"You stay here!" she declared as she pushed open a door. As bad as it may have been, it was a room, after all.

Apparently, Mama Ruth had known from the very moment Reynard brought up the subject about the imperial princess, that something was fishy. Even though I had flashed him several warning signs to diffuse the topic, the fool continued to discuss it and it led to her suspecting us.

If it had been someone else, I'd already be on my way back to the palace and Reynard to the dungeons. Thank goodness Mama was a tough rock.

I peeked into my designated room and was instantly met by fleas and dust. I retreated in a fit of coughs and frowned. Mama Ruth chuckled.

"I'll ask Sven to sweep it up a bit," she said as she turned her back to me. "All the rooms are similar so you mustn't feel that I assigned you the worst one. All it needs is a bit of cleaning up."

Mama went back downstairs till she merged with the darkness and I turned to my new home for the next few days...weeks, probably, in case I didn't get caught. Though it wouldn't be soon till the guards get all up in here as well.

I walked in over creaking floorboards and dropped my black head drape on the musty bed. The trickle of light coming through the small barred window on one wall was the only source of light that kept the room recognizable enough. On one side was a small bed, similar to the ones in modern-day prisons. There was a small nightstand and an ugly brown rug next to it; it smelled like socks.

The general smell in here was making me gag. It smelled like a combination of mold and strong cheese- not the tasty kind, too. With my hands on my hips, I observed my surroundings and laughed as if I couldn't believe what I was going through. I wasn't surprised anymore why Mama Ruth's visitors decided to move: any place was better than this.

I sighed and went back downstairs, clutching the folds of my dress to keep me from tripping over the wooden stairs which looked like they'd slip under my feet at any moment. I looked like a widow in mourning in my black hair and dress, and with the black head-cloth, I looked like the whole comic.

"Back already?" Mama asked as she stood on the foot of the stairs.

I nodded. "There wasn't much to look at."

Mama Ruth frowned, all the creases on her face folding into waves. "Not suited to your refined tastes. I believe? It's the best we can make-do with, at the moment, so hold your horses till things settle down. I still can't believe I'm housing a princess under my roof. Unbelievable."

I watched silently as Mama Ruth ricocheted around the dark for a while with only a single candle to illuminate her way and then I remembered to ask.

"Erm, Mama Ruth? Why aren't there any lights in here? I don't see lit lanterns or anything… how do you find your way as nightfall approaches?"

Mama Ruth answered without turning to look at me. "Too expensive," she muttered. "Saving coins is the only way to survive at the moment."

She didn't sound too happy as she said that. In fact, I wondered if she was miserable even though she pretended to be so strong-headed.

"Mama, I could help clean up if you want. If you ask him, Reynard might even spare some coins to buy you a few lanterns. They only go for a few coppers on the Market, if I remember correctly," I offered quietly from the stairs. I played with my tresses while I waited for her reply.

She didn't say anything, at the end. She just walked off with the old-woman's hobble she had developed. I felt kind of sad for her.

Still, I decided not to prod further and went looking for Sven who Mama had assured me would be cleaning my room. It was so dark, that for a while I had to

walk by guiding my hands along the walls, coming to dead end after dead end till I finally touched a brass door knob. I heard some shuffling from the other side of the door, so I was certain that Sven must be there.

At the same moment I pushed open the door, the door got pulled by a stronger force from the other side and I was yanked ahead. I gasped at the sudden movement and looked up at the force-exerter that had pulled me in strongly, strong enough that I felt my face stuck against some kind of cloth and something soft underneath it. When my eyes finally focused, I gasped again as I pulled away.

In front of me was a tall figure- taller than I'd imagined a human could ever be- which loomed over me under the doorway. As if paralyzed, my legs refused to step back and I just stood there with penetrating fear as I stared up.

A moment later, the figure 'ahem ahem'ed' hoarsely and stepped back.

"In?" he said monotonously, the single syllable ringing with bass. His voice shook my heart, the same way it had done when he had delivered us news of the guard outside.

I was facing Sven.

"Erm, no thanks," I said, cringing at how robotic my voice sounded. I pulled on my sleeves cautiously, something I did when I was nervous. "Mama Ruth asked you to clean my room up a little; it's very, very dusty."

The figure nodded. There was a window behind him which resulted in back-lighting him, so I saw the golden wisps of his hair bob up and down as he nodded. Strangely, I thought, he looked like a boss God over here.

