亚洲欧美中文日韩Aⅴ

“Don’t do that.”

Rebecca couldn’t remove my grip and opted to look down at me with a frosty expression that reminded me of winter.

“Don’t be angry. Rebecca.”

“I’m not angry.”

“You are.”

When I pulled her over, she gritted her teeth and followed along.

“Stay here.”

There was a rule in etiquette stating that a noble woman should never walk alone on marble ground.

“Rebecca.”

Even with her anger and confusion masked by her expression of disappointment, she still did her best for me as my lady-in-waiting.

The princess who insisted on stopping all else to search for her maid who disappeared must feel like an unfamiliar existence to Rebecca who was a natural-borne aristocrat.

Rather, if the person who went missing was a man who I was in love with, that could have ignited her lack of imagination for my current situation. However, the fact that the person was just an ordinary maid seemed to have quickly darkened Rebecca’ s expression.

“I’m sorry.”

“Is this out of sympathy? If you take sympathy too far, it will only come back to bite you in the neck.”

There was a boundary between people and anything beyond that boundary is something that humans can never understand from each other. Rebecca and I were close to being polar opposites. Perhaps Rebecca was as confused as a student spotting an Arabic question during her college admission exams.

“Is that maid, Hannah, very important to you?”

“… Yes.”

“… I don’t understand. Unlike how I was in the beginning, now, I appreciate your innocence. But I still have difficulties understanding you. No matter how I think about it, she’s just a maid. You can get another as often as you want.”

Rebecca moved quickly.

“But you are the sole princess. I’m begging you. Leave the missing maid for the capital guards to deal with.”

“She’s someone precious to me.”

“… In this palace, there’s no one more precious than you.”

My dizzyingly beautiful lady-in-waiting raised her head proudly as her eyebrows gradually drew a straight line and relaxed repeatedly.

“Rebecca. How precious someone is is not not measured by someone’s innate nobility.”

Her face that was as prideful as a rose remained but she was looking up at me now and it seemed to be piercing me.

“Rebecca is someone very very precious to me. On the same pedestal that you’re on, there’s the person that’s gone missing. That’s why I can’t turn a blind eye to this. I want to be of help. I know this would only anger you, Rebecca.”

I gripped onto Rebecca’s hand with my two hands tightly. Then, I met her gaze.

“Like Rebecca said, I could be of no help at all. However, I don’t want to feel helpless anymore. If Rebecca was the one who went missing, I would do the same.”

I took a break to catch my breath.

“If I turn a blind eye to what I can do, then I won’t be myself anymore.”

This was something I couldn’t ignore. The past that had already passed and the deaths of my maids that I could not let go of.

“Then, I’m going to become someone I would really hate. I’ll hate myself so much it’d make it hard for me to breathe.”

Rebecca’s hands felt cold.

“That’s why it’s hard for me to just leave like this. Please, Rebecca.”

The warmth seemed to spread quickly. I gently intertwined my fingers with hers and clasped our hands together.

“Three days. We’ll hold it off for only three days… only three.”

“Three days.”

“Yeah. I won’t hold things off for any longer than that. After this, I’ll do anything to prepare for it so can’t we postpone the preparations for a little while? It’ll only be for a little while.”

Pretending to be innocent, I smiled at Rebecca beautifully.

“Rebecca. What should I do? Should I kneel down at least?”

Because I was openly showing my wounds to her, she had no choice but to treat me gently. Rebecca asked me softly with a smileless expression.

“… What are you going to do now?”

I continued to ponder as I stared at Rebecca who continued to be dyed in red with every passing moment. From the moment I first met Rebecca, when I used her life as a deal, to the moment when I finally had a peek into Rebecca’s heart. I was glad I had her at my side.

“Don’t be rude. Who do you think you are?”

Lifting her head, she raised her hand as well. Rebecca glanced at me before shifting her gaze. At such a close distance, she was pretending not to know anything which made me laugh innocently.

“Have confidence when you give orders, mistress. You shouldn’t bow to anyone.”

After spitting out her harsh and cold remarks, Rebecca quickly regained her expression. Just as I was about to speak, Rebecca quickly spoke as if to interrupt me.

“Remember. What people are calling you.”

Her high gaze and arrogant expression reminded me a lot of Fleon but she gave off a colder aura and was more elegant. Rebecca pushed out her chest before speaking clearly.

“Rebecca too?”

“Yes. Even me.”

She had to do this much if she were to become the famous villainess from such a bloody harem novel.

“Rebecca, this is an order.”

At this very moment, when Rebecca was being coloured by the setting sun, she looked crystal clear to me. She was a villainess with an existence too precious to be a mere lady-in-waiting of the princess. Red light looked good on her.

When I looked up, Rebecca was looking down at me. When I looked into her eyes that were shining like obsidian, I spotted an innocent-looking girl who looked familiar. I understood what she meant.

“Postpone the preparations for the Founding Festival for three days.”

I spoke determinedly just as Rebecca wanted. She lowered her gaze.

“Just as you ordered.”

