Just like that, a week flew by and seasons slowly changed. All the green leaves and began changing and the air had grown colder. Fall was arriving. Everyone seemed to get busier as a result.

But things weren't looking up for Maya. Although she was working twice as hard, there still seemed to be little progress. All of a sudden, the management grew complicated and she found herself making more mistakes than before. Having to correct her accounts multiple times had taken a hit on her pride. She had seen the disappointed look of the Royal accountant more times than she was willing to admit. Her mind conjured up images of Dexter being disappointed in her and it only made her feel worse.

As a result, she'd grown more irritable. Her nightmares had doubled and no matter how much Dexter prodded her, she refused to tell him what was going on. She firmly believed she could do it by herself and hoped things would get better.

They didn't. One morning, while she was dressed by the maids, one of them tripped and poured a jar filled with powder on her body. Maya who had been barely gotten any sleep the night before due to her nightmares, stiffened, her eyes narrowing.

" I'm so sorry, your majesty!" She shrieked out, hurriedly cleaning it off. Maya stepped away from her. She reached forward, still trying cleaning it off and somehow she managed to make it worse. It rubbed Maya the wrong way. She glared daggers at the maid but still managed to calmly ask her to stop. " Let Claire handle it." She said.

The maid refused, shaking her head as continued.

" I am sorry, your majesty. Let me do it."

" Step away from me." Maya gritted underneath her breath, closing her eyes, taking calming breaths. Everyone else stepped away from her except for the maid.

" Let me clean it your majesty." She tried again, reaching for the queen.

Maya snapped. " I said stop!" She screamed, pushing her away. She fell to the ground with a thud, her eyes widened in surprise and fear, everyone else flinched. Maya stifled a groan, rubbing her forehead.

" All of you, get out!" She ordered. They Immediately rushed out of the room, picking up the fallen maid from the floor. " Claire, Olivia. Stay."

Maya began heaving, her body trembling underneath her dress. She had started to get flashbacks of her torturous past at the Gegoria palace. She closed her eyes tight to shut put the memories. When she finally had a semblance of control, she stared at the worried faces of her handmaids. She whirled around, facing the mirror.

" Get me out of this clothes." She said calmly.

They immediately sprung into action, removing the stained clothes and giving her a new one. As the worked, they glanced worriedly at each other.

They'd seen Queen grow more irritable and had felt pity for her. Other maids however don't share the same sentiment. Thanks to the rumors, they still thought she was mean.

By the time they finished, Maya's color had still not improved. She'd grown faint and her face was still pale. She looked like she would drop dead. Olivia and Claire stepped away, wringling their hands in worry.

" Would you like a walk, your majesty?" Olivia asked, peeking at the queen. Maya shook her head, her face hard as granite. She was still angry and she didn't want to run into Fleurie or Dexter if she went on a walk. But she knew if she stayed indoors, she would only grow more agitated.

" How about a change of scenery?" Claire suggested. " How about we take somewhere that isn't the palace?"

That seemed to get Maya thinking. " What are your suggestions?" Maya finally asked, glancing at her.

" Would you like a tour of the Kingdom's capital?" Claire said after pondering on it for a while.

Maya paused, carefully considering it. She'd never been outside of the palace after all. It wouldn't hurt to go now. "Okay, I give my permission. " She said finally. " Make the preparations."

" Yes, Your Majesty." Claire replied. She promptly left her chambers, leaving Olivia to finish dressing her up. She arrived a while later, saying the prepations were already complete.

Wanting to be inconspicuous, she carried along with her a cloak. She left with only her handmaids and a guard that had been assigned to her. Maya had a fleeting thought to inform Dexter about it, so she sent Olivia to deliver the message.

On her way to the king's chambers however, someone stopped her. It was Agatha, the assistant head maid.

" Where are you going?" She asked, her voice authoritative. She was much older than Olivia so she was forced to stop.

" Oh, I just want to deliver a message to the King." Olivia replied, trying to pass her by.

Agatha narrowed her eyes, shaking her head. " Well the King is busy and he wouldn't like to be disturbed. He's in a meeting. What is the message about, I would inform him myself."

Olivia hesitated a bit, then muttered. " It's from the queen. She would be going on a tour of the capital and would like to let the King know about it."

" Well, you go ahead now. I'll make sure to deliver it to the king."

" Okay. Thanks!" Olivia said before skipping away. Agatha watched her leave, a corner of her lips turned up. She continued on her journey, completely ignoring the king's chambers.

.

.

.

Fleurie watched as the carriage departed from the castle grounds, a cup of tea in her hands. Agatha was in her room. Just like Lisa, Agatha also helped her around in the castle. She was the one who gave her the order to stop Olivia from informing the King of the queen's outing.

" Where is she going?" She asked her, still staring out the window.

" She's having a tour of the capital, your highness." Agatha replied, her gaze on the ground.

" Did you stop her from delivering the message to the king?"

" Yes, your highness. I stopped the maid who was going to deliver the message."

Fleurie raised a brow, pursing her lips. The king doesn't know of this, good. " She would be around people?"

" Yes, your highness." Agatha replied.

Perfect, just what she needs. Fleurie walked away fr her window, going towards the large ooam table that stood between the room. She picked up a letter from the table and gave to to Lisa. " Deliver this to the address written on the letter. Make sure no one else knows about this."

" Yes, your highness" Agatha replied before leaving the room, closing the door behind her. Fleurie settled on chair, taking a sip of her tea. Her lips curled up to a smile.

Great, now her plan will be set in motion.

.

.

.

The tour turned to be what Maya needed. As the journey progressed, Maya found herself getting less agitated, lost in the sights and sounds of the capital. There were so many people roaming the roads, Commoners and noble alike. She even spotted a different race.

