“Some people like to dismiss luck as merely something that only conveniently happened in stories. Having lived long enough, though, you could tell that luck does happen, be it the good or bad sort, it often just takes its time in happening.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.

“Please, make yourselves at home! It’s the least I can do in return for your help,” said the young woman - still in her riding clothes - as she bid Aideen and Celia relax in the luxuriously decorated waiting room. An older man next to the woman, in smooth silken robes, looked at Aideen with intense curiosity and many questions in his eyes, but refrained himself due to the woman’s presence next to him.

The woman that Aideen healed turned out to be Lise von Adenauer, only daughter to Duke Adenauer who ruled the province directly to the south-east of the Imperial City. She was visiting the Imperial City and took a ride around the place when the incident had happened, and by the time one of the retainers returned from their residence with the healer employed by the Duchy, Aideen had already taken care of everything.

Needless to say, said healer was at first skeptical, only to have his breath caught when he inspected the young lady’s conditions himself. An experienced and skilled mage himself, he had deduced the extent of the lady’s injuries from the blood Aideen left to allow the body to reabsorb more naturally, and was baffled at how flawlessly it had been dealt with, so quickly at that.

He had wanted to take Aideen aside and ask her about just how she managed that, but Lise had fully regained her bearings by then and had invited them to her mansion instead, so he was forced to stay mum for the time being, even if the curiosity within his heart itched unbearably. Only after his emotions calmed down had he realized that he had almost made a blunder, and that it would have been better to ask the unknown healer in polite conversation later.

Aideen had not expected that the woman she had saved on a whim turned out to be so high in rank either, but had not turned down the woman’s invitation to enjoy her mansion’s hospitality as some repayment of the favor she had shown. She had been curious how the innermost district of the Imperial City looked like anyway, and the woman lived there, which meant easy access for her without having to resort to more unsavory means.

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The innermost district of the Imperial City was circled by old, rather low walls, supposedly the original city walls of the Kingdom that later became the Empire. With some rough calculations, Aideen deduced that the original city must have been a small one, maybe as large as some smaller forts at most, with room for little more than a couple thousand people inside. It matched the descriptions of the era it was supposedly built on in the history books, when cities of more than a thousand or two were a rarity.

Currently, however, the innermost district was dominated by the Imperial Palace, which was located in the center of the district, a massive, grand palace that probably housed the majority of the inhabitants of the district itself. Arranged in neat rings around the Imperial Palace were smaller mansions, residence of higher nobles when they were in the capital. The woman’s retinue brought Aideen and Celia towards one of those mansions, one in the innermost circle right outside the Palace itself.

The mansion itself was huge, and on the luxurious side. When Lise entered along with her retinue, the servants and guards bowed to her, none of them even asking about Aideen and Celia’s presence in the group. The guards at the gate to the innermost district had acted the same way earlier, so Aideen assumed that the higher ranked nobles had far more leeway in the city compared to the lower ranked ones.

“I wish to express my gratitude once more, miss…” said the young noblewoman as she paused, uncertain if she had missed out Aideen’s name.

“Aideen deVreys,” replied Aideen, who had not given out her name to the woman’s retinue so far. “And no need to thank me so much, I’m just doing what I can to help those in need.”

“Thank you, Miss deVreys,” said the noblewoman with a nod. The way Aideen spoke - she had a noticeable accent to her common, that was rather different to the local accent - and her uncommon last name made Lise wonder where she came from. “I take it you’re a traveler? Your accent’s not common to this region, as far as I can tell.”

“Indeed so, milady, “ replied Aideen, as she never hid it to begin with. In fact, the identity Ginnie had arranged for her had mentioned her origins from the southern continent on it. “I’m from the southern continent, mostly just traveling where my feet take me to. As for her, she’s an apprentice I took on after I arrived here,” she added as she gestured towards Celia, who looked notably more nervous in the luxurious surroundings.

“I see, I see. Would you mind waiting here for a while while I change? This is maester Soren, a healer under my House’s employ. He is interested in exchanging opinions with you, if you don’t mind,” said Lise with a nod as she introduced the older man that had followed them. Maester Soren had discreetly told her just how debilitating her injuries must have been, and while it was not outside his capabilities to resolve, he would have taken at least half an hour or more to do so. As such, both of their interests were piqued by the highly talented traveling healer they chanced into. “I’ll get the maids to bring some refreshments while you wait.”

Aideen nodded gracefully to show that she accepted Lise’s offer. The accidental meeting gave her a chance to learn more about the inner workings of the Empire, as well as a chance to exchange knowledge with a senior healer from there, both of which were things she would have liked to do if they were possible. Who knew that the accidental meeting would have just dropped them right on her lap?