Shortly after Alice finished putting on her armor, there was a knock on the door. She opened it, and two Janissaries—the same ones from earlier—stared at her with sheepish expressions. They nodded at her before gesturing for her to follow. Alice held her arm out, and Burc leapt up, grabbing onto it before making his way onto her shoulder. He stretched his body out while yawning, his front legs reaching past her neck. Then he relaxed, draping himself across her shoulders with his stomach resting on her hair. “They’re taking you to the Padishah now.”

Alice nodded. “Is this normal?” she asked. “This is my second day here, and I’m already visiting the ruler of the empire.”

Burc purred before exhaling. “That’s because you’re a witch.”

“Does this happen to all witches?” Alice asked. She talked in a low voice to prevent other people from hearing her. They wouldn’t have understood what she was saying, which was precisely why she didn’t want them to hear.

“I’m not sure,” Burc said. “You’re the first witch I’ve met.” He slapped his front paw against Alice’s collarbone for no reason and yawned again. “I’ve heard in other places, they burn witches to death. You’re lucky the Padishah isn’t like the rulers of those lands.”

Alice frowned. “And the witches don’t fight back? They just let themselves be burned?” If witches were people with abilities like her, then it’d be pretty difficult for a normal person to capture them. Unless there was a special division of witches that caught other witches? How interesting.

Burc shrugged again. “Didn’t you hear me when I said you’re the first witch I’ve met?” He licked the back of his paws a few times before pausing. His eyes narrowed, and he stared at the side of Alice’s face. “Don’t do anything stupid and get yourself burned at the stake. You’re an interesting person, and you’re not allowed to die without my permission.”

Alice rolled her eyes and ignored Burc, following after the two Janissaries. They led her through the city, passing by people and buildings alike. All along the way, there was a lot of murmuring, but Alice could only understand the murmurs that came from the cats. Most of them were talking about Burc riding a human. She had no idea cats were so gossipy. Then again, they did seem to have a lot of free time. It’s not like cats had jobs. After walking for close to half an hour, the Janissaries brought Alice to a palace. At least, that’s what Burc called it, but to Alice, it looked more like a fortress fit for fending off invaders than the palace of a monarch. The gate was impractically large, making Alice feel smaller than she usually did. “Do giants exist around these parts?”

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Burc raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t everyone a giant to you?”

“Burc.”

Burc purred. “Hmm?”

“I’m taller than you, you know?”

“And I’m smarter than you. What about it?”

Alice’s expression darkened. She’d like to refute Burc, but he’d point out how she couldn’t understand the language. Perhaps he’d even point out how she couldn’t read due to the language barrier too. Her neck felt unusually hot, and she had the urge to scratch at her chest. Normally, she only felt this way when Vur said something unreasonable and Tafel agreed with him while completely ignoring what Alice had to say. She sighed to get rid of the stuffy feeling, and she followed after the two Janissaries. Passing through the gate, there was a courtyard with lots of trees. In the distance, she saw another wall with an equally large gate. Perhaps there were multiple walls for defense. Whoever designed this palace must’ve been expecting a lot of combat. Alice looked around, but there wasn’t anything of interest.

The Janissaries led her through the second gate, and upon entering the next courtyard, she saw a third wall with an equally massive gate in the distance. Her left eye twitched, but thankfully, the Janissaries turned left, heading towards a normal-sized door connecting to what looked like a regular, albeit large, building which she assumed to be the palace. The interior of the palace was bright and colorful. The walls and floor and ceiling had different patterns on them, created from the colored tiles and bricks that constituted them. There were lots of large windows that let in a lot of light, and even those were colorful thanks to the stained glass inside of them. There weren’t any pictures in the glass like she was used to; rather, different pieces of colored glass were placed in simple yet elegant patterns.

After walking through a few rooms, they arrived at a third courtyard where a group of Janissaries were waiting. Alice recognized one of them. He was the man that sat across from her and stared at her as if she were an animal inside a zoo. However, he wasn’t wearing what he had wore that morning. His outfit had changed into something fancier. Was he promoted while collecting his salary? Alice frowned, and the two Janissaries who were leading her stopped and gestured for her to continue while saying something in low voices.

“That’s the Padishah,” Burc said. “When you greet him, you should address him as—never mind, you can’t speak anyway. What am I explaining for?”

Alice held back her sigh and approached the Padishah. Apparently, he had nothing better to do than to pretend to be an ordinary Janissary to spy on her. He even went so far as to change clothes, and she didn’t think any of the Janissaries greeted him differently back in the cafeteria. Was a ruler supposed to be that underhanded? He was awfully young for a ruler too. Then again, Vur and Tafel were even younger than him and owned, err, ruled a lot more lands than the Padishah.

“He said it’s nice to officially meet you,” Burc said. “My name is Suleiman the First.”

“Alice Lowenherz.” Alice extended her hand. Suleiman looked at her hand. He ignored the words of the Janissaries around him and reached into his pocket. He grasped something and stretched his hand towards Alice’s. Then he put a piece of candy into her palm. Alice stared at the piece of candy with a dumbfounded expression, and a few snickers escaped from Burc’s mouth and nose.