Escort the aristocrat

You weigh all your options and decide that discretion will be best, if Captain Irisa was discovered (and captured?) already, then the organization you're hunting will be wary of any Royal Knight activity closing in.

You won't go alone on foot for the same reason you won't wear armor: it stands out. A lone woman walking where rumors of abductions have been on the rise. You'd be obvious as either an investigator or self-sabotaging slut eager to get jumped.

You almost want to be captured, but you did sewer an oath to at least try to protect others, and while the fantasy of being completely enslaved makes you squirm with desire, a part of you knows that reality may not be so fun.

The trade caravan is not a desirable option, either, for the opposite reason. You'd have too many people around to keep your identity and purpose secret. Although, again, the idea of stumbling onto some evidence only to be dragged into a carriage to be gagged and bound, becoming cargo and shipped to who-knows-where...

You shake your head and focus. You also simply know nothing about trade, and os fitting in would be a problem.

The aristocrat is your best choice, you decide. You could opt to go as an armed escort, playing the role of a sell sword rather than a knight, or ditch the sword all together and play up your feminine side to assume the role of traveling arm candy for the rich man. It wasn't an uncommon practice, although it did tend to amount to little more than common prostitution, another notion that sends tingles through your loins.

There aren't a limitless number of appropriate aristocrats running around on any given day, and fewer still who your Order has vetted and worked closely with in the past. It will also take time to arrange such an option and potentially compromise your investigation if other members of your Order have been compromised and shared information.

Your options are:

A) armed escort for Laurel Dun, the beautiful and fabulously wealthy merchant. Long-time association with the Order, she would recognize you as a Royal Knight on sight, so there would be no anonymity for you.

B) armed escort for Roderick Brand, eccentric Lord of a small parcel in the outskirts of the kingdom. You don't know him, and he has no prior contact with the Order. Could be perfect to remain undercover, but you would have to convince him you can use the sword you carry which may hint at your true identity.

C) companion escort for Roderick Brand, instead. Let him engage his own security personnel; you'd rather ride inside the carriage. Maybe he knows something about the string of abductions. Without having to prove combat ability, you would be completely undercover.