The sly flower and the bored butterfly

Book and inkstone

'Bang!!!'
I turned around to see Head court lady An nearly tripping on a random log of wood. I feel very guilty for bringing her along. ' Are you alright? I shouldn't have acted so impulsively and ask you to come along. I have caused you trouble.' I offered her my hand. ' This servant would have come even if you didn't ask me.' She chuckled.
If you want to know about my situation then just know that I have messed up.

　　 I am in the middle of the dirtiest, dustiest, tunnel to ever exist. When I walked into the trap door, I was greeted by mold covered stairs that went deep into the palace grounds. Those stairs were the creakiest stairs I had ever came across. The seemingly endless stairs finally ended and the tunnels came into my view. The walls were cold and covered with cobwebs. After walking for a while I even came across something that looked like animal excreta.

　　The torch that we brought along had already started flickering. ' Please hold on a little longer, we are going to reach the end very soon.' Head court lady An reassured me. ' It is okay, you don't need to worry about me.' I coughed because of the dust and moved along. The tunnel is very narrow and small. I had crouched in order to avoid hitting my head. Head court lady An, I honestly don't know how is she crouching. This better workout.

　　If this doesn't go as I have planned, I will be the biggest laughingstock of this empire. Head court lady An tore her sleeves and tied the torn cloth on a jagged iron nail. She was marking our way through the confusing tunnel. We made lots of turns and had run several in's with trash littered around. After a significant amount of crawling and squirming, I finally saw a door. It was identical to the one in my study.

　　Head court lady An approached the door. She gave it a small push and it opened. A gust of cold wind rushed in. I saw a very old staircase leading upwards. As I slowly climbed up, I saw that I had ended up in the stables. I believed I had been to all the stables inside the palace, but not this one. I wasn't aware of it's existence. There were three sturdy horses in the stable.

　　' Should I try carrying you, your majesty? Horse riding will be difficult for you. I worry your health will be affected.' Head court lady An expressed her worries. I smiled and chuckled. Why does she sound like a young girl with zero experience? ' I am very moved by your devotion towards me. However you do not need to sacrifice your back for me. I can tame a horse just fine.'

　　I looked towards the door. ' You should go back now.' Head court lady An fiddled with her waist band and took out a token. ' If your majesty encounters any difficulty then please use this token. It is the symbol of imperial family.' I took the token and thanked her. We agreed that I would tap on the trapdoor three times once I return. And she would tap back three times.  She went back inside the trapdoor and faded into the shadows.

　　I picked a fine stallion and mounted on it, well more like set my eyes on a random one but is that important?

　　Like a hypnotized person, the horse walked along an eerie path and brought me to a escape door. I pushed it and it opened. The door opened to a forest. The horse the sprinted off and nearly threw me off it's back. I managed to take it's rein just in time. The horse followed a trail and took me out of the forest. I felt a rush of excitement when I realized where had I ended up. In front of me was the entrance to a crime district.

　　What are my chances of running into official Huan and that food stall owner? Maybe none but it won't hurt to explore and it makes sense for a possible criminal to be in the crime district.................
'Ekkkkkkkkkk!!!!!' I heard a scream from the alley. The scream brought me back to reality. The last time I went to gambling arena I nearly became a slave. Coming out palace on pure assumption was already a stupidity. I can't afford more uncertainties.

　　I turned my back on the alley and went towards the investigation bureau. It is in the center of the city, somewhere near the city square. I galloped my way across the empty streets. In the dead of night, the investigation bureau looked ghastly. I didn't bother to go to the front door. I didn't want to disturb the sleeping guards. There was a relatively small wall, that I climbed to get inside the bureau.

　　I snuck into the centre building as usually that is where the officials gather. I went inside through a sliding window that was left unlocked. It was dark inside and it looked like a records room. Outside of the room was a corridor. ' Creak!'
Wha——-What in the world was that noise? I nearly passed out. A dark figure was mumbling something at the end of the corridor. That figure was about as tall as me.

　　' Why must we officials stay for night shift? Does it make any sense to keep us here when everything we do happens during the daytime?'  Oh so he is an official here. Another person emerged from the side. He opened a sliding door. ' Don't complain so much. I heard that a princess was attacked, apparently official Huan is working on her case. They just want us to be more alert.' The figures talked amongst themselves.Gossip is indeed everywhere.

　　The two of them entered inside a room. I followed them and went in. The two of them were sitting in their disks, reading some documents. It is time I start doing what I came to do. I adjusted my veil and checked if the imperial token was still there. That bookshelf was doing a fine job of hiding me. I walked over to the centre of the room and greeted those men.

　　' May I have your attention gentlemen?' I looked towards them and oh dear.............
Am I that terrifying? One of them had rolled his book? And one of them was holding his Inkstone. The one with his book exclaimed ' Who are you? What do you want?' The other one interrupted me before I could even start. ' You are quite bold to barge inside the investigation bureau. Even in the dead of night, our senses are always alert.'

　　I couldn't stop myself from laughing when I heard what they said. "Alert senses." Why is everyone so stupid here?  I walked forward. ' Your alert senses couldn't stop me from coming here. This lady is here to ask for a favor. Don't be so scared.' I took out my token to make things easier. ' This lady is in a difficult position and had to come this way. Is this token enough to get your trust?'

　　I threw the token to them. They caught it and examined it. Their faces had a very very surprised expression and it was laced with fear. Just the expression I wanted. They dropped their *tools* and knelt. ' We are deeply sorry for not recognizing your imperial.....' They nervously smiled at each other. I waved my hands. ' No need to bother with the courtesy. Just tell me how to contact official Huan. And just know that this lady is fond of using human targets for archery.'

　　They gulped and one of them said, ' Sorry my lady, official Huan is not here. He has been working on a case and is currently tailing a suspect.'
' Do you think this lady doesn't know that? Just tell me how to reach to him.'
' Ah well, we do have a signal that can be used to notify him but it is very loud and attracts a lot of attention.'
' That won't do. Did he mention where has he been going?'

　　' He has mentioned going to the ruins of flying spring brothel.' The Inkstone guy perked up. ' My lady, I saw a suspicious pass to a sketchy perfume salon in his desk this morning, I didn't pay much attention because official Huan always has a lot in his plate.' He said something else but I didn't hear it. A sketchy perfume salon can be a place connected to the attack. Did he already catch up on my suspicions about flying spring brothel and the food stall owner?

　　Well, he is smart. ' Where is that perfume salon?' I asked the men. ' It is dangerous to go there, my lady. Why don't I find him for you?' The book guy replied. I suppose I could do that since I can't fight very well and these officials look naive enough to completely trust me. But I will miss the opportunity to find out why was I dragged in this incident. I won't be able to interrogate them properly later on...

　　' No need, I will to go there myself. My horse is standing outside. One of you take a horse and come with me to that perfume salon.' The official with Inkstone stepped forward. ' If my lady allows, I will take you there. It is in the northern market, hidden amongst the grand and luxurious stores.' I gave a affirmative nod and gave a side glance to that book guy. He shuddered, I guess I accidentally glared.

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That is it for this chapter. How often do you guys procrastinate? Is it normal to procrastinate even when doing some you like?

Like always thank you for reading ~