After the crowd of servants and guards finally left the garden, the previous silence returned. Only, now, it no longer felt peaceful but rather lifeless and suffocating.
The tall walls seemed to tower high above her head, offering only a square selection of the sky. The vibrant flowers fought for the passerby's attention, each blooming so beautifully, investing all their energy for a few moments of glory. The giant tree shaded out the yellowing saplings growing near its roots, killing its future competitors before they even had a chance to grow.
This situation was familiar to Code X. If anything, it reminded her of the closest place she had known to be home, her agency. She thought back to her former acquaintances, the countless other orphans brought into the towering building to never see the light of day again. She remembered the manipulation, the toxicity, and the hatred. But it was all she had known in her past life.
She didn't want a repeat of it again. This life, she wanted something different…
No, she didn't want to be a good person either. Those were the people who were crushed under other people's stampeding steps.
"Nanny Rong, what has gotten into you!" A shrill voice and a few tugs on her sleeves dragged Code X's thoughts back to reality.
Normally, she would have lashed out at the nagging man, but the image of him crouching on the floor to save her life made her hold her tongue.
"Nanny Rong, why aren't you excited! The Crown Prince!" He danced a little jig, waving his hands into the air. "You're going to be the one to care for the Crown Prince! What an honor!"
Code X only cast him a sideways look. This man must be truly foolish, and she worried how such an insensitive mind could survive in a battlefield such as this.
"I'm tired." She sagged her shoulders, hoping the little eunuch would take the hint. Luckily, he wasn't as clueless as he had appeared to be, and he led her back to her quarters.
They walked together for a long time along a narrow corridor. Some side paths led to glimpses of splendid golden buildings, and others more modest wooden ones. But they never stopped in front of any of them.
During their walk, Code X had initially wanted to fish information out of the little eunuch regarding her current situation, but with every word she whispered, the walls would echo her words like a haunting ghost.
Plus, palace maids, eunuchs, and guards constantly shuffled back and forth along the paths, all with their heads held down low while speedily heading towards their destinations. Yet with every little sound, their heads would instantaneously peek up in hungry curiosity.
So Code X and the eunuch walked in silence. And walked… And walked some more…
Finally, when her weak legs were about to fully give out, they arrived in front of a tiny shack. To say shack would be an understatement, and the living space seemed to be more of a pile of tiles and wooden beams than a building.
The creaky door hung loosely in its frame, and the papers coverings of the windows bore large holes. It was barely more than a few people wide, and standing inside, even though they were only two people, it felt cluttered.
"Oh, and what's the rule the Empress was referencing to?" Code X asked, trying to gather information while surveying her temporary room.
The eunuch fidgeted with his hands, before responding, "No one in the Inner Palace below the rank of a Third Level Concubine may ever sit in the presence of the Empress."
Code X took a step back, shocked. There was no way that her current body belonged to anyone above the ranks of the lowest palace servant.
She glanced wistfully at the hole in the roof.
"Right. It must have escaped my mind." She brushed the topic off to the side.
She must leave the palace as soon as possible. Otherwise, even for a seasoned assassin like her, she doubted that she would make it in this human-eating palace.
Suddenly, her stomach grumbled, protesting against the lack of food consumed, and only then did she realize the horrible pit in her stomach.
"Oh, I forgot to give you this earlier."
The eunuch fished out a stale bun wrapped in an old handkerchief from his robes, patting the dirt off of it before hand it to Code X.
"But don't worry now, Nanny Rong, now that you're responsible for serving the Crown Prince, you'll be out of here in no time! You'll be eating the best food, and no one will dare to take your rations again!"
A dreamy looked crossed his face, and he licked his lips in anticipation.
"You might… you might even get to eat that red thing if you're lucky!" He scratched his head in confusion. "Right! The apple! You might even get to eat the apples if you're lucky!"
Despite her hunger, Code X slowly nibbled on the bun, listening to the eunuch's little hopeful rant. No, it wasn't that she didn't want to wolf down the bun or that she looked down on the sad little piece of flour, but gosh was it hard to chew with these teeth!
Apples. She brushed the thought to the side, trying to conquer the soft bun. Just thinking about the crunchy texture made her teeth hurt more than it already did.
"Thank—"
"Oh! I must head off to my shift!" The eunuch dashed out of the room in a whirlwind of steps. "Nanny Rong, don't forget about me when you become prosperous!" He said something else as he was running out, but Code X's ears could not pick up those loose words.
"You…"
She debated calling after the eunuch to ask for his name, but it wasn't like she would see him again after tomorrow anyways. All she could do was to wish him a comfortable life in the palace. Or no, considering his personality, she only wished for him to even survive in the palace.
After double checking her surroundings, she finally settled onto her little bed of straw and reached into her robes to pull out the book of parchment.
Feeling the giant red cross under her fingers, she flipped the page.