According to my intuition, dress shopping wasn't the only thing we had gone out for.

"Where to next?" I asked Sir Gradral once we were safely seated inside the carriage again.

"Miss Martha listed out a few other things we needed to get finalized for the ceremony. She even wrote me a list," he said, brandishing a piece of paper from his pocket and opening it up. "According to this," he said as he skimmed over the rather short list, "we still need to get you a pair of shoes fit for ball-dancing and some pieces of jewelry, if you like. Maybe a new necklace or some earrings or-"

"Nah," I said, fanning my face with my hands as I looked outside the little window. This dress was killing me. "Let's just go back. I'll ask Martha to get me a pair before the ceremony, so you need not worry. And I've got enough jewelry back at the palace." Most of it I never wore anyway, so it was safe to say that the jewels were pretty much brand new. Martha had tried to cajole me into wearing at least a pair of studs on a daily basis, but this kind of stuff wasn't for me. It made me feel like my ear lobes were stretching out like those monks who enlarge their ear lobes on purpose. I never understood why they did it, though.

Sir Gradral sighed and slumped down on the leather seat. The carriage ride continued in silence. All was going well when suddenly we heard a loud crash and the carriage started wobbling, tilting suddenly to its side. Along with the creaking of the carriage, several distant cries of the horses were to be heard. The whole while, Sir Gradral and I looked at each other in other confusion as we held onto our seats, wondering what had happened now. A bit later, everything stopped altogether.

"What was that?" I whispered hoarsely. "Oh God, don't tell me we have an apocalypse on our hands..."

"Your Highness," Sir Gradral chuckled. "As long as I'm here, you need not worry about such trivial matters. Do keep yourself seated, alright? I'll go and check with the coachman." Even though his words did reassure me, I could still see that his expression was worried.

Thudding his heavy feat along the carriage floor, he went ahead and opened the carriage door with one, swift movement but instead of the door swinging back, it stopped mid-way as if something or rather 'someone' was blocking it. Then a loud 'thud' and a sudden yelp. "Ow! Bloody he- Ah, Sire, it is I...Gomes."

"Gomes," Sir Gradral said as he stood back. "Why did you stop the carriage? I hope everything is alright."

From my seat (and my tilted vision), I saw that Gomes was sweating, his hands clasped around each other. "Oh Sire, where do I start?" Gomes sighed, looking to the left at something by the front of the carriage. "The front wheel hit a large boulder and has apparently broken down. Completely reduced to splinters." Well, I'm sure he was exaggerating.

"A boulder, you say?" Sir Gradral asked, rubbing his stubble in puzzlement. "In the middle of the road? How very unusual. Do you have any idea how long it has been there?" He was getting out of the carriage now, probably to inspect the damage.

Gomes stepped back to let Sir Gradral jump out. "No, Sire, for I do not pass by here very often."

The whole time while Sir Gradral, my personal escort and Gomes, the coachman were discussing their further action, I felt very much excluded from the conversation as I knew from little to nothing about top-tier fancy carriages like these.

Then it hit me. An idea.

"Sir Gradral," I piped up. Both him and the coachmen turned to look at me. It seemed that they had been in the middle of an extremely hot-headed conversation and I had interrupted it. "May I propose a solution to this problem?"

Sir Gradral looked- what?- surprised? Maybe because he didn't expect the itty-bitty princess to deal with this boss-level situation befitting none but a man's help. WELL, THE BLOODY NERVE! I was pretty mettlesome myself, good sir.

Anyways, I continued before he could name his choice. "How about the coachman and I stay at the nearest inn for a while, y'know, because I'm not going to tolerate sitting sideways like this for long." Because my head was hurting. "And you could go and get a new wheel in the meantime. Get the carriage fixed for the journey back. How's that sound?"

As expected, Sir Gradral gave no immediate response whatsoever. Maybe he was so amazed by my idea that he was lost for words.

"Your Highness," he said slowly, looking straight into my eyes. "You haven't forgotten who you are, did you? You're the princess. You cannot just walk into some public institution and expect not to get swarmed with crowds of hopeful civilians exactly like the one outside that boutique. You might get hurt!" Aw shucks, he was right.

"Then what about I wear a cloak? Maybe a disguise?"

"Your Highness-"

"Come on. I'll make sure no one notices my hair. And after all, nobody would be expecting to come across a princess in a small, local inn, would they? I'll be fine." Jeez. This guy was hard to persuade.

"There's no way I can allow this," Sir Gradral muttered. "Your Highness, your arrival is the talk of town at the moment. Everybody's buzzing to catch a glimpse of you. You have no idea what kind of people there are out there." I had to disagree with him there.

I'm pretty sure I had a better idea about 'those' types of people than he did. I'm from the modern world, after all. Violent drunkards and wretched rogues used to roam around the alleys all the time near our old apartment building. That area was especially notorious because of the amount of crimes happening near there. I remember how my two eldest sisters often used to mither about 'how unsafe their residence was' or 'how hard it is to avoid the perverted drunk men on the way back from work each day.' My mother, on the other hand, didn't care.

"You ungrateful brats!" she'd yell. "Can't you see how hard I'm working to support all of your lazy, useless butts? What do you want me to do about all this?"

"The hell? It was always me who won the bread for this family, not you," Sister 1 responded. "You haven't worked a single day in your life, have you? You always leeched off of disgusting guys like dad and look where it has left us. To hell with you! The absolute nerve..." This was usually followed by a heated slapping session where most of the time I would get up and leave the apartment with Juwon by my side. Most of my life, I had to deal with all the abuse and drama followed by a lot of lies and bashing, to the point where it toughened up my heart.

This same heart was then placed under Jieum's wing where it learned to grow softer and acquired the need to store love and care for others and receive it back, likewise. A wild journey my life had definitely been.

"Sir Gradral," I said, softly but firmly. "I am aware that you feel the need to protect me because the Emperor has entrusted you with such an important responsibility. But in your need to attend to your duty, do not forget that the princess that stands before you isn't just a craven and weak-hearted bairn. Letting me have my way doesn't mean you are abdicating this huge responsibility that you have at hand. I am not stupid enough to have proposed an idea that will be of inconvenience to everybody. This is the only fastest way to get back to the palace, whether you want to believe me or not. Think about it yourself."

Stunned, Sir Gradral took in a minute or two to absorb my words. "U-Understood, Your Highness," he said eventually. "Though I wouldn't feel comfortable with letting Gomes stay with you for he is inexperienced in the skill of protecting you."

"Hey, you!" Gomes broke in but was quickly shushed by Sir Gradral.

"I would only allow you out in public only if I'm there by your side, understood? Gomes can deal with the broken wheel. He knows more about wheels than I do, anyway."

"That's right," Gomes said. "I'll lend you my cape, Your Highness. I bring one with me at all times for when the sun is ablaze." I thanked him and slumped back in my seat watching Gomes as he walked away, followed closely by Sir Gradral.

My real purpose of wanting to go out in public wasn't because I was tired of sitting that way or I was hot in my dress. Well, it was because I wanted to see how the Empire's community functioned. I wanted to know what the people really ruminate about their 'beloved' Princess? Was it really like how Reynard said, that these people were set on having me sacrificed after I reach adulthood? Or were there any locals who disbelieved in the prophecy? Could I perhaps find some allies among the Wisterians besides Reynard who could be willing to help me survive?

Well, we'll have to see about that, won't we?