Villainess Reborn: SEASON ONE

CHAPTER 36

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Tatiana successfully made it outside the palace safely. Her heart skipped a beat when one of the guards tried to look into her face, but it was a good thing that she was able to get away.

She inhaled a deep breath of the air outside the palace. It is pretty much the same air that she breathes when she's inside the palace, but this gives her feelings on a whole new level. For a month or two, since she woke up in Tatiana's body, all she felt was suffocation inside the palace.

Although the palace was an extremely large place and a world of its own, the people there only made her feel uncomfortable because almost everybody knew who she was. Now that she's outside the palace, she wants to explore and know more about the world. This might help her know why she's here in the first place.

She feels guilty about leaving Emma in that state but she felt like she should choose herself first this time. She overlooked the capital from below. The Palace is located on a tall hill with a road going down towards the capital. From up here, Tatiana could see the people buzzing around the busy streets, looking like ants.

Meanwhile, Bjorn who's riding a horse galloped towards the palace gates but there were no signs of the princess.

"Captain!" one of the guards saluted him when he arrived. Bjorn nodded and acknowledged their presence.

"Was there a servant who went out of the castle lately?" Bjorn asked them. Both the guards looked at each other and nodded. The other guard went through the records of the people who entered and exited the palace.

"Yes, Captain. A servant girl named Emma," the guard responded.

Bjorn thanked him and went out of the gates to look around when he saw a familiar dress with an arm-length overcoat cloak. He squinted his eyes and noticed the girl looking around and caught a glimpse of her face. She was riding at the back of a carriage cart filled with hay bales.

Bjorn sighed in relief and quietly followed her on his horse.

When Emma arrived at the foot of the hill at the entrance of the capital, she was amazed. She only saw these sceneries on TV and imagined it on her mind. The place was even more amazing in person.

"Thank you!" she shouted at the old man who was driving the cart. The old man saw her waiting at the outside of the palace looking lost and offered to give her a ride until the foot of the hill. The man nodded and waved his shaky hands before driving away.

Tatiana stood in front of the large arch that welcomed the people into the capital. It was already noon but the air still smelled like newly baked bread and sewer water—it did not smell great but she went through something worse back at her old life.

The road towards the heart of the capital started in an unpaved and muddy road. There were houses on both sides of the road and Tatiana noticed that the houses around here looked similar to each other.

Most of them have thatched roofs and are made from mud and stone and sometimes wood. Children were running along the side of the road where carriages passed by with sticks on their small hands as they chased each other around.

An old woman who was watering her plants scolded them until they went to her and help her with tending to her plants. The people here greeted each other like they've know each other for ages.

Tatiana could only wish that the world she lived in was as peaceful as this. It was simple but it was sufficient to live off of and it wasn't too cheap that they had a hard time looking for food.

After minutes of walking and looking around, the road became paved with bricks and stones and the houses became bigger and even taller. The streets became busier and carriages are driving the streets from each direction.

The number of children started to grow and the place became livelier with townhouses and buildings, boutiques and even flower shops. It's like she entered a new civilization, the urban part of the capital.

The houses were made of cement and sometimes wood and these were painted with beautiful bright colors. There were even buildings with large pillars and intricately designed pilasters supporting the roof.

The people were dressed formally and women wore beautiful hats with feathers. Men wore suits and tunics.

Whoever wrote this book had a good taste in world-building. The sceneries reminded her of the renaissance era but was fused with a little bit of modernity like the clothing styles and architecture. Everything looked so surreal that Tatiana wanted to pinch herself if ever she was just dreaming.

Escaping the palace was totally worth it.

She walked through the busy streets and tried out different street foods that were in stalls. Each kind was unique and flavors

exploded inside her mouth. Not to mention that a single gold coin is equivalent to fifty silver coins and the food only costs at least three silver coins. She doesn't know about the restaurants but she had no time to explore it.

Bjorn followed her from behind, leaving his horse with an acquaintance he knows. He was about to call her and bring her back immediately to the palace until he noticed how her eyes sparkled when she saw the city.

He decided to secretly follow her and keep her safe until she decides to go back to the palace unnoticed. The princess stopped by a few more food stalls until she saw the road that sells souvenirs and other stuff that caught her attention.

The stalls had a variety of products that ranged from jewelries, cosmetics, toys, clothes and other pretty but useless stuff. But what caught Tatiana's attention was a book sale. She was immediately reminded of her brother, Elliot.

She made her way through the crowd until she arrived in front of the stall with piles of books. No one else was around the book stall but the stalls beside it that sold jewelries and fabrics were smothered with people.

She remembered that the people here are mostly illiterate and only nobles have the choice to study or not. Women do not have that kind of power which disappointed her because there are a lot of great books and knowledge and stories to be discovered.

As she was browsing and reading some of the books, she felt someone pass by behind her at great speed.

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END