After calming down, I saw a great wall come into sight. I wasn’t sure about how exactly I’d make it through but Gary and Derek assured me that they were prepared. I waited with baited breath for us to pass through, until I finally breathed a sigh of relief when we successfully passed. It turned out that Gary and Derek had reported my being a passenger, passing me off as being their apprentice. To avoid me being seen, they told the guard that I was sleeping, and it wasn’t appropriate to peek at a woman while she slept.

The poor guard simply let out a deep breath before telling us to just go on through. Obviously he was tired of his job, dealing with irritable travellers all day. I wasn’t exactly sure why he bought that story, it seemed pretty obvious that they were hiding something but I didn’t question it. He probably just couldn’t care less, not exactly the best quality for a guardsman.

As I peeked out the carriage, I let out a small gasp. It was beautiful. While we were still in the common district, the roads and pathways were sparkling clean. The houses were all properly built, with no wooden add-ons attached for extra room. Rather than being crammed together, all of the houses had about a metre of space in between, this was one of the greatest differences between the Lambourg and the Imperial Lands. Lambourg could definitely learn from their example.

Just what has the duke been doing with his money instead of supporting his people?

Oh. So that’s where the books came from.

I let out a sigh, realizing just how bad of a ruler the duke was. He had been spending the duchy’s budget, on frivolous purchases and services, while he, and I for some time, had been living in the lap of luxury, the same people that we were meant to help were suffering. I had lived as a commoner for a while, but as I hardly left the house, I didn’t know the full extent of the issue. I had simply thought that we were poor.

I should’ve at least tried to do something while I was the duke's daughter.

Even though I wasn’t his biological daughter, I still felt responsible as I had taken on the role. I hadn’t exactly chosen to be his daughter, but I had ended up playing the part. If I had been truly opposed to it, I could’ve flat out refused, maybe thrown a tantrum. While it wouldn’t have ended well, it had still technically been an option.

Seeing the Imperial Lands and its prosperity really resonated with me, I realized that this was a great place to start afresh. The rulers, who were royals, must be extremely proud and kind to have kept this land so great. When I first arrived in this world, I was wallowing in self pity, barely taking notice of my surroundings. I was foolish. It took me an entire two years to realize this, and I put my fears aside. I had more important things to do, and I wouldn’t waste my time thinking about what had happened in the past. Back then, it was partly my own fault for not standing up for myself, I should’ve told somebody, I should’ve done something.

Now, I felt as though I could finally wipe my slate clean, and start my life once again with nothing weighing me down. I’ll live as Aretta once again, a normal girl, living a normal life. I’ll leave the past behind me.

When I felt the carriage begin to slow due to foot traffic, I began to take in my surroundings, watching and listening to passing town folk. I needed to know how they all passed their time, how they all lived, if I wanted to fit in and survive in this new world. Although I had lived as a commoner throughout the majority of my life here, I hadn't properly experienced this life. So I leaned forward, as if it would help me catch hints of conversations, and maybe develop a slightly better understanding of this place.

“Did you hear, there’s a new cafe in town, apparently it’s really nice.”

“But wouldn’t it be expensive.”

“You know how the king’s brother’s entire family was murdered? Well apparently the daughter might be alive.”

“Isn’t there some big reward if you find her?”

“I can’t believe that the inn is full, all these merchants have come for some big noble event.”

“I heard that the king’s niece is missing her baptism.”

“Can you repeat that I didn’t hear you.”

“Have you heard of the new dessert, pound cake? It’s really nice.”

“Yes, the royal chef invented it.”

“The new cafe in the noble district is serving that popular tea!”

“We should definitely go!”

“Ehh, I know what you’re saying, but wouldn’t it be expensive.”

“Who knows, maybe we can find that royal and get her reward money.”

“Have you seen all of the guards around? It’s kind of scary.”

“They're looking for that girl and the prince is passing through.”

“When a royal passes through, it’s a big deal.”

“But really, this big?”

As soon as I began listening, I was assaulted by the barrage of information. From tea shops to new snacks, to news about some missing girl, I now had a plethora of knowledge. I wasn’t sure if any of it was actually helpful, but I was glad to have learnt it.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

We had finally reached our destination, and it was time for us to part ways. It was a simple goodbye, but a heartfelt one nonetheless. I gave the men a hug as I left.

“Thank you so much for allowing me to tag along, I’m sorry for almost getting you into trouble on more than one occasion.” I bowed my head as I spoke, while this wasn’t a custom in the country which I was from, here, it was considered a gesture of true, genuine appreciation, often used in heartfelt goodbyes such as this one.

“Don’t worry about it young one, we old men enjoyed the company.” Gale replied.

“Are you sure that you’re alright on your own? We’d be happy to let you stick with us for a while longer.” Derek added.

I politely refused their offer, worried that things might not go too well. While we were out of the duchy, and I doubted that anything could happen, I still felt that if anybody recognized me, that these kind strangers would get in trouble on my behalf. I faked a smile, telling them that I’d be okay, that we’d meet again, and that next time, it would be properly. A meeting without me having to sneak into their carriage. I had troubled them enough, although they had denied it, I didn’t want to trouble them anymore. It would be a hindrance to make them take a child such as myself along.

