immediately. But by the time he arrived at the estate, the sun had already begun to sink.

The moment Kailen stepped out of the carriage, he didn’t stop walking. He passed through the entrance and crossed the corridor. And the moment he opened the sitting room door, the sound of crying stabbed at his ears.