As the woman leads the figure through the castle halls she suddenly stops and turns towards a large decorated wooden door, and as she pulls it open, she steps to the side and extends her arm with her palm upwards, and with an empty smile she says
"So this is my office, hope you like it"
As the figure steps inside, they look around in astonishment at the lavish decoration of the room and an impressive collection of expensive books on the bookshelf in the corner of the room
They also notice the overflowing unfinished paperwork lying on the table in the middle of the room, which sparks a sense of nostalgia toward their old life, while they're lost deep in thought, the woman closes the door and says
"Take a seat"
As they both sit at the table the figure lifts his hood and asks
"So, who are you?"
To which the woman responds with a smirk
"Is it not a common courtesy to give your name before asking someone for theirs?"
"Oh, excuse me then, my name is Lucis Tenir"
"It's fine, my name is Olivia Leisten, nice to meet you, oh and as you already probably guess I am the ruler of this march, well at least for now"
"I see, well then Marchioness Leisten can I ask what you meant when you said you know I was hiding"
"Well it is quite obvious that you were raised in a wealthy home but now you are in hiding, or am I wrong?"
"Well no, but how did you know, you are the first person to notice I was raised in a wealthy home"
"It is not very hard to see if someone was to look closely, for example even though you seem like you did not have a proper meal in a while you are very healthy, which is somewhat unusual around here, also the way you speak, your posture and a willful even arrogant expression at times all point to you being noble, but that raises a question of why are you starved in this desolate area hiding under a tattered cloak, the answer to which is probably that you are hiding from something or someone, and I have a good news, nobody will come looking for you here so you are probably save, now tell me, am I wrong?"
"Has anyone ever told you that you are surprisingly perceptive Marchioness"
"Yes, many times"
"You are right I am in hiding and if you are willing to listen I will tell you who I am"
"Sure, who can pass on a good story"
"Alright, you see I was abandoned by my parents as a child and became an orphan at a very young age, but then after a few years of living in a small orphanage in a small town I was found by my patron, he was an old baron who took interest in my intellect and decided to take me in as his pupil to eventually become his aid, so he thought me everything I know, but then he suddenly died of an illness and his son the new baron decided to get rid of me out of spite for his father so I decided to leave and travel the empire"
"What a good story, alright so why don't you stay for some time, nobody will look for you here anyway and I have a feeling that you will be interesting to have around"
"As I do not have a place to be, for now, I will gladly take you up on your offer, thank you Marchioness Leisten"
"It's fine, and call me Olivia and if you need anything go ask Leonard the butler, he will assist you"
And with that, satisfied with his answer Olivia leaves the room, but unbeknown to her the man she was just speaking to is the former emperor of the Merun empire Victor Aratus who finally found a place to hide from his pursuers