"Mimi has entered the castle, and is currently located on the second floor of the east side annex. Be careful now."

"So close?!"

Aya quickly turned around with Chirp. They are currently in the corridor on the third floor of the main building of the castle's east side. They had just learned from Tiran a while ago that Vivian was searching from the west side annex. They had originally planned to go to the east side annex, but they never expected Mimi to be just one floor below them.

"Mom, we can go upstairs to the rooftop garden on the fourth floor, leading to the rear garden. It's the route with the highest overall safety." Chirp pointed to the stairs leading to the fourth floor.

"Well done, as expected of Chirp!"

Aya kissed Chirp on the forehead happily, then quickly picked her up and started running.

Although Chirp to some extent restricted Aya's mobility, her ability to evade totally made up for the disadvantage. Chirp had memorized the castle's layout, which even Aya hadn't completely remembered. Chirp could provide multiple route options and analyze their safety simultaneously.

With Tiran's intel and Chirp as a living map, there was no way Mimi and Princess Vivian could find them. Aya couldn't help but burst into laughter like an antagonist.

After passing through the fourth floor and reaching the rose garden on the rooftop, Aya stood in front of the bridge connecting the aerial garden to the rear buildings of the castle. She felt slightly relieved, perhaps due to the dense roses around them hiding Aya and Chirp's figures.

"Should we be a bit safer here?" Aya sighed in relief.

"Oh, not a bad choice."

In the contract, Tiran's tone also sounded surprised, "I can see you now."

Looking towards the tallest tower in the castle, Aya indeed saw the Princess waving at her from the terrace.

"Haha, letting Chirp join me was Mimi's biggest mistake." Aya chuckled gleefully, but before she could finish speaking, Tiran interrupted.

"It looks like we need to keep running. Mimi is going upstairs now, moving even faster than before, and it seems... Oh, she's also at the staircase leading to the rose garden."

"Wait, what?"

Aya was stunned. She was positioned on the bridge at the rear central building, just a few hundred meters straight from the east side staircase.

Even though she had hidden all her presence and didn't emit any of her Dragon aura, logically, Mimi passing by her shouldn't have been able to detect any difference between her and a regular human... Could this be women's intuition? It's a bit terrifying.

"Let's go, keep running."

"Oh! Y0w0Y," Chirp raised her hands in excitement.

...This child is probably the only one enjoying this game, Aya suddenly realized.

Taking Chirp along, Aya once again embarked on the escape route.

The second half of Gilliast Castle mainly consisted of various functional buildings and living quarters for the servants, chefs, guards, and others. Apart from places like the infirmary, swimming pool, training grounds, there was even a not-so-small temple for the followers of the Goddess of the Light to pray.

The area was not only structurally complex but also bustling with personnel activities. With some luck, they could hide better here than before.

The only downside was that the hourglass representing one hour had just drained out, which meant they needed to endure two more hours to achieve victory.

Walking through the bridge, Aya encountered many acquaintances—like the pastry chef who had lectured her after catching her sneaking into the kitchen to steal some treats late one night, and a castle guard who had once tried to flirt with her dressed as a maid but ended up getting a beating.

Every time she interacted with them, it started with trivial matters but always ended up with them sharing their grievances unilaterally.

For instance, the guard, who was actually not bad at heart, had been used as a sparring partner for the young Princess's sword practice and had gone through a week-long process from easily winning to being thoroughly beaten, almost losing all confidence and considering retiring to go back home and farm.

Similarly, the pastry chef, renowned in the kingdom for winning the Golden Fork Award for the best pastries in Milania several times, had his own pride.

Unfortunately, the Princess dismissed his pride entirely. The first thing she said to him when they first met was, "Can you make pastries that make breasts grow"...

He was confident that the taste of his pastries was top-notch, but the Princess's whimsical pastry ideas were simply beyond the realm of reality.

As a result, he had been doubted by Tiran so many times that he began to doubt his own existence.

"Wouldn't making pastries that allow people to travel through time, rather than just making pastries that are delicious to eat and impeccable in taste, give me more value...?"

Once, the pastry chef had cried while holding a glass filled with spirits and pouring out his heart to Aya, wiping his tears on the apron of her maid uniform with delicate lace at the chest.

There were countless others who had been pranked by Tiran in various ways...

"Sigh, every time I meet them, I feel like Miss Tiran, you have a lot to answer for," Aya sighed in the contract.

"Meow meow meow (ΦωΦ)?"

Aya chose the indoor swimming pool as a temporary hiding and resting spot.

This large building, located almost at the back of the castle, was a luxurious indulgence in this era. The water circulation magic system and the air magic system guaranteed the purity of the water as well as ventilation. Even for an average noble, building something like this at home would be extremely difficult.

However, everyone in the castle was allowed to use it.

When the decision was announced that the pool was open for all, the entire castle practically erupted in cheers for Princess Tiran.

"But it seems quite empty now, is it because it's working hours?"

Rather than saying it wasn't crowded, there was simply nobody there.

Aya held Chirp's hand, sitting with her knees hugged in a corner of the pool. The air was filled with the fresh and potent scent of water elemental magic, which was quite comforting—it was pure water elemental magic, not the chlorine smell of a public pool.

The rich magic elements could also to some extent mask their presence and block perceptions, so even without using magic, it was a better hiding place than other spots.

As long as they weren't seen directly.

Just when she thought that, the sound of footsteps echoed in the empty space, breaking the calm ripples of water and making Aya's nerves tense up again.

Could they have found them again so quickly? If Mimi had actually found them so soon, she would seriously doubt if the woman was cheating.

"Tiran, Tiran! Has Mimi found us?"

"Not yet," came the swift response, firm and clear.

Since the Lady and Aya were on the same side, ruling out the possibility of Tiran deceiving her, it probably wasn't true.

And now that Aya had calmed down and listened carefully, the footsteps seemed to be accompanied by a slapping sound.

Was that sound... from slippers?