Leaving the imperial palace?

''This empress needs to leave the imperial palace.'' 

Days passed in the blink of an eye, yet the rumors showed no sign of dying down. The gossip buzzed like relentless bees around the imperial palace, and each sting of whispering words deepened Rose's unease. It was as though the very walls of the imperial palace conspired to remind her of her precarious position and the looming threat of death if she did not consummate her marriage with the emperor.

Even if many were under a false assumption that she had done that with the emperor.

The suffocating weight of these rumors grew unbearable, pressing down on her until she felt like she could barely breathe. 

And so…Rose alerted three people that she considered like her closest aides: the imperial princess, her lady-in-waiting, Leanna, her head maid, and the Vance the young personal butler.