Silver Ring City, Earl Nar's Mansion. (Fifteen days until the escape)

“Your Excellency, the man and woman have met again.”

Upon hearing the butler's words, the short, stout middle-aged man looked up from his desk, put down his pen, and asked, "Does Viscount Philson have no suspicions?"

The butler shook his head, his tone full of contempt and disdain: "That fool firmly believed that the woman he met was the Queen herself, and would never have imagined that she was nothing more than a prostitute!"

The count touched the top of his head and said cautiously, "Be careful in everything! If that idiot who's obsessed with the queen accidentally figures something out, my whole plan will fail!"

"My lord, rest assured. We spent a fortune bribing a lady-in-waiting and a guard, who accompany and witness her every time she meets the Viscount, and they have complete control over the Queen's itinerary; as for that prostitute whose voice and figure are somewhat similar to the Queen's, we spent more than half a month teaching her to imitate the Queen's every move; not to mention that the other party is that foolish and arrogant Baron Philson..."

At this point, the butler took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to the Earl: "My lord, this is the love letter that Viscount Felson gave to the 'Queen' tonight. The contents are roughly the same as what we want."

The count took the letter, carefully opened the envelope, and spent quite a while reading it through. Finally, he nodded in satisfaction and asked the butler, "Where's the painting?"

"He also presented the painting to the 'Queen' tonight, along with this love letter."

"What about the layout of the palace?"

"Everything is fine."

“Very good, then the plan is half successful.” The count said, then suddenly remembered something and said to the butler, “After this is over, you know what to do with those in the know, including that prostitute, right?”

Watching the bald, fat man tap his fingers lightly on the table, the butler swallowed hard and nodded emphatically.

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Silver Ring City, the royal palace. (Eleven days until the escape)

"Your Majesty, applying some more herbal medicine to the corners of your eyes would be even better."

Queen Mary gazed sadly at her reflection in the bronze mirror, the two prominent purple bruises near her eye and right collarbone particularly striking. She gently pushed aside the ointment offered by her maid, Cathy, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Has His Majesty the King not returned yet?"

Cathy paused for a moment, then whispered, "His Majesty and the nobles have gone hunting."

"What about those official documents?"

"I heard they all fell into the hands of the ministers of state..."

The queen closed her eyes and sighed heavily.

Cathy paused, glancing at her master's expression, before angrily saying, "If you ask me, that painting and that letter are clearly a setup to frame you! They're saying you had an affair with Viscount Felson over a painting and even received love letters from him!"

The Queen shook her head: "A clumsy deception, full of flaws, yet it struck right at the King's weak spot... Give His Majesty some time, and I believe he will see through the trick."

After saying this, Mary gently touched the wound on her face, but a part of her heart ached faintly.

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Silver Ring City, main gate of the royal palace. (Seven days until the escape.)

"Knight Herman! Why hasn't Her Majesty the Queen been released from house arrest yet?!"

Looking at the maid who was yelling at him, Herman shrugged helplessly: "Sorry, as royal guards, we are just following the king's orders."

Cathy was about to say something more when she was suddenly startled by the shouts coming from the square.

Hundreds and thousands of Silver Ring City residents, shouting slogans and holding up wooden placards, surged to the square, pouring out their anger and discontent towards the direction of the royal palace.

Reduce taxes and fees!

Stop sucking our blood!

"It's all the Queen's fault! She's the one who made us so poor!"

"Kill her! She's an evil witch!"

Herman listened to the people's clamor, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper. The conversation between two palace guards behind him caught his attention.

“I heard that someone once mentioned to the Queen that the people of the Silver Ring Kingdom couldn’t even afford bread, but the Queen replied, ‘Then why don’t they eat cake?’”

Another person chimed in, “That’s right, I’ve heard about that too. Some people say that the Queen has used the national treasury to make clothes, buy jewelry, hold banquets, and build gardens. There’s a nickname circulating among the people for the Queen—'Lady Deficit'.”

"People say that His Majesty the King is kind and benevolent, a good monarch, while the Queen is wicked, cruel, and extravagant, and has tarnished the King's reputation..."

Knight Commander Herman grew increasingly enraged, slamming his sword to the ground and shouting to those behind him, "What are you all standing there for?! Go and stop those people, don't let them storm the palace!"

The man watched his men run ahead to maintain order, and gestured for his maid, Cathy, to return to the palace first. But out of the corner of his eye, he saw a cavalryman galloping towards him from afar.

The cavalryman, with a wax-coated leather tube symbolizing urgent military reports slung at his waist, shouted at the civilians and guards in front of him and rode straight into the palace.

Hermann stared into thought at the insignia on the cavalryman's chest, which symbolized the "Eastern Legion".

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Silver Ring City, Imperial Guard Camp, late at night. (The day before the day of escape)

Herman lay in bed, looking at the cool moonlight outside the window, reflecting on the events of the past few days.

The kingdom's situation is getting worse and worse.

The people's anger grew stronger every day, and the number of people participating in the anti-tax rallies in recent days has exceeded three thousand each time. People took to the streets and clashed with the army several times, with reports of deaths and injuries heard every day.

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