Merchant and vendors lined up the streets, advertising their wares. Scents wafted through the air, feeling her with delight. Everywhere seemed to be bustling with life.

The capital was a magnificent place, the houses were much bigger and they radiated wealth and affluence.

" I didn't expect it to be so big... And busy too." Maya muttered as she looked through her window. Olivia heard her and a smile grew on her face.

" Well, it's always like this all year round, Your majesty. There's never a dull moment in the Kingdom's capital." She announced, grinning.

Maya glanced at her and back outside, a soft look on her face.

" It does get overcrowded sometimes however." Claire interjected gently. " And this becomes a problem. Crime rate increases and there's chaos on the streets. We've heard too much clashes between commoneres and nobles. It's something the king is in working on before winter arrives."

Discrimination was a major problem at the moment. The commoners detests nobles and it's the same for the nobles. They believe commoners shouldn't live in the capital and they all should be chased away. Through their conversion, Maya was able to learn about the things Dexter was doing for the kingdom.

A kingdom where nobles and commoners could live together without in peace, seemed pretty far fetched. She knew nothing about politics but understood it wouldn't be an easy feat to achieve.

Gegoria was a small kingdom but there was still discrimination. She'd know because she's seen it first hand.

Their tour continued with Claire pointing out notable places as they passed by, while explaining their history. Maya found out learning this way was more exciting than reading about it in books. Soon they got to the most populated part of the capital and the carriage was forced to slow down due the to traffic.

All of a sudden, the carriage screeched to a stop, causing everyone to jerk out of their seats, loosing balance.

"Hey boy! Watch your step!" The driver called out, slightly surprised. Olivia helped to steady the queen since she was sitting beside her.

" I'll go check what happened." Claire offered, stepping out of the carriage.

" He fell in front of the carriage. If I wasn't careful. I would have stomped on him." The driver explained.

Wondering what is going on outside and why they were taking so long, Maya decided to join them.

She put on her cloak, effectively hiding her face behind it.

" Is he hurt?" Maya asked, staring at the young boy who laid in front of them. He couldn't be more than six years old, the old tattered dresses he wore signified he was a low born.

" I don't think so." The driver replied, scratching his hair. The boy was still at the center of the road.

When no one was moving to his side, Maya took a step. All of a sudden, a woman rushed out from the crowd, grabbing the child to her side.

" Please don't hurt my son! He hasn't done anything wrong!!" She screamed frantically, cuddling the baby to her side.

Maya stood, stunned. " I wasn't trying to..." She began but cut herself short.

" You almost ran him over and now you're trying to hit him!" The woman screamed at her.

" I wasn't trying to do that..." Maya began explaining but the woman only gripped her son tighter, glaring hatefully at Maya. It left her confused.

" People are mistaking you for a noble." Claire whispered to her. Already people were already stopping and staring and murmurs began rising. Is this the way nobles treat commoners? They were making it seem like she tried to hurt the child.

" Did she want to hurt the child?

Why would she do that?

What a wicked woman!"

" We should get in, Your majesty." Claire hurriedly put in, gesturing for Maya to go inside the carriage. Maya decided to listen.

" She's the queen!" Someone chipped in from the crowd. Causing Maya to stiffen, she swiveled around to find out who spoke but she couldn't see anyone. Everyone was watching her now and the murmurs grew even louder, every word accusing her of trying to run a child over. The crowd had increased.

All of a sudden it dawned on Maya. Her heart raced, her breathing erratic. She would have fallen to the ground if Claire wasn't there to steady her.

" Your majesty, are you alright?! Claire asked, alarmed. Maya pushed away from Claire, finally regaining her composure.

" Take me to the palace now." Maya gritted through clenched teeth, her face growing red. She's realised what this is all about. Her mood blackened and all she saw was blood

" Right away, your majesty." The driver replied, getting on the carriage.

.

.

.

Where is Fleurie?!" Maya thundered as she rushed into the palace, her gaze darting around. She spotted a maid and rushed towards her.

" Where is Fleurie?" She asked in an unnaturally calm voice.

" She's in her room, your majesty." A maid replied, flustered..

" I'll take you there." Claire offered, leading the way. Maya followed behind her. They got to her room and without knocking pushed the door open.

Fleurie was surprised to see her. She was even more surprised at the look on her face. Maya marched up to her, hitting her the square on the face. The slap resounded in the room, causing everyone to gasp.

" How dare you!?...." Fleurie didn't get to finish her sentence as Maya slapped her again, this time harder than the first. Then once more, her hand burning.

Fleurie ears began ringing, a side of her face going numb. Maya dragged fleurie by the clothes, cutting off her breath. A hand snaked to her hair, grabbing it roughly. Fleurie yelped out in pain, struggling to get out of Maya's hold.

" You did an amazing job. I'll give you that. Setting me up like that, not too many people think like that." Maya muttered to her face, her eyes blazing.

Let me go! You're hurting me!" Fleurie screamed, flailing her arms. Maya's grip only tightened, causing

Fleurie to scream out more. She pulled Fleurie closer to herself.

" I am going to kill you myself." Maya threatened, her deadly voice sending shivers down Fleurie's spine. " Just remember that." With that, Maya removed her grip on Fleurie

Pushing her away, she watched as Fleurie fell to the ground, her body still trembling from anger. Turning around, she stormed off, her handmaids not far behind her.

Fleurie sat on the floor, Maya's hand prints there for everyone to see, tears streaming down her face. She tried to touch it but winced at the pain. Her face hurt badly. She glared at Maya's retreating figure, biting her lips in anger.

She would report this to the king! Fleurie vowed to herself. Maya would pay for ever laying her hand on her. She would never get away with this!