The next time Taylor opened her eyes, she faintly registered the strong hands on her shoulder shaking her awake, and the absence of her suitcase beside her.

Blurrily staring into the annoyed grey eyes of the muscular man waking her up, she flinched. “Who are you? And where did you put my luggage?” she demanded.

The man frowned at her, moving away from Taylor, which, for some odd reason, made her breathe more easily.

She shook her head mentally. Taylor was not intimidated by that man. Not at all. She was a princess, and he was simply a man. A man who looked like he had enough strength to pick her up and throw her over the looming wall between the kingdoms without even breaking out in sweat. Still, just a man.

The man narrowed his eyes at her and Taylor had to stop herself from running in the opposite direction simply because he looked annoyed.

“What luggage? You had nothing near you when I arrived,” he muttered, his voice unexpectedly soft. In fact, it could even be described as calming.

Taylor tilted her head sideways in confusion, biting the insides of her cheek. “It was right beside me when I took a nap. How could it have gone missing? Everyone knows better than to steal from a—”

That was when it dawned on Taylor. She was no longer a princess. No one here recognised her without the golden crown, glimmering accessories and fancy clothing. To everyone around her, she was simply a peasant. Just like them.

Although, much more foolish than them since Taylor willingly let her things get stolen by leaving it unprotected in one of the most notorious areas for thieves in the entire kingdom. It was a wonder how she was still standing there.

Groaning, she mumbled, “Now, what do I do?”

The man smiled at her, immediately making him look ten years younger and ten times less dangerous. “It is absolutely perfect. There is nothing to worry about. Your foolishness may have brought you into this predicament but it is going to get you out.”

Then, softly, he whispered, “Now, you can play your role better. I was going to send you to a noble's house to work at, but with this excuse, you have a higher chance to be employed somewhere more advantageous to your plan.”

Taylor’s eyes widened. Who exactly was this man? How did he know about the plan that her parents had whispered to her in utmost secrecy, not even allowing their trusted general to overhear? As she frowned at him, he gave her another smile, standing up from his kneeling position in front of her.

At that moment, she realised that she was slouched against the wall on the muddy ground, dirtying her dress and making her look just like those girls she had met hours ago.

When she got up trying to dust of the dirt at the back of her dress, the man nodded at her, his expression blank once again.

“I am William, and I will be bringing you into Mazian. You have made us late enough as it is, don’t waste any more of our time. The King expects us at the castle by noon tomorrow. Get into that carriage with the red cloth and squeeze yourself into some small space left in there. That is what you deserve for lazing about and being the last one to enter the carriage because of your own incompetency. Now, hurry along! I don’t have time to wait for you to stroll like a princess,” he instructed Taylor, making her glare at him.

The gleam in his eyes was obvious. He knew she was a princess. Yet, he still dared to misbehave with her. Glancing around her, she saw people looking at them, making her swallow down the insults threatening to escape her mouth.

She was giving him a chance, simply because she was not at an advantage now.

Pretending to be scared instead of boiling with anger, Taylor took small, quick steps to the carriage. Her worn out shoes made it nearly impossible for her to walk quickly and far at the same time. How did the peasants even live with such kind of horrible shoes all the time? It was constricting and painful to walk with, and Taylor could tell it would be an absolute torture to wear these shoes and run.

A spark of pity flared up in her heart as she realised that the poor must have been wearing only such kind of shoes since they were born. None of them must have had the pleasure of using the soft, comfortable sandals that Taylor got to wear and replace every time she demanded.

Biting her lip with the sudden onslaught of unexpected feeling of guilt, Taylor climbed into the carriage.