After the Ottoman conquest of Valona, Ruđina had to flee, first to Corfu and then to Zeta, which was ruled by her nephew, Balša III, who entrusted her with the governorship of the coastal town of Budva in 1418. When the Venetians sent a naval squadron to the port of Budva in 1419 during the Second Scutari War, Ruđina surrendered the town without any resistance and fled to the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) with the town's treasury.