With lanky moves, Sven shuffled past me and I waited to hear the 'thud thuds' that would be the indications that he was climbing the stairs. Instead, I heard nothing, not even the soft thumps of his steps. It seemed that he had stopped.

"S-Sven?" I squeaked, wondering what was wrong.

I heard a faint mumble, much too faint for me to make sense of.

"What?"

"Which room?" he asked, a bit louder this time.

I licked my lips because they had suddenly gone very dry. "Third from the stairs."

He nodded again and I watched him till the last 'thud' was heard and I listened to a door upstairs opening.

I clenched and unclenched my palms once before I moved on back to Mama Ruth's room where she was talking gravely to Reynard about some matter. Both of them must've failed to notice me opening the door because never once did they give an indication that they acknowledged my existence. Instead, they continued to talk in hushed tones.

"You did what?" Mama asked, momentarily forgetting that she was supposed to keep her voice down. "What are you, thick? They're bound to see through that set-up."

I nodded along with Mama Ruth's claims; I was certain that they were discussing the 'Fraud Death' plan.

"Calm it, Mama," Reynard hissed hurriedly. "It'll work out, I promise."

"To hell with your promises!" Mama spat as she stared up angrily at Reynard. "What're you gon' do if you end up in the dungeons? What's your momma gon' do because your pap's is most certainly going to get axed if his son ever gets caught."

I winced. It was all my fault Reynard's family could get in trouble… because I was the one who had the power to veto Reynard's plan, and I decided to go along with it against all the odds. Me, me, me….

I sighed loudly, which caused both Mama and Reynard to whip their faces in my direction.

"Your Highness!" Reynard exclaimed heartily, though I knew that behind the mask he always chose to wear, he was very troubled. I pursed my lips and stared sadly into Reynard's blue-green eyes. The smile on his face wiped off in an instant and the corners of his mouth pointed downwards as his eyebrows snapped together.

"It's okay..." I whispered, though I wasn't sure if I was telling the truth. "We're gonna be okay."

"Let's hope so," Mama jumped in. She patted- no more like, smacked- Reynard on the back. "Smile, boy!" she ordered. "If you're gonna be unhappy, go and be unhappy on the streets. You ain't welcome here if that's what you came here to do, mope and complain. The same goes for you!" She pointed a crooked finger at me. "What are y'all, widows?"

"I'm a man-"

"To hell with men! To hell with this wretched world!" Mama was taking out all her anger on a poor cushion on the floor as she kicked it again and again. "I'm sick of this sh*t."

I tried to stop the small laugh that was yet to escape my lips. I clamped my hands over my face to stop me from laughing but it came out in small, awkward squeaks. Reynard looked at me in alarm and then chuckled himself. It was soon that we were all laughing at our situation, not aware of the unrest that was about to envelop us the very next day.

________________________________________

Just a thank you note to all my Readers!

I'll be forever grateful to all those who hyped my Novel and supported it and decided to give it a go. Why am I saying all this in this specific chapter? Well, no reason, really. I just felt like I should be thanking my lovely Readers because when someone adds my Novel to their library, or comments on it, or reviews it or gifts me something, I feel so, so happy. That's all the motivation I have to keep working.

So, Thank You!

Moreover, just a quick reminder that my exams are gonna be...erm...resuming soon, so I might have to work on that, lmao (Those are in October, haha.) But still, I work long hours just to produce good chapters and when I receive good feedback on them, my heart just...flutters!

(Also, just an insight haha, Chapter 49 and 50 got mixed up and I had to work almost an hour to redo them and stuff, so that's that :'))

What else...? Oh yeah, I'm working on a new Novel, if you didn't hear.

It's called GHOST DETECTIVE: Li Xiajun, you can find it on Webnovel if you want! Go support that one too, everyone. (It's a great story! The name says it all muahaha. There're ghosts, and a detective. Isn't that so cool?)

Okay. this is getting long, but do I want to continue spouting nonsense? Yes I do. I've been working on some new drawings for some chapters, don't know when I'll finish those, haha... *cries* My schools are opening from the 16th and the fact has been killing me. I hate school just like most of you. (and if you don't hate school... I can't do nothing about you lol.)

I was thinking about opening commissions, but I'm so busy as it is, I doubt I'll be able to handle the pressure. Though if many people say I should, then mayyybeeee my mind may change.

Okay, anyways... cya!

Suoshi.