After walking with her head down for a long time, Alicia suddenly realized she had lost her way.

While she had left the imperial palace and headed somewhere a few times before, she had always walked only on familiar paths… that is, only towards the Diaz duchy.

Today’s destination was the Marquis Anderson’s residence, but since there was a separate district where the noble mansions were gathered, she should have been familiar with the path at least up to the entrance of that area…

‘Where on earth am I?’

The problem was that she had been walking absentmindedly, staring only at the ground.

It seemed she had unconsciously chosen paths with no people, lacking the courage to face the citizens’ gazes.

‘I need to get back to the main road…’

If she could just find the main road, she could reorient herself using the huge fountain in the central square as a landmark.

The problem was Alicia’s current location.

How on earth had her feet brought her to stop in such a gloomy, narrow alley?

It was a narrow, dirty street she had never seen before in her life.

‘What should I do?’

She briefly thought about walking in one direction like exiting a maze, hoping to somehow reach a main road, but remembering that was the worst thing to do when lost, she couldn’t easily take a step.

“I still need to move somehow… what should I do?”

The time allowed to Alicia was not very long.

Should I ask someone? Just as she was thinking that and looking around, it happened.

“Well, look at this pretty thing we haven’t seen before?”

A voice that exuded typical delinquency.

With a strong premonition that she had gotten involved in something troublesome, Alicia sighed and pulled the hood covering her head lower to hide her face deeper.

“Hey, they say true beauty shines even through rags, and it seems to be true? Come on, don’t be so expensive and show us your face?”

“Kekeke, Hans, since when do you ‘ask’ women? Just go and rip it off.”

“What are you saying, you cheap bastard? This is why you’re not popular. You know?”

“What did you say, you son of a bitch?”

There were a total of three men surrounding Alicia.

They looked like typical back alley thugs to anyone.

“What business do you have with me?”

“Hiya, nice voice!”

“Looks like a young lady from a noble house, eh?”

“Stop fucking around and just take that thing off so we can see her face!”

Backing away from the men who were approaching with snickers, Alicia bit her lip as she felt the hard wall behind her.

The men who had been pressing towards Alicia as if hunting prey licked their lips at the sight of her.

“I don’t think I’ve seen her around here before, is she a new girl at that store over there?”

“If she was new, she’d be sleeping at this hour, not wandering around here.”

“No, maybe she’s a clueless newbie who snuck out?”

Their conversation, exchanged while making eye contact with each other, was vulgar.

“Stop. If you come any closer, I won’t forgive you!”

“Ooh, I’m so scared, kekeke”

“When you say it like that, you make us sound like bad people.”

“Emotional damages cost twice as much in settlements, are you okay with that? If you don’t have money, there are other ways.”

One of the men let out an unpleasant laugh and reached out his hand towards Alicia.

Alicia sharply knocked away that hand and gritted her teeth.

Looking around, there wasn’t a single person trying to help.

Far from helping, most people were turning away from Alicia as if they didn’t want to get involved.

“L-let go of this!”

“Don’t struggle. You might snap your wrist, you know?”

“We don’t need wrists for having fun anyway, right?”

“By that logic, we don’t need ankles either, how about we just break them lightly here?”

“That would lower her value, so we can’t.”

The man who had tightly grabbed Alicia’s wrist pulled up one corner of his mouth in a lewd smile.

Looking into the man’s eyes as he smacked his lips as if savoring something made her whole body shudder with instinctive revulsion.

She tried twisting her captured hand to escape, but the difference in strength was too great.

“Now then, shall we take a look at our pretty one’s face?”

Just as the man who had been going on about her face since first seeing Alicia was slowly reaching out his hand with ill-concealed anticipation, it happened.

“Why do these pieces of trash keep appearing no matter how many times we clean them up?”

A calm voice that didn’t suit the current situation stopped the men harassing Alicia.

Perhaps annoyed at having the crucial moment interrupted?

The man who had been fixated on Alicia’s face turned with a scowl and shouted harshly.

“You bastard, who are you!”

“I’m really curious, where do you guys learn to talk like that?”

“What are you babbling about?”

“Or is it possible for you to be this identical without learning it?”

“You bastard, if you don’t shut that mouth right now…!”

Just as the enraged man lunged towards him who was ignoring his words, it happened.

“First, let’s make you shut up.”

