“…So what exactly are you asking me to do?”

“Please leave this palace with Violet, Evelyn.”

Her voice was extremely firm and powerful. Previously, she had told her to leave the child behind, but apparently she didn’t want to raise a child who didn’t resemble Jenkins. Evelyn felt deeply wronged.

‘Violet is Jenkins’ child, so why…’

Tears flowed from Evelyn’s eyes due to the injustice. The Empress Dowager spoke slowly.

“Soon the Emperor will be away from the palace for a week to hunt with the nobles. It would be best to leave then. As far away as possible.”

“…What if I refuse to go?”

When Evelyn looked at the Empress Dowager, she gazed back at Evelyn with a contemptuous expression and said:

“I’ll have you dragged out by force. Poison or whatever… Since my authority is great within the harem, you and your child won’t be able to avoid disaster.”

The fact that the Empress Dowager could say such things so boldly meant she had no intention of ever seeing her again. In other words, it was tantamount to saying she would kill them if they didn’t leave.

“…I understand. I’ll leave.”

Evelyn bowed her head. Mabel was laughing beside her with a satisfied expression, but when their eyes met, she coughed awkwardly.

“Then…”

Evelyn stood up. She didn’t want to see them anymore. If only her own life were in danger, it wouldn’t matter, but she couldn’t let Violet be put at risk too.

As she left the Dowager’s palace, Evelyn looked up at the sky. Three months had passed, yet Jenkins still hadn’t visited the palace. He didn’t even come to see his own daughter—perhaps he too thought the child wasn’t his.

‘…Where should I go?’

Evelyn worried about the future. Rather than worrying about uncertain love that cooled quickly, she worried about how well she could live with Violet.

‘I hope Jenkins won’t be angry…’

Since this time she wasn’t leaving him of her own accord, she hoped he wouldn’t be angry with her.

* * *

On the day Jenkins left for the hunt, Evelyn didn’t see him off. That evening, a maid sent by the Empress Dowager approached. The maid from the Dowager’s palace gave her commoner’s clothes along with a golden sash.

“This is…”

“If you wear this, you can leave the castle. Oh, but it might be difficult for Her Highness the Princess, so I’ll carry Her Highness the Princess.”

‘Her Highness the Princess?’

Though the Empress Dowager didn’t acknowledge Violet as her granddaughter, the maid from the Dowager’s palace called her “Her Highness the Princess.” How should she interpret this? Somehow, her spine felt chilly.

“…No. I’ll carry her myself. Since I’m wearing a wig, it should be fine.”

She had put a child’s wig on Violet to hide her silver hair. With black hair, Violet didn’t stand out much. Since she was sleeping, her purple eyes weren’t visible either, so no one would suspect anything.

“Then shall we hide Her Highness the Princess in this basket to move her?”

It was a basket woven from rope used for carrying fruit or wine. The basket the maid had prepared was large enough that no one would notice if the princess was inside.

On top, she covered it with another woven basket. There was space and gaps for breathing.

Following the maid, Evelyn fingered the wooden sword at her waist. As someone serving the Emperor, she couldn’t possess a steel sword. All the soldiers who saw the golden sash at her waist reacted favorably. One soldier, seeing the upturned basket, asked out of curiosity:

“What’s that?”

“At the Empress Dowager’s request, it’s for carrying food from the city. She told us to move inconspicuously.”

“Ah.”

Having passed them and emerged outside the imperial palace, Evelyn was somewhat surprised. She hadn’t expected to leave the harem so easily. There was a carriage prepared by the Empress Dowager, but it felt somewhat suspicious.

“I’ll take the public carriage that commoners use. Let’s part ways here.”

“…I understand. Then I’ll take my leave…”

Relieved that the maid from the Dowager’s palace didn’t insist, Evelyn boarded the public carriage. Since it was a carriage frequently used by commoners, people were packed tightly inside. 

The wooden seats were hard without cushions, and the carriage was filled with various mixed odors. They glanced at Evelyn.

“Where are you going?”

The woman sitting next to her asked, looking at Evelyn holding a child. Evelyn recalled the map of the Peshar Empire. She thought of a village near the border. From there, she might be able to enter Astia.

“…Pampos Village.”

“You’re going to a distant place? This carriage only goes to the outskirts of the capital. You’ll have to transfer there.”

“Is that so?”

Evelyn wore a black wig. And when she put eye drops she had secretly obtained from the palace into her eyes, her purple eyes changed to blue. 

Thanks to this, she didn’t receive suspicion of being Astian. The eye drops with no side effects were very expensive, but the Empress Dowager had obtained them for her.

Perhaps because she said she would use them on Violet too? The eye drops didn’t seem to contain poison.

