Leaving the palace is still very simple, as the place where the most important leader of the empire lives, there must be some secret passages inside that only the members of the royal family know.

Alicia was not blind from a young age, and as a child, she used to run outside through the secret passages of the palace to play and play hide-and-seek with the maids.

Fortunately, the pawnshop owner got up very early, so she didn't have to wait in the cold wind, and the little old lady couldn't afford such a toss.

The brooch is not unexpectedly also used as a lot of money, there are still a lot of pawnshops in the imperial capital, if it is some rural places, such a large ruby is estimated to be easily considered a fake.

Although she can't see it, as a royal family, she still has a special stylist.

This brooch is not very good to wear, and has been permanently sealed in the drawer by her stylist for several years, and no one has seen it, so there should be no problem.

After selling the brooches, Alicia bought some more bread and water, and wrapped them together in a gray package, and she was lucky that she didn't meet any rogue robbers on the way, and she couldn't scare them off now.

With money, everything is easy to do, she chartered a carriage and asked them to take her to the town of Romil.

The jurisdiction of the Marquis of Oss is actually not far from the imperial capital, and it can basically be reached by carriage in eight hours, that is, about 100 kilometers.

Yes, the dimension of the imperial capital is very high, and it is actually only more than a hundred kilometers away from the icy and snowy snowfield, and it is very cold in winter, but the geographical location of the imperial capital is not blindly chosen.

It is close to the sea, but not too close, near the Bay Area, where there is the largest ice-free port of the Empire, and to the northeast there are two endless mountain ranges, which form a natural barrier against enemies from the east.

Behind him is the plain, easy to defend and difficult to attack, convenient sea and land transportation, and the best thing is that in the past few hundred years, there have been basically no major natural disasters, except for the cold spots, it is almost a perfect capital.

In fact, there is a place in the south that is not bad, that is, there is an old enemy of the Britannian Empire in the south, which is too close to the enemy and too dangerous.

The town is small but beautiful, and the town of Romir is in the only gap between the two mountain ranges, in other words, if there is an army from the east attacking Britannia, this is the front line, so the identity of the Marquis of Oss is very important.

She didn't stay long in town, she crossed the bazaar, crossed the bridge, and came to the country road, where she asked about the wizard, and they almost unanimously told Alicia that the man was in the snowy fields of the north.

Today's sun is very comfortable, the warm spring sun makes the earth gradually revived, the grass under her feet is lush and green, and it grows very well, Alicia finds that although she has become a little old woman, her eyesight is okay, and she can enjoy the scenery and smell of hawthorn flowers all the way.

She hadn't seen the world of color for more than a decade since she lost her sight, and everything was new to her.

"That guy did a good thing." Alicia muttered, "Well, but the account will definitely have to be settled later." ”

When people get old, they like to talk to themselves.

However, the gradual pain in her back made her a little unreckless.

"I'm going to need a cane." Alicia said.

She walked on, trying to find a branch in the bushes that she could use as a crutch, but suddenly there was a sound in the hedge behind her.

First there was a squeak, then a heavy groan.

It seems to be human, Alicia thought to herself.

She stretched out her bony hand and ripped open the bushes, behind which was a hilly plain with many sheep grazing with their heads down, and it looked like it should be a pasture.

Not far from her, an old man with gray hair and beard fell to the ground groaning, and the shepherd's stick was thrown aside, as if he should be the owner of the flock.

She hurriedly stepped forward and helped the old man up, and made him sit on a small stone on one side.

"Do you want to drink water? Old gentleman. Alicia said.

The shepherd touched his aching back and waved his hand, "No, thank you for your kindness, old mother." ”

"Old mother?" Alicia was a little unhappy and said, "Aren't you an old fellow too?" ”

The shepherd turned his head and looked Alicia up and down, "Oh, you misunderstood, even though I look old, I'm only in my sixties this year. ”

Alicia just wanted to refute that she was only in her twenties this year, but suddenly remembered what she was like now.

Well, she looks almost ninety now, and for him, she is really an "old mother".

Alicia snorted twice and didn't speak again.

After a pause, she asked again, "Why did you fall to the ground?" ”

"Hey, don't mention it, I hugged the lamb and was hit by its mother, this beast protects the calf, it's better than a human." Said the shepherd.

"What about your son? Why don't you let your son come and herd? Alicia asked curiously.

The shepherd hammered his aching thighs and sighed, "I died, I had a serious illness a year ago, and I sold many sheep and was not cured." ”

Alicia was silent for a moment, then sighed, "I may be going to die alone." ”

The shepherd raised his head when he heard the sound and asked curiously, "Old mother, the sun is about to set, where are you going?" You're not planning to get to the mountains before dark, are you? ”

"It's fun to go to the top of the mountain and see the sunset, isn't it?" Alicia said half-jokingly.

"You're not serious, are you?" The shepherd was a little surprised, but then he said, "There is one of my shepherd's huts on the hill, and if you don't have time to come down, you can go and stay there." ”

As he spoke, he picked up a cane on the ground on one side and handed it to Alicia.

"You look like you need this more than I do."

The cane is very good, and there is a bird's head carved on it, which feels very comfortable in the hand, especially the height is also very good, as if it was specially made for her.

"Thanks, great help."

The shepherd smiled, picked up the shepherd's stick, and walked down the hedge to his flock.

Looking at the back of the shepherd's departure, and then at the cane in her hand, Alicia laughed at herself.

The advantage of being old enough is that an old man in his sixties also has to "respect the old" for me. ”

She began to go on her ascent of the mountain, and in a moment the bushes vanished, revealing a bare ridge with heather on top, and a steep hill on a steep hill overgrown with yellow weeds with teeth and claws.

Alicia continued to walk forward with a blank face, and after a while, her old legs began to hurt, and her back and knees also began to hurt.

She had no strength to mutter, she just panted and continued walking, but she could not see the shepherd's hut as she had spoken, and knew that the sun had set below the level, and she collapsed on a rock, completely unsure of what to do next.....