With a ‘thwack’ sound, the man who had charged fell to the ground.

Perhaps surprised by the sudden turn of events? The grip of the man holding Alicia’s wrist loosened.

Not missing that opportunity, Alicia twisted her arm free and crouched down, curling up her body.

It happened in an instant – curses and screams were exchanged, and the three men who had been threatening Alicia moments ago were now rolling on the ground.

“These trash always have so much to say.”

The man who had dusted off his hands as if he’d touched something dirty approached Alicia, who was curled up against the wall.

“Are you alright?”

It was a gentle and polite voice she hadn’t heard while he was dealing with the three thugs.

Thinking the voice sounded familiar, Alicia got up intending to thank the kind man who had helped her.

“I don’t know how you ended up in a place like this, but it’s dangerous for a woman to wander alone in these alleys.”

She certainly intended to do so before seeing the face of the man offering to escort her to a safe road.

“…Reilly Anderson?”

“Huh? How do you know my name… Your Highness?”

Reilly, who had confirmed a face he never expected to meet in such a back alley, couldn’t hide his surprise as he widened his eyes and opened his mouth.

No, rather than saying he was surprised, it would be more fitting to say he was shocked.

Alicia, who had unexpectedly encountered the person she was looking for in an unexpected place, also had a face that couldn’t hide her surprise.

“Why is the young Marquis here?”

“…Shouldn’t I be the one asking that question?”

“I came to meet you.”

“Ah, you came out to meet me… What?”

“I was heading to the Marquis’s residence and got lost, but I didn’t expect to meet like this.”

“No, no, no! Wait a moment! What? Me? Why?”

“I have something to ask you?”

“Crazy! Ah, no, I don’t mean Your Highness is crazy! I mean…!”

So this man can be flustered too?

Seeing him stammer and flounder even more than herself, Alicia quickly regained her composure.

Watching Reilly’s flushed face as he muttered incoherently, not seeming to know what he was saying, Alicia burst out laughing without realizing it.

Perhaps hearing her laughter, Reilly, who had been mumbling disconnected words, stopped talking.

He stared blankly at Alicia’s laughing face as if his soul had been taken away, then soon messed up his hair roughly and let out a long sigh.

“Really… Haah, we need to move locations first.”

With his face still flushed, Reilly held out one hand to Alicia and continued speaking.

“This is not a fitting place for Your Highness. I’ll hear the details after we move to a safe location.”

Does he mean the Marquis’s residence by a safe place? Or does he mean the imperial palace?

Alicia contemplated the hand Reilly had extended for a moment, then looked over his appearance which differed from usual before asking.

“Why is the young Marquis here?”

“I had somewhere I needed to stop by briefly. That’s not important, so for now…”

“That works out well. Guide me there too.”

“…Pardon?”

“I have something to ask you, and I think your destination might not be unrelated to that question.”

The reason the heir to a Marquis was wearing such worn clothes was obvious.

It meant he had business that required concealing his identity.

Considering the superficial reason he had been frequenting the imperial palace lately and the title of the report found in the Emperor’s office, the place he needed to visit incognito was obvious.

“You were going to the information guild, right?”

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You… seem to need to relearn how to hide your expressions.”

The Reilly in Alicia’s memory was a man skilled at concealing his expressions, like Killian.

But how about his current appearance?

His still-flushed face and wavering purple eyes.

His demeanor, clearly showing his surprise at Alicia stating the correct answer, was not the Reilly Anderson she knew.

‘Is it because he’s still young?’

Counting back the years she had returned, Alicia understood that he was still a political novice not yet accustomed to hiding his expressions, and spoke while tucking a few strands of blonde hair that had escaped her hood back in.

“You don’t intend to keep me standing here, do you? Hurry up and guide me.”

It was an excessively brazen demand, but it was quite befitting of a princess.

Speechless at Alicia’s confident demeanor, Reilly sighed while alternately looking at the sky and ground for a moment.

Sensing the increased gazes on the three thugs lying on the ground and the two of them, he nodded as if he had no choice and held out his hand again.

“I feel like I’m under some spell, but… I’ll guide you for now.”

“An excellent choice.”

Only then did Alicia lightly place her hand on top of Reilly’s outstretched one, nodding with a satisfied smile.

At that sight, Reilly sighed once again, but it wasn’t particularly important to her.