To meet with the Emperor, a complex procedure is necessary. Of course, Jurgen Drake, being ‘special’, doesn’t need to go through all those troublesome processes.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t ignore the basic order of notifying the Emperor of his arrival and setting up an audience schedule, so the day to meet the Emperor was set for two days later.

Thanks to this, Vanessa also had some time to spare, so she was engrossed in figuring out how to deliver the letter she had carefully hidden in her pocket to the Evanwood ducal family.

‘Should I sneak out? If I disguise myself as a maid… No, Garcia and Renee would notice right away. It would be the same even if I try to climb over the wall at night…’

The more she thought about it, the more she felt like she was sinking into a swamp, and Vanessa sighed, pulling at her hair. She was at a loss for what to do. Was it really an impossible plan after all?

‘No, it’s too early to give up yet…’

She was about to think hard again.

Knock knock―

Following the knocking sound, Renee’s voice was heard from outside the door.

“Your Highness, do you have a moment?”

“It’s fine. Come in.”

Vanessa quickly hid the letter she was holding in her pocket and answered in a casual voice.

Soon after, the door opened and Renee entered. As always, his attitude was so proper it was almost pedantic, but for some reason, he had a subtly joyful expression.

Renee bowed to Vanessa and said,

“Your Highness, how about taking a brief tour of the Imperial City with us? It must be stuffy staying in the mansion all the time, and it would be a shame to spend all your time indoors when you’ve come to the Imperial City after so long. The Duke has also given permission.”

“Jurgen did…?”

Vanessa opened her eyes wide in surprise. She thought she would be confined here without being able to move an inch. It was unexpected that such a stern person would show this kind of consideration.

In any case, it was an opportunity not to be missed, so Vanessa nodded enthusiastically and responded.

“That sounds good. I was just feeling cooped up staying in the room. It’s been a really long time since I’ve been to the Imperial City. I’m curious to see how much it has changed in the meantime.”

“Then you’ll be in for a surprise. With His Majesty the Emperor’s urban redevelopment project, it has changed unrecognizably in just a year. It was already a splendid city, but it has become even more beautiful.”

“Really? That sounds very exciting.”

Vanessa feigned an excited voice as if she was thrilled to be touring the Imperial City. While her mood had truly improved, it wasn’t because of the tour, but because of the expectation that she could finally carry out her plan.

However, there was the problem of having to shake off Renee and Garcia, who would be accompanying her as guards and surveillance.

Still, it might work out somehow. If she could blend in with the crowd in a busy place like the market… Although Renee, who had received knight training, and Garcia, an experienced fighter, wouldn’t be easy to fool.

“Then I’ll help you prepare for the outing. It’s cold outside, so it would be better to change into warm clothes. Oh, and shoes too.”

“Alright, please do.”

Vanessa began preparing for the outing with Renee’s help.

Her flaxen hair was braided down with a dark green ribbon, and she wore a bliaud of the same color with a thick winter cloak over her shoulders. She changed from indoor slippers to sturdy leather shoes, and finally, she took the pocket where she had put the letter.

This pocket was an aumônière, a small handbag-like item decorated with luxurious gold thread, so it didn’t arouse Renee’s suspicion. It looked just like a regular handbag from any angle, not a suspicious item.

After finishing her preparations and stepping out into the corridor, she found Garcia waiting in a slouching posture.

Vanessa frowned at his hoodlum-like appearance and turned her head away sharply. Garcia then scurried up behind her and chattered.

“That’s too harsh, Your Highness. Not even a greeting.”

“Is there really a need to exchange greetings? You’re watching me all day anyway.”

“Watching? It’s guarding. And it’s not all day. I do sleep, you know.”

Garcia usually switched with other knights for about 6 hours to sleep, eat, or wash, and during those times, it was mainly Wilhelmina, who was close to Garcia, and Andrea who watched over Vanessa in his place.

Wilhelmina was a person whose thoughts were hard to read due to her lack of facial expressions, but she was quiet and thus comfortable to be around, while Andrea had a delicate and shy personality that matched her pretty face, which was comfortable in a different way.

After experiencing them separately, Vanessa could be certain.

That 9 out of 10 parts of the mischievous atmosphere when the three were together was caused by Garcia.

“Why don’t you take some chivalry lessons again? You’re stuck with Renee for more than half a day anyway. While watching me.”

“Well, it’s not watching but guarding… And I don’t need chivalry education. In the North, a knight just needs to be good at fighting.”

