Delia looked out the carriage window as it rattled over the uneven cobblestones, leaving the familiar, orderly world of the aristocracy far behind. She was now in the commoner part of the kingdom, a place she had only ever glimpsed from a distance.
Here, life was vibrant and real. The streets were crowded with people, merchants shouting their wares, children chasing hoops down the narrow lanes, and the air was filled with a hundred different smells—baking bread, roasting nuts, and the earthy scent of hard work. She saw how simple everything was, how the people's clothes were practical and their smiles were genuine, a world away from the exaggerated, carefully constructed performances of the nobles she knew.
