Nearing Midnight

After eating a hearty meal for dinner, I realized I had a few more hours before midnight. Regardless, I tried to keep myself busy by double checking and re-double checking my huge backpack. Now, I had to make sure I perfectly looked like a boy.

I found myself staring at myself in the mirror, twirling my curly hair around. It wasn't exactly very long. After all, I was still very young. But, I can't help but be filled with a sense of loss when the time came for me to lose it.

The pair of scissors was ice cold in my hands, and I had the urge to throw it away. I knew I had to do this, but this particular part was the hardest part, I suppose. It was the final symbol; I really was saying goodbye to my life as a woman.

"Well..." I muttered. "An owlet's gotta lose the downy feathers before it could fly."

With that, I heard the few sounds of 'snip, snip' as I cut down my brown hair, up until it was no longer possible to be held up anymore. Making myself scowl at the mirror, I was still too young to even look remotely like a man. But, I definitely passed as a boy. Feminine, but still very much male.

I tugged at the short sleeves of the shirt and the soft pants.

"Well, don't I just look adorable no matter what gender I am..."

I laughed, and laughed, and laughed. I let all of the storm of emotions out from my body, up until my sides started to hurt. When I was done, I was already lying flat on my back on the cold marble floor. I contented myself by watching the large ticking clock upside down.

"56, 57, 58, 59, and..." I forced myself up into a sitting position. "Up we go!"

It was exactly 11 in the evening. I had prepared to leave for the secret passage from the kitchens at this specific time, when I knew the kitchen maids would already be done with the cleaning up, and there would be lesser patrols in the royal chambers.

I gathered notes into my body, and heaved up the huge backpack with relative ease. Seeing myself in the mirror one last time, I looked more like a dwarf adventurer than a lovely princess, especially with my wild, curly hair.

I set out, but not towards the bedroom door, but in front of a large painting that almost spanned from floor to ceiling. This painting had always been on the left side of my bed, ever since I was born. In fact, I knew that it was already there long before I had been born. After all, it wasn't a painting at all.

I recalled my early memories from the past life, where I had stumbled into the secret maze of hidden corridors that spanned the castle's entirety. Growing older, I had traveled these paths in secrecy, finding out more routes little by little during the nights. I was barely 16 when I learned of this particular part of my bedroom, and it came upon more as an accident than a real discovery. If you leaned into the thick frames of the painting, you would find yourself swinging down into your butt as the whole painting turned at its center. Of course, much force is needed, and without magic, I doubt I could manage to open the secret door with my childish proportions.

Gathering more notes into my arms, I pressed on the door frame as hard as I could until it finally moved inch by inch. It finally had an opening fit for child after a few minutes of hard work. I hadn't thought that opening it up would take so much time.

Then, I went back into my vanity to cover myself up in a dark hooded robe, and pick up a small lantern. Noticing the ticking clock, I made myself move a little bit faster as I readied myself before going through the painting, losing a few more minutes as I pushed it back close.

I travelled through the narrow pathway with ease, finding it easier to move around with my smaller frame. By the time I had arrived at the area I knew would release me straight out onto the kitchens, I closed my eyes to listen for any sounds of movement. When I was sure there was none, I pushed onto the damp wall, feeling it give way into a crude opening right under a kitchen table. I carefully placed the slab of concrete back in place before scooting around the kitchen, heading for the secret pathway heading straight down to the city.

I didn't really have the time to think much about these secret corridors and pathways, but I was only glad that I had chanced upon them.

I entered right through the metal bars, and I started crouching low as I traversed the sloping path. Sounds of water came from the pipes that surrounded me. I tried to ignore the squelching sound whenever I brought my boots up from the wet ground. I also tried to ignore the smaller creatures that skittered around me.

Remembering how exciting this process was in the past, I had to say that escaping during the night was definitely not as exciting.

Once I had gone through the exit, I almost got run over by a galloping horse.

"Woah!" I shouted, barely getting out of the way in time. The horse didn't even buck up like I had expected it to do. It only neighed in human-like exasperation, and continued on its way, carrying a small carriage.

I hid myself in the shadows for a few minutes before heading out again, careful not to run into more horses. Before long, I had arrived in front of the Harken Inn. It didn't look much. Compared to the better inns in the royal capital, I'd say it was less than mediocre. A steady flow of customers did come and go in the first floor restaurant, though.

Heading in as naturally as I could, I looked around the room, still packed with adults on their rounds of alcohol drinking. I managed to find myself a secluded table on the corner, mildly in disbelief at how I could even pass through with my little height without anyone stopping me. I suppose they never really cared about who their customers were, and the other customers couldn't care less. Miss Hestia did the right thing suggesting this inn as our meeting place.

I waited for a short while, counting down the seconds. But, as time ticked endlessly on, and even continued long after midnight, I knew that something was wrong.