Emily left her grandparents’ house early, still with ay stomach.

  She had no appetite, nor time for breakfast. She was wearing the new dress Non had given her and walked quickly, intending to reach her destination as soon as possible.

  The air barely mao calm her nerves. As she crossed the streets of the poor neighborhood where her grandparents lived, she noticed the curious gnces from her neighbors, who were not used to seeing her dressed so elegantly.

  As she moved toward the edge of the neighborhood, she heard someone call her from the side.

  “Hey, Emily!” The voice was sharp and a bit rough.

  Emily turned, slightly fused, and saw a scruffy-looking boy walking toward her. She didn’t reize him. She frowrying to pce him in her memory, but nothing came to mind.

  “Where are you going all dressed up?” the boy asked with a crooked smile.

  “I’m meeting someone…” she replied cautiously.

  The boy narrowed his eyes, sizing her up.

  “Someone? Is it a noble?”

  Emily let out a nervous ugh, trying to deflect the disfort of the situation. But seeing her face, the boy seemed to uand immediately.

  “I see…” he said, as if he had just discovered something important.

  Emily was about to make an excuse and tinue on her way, but the boy grabbed her arm.

  The touch startled her, not just because of the audacity, but because of the dirtiness of his hands. She felt an immediate sense of disgust.

  “Wait…” he said with a sly grin.

  “What…?”

  Emily didn’t uand what he wanted from her, and as the boy stepped closer, she could smell it: he reeked of alcohol.

  “Soon I’m going to make a lot of mooo, and then…” he began to say, but at that moment, a strong voiterrupted him.

  “Hey, Daren!” A taller and sturdier boy, who came from around a er, approached quickly. “Stop b Emily.”

  The drunk, apparently named Dare go of Emily’s arm with a look of displeasure.

  Emily turo see the newer and reized him immediately.

  It was Garth, a young man who often frequehe bakery where she worked.

  He was one of thur ers who always greeted her with a smile and a kind word during her breaks.

  “Garth…” Emily murmured, feeling relieved to see him.

  “What are you doing?” Garth stood in front of Daren, scolding him sternly. “Stop hitting on girls like that, you look pathetic.”

  Daren ughed disdainfully but took a couple of steps back, staggering slightly.

  Garth, with a gesture of irritation, turo Emily and gave her a kinder smile.

  “You look beautiful today, Emily,” he said, giving her dress a quice.

  Daree being drunk, didn’t miss the ent.

  “Don’t say that about my future wife, Garth,” he spat out with a slurred voice, but Garth just ughed.

  “Yeah, yeah… go on, keep walking, Emily. I’ll take care of teag this idiot a lesson,” Garth said, winking at her.

  Emily thanked him with a smile and tinued on her way without looking back.

  Although the enter had made her nervous, she felt more at ease knowing that Garth was there to help.

  When she finally arrived at the entrao the noble district, she stopped in front of the guards.

  They were different from the ones she had seen the day before. Two serious-looking men watched her curiously as she approached.

  “Miss, where are you going?” one of them asked, looking her up and down.

  Emily felt her nerves on edge but maintained her posure.

  She took out the paper Non had given her with the address and showed it to them.

  “I’m going to this address,” she said, trying to sound fident.

  The guards exged surprised looks.

  “Are you a visitor or do you live here?” the uard asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “I’m a visitor,” Emily replied, trying to keep a calm smile.

  The first guard looked at her suspiciously and added,

  “Which house do you belong to?”

  Emily let out a nervous ugh.

  She hadn’t expected so many questions.

  “They didn’t ask me any of this yesterday to get in…” she murmured, but instantly realized that this would only plicate things.

  The sed guard frowned.

  “Then the guards yesterday didn’t do their job properly. Any visitor must identify themselves or be picked up by someone from the house they’re going to. If not, they ’t enter.”

  Emily immediately remembered the i from the day before.

  Certainly, she had passed through with Non without any problems while he was busy pung the other noble, but she hadn’t expected today’s situation to be so different.

  “What I do then?” Emily asked, feeling a bit lost.

  “You could start by identifying yourself,” the first guard responded, his voice firm but not hostile.

  “I’m Emily… Emily Hawthorne,” she said, giving them her st name.

  The guards wrote her name in a small notebook, carefully noting every detail.

  When they were about to let her through, one of them stopped her.

  “Wait a moment,” he said, raising a hand.

  Emily paused, feeling a slight unease.

  “Whioble are you going to see?” the uard asked, now with a more serious expression.

  “Non Rook,” Emily replied without hesitation.

  The name seemed to cause an immediate rea in the guards, who looked at each ain, this time more surprised.

  “Non Rook?” one of them repeated, incredulous. “We haven’t heard of anyone visiting that noble…”

  The guard with the notebook asked to see the paper with the address.

  Emily, though a bit nervous, ha over without protest.

  The guard exami carefully, and then, with an excuse, said,

  “I’m going to have to keep this.”

  Emily had no problem with that, as she just wao reach her destination.

  Emily hahem, and tinued on her way while the guards stayed behind, murmuring among themselves, quietly discussing the ued information they had just obtained.