Miria's Instruction

Lady Evans quickly hid her surprise upon hearing the Knight's words. "I know." She flashed him a smile. "I noticed them earlier. Don't mind them. They might be pickpockets. But, as long as they are not going to create any trouble, I won't do anything to them."

"They don't look like pickpockets," Kain said. His gaze swept around his surroundings and a slight frown appeared on his face. Kain knew best that there was something wrong with this situation.

Miria raised a brow upon hearing his words. It was at this time that she recalled that Kain is a guard, serving under Prince Laif. Someone who served under Prince Laif of Hase should be very capable. As the thought came to her mind, Miria decided to test the man's skills.

"If they're not pickpockets, then, why do you think they are following me around?" Miria said. "Wasn't they were just trying to find a chance to rob me? After all, I have been going around the market, purchasing this and that."

"Whoever they are, they are not here to rob you, Lady Evans. The drunkard may walk funny, but his grip on his flask is still strong," Kain said. "And I'm sure that the one who hid behind the house at the end of the road was good with martial art."

"You have excellent eyesight." Those two people that Kain had pointed out were the people that Jurin had detected following them from the market earlier.

Kain flashed her a smile. "I have confidence in my eyesight. I used to be a scout during my younger days." He hesitated and continued, "Pardon me Lady Evans, but, I'm worried that those men might have ill intention towards you."

"Most people in this town know me. They knew that I am the daughter of Maxwell Evans, who was from a well-known merchant group," Miria said. "It's not strange for them to have ill intent towards me." She flashed him a smile and continued, "Thank you for your concern, but don't worry. My guards have noticed their presence and we are taking precautions against them."

"Certainly," Kain nodded but found the lady was too careless in making her decision.

Seeing that the Knight had turned around to head back to his task, Miria quickly stopped him. "A quick question for you," Miria spoke.

"Yes, My Lady?"

"Just how many of them can you see following me around?"

Kain scanned his surroundings again. "Five."

Miria let out a soft gasp. She tried her best to suppress her curiosity and not look around lest she would let the others notice her movement. "Can you pointed out where they are?"

"One drunkard is by that wall. Another one is dressed as a commoner in your northwest direction." Kain paused. "Then, there are a group of three men at the eatery in the corner. The three were sitting upstairs at the balcony's seat. From that position, it was easy for them to observe everything here."

Miria tried to watch them through her peripheral gaze. It was the first time that she had noticed the group of three men. She had never thought that the Princess's enemy would send that many henchmen to spy on her. Whoever they were, they must be paranoid to send over too many people at once.

Or perhaps, there was more than one group working to find out the Princess's secret?

Although the King has been buried, there were a few people who were aware that the body they buried does not belong to King Asher. Certainly, they were hoping to see that King Asher would try to make a contact with the Princess through her. If they continued to follow her, she might accidentally lead them to see the King.

Miria closed her eyes momentarily and glanced towards the men on the balcony. She realized that she recognized them. She saw those guys lounging around the market that morning.

"Thank you." She watched as Kain walked away and motioned her guard, Jurin, to inched closer.

"It seems that there are more men than we expected," Miria spoke in a hushed voice. "There are three men in the balcony at the eatery in the corner. Tell me. Do they seemed familiar to you?"

The guard followed the Lady's words and glanced over. Her eyes widened when she began to notice the three men. It took her seconds to compose herself. "Yes. I saw them when we exited the residence yesterday, and again, this morning at the market. At first, I did not think of them as spies."

Miria closed her eyes and cursed at her carelessness. "Don't let them know that we have noticed of their presence," she spoke to the guard. "The Princess's enemy sent out quite a number of men to spy on me... they are trying to find the King through me. It looks like I cannot join the Princess on her next meeting." Her eyes narrowed as she tried to think of her next move.

After a while, Miria took the bags of medicine and flowers. Then, she walked over to Rae and pulled the maidservant into a corner.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Lady Evans?" Rae shot an inquiring look.

"I need your help."

Rae nodded. "Certainly."

Miria laid a few bags of herbs, medicine, and flowers on the bench.

Then, she started to arrange a few of the herbs into a few different bags. Once everything was arranged, Miria took a bag of medicine and tied a stalk of Dianthus flower to the bag. Then, she arranged them neatly on the side and was ready with her instructions.

"I need you to boil some of the medicine for the elders." She picked up the first bag and handed it over to the maidservant. "And these flowers..." She handed the bags with dried flowers. "Use chrysanthemum to make some tea, and take the rest back to the palace. And this," she handed the medicine with the Dianthus flower. "Give them to Mrs. Eastlake, the Princess's substitute physician."

"The substitute physician?"

"Yes," Miria considered slipping in a quick note for the King and the others, but she decided against it. It would be too risky. She has to trust that the King will get her message when he saw the flower. "Tell her that the medicine is something that her husband had asked me to gather."

"Yes, Lady Evans," Rae nodded. Rae could decipher from Miria's expression that she shouldn't be asking any question on this peculiar arrangement.

As a maidservant, it was not her place to ask too many questions. This was what she had learned from her training the first time she had entered the palace to train to be a maidservant.

The less she knows, the safer she will be.