“Goodbye” I told them, and with that I began to walk briskly in the direction they had pointed me in. I was going to a bookstore. As I quickly slowed down, I realized that I couldn’t keep that up for long. I had barely walked half a street down, before I bent over, my hands on my knees, gasping for breath. I hardly ever needed to walk long distances, I was unfit but I still ate decently, oddly enough, regardless of this, I was still small and thin. Anybody could mistake me for a far younger child. Maybe a five or six year old.

On another topic, I had deduced that I had magic, which meant that my mother was probably a noble. This would mean that I still needed to get baptised, so that I could use my magic. The only issue with this was, that orphanages don’t exactly cater to nobles often, and usually, if there even was a noble, it was doubtful that anybody would even know. Had I not read the novel, I would’ve never even heard about magic, let alone known that I had my own.

As I stood there, huffing I noticed people staring at me, some not even trying to conceal their gazes. I was currently standing in the district for commoners, heading towards the noble district at a–not so quick– pace.

It’s probably my dress. Most people here are wearing working clothes, while I am wearing a frilly blue dress. Of course they’d be staring at me.

I had barely even thought about this when I was preparing for my departure, I mean, when I noticed that I had no normal clothes I just accepted it and moved on. It was a fact, I couldn’t change it so I just went with it. Perhaps I should’ve tried to get my hands on some other clothes, some less conspicuous clothes. Taking into account the fact that my clothes were extremely good quality, I mean I was the duke’s daughter, I was given quite a few raised eyebrows.

Once I had caught my breath, I began to walk forwards again, this time at a far, far slower pace. As I continued walking, I overheard some more interesting conversations, this time they were almost all focused on a prince.

“You hear? The prince is coming through.”

“Which one? The nice or the rude one?”

“Nice of course, nobody would bother talking if the rude one was coming through.”

“Hell, they’d probably be lining up on the streets, ready to throw some rotten produce at the guy.”

“John, you’re the one who thinks like that and you know it. He’s not that rude?”

I mostly disregarded these conversations, as they were probably just gossip but I still stored the information away in the back of my mind for future reference.

Throughout my walk I had taken five breaks, on my fourth break, a kind looking man came over to check on me. After telling him that I was okay, and asking for directions to the bookstore, I was on my way once again. I continued receiving odd looks until I finally crossed into the noble’s section. There was a guarded wall separating the nobles and the commoners, I was instantly allowed through, even without my family’s emblem. The guard told me “your attire is obviously that of a noble, you may pass”, and didn’t argue, if they let me through then that was that.

After I finally found the bookstore, an employee rushed to help me. It seemed that nobles were often grouchy, and would snap at the employees if they were too slow. I saw an example of this myself. A man in expensive clothing walked into the shop soon after me. After about five seconds of waiting he yelled for the lady serving me to ‘hurry up’ and that she was slow because she was a ‘goddamn woman’. It was like a scene right out of a novel, I mean I guess that is justified, considering. I quickly told her that I’d be fine on my own, and asked her to help him, not wanting a scene in this otherwise quiet bookstore.

I browsed their wares for a moment, fully aware that I didn’t have any money. Then, I walked to the counter and patiently waited for the lady to finish with the other customer. I found myself watching them curiously, stifling my laughter every now and then when the man would speak. It was just too funny! At one point, when the man spotted me, he barked “What are you looking at pipsqueak!?” I almost burst out laughing from that one. When I lifted my head and looked him in the eyes, his brown eyes widened for some reason. He then quickly rushed to apologise, I wasn’t exactly sure why but he suddenly became nice, far too nice. He reminded me of the priest at the orphanage licking the noble’s boots. But I just couldn’t seem to fathom why!

Once he finally left, the helpful employee came over to me and I explained what I wanted to do.

“Hi, would you be willing to buy these books from me? They’re all in near perfect condition.” I said, handing her the five books I had gotten out of my backpack only moments prior. I had left one inside the carriage as a small ‘thank you’ gift. She inspected the books before replying, “Of course, would one large gold and three small golds be suitable? The books on magic are worth three gold each while the others are worth two small golds each.”

I agreed, hoping that I wasn’t making a mistake. When I inspected my payment, I found everything to be in order. I walked out the shop, my money tucked into a small chasm at the bottom of my bag. I began walking back towards the commoner district, because there were no orphanages in the noble’s district.

Once I had arrived at the gates once again, the guard greeted me before asking a question.

“Are you certain that you wish to go into the commoner district?”

“Yes”, I replied “I have business there”.

He looked at me strangely, tilting his head down to see me. Probably wondering why a small child had ‘business’ somewhere. After a few moments of hesitation he slowly told me. “If you insist, but be careful, there are some dangerous folk around there.” I simply nodded my head and continued on my way, taking his advice with a pinch of salt.

The streets were filled with people, bumping into me as they went, it was as though I were a fish, swimming up a stream. While everything in this area was clean, there were no decorations, it was definitely a place for business. There was a road, but no carriages on it at the moment, I doubt that any commoner could afford a carriage anyway.

After I had walked a bit of the way towards the orphanage, I heard horses approaching. I glanced up at the road, only to see an unusual carriage. I was surprised when I noticed that my gaze had met with that of a boy. This boy was sitting within the carriage. He seemed to be around sixteen years old and his eyes widened when we made eye contact. His carriage was decorated, the theme being gold and purple. Oddly enough, when our gazes met, the boy had a similar reaction to the man in the shop.

Strange.