It took Reyna several attempts to finally find a taxi that would take her to the next city, which happened to be the capital.
It was the longest leg of the trip and the most dangerous one.
Since she would be heading to the capital city, the security would definitely be tighter, and she would be at risk of being found out if she weren’t careful.
Reyna tried not to think about it as the driver drove down the road.
Instead, she turned her thoughts to her son and how she would rescue him from his captors.
She had fully intended to find where the kidnappers were hiding and sneak in to find her son, but after her run-in with the trafficking ring back in the forest, she had to make a change in her plans.
Her plans had relied too heavily on the idea she wouldn’t be caught, which was unrealistic in hindsight.
She had to consider situations where she might not even get a chance to get close to where the kidnappers were hiding before being found out.
Reyna looked through her bag and found the self-defense tools Brixton had left her.
The only reason they got away with bringing them into the country was because the kingdom believed they were from the holy state and that the tools they had were considered not dangerous.
They were only meant for protecting themselves from danger, like pepper spray.
After some time, they finally arrived at Frampton, the capital city of the Kingdom of Goden.
Surprisingly enough, despite the scale and the importance of the capital, it wasn’t the biggest in the country.
It wasn’t even the second or third.
In fact, it was on the smaller end, but fewer people meant more chances to stand out and not in a good way.
“We’re here,” the driver said, stopping in front of the stone walls.
She paid the driver before stepping out.
After she took a couple steps towards the guards keeping watch, the driver drove off, the taxi leaving a trail of dust behind it.
It seemed that the taxi driver had really wanted nothing to do with the capital.
There was also a strange absence of vehicles from what she could observe.
One would think that there would be cars or other modes of transportation coming in and out of the city, but it was eerily quiet and empty.
It seemed that finding a taxi to take her to her next destination would be harder than she thought.
She wouldn’t be able to leave right away even if she wanted to if things didn’t work out, which just meant she couldn’t afford to mess this up.
Handing over her fake documents, she watched as the guards skimmed them over with sharp eyes.
They stared at them for a long time, making her sweat a little, before they finally gave it back to her.
“You’re good.
You may enter the city,” one of the guards said, allowing her to pass through.
Reyna didn’t dare to show her relief as she stepped into the capital for the first time and stared in awe.
It was nothing like Harlow and Osfieldge as dozens of buildings stretched out before her, shining brightly as if they were made of gold.
She wouldn’t be surprised if the royal family had decided to use gold to construct the buildings and show off their immense wealth.
Her eyes soaked in every detail of the city as she walked to the entrance of the path leading to the next town.
She passed by the castle and only lingered for a moment before making sure to put as much distance between her and the castle.
Just seeing the castle made her break out in cold sweat.
She feared that staring at it too long would somehow draw the attention of the royal family, and they would send guards after her.
From what she heard, the current king was a tyrant and horrible man.
After the death of the previous king many years prior, he had taken over and asserted his authority over the people.
His influence hadn’t seemed to reach Harlow, but she hadn’t strayed far from the Villegas family home and hadn’t involved herself in politics.
As soon as she saw the gate, she breathed a sigh of relief and was about to reach it when she heard shouting.
Reyna looked back and saw someone running towards her with a terrifying expression.
She froze up and couldn’t move out of the way in time.
The person slammed into her, knocking her to the ground and sending her papers flying everywhere.
What was that?
She pushed herself up and saw several guards chasing after the person who had just knocked her over.
Reyna watched the guards catch up and knock the person to the ground.
Then they started to beat the man repeatedly, making her look away from the violence.
While she had no clue what the person did to deserve being chased by the authorities, she found it uncomfortable to watch.
Perhaps the man did deserve to be beaten within an inch of his life for some horrible crime he committed, but shouldn’t he at least be given a trial?
It felt like senseless violence.
Reyna cursed her bad luck as she picked up her fallen papers while trying hard to ignore the man’s screams and cries.
Her hands trembled, nearly causing her to drop the papers again.
Once she gathered everything, she stuffed them into her bag and hurried for the exit.
The guards stopped her, took one good look at her, and said, “Are you okay, miss?
You look sick.” “I…I just don’t like violence,” she said, unable to look at them properly with the sound of screaming behind her ringing in her ears.
One of the guards nodded knowingly as he said, “Ah, I heard those from the holy state can’t stomach violence.
Just go right on ahead.” “Thank you,” she mumbled, rushing out the exit.