Maria went to the side of the bridge, found a slope leading down to the canal, looked down for a moment and then, to everyone's absolute horror—
—she actually made her way down toward the sewage below!
This made everyone panic far more than they had for Cassius.
"My lady, don't! Please!" Several people cried out.
"You can't go down there! You can't get dirty!"
"A person like yourself shouldn't do such tasks!"
"Please, Lady Maria!"
They genuinely started freaking out.
This was a woman that the entire continent looked up to and admired. Even the most brutal enemies and violent criminals wouldn't dare harm her, given all the charitable deeds she had performed and the reverence people held for her.
To see her descending into sewage right now was absolutely horrifying to witness. It felt wrong on a fundamental level.
But Maria did not seem to care at all.
She just carefully made her way down the slope until she finally reached the bottom, stepping into the water with her feet.
