Royal District – Late Morning
The day after their quiet retreat from duty, the palace halls buzzed with activity once more. Ministers filed through corridors. Couriers delivered reports in sealed leather tubes. Guards stood in polished formation under the colonnades.
But Bruno and Amelie had already left the palace before most of the court had stirred.
Clad not in regalia but in simpler attire—dark coats for the king and a modest cream dress for the queen—they rode in an unmarked carriage toward the poorer districts of Elysee. The royal crest was absent from the vehicle. Only a small lantern and a driver's coat marked it as belonging to the crown.
They weren't visiting as monarchs today. Not in the eyes of the people. They came as Bruno and Amelie.
"Do you think they'll recognize us?" Amelie asked softly, her gloved hand resting in his.
Bruno looked out the carriage window as they crossed the stone bridge over the eastern canal. "They might. But that's not the point of today."
