Evelyn~
I only planned to stay in the palace for a few days. But as it turned out, finding a map was a lot harder than I thought.
"No, it’s not that hard," my wolf grumbled. "You’re just using it as an excuse to stay longer and enjoy their food!"
"Don’t be ridiculous," I muttered. "I’m just trying to learn the layout of the palace."
But, yeah, the food also tasted good.
I an, once I left this place, it’d be nearly impossible to find anything that even ca close to the palace food, especially for free.
Besides, the people here didn’t bother at all.
They were aware of my existence, sure, but they didn’t pay too much attention to .
Which, honestly, was a relief.
I didn’t have to talk to many people. I got warm als every single day. And the best part? Theron hadn’t co near since that day.
One of the maids told he had locked himself in his chamber, probably trying to control his desire for his mate.
Which, obviously, was .
Even though the palace gave comfort and warm als, I wasn’t naive enough to believe that sothing like this ca without a price.
Maybe they were being nice to now, only to tie to a stake and burn later.
You never know what the future holds, right?
That’s why, no matter how cozy this place felt, I had already decided: I was leaving today.
"Who knows ...," I muttered, pulling a rolled-up map out of the stolen leather bag. "I could also use my face to get what I want here."
"Face?" My wolf burst out laughing. "You an your boobs?"
"Shut up," I snapped. "That was a small price to pay for sothing much bigger."
Earlier, I’d asked one of the palace guards for a map. I said I wanted to learn more about the kingdom.
Just as I expected, he refused, saying he wasn’t allowed to give sothing like that to .
So what did I do? Give up?
Please.
I simply lowered the front of my dress a little—just enough to show so cleavage—and leaned forward.
He didn’t say anything, but the way his eyes locked onto my breast told everything.
Then I asked for the map again, and this ti, he handed it over without hesitation.
"Poor guy," my wolf laughed. "You didn’t even let him touch you, not even for a second."
"That’s the beauty of having precious gems," I said with a shrug. "People can admire them all they want, but they can’t lay a hand on it."
I didn’t compare my body to an object, but to survive in this cruel world, sotis I had to do things that might be considered dirty or degrading, things people said took away a woman’s dignity.
No, I never let n shove their dicks into for a few pieces of Lirae. That would be far too disgusting, even for soone like .
Most of the ti, I just danced in revealing clothes for creepy n or posed nude for painters who paid for what they called "art."
People still looked down on for it. I got used to being labeled as a "slut" or "a woman with no sha." But really, what other choice did I have?
Even if I couldn’t die, my body still needed food. Hunger wouldn’t kill , but it would weaken and torture slowly with aching pain in my stomach.
My wolf clicked her tongue—if she even had one—clearly disappointed. "Seriously, how can you still be poor after living for fifty years? Shouldn’t you have saved so money by now?"
"Saved what?" I replied. "I can’t even stay in one place without soone accusing of being a dark witch. How am I supposed to save money when I’m constantly running?"
"Besides, carrying too many coins would only be a burden."
I never had a permanent place to return to. I was always on the move, never staying long. That’s why I didn’t keep many belongings since it would be a pain to carry them all.
"Here," I said, pointing to the western region of the Kingdom of Valedorn. "This river flows into the neighboring kingdom. We can sneak in through it, swim down the stream, and co out in their capital."
My wolf asked, "Wait—you’re not actually planning to swim across kingdoms, are you?"
"No, silly." I rolled my eyes. "We’ll use a boat."
The real question was, how was I going to get a boat?
Even a small one would do, but I’d probably have to steal it from soone living near the river.
Hopefully, so perverts lived near the river, those were easier to trick.
"Let’s worry about the boat later," my wolf reminded . "You’re still stuck in the palace. Shouldn’t you figure out how to get out first?"
"Oh, don’t worry. I’ve got a plan for that too," I replied confidently.
There were four main gates in this palace—north, south, east, and west.
The southern gate was the most heavily guarded, as it led directly to the front entrance of the palace.
The western gate led to the soldiers’ barracks and training grounds, which made it a terrible choice.
The north gate was used by the palace staff, which ans it was always crowded and full of people moving back and forth.
That left the eastern gate.
Beyond that gate was nothing but a neglected garden, full of dying flowers and dried-up trees.
I had a feeling Theron wasn’t much for aesthetics, and he clearly didn’t see the point in maintaining a garden that served no purpose.
The only obstacle between and freedom was the tall palace wall with sharp iron spikes lining the top.
But honestly, that wasn’t a real problem for .
I could jump over it easily, and even if the spikes scratched , my body would heal in no ti.
So really ... I could just jump and leave this place behind for good.
"Are you sure about this?" my wolf asked, sounding a little unsure. "Like I told you, fate will always pull you back to him, no matter how far you try to run."
I let out a soft laugh. "How would I ever know what will happen if I don’t even try?" I took a deep breath and added, "Just shut up before I drill into my own head to get rid of you."
She let out an annoyed scoff. "You’ll never be able to get rid of , even if your head gets chopped off."
I groaned, choosing to ignore her because there were more important things I needed to do right now.
Once I stuffed all my things—most of which were stolen—into my bag, I headed straight to the eastern side of the palace.
Just like I expected, there weren’t many soldiers or maids around. Most of them didn’t even look at , let alone ask where I was going.
Maybe they acted that way because, for the past few days, I had been wandering around the palace a lot, even going down to the dungeon to see the place I might end up in if I got caught trying to escape.
"How is there a blind spot like this in the palace?" my wolf muttered. "Soone could sneak in so easily through the east side."
She had a point, actually.
I didn’t even see a single person passing by once I reached the east gate.
"Who cares?" I replied. "Let’s just think of it as our lucky break."
My wolf sneered, "Like hell you and luck could ever be put side by side."
I rolled my eyes. "You know, for soone stuck in my head, you sure talk a lot of crap."
Without wasting another second, I pushed the door open and walked through the dried-up garden. I paused for a mont to check the height of the wall, then stepped back, got ready, and jumped.
At first glance, the wall and the iron fence on top didn’t seem strange. But the mont my hands grabbed the tal bars, my nerves instantly told sothing was wrong.
"Oh, fuc—"
BOOM!
The wall was protected by magic, a strong one that exploded the mont soone touched it.
My wolf let out a tired sigh. "Well ... well, like I said, luck is clearly not on your side."
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