Lia had already requested overnight leave, and I took medicine to temporarily suppress my coughing. It was medicine the doctor had warned me not to overuse, so I only had one chance.
I had to successfully reach the Dark Shop and accomplish my goal tonight.

Late at night, past midnight, Lia left first. She and I were dressed in identical outfits.
After Lia left, I placed a long pillow under the blanket on my bed to make it look like someone was lying there.

No one ever came into my room this late at night to disturb my sleep. Why would tonight be any different?
Surely, no one would enter my room. As long as I returned before morning, everything would be fine.

A little while after Lia left, I quietly exited my room.
In my hands was a basket filled with clothes. It was my way of trying to look more like a maid.

I hugged the basket tightly and silently closed my door. No one would open this door until morning.

The hallways of the Duke’s residence were empty at this hour, shrouded in deep darkness.
This time of night was a double-edged sword for sneaking out.
On the one hand, everyone was asleep, so I wouldn’t run into anyone. On the other hand, if I were unlucky enough to encounter even one person, they would clearly remember me. Worse, they might recognize my face.

All I could do was hope for good luck.
Please, let me avoid running into anyone.

The clothes I was wearing had a hood, so I pulled it up slightly to hide my face.

The door used by maids for overnight leave was, of course, separate from the main door I usually used. Normally, I would use the central entrance in the Duke’s residence, but this time, I had to leave through the back door.

I had already memorized the path to the back door during the day. By now, I had lived in this mansion long enough that finding my way wasn’t an issue.

I walked slowly and quietly down the dark hallway.

Midway to the back door, I had to pass by Kyron’s office. I assumed he would be asleep, so I wasn’t too worried. Who would work this late into the night?

Still feeling a bit uneasy, I made an extra effort to silence my footsteps as I passed by his office. Thankfully, nothing happened.

I had passed all the critical points. All that was left was to drop off this laundry in the maid’s quarters on the way to the back door and then leave the mansion.

Feeling less tense, I quickened my pace slightly. Lia would be waiting for me.

But as I turned the corner toward the hallway leading to the maid’s quarters, I nearly dropped the laundry basket in shock.
There was someone in the hallway.

Damn it.

It wasn’t hard to recognize who it was.
It was Kyron’s aide.

He had already seen me by now. I lowered my head further to hide my face. I was wearing a hood, so surely he wouldn’t recognize me.

There was no choice. I had to act like a maid and walk past him naturally into the maid’s quarters. There was no turning back now.

I kept my head down and walked in the direction I was heading.
Please, don’t pay attention to me.

I clutched the laundry basket as if it were my guardian angel and kept walking.

But… the aide’s footsteps grew slower as he approached.
Could it be that he had already seen Lia earlier? Or had he recognized my face?

Somehow, it felt like the aide was observing me closely. What should I do?
I needed to think of a way to avoid being caught.

At that moment, I noticed the laundry basket in my hands.

Surely, he wouldn’t recognize me, right?

My hands holding the basket began to tremble.
At this rate, I wouldn’t even make it to the back door of the Duke’s residence, let alone the Dark Shop.

The aide was now close enough to clearly recognize me if he wanted to.

This was the moment where I truly needed a disguise, damn it.
I lowered my head further and hurriedly rummaged through the laundry basket. I was looking for something.

But even as I searched, the aide’s footsteps remained slow. He was definitely keeping an eye on me while walking.

Finally, I pulled out a thin chemise I had worn. I pretended to inspect it, as if there was a problem with the clothing, holding it up and moving it around.

I deliberately made sure the chemise was clearly visible to the aide.
In the dim light, the silhouette of the thin chemise was faintly visible.

It would be incredibly improper for the aide to stare at the Duchess’s undergarments.
If a maid were to report, “That aide was staring at the Duchess’s chemise!” to the Duke, it would be grounds for dismissal.

In fact, dismissal would be the least of his worries.

As expected, the aide’s footsteps no longer slowed.
Instead, he cleared his throat awkwardly and suddenly sped past me.

Phew. I barely made it.

Letting out a small sigh of relief, I quickly headed to the maid’s quarters.

I opened the door, shoved the laundry basket inside, and hurried toward the back door.

Thankfully, the aide had disappeared from the hallway.

The back door was a very small wooden door compared to the grand central entrance.
I opened the door, took a deep breath, and stepped outside into the world.
The thrill of sneaking out was oddly exhilarating.

With a slight sense of excitement, I quickly walked along the Duke’s estate wall and found the exit used by the servants.
At the exit, I saw the silhouette of a small woman. It was Lia.

“Did you run into anyone? You’re not hurt, are you?”
As soon as I got closer, Lia asked in a worried voice.

“I did run into my husband’s aide earlier, but I don’t think he recognized me. And of course, I’m not hurt.”

“Phew… Do you know how nervous I was? You took longer than I expected, and I seriously debated going back to the mansion to check on you.”

“Sorry, sorry. It took a bit longer because of that aide.”

“This is the last time I’m helping you with something like this, okay? I can’t do this twice.”

She already looked completely drained.

“Alright, alright. We’ll get caught if we stay here. Let’s go quickly.”

This was just the beginning. We still had a long way to go.

Lia already knew the way to the Dark Shop district. While she had never used it herself, she said she knew its location.
I followed her lead, and fortunately, it didn’t take long to reach the Dark Shop district.

It seemed that the early hours of the morning were the golden hours for this street. There were more people than I had expected. Compared to the empty roads we had taken to get here, the area was surprisingly lively.

The Dark Shop district was certainly gloomier than any other marketplace I had visited. The streets were filthy, and most of the people wandering around wore deep black hoods. Of course, Lia and I had our hoods on as well.

There were even drunk people shouting profanities and picking fights. Whenever we passed by someone like that, Lia stuck close to me, clearly trying to protect me.

“Hey, blondie! Where are you headed?”

Someone shouted at me as I passed by.

I thought I had hidden my hair well, but I realized too late that some of my blonde hair had slipped out from under the hood. It must have come loose while I was walking. I quickly tucked my hair back inside my clothes.

The shop I intended to visit had already been decided.

In truth, I didn’t have many ways to gather information about the Dark Shop. The only knowledge I had came from the original story.

In the original story, the Crown Prince occasionally used the Dark Shop. He would come here to purchase tools necessary for attacking the priests and claiming the saintess as his own.

There was no reason I couldn’t use the same shop.

What appealed to me most was that the shop was known for its strict confidentiality.
Since it catered to nobles and even the Crown Prince, it was meticulous about keeping secrets.

The shop had no name or signboard, but finding it wasn’t too difficult. It was the shop with a lion emblem engraved above the door handle.

“This is it.”

Luckily, it didn’t take long to locate the shop.

“Wait here while I go buy what I need, Lia.”

“Yes, please be quick.”