Violet slept well even inside the severely jolting carriage. After traveling for some time, the woman who had spoken to her earlier said to Evelyn:

“This is the outskirts of the capital. Would you like to rest at our house? It’s nighttime anyway, so it’ll be hard to move… What are you planning to do with a child?”

“Ah… No, I’ll go to an inn…”

“There’s no inn here. I won’t charge you money, so stay for one night.”

“…Thank you.”

The young woman shouted toward the coachman:

“Let us off here!”

The carriage stopped. Evelyn followed the woman off the carriage. The public carriage turned around and went back the way it came. Seeing this, it seemed to circle around the capital.

‘This person was right. If I had stayed on the carriage, I would have arrived back at the imperial palace.’

Actually, the future looked bleak. Though she had grown tired of being Astia’s princess, now that she had set that aside, she couldn’t do anything. It had been the same then too. In the deep mountains, could she have survived without the old man and Josh?

She walked following the woman while looking around the village that had only a few houses. And when the woman wasn’t looking, she lifted the child’s eyelids and put in the eye drops.

Violet’s eyes changed from purple to blue. Seeing this, she felt somewhat relieved. Next to her, women with their hair brutally cut walked tied with ropes.

“Those people are…”

Even in the darkness, she could see silver hair glinting slightly—they were Astian people. The woman shrugged her shoulders.

“They’re Astian slaves. Silver hair fetches quite a price here, so they cut it off and sell it like that. The slaves work without rest. Of course, the money goes to the slaves’ owners.”

Evelyn looked at them with a serious expression. She couldn’t hide her silver hair forever either.

“Is there any way for Astian people not to become slaves?”

“There is. By marrying a Peshar Empire citizen.”

At the woman’s words, Evelyn was momentarily dazed.

‘Marriage?’

She had thought she was married to Jenkins too. He had also called her his wife or spouse. However, he continued to treat her as a slave.

The woman smiled and said:

“Marriage is only possible for slaves who don’t have owners. Otherwise, you have to pay money to buy the slave from their owner. Um, if you marry a Peshar person, Astian people also get identity papers.”

“…Identity papers?”

Evelyn didn’t have such a thing. She had been thoroughly by Jenkins’ side as his slave. That’s why the Empress Dowager wouldn’t have acknowledged Violet as a princess either.

“Yes. With just that, you’re recognized as a Peshar citizen. For that, two years must pass after registering the marriage.”

“…I see.”

“As I thought. Since you don’t know much, I wondered if you came from another country. Where did you come from?”

Then Violet cried. She smacked her lips, seemingly hungry. Fortunately, they were able to reach the woman’s house before she cried more. When the woman knocked on the front door, people who appeared to be her parents opened it.

“Oh my?”

The woman pointed to the middle-aged woman and said to Evelyn:

“These are my parents!”

“Hello…”

Evelyn bowed her head politely. Seeing the child crying loudly, the woman’s mother quickly offered them a small room.

“Stay here.”

“…Thank you.”

The door closed. After Evelyn took off her top, she gave the child her br*ast. Violet had been crying loudly but became quiet after latching on. Traveling with a child seemed like it would be more difficult than expected. Outside the door, she could hear the woman being scolded by her parents.

“Did you bring home someone you met on the carriage again?”

“She even has a child, so I felt sorry for her. Please be understanding… From what I can see, she seems like a foreigner from another country, and where could she go in the middle of the night? There’s no inn here either…”

“Ugh. You always bring home anyone you feel sorry for! Instead of strangers, feel sorry for your brother!”

“Why my brother? He gambles every day, drinks, meets women, and does whatever he wants—what’s there to feel sorry for?”

She heard the sound of the woman being hit with a blunt object. After hearing screams of “ow, ow,” the woman’s mother said:

“He’s still unmarried, isn’t he? Ugh. Please tell your brother to get married. Okay?”

“…Like my brother would listen to me… Unless she’s a slave, what woman would marry my brother? He’s a famous playboy in this area.”

“You little…!”

The woman seemed to have been hit once by the elderly couple and shouted loudly:

“Mom, tell brother directly yourself! I’m going to sleep!”

After the woman went inside, there was a tongue-clicking sound. Then it became quiet outside. Everyone seemed to have gone to bed. Outside the window, it was still pitch dark.

After placing Violet, who had fallen asleep while nursing, on the bed, Evelyn also lay down beside her. She had already received help from Peshar people twice. She closed her eyes. 

Though thinking about the journey ahead with the child already felt overwhelming, she vaguely thought somehow things would work out.

Returning to Astia would be right, but would Hector really accept her? In the end, she had nowhere to go.