Due to the harsh environment, Northerners who value practicality don’t care about appearances. Everything is based on substance and ability, and the rest is nice to have but not necessary.

This background might have played a part in allowing Jurgen, a bastard, to ascend to the position of Duke over the eldest son.

Vanessa understood that Northerners were like that, but still… the more she saw Garcia, the more annoying, no, very annoying he became. To the point where she wanted to give him a good lesson someday.

The first place they visited was the central square. As expected, since it’s located in the center of the city, it was close to the Drake ducal residence.

Although water wasn’t flowing from the fountain because it was winter, it was exciting just to look at the ridiculously ornate fountain statue studded with all kinds of jewels.

Such a huge and splendid statue wasn’t there a year ago when Vanessa last visited the Imperial City.

‘The Emperor is deliberately decorating the city extravagantly.’

The Emperor seemed to have a tendency to want to show off his absolute power. At least, that’s how it appeared to Vanessa.

Perhaps he had lived for so long that he had grown tired of life. That’s why he might be committing the crazy act of decorating every corner of the city with gold and jewels…

Vanessa had met the Emperor in person a total of four times. When she came to the Imperial City to report and greet after marrying Leroy Terevron. Before that, after her father passed away and the funeral was held. Much earlier than that, at her debut ball at 14. And the first meeting was…

‘I think it was around when I was eleven…’

Strangely, her memories of that time were hazy. All she knew for sure was that she had stayed at a villa in the Imperial City for about a year.

Come to think of it, until she was 12, Vanessa wasn’t as unlucky as she is now. Her misfortune began from the age of 12.

‘Why did I start having bad luck from the age of twelve?’

Lost in thought, she was feeding the pigeons in the square when she felt an uncomfortable gaze staring at her. Three snotty kids were watching Vanessa with very envious expressions.

‘…What is it? Is it because of this…?’

Vanessa glanced down at the bag of bird feed. Renee had bought it from a street vendor near the square. When she tentatively shook the bag, the children nodded eagerly.

Do you want this?

Yes, please give it to us.

A wordless conversation took place.

Chuckling, Vanessa got up from her seat and slowly approached the children. The children’s eyes sparkled with anticipation as they watched her.

“Here, take it.”

“Wow!”

“Thank you!”

When she handed over the bag without hesitation, the children jumped up and down with excitement. A few pigeons flew away startled by this, but as the children started scattering the feed, they slowly gathered again.

Vanessa and her companions watched this scene contentedly before leaving the square.

Next, it was Renee’s suggestion to look around the high-end shopping district, but Vanessa made an excuse that she was curious about the commoners’ market street and led the group in that direction.

As Vanessa had expected, the market street they arrived at was bustling. With all kinds of noisy sounds and strangely mixed smells. It wasn’t a place suitable for a high-ranking woman like Vanessa.

However, Vanessa pretended to be extremely interested in all the miscellaneous things in this market and set out to explore.

She tried strange snacks that were just thin pancakes of grain dough with dried meat sandwiched in between, and drank bitter tea said to be made from dandelions.

She bought two red paper flowers from a girl selling them, giving one to Renee and sticking the other in Garcia’s hair, and also bought bracelets made of colorfully twisted threads and necklaces with glass beads.

Perhaps because she was so absorbed in playing this role of enthusiastic sightseer, she momentarily forgot her original purpose. While watching a fishmonger process a fish that didn’t look in good condition, Vanessa pondered how she could shake off the two people who were both guarding and watching her.

But it didn’t seem easy because the two were sticking too close. If only someone, or something, could wedge into this narrow gap and pry it open―

“Ahhh! No!”

That’s when it happened. A desperate scream was heard from somewhere, and then a herd of goats running madly in this direction came into view.

“Kyaaa!”

“Get out of the way! Hurry!”

As the crowd scattered to avoid the herd of goats, the street soon became chaotic. Renee and Garcia quickly tried to protect Vanessa, but at that moment, a passerby intervened and they lost her.

Of course, this was an opportunity for Vanessa. She pretended to run away from the approaching herd of goats and dashed forward with all her might.

Eventually, she really did end up running away from the goat herd, but fortunately, she was able to take refuge in an alley.

After catching her breath for a moment, Vanessa flipped up her cloak’s hood and hurried her steps. She needed to hurry to reach the Evanwood family’s mansion without being discovered by Renee and Garcia.