Her haughty expression was replaced by surprise for a moment. Rebecca smiled bitterly.

“We’ll have to make up for this loss.”

She spun the fan around her hand.

“I’m being serious. You can do as you please.”

Based on her words, she sounded like she had resigned which made her sound silly. Perplexed, I smiled for a moment.

“I’m not usually swayed by clumsily spoken words. This is strange.”

“…..”

“Whenever I hear your words, I feel as if I’ve become a fool.”

She folded her elegant fan firmly. Rebecca raised her head.

“If I disappeared, would you still have that expression on your face?”

She added in a low voice which was rare. I turned my head from the sunset she was looking at too before staring at her.

“Mistress’ foolish expressions always cause me to make these foolish decisions. I’m afraid of how I’m changing.”

***

A few hours later, Ray appeared with Fleon and Dane.

“… Hannah is missing.”

The moment I blurted out Hannah’s name, their three faces flinched at the same time. Because all three of them knew the name of the maid I adored very much.

“And I think I know where she is.”

I didn’t take too long to explain and only chose to tell them the important details.

“How do you want to do this?”

“I want to look for her myself. You can’t tell me not to.”

“You’re going to search for her even if we dissuade you, right?”

I felt a little sorry for Dane who was smiling at me even though he looked a little tired from work.

“Hey. Don’t you think it’s time for you to pay a little attention to that?”

“I already told Rebecca about this.”

“Don’t make me laugh. Will your lady-in-waiting be dancing?”

But Fleon seemed to have already realised that he could not easily win my stubbornness. He might be gritting his teeth right now, wondering how he got such a disobedient little sister.

“Alright. What do we have to do?”

“Dane!”

Fleon jumped up as if he had not expected Dane to accept this. Regardless of his reaction, Dane kissed the tips of my fingers lightly as he maintained his calm expression.

And his gaze was directed straight at me.

“… Will you help me?”

“If that’s what you want?”

Dane whispered affectionately before tucking my hair that flowed down my shoulders behind my ears.

“I’d rather help you than let you go alone and get yourself in danger.”

He knew how stubborn I was and decided to gently accept it rather than try to go against it. And Dane was showing a genuinely happy expression. I looked down at the floor meaninglessly.

There are times where I truly did respect their gazes that poured onto me and what they held.

“Tomorrow morning. I will go to their hideout and look for Hannah and the rest of my maids.”

“Yeah.”

“Their location… I’ll probably find out by tonight.”

Fleon popped in.

“And who’s going to tell you?”

“Uhm, uh… a templar I know?”

“What? Is it alright for a patrol to make such a fuss? This is the end of the world.”

What… I was talking about Amor… Everyone seemed to have formed their own conclusions based on what Fleon said.

Before they came, I ordered a maid to send Amor a letter. I hoped that Amor would have an appropriate answer.

‘Will I really be able to find it in three days?’

I had spoken to Rebecca as if I could but in fact, I had no confidence. But even if I took any longer, nothing much would change.

‘If I died today, what day would I regress to…’

Time was on my side.

In retrospect, I might have been overly calm.

“… Hannah’s tea is not here.”

She always appeared like a shadow whenever we were together but it felt empty now that there was no hand hovering about the tea. I could not wait for her to hurry and return to my world.

I hoped my family could stay safe

Please. I was hoping I would not need to use the worst solution I had.

***

The next morning, I went out with Lord Ray.

“Should I be your guide?”

In his hands, he was holding a letter containing a map that presumingly led to their hideout.

Once again, the capital was bustling with energy.

In this air of excitement, where the petals felt soft and the wind felt lively, I could feel that people still had the energy to take part in a few more festivals. This was already my fourth time looking around the festival. I thought I would get sick of it but every time I looked around, I was fascinated again and again.

Numerous stalls and street vendors, the roads crowded with people and the sound of music with every three steps I took. It felt like I was experiencing happiness I could not possibly ever feel.

I would never get tired of this fun and exciting atmosphere.

“Lord. Look over here. Don’t you think this is it?”

“Well, I think it should be the next alley. Princess, it looks like you’re really bad with directions.”

“… Don’t insult me so calmly”

I could only blame Amor for his poor drawing skills. However, my complaints were blown away by Lord Ray who still managed to find the way.

“Wow… how did you get this strange ability?”

“Do you think so?”

The place we arrived at was a square building about six stories high. The insula (apartment houses) looked packed together.

Perhaps it was because the windows were placed too regularly or the walls were dirtied with dust but the building looked a little sloppy. However, if I looked closely, I could see the delicately detailed decorations and the use of divinity.

There were small arches above the windows. Mirroring the elegance of a woman’s eyelashes, the arch was connected to a pipe that drew away rainwater and the water was directed to a waterway not too far away.

This was a residential area for commoners. White buildings that were reminiscent of apartment complexes in Seoul were lined up like soldiers.

Then, was Hannah and the other maids somewhere around here? Wondering whether this was a residential area, a short, chubby man who was standing in front of a stall selling bowls glanced towards us.

“Hey. What’s this building?”