Chapter 18.
Ariel offered an awkward smile, saying,
“My Lady, this was merely a dream. It doesn’t mean I’m leaving right away.”
Her attempt to diffuse the tense atmosphere backfired, only sharpening Luen’s gaze.
“If not right away, then you plan to leave later?”
Ariel waved her hands dismissively.
“N-no, that’s not it at all…”
Soon, a look of injustice crossed her face.
What an unexpected calamity to strike while simply brushing hair.
‘My only crime was speaking the truth.’
No, to begin with,
She couldn’t possibly remain a maid here forever.
Though she longed to voice these thoughts immediately, Ariel suppressed them.
In the interim, Luen’s expression grew even more piercing.
‘Oh, dear.’
Being powerless and without influence, she had no choice but to yield.
Sighing inwardly, Ariel declared,
“Alright. I’ll just stay by your side forever, won’t I?”
“Not just ‘forever,’ but for life.”
“Yes, for life!”
As Ariel exclaimed, the oppressive air around them noticeably lightened.
She truly wasn’t a child.
Ariel, her lips pouting, continued to untangle Luen’s knotted hair.
Suddenly, a thought struck her: what if Luen wore pigtails?
As Luen’s gaze was currently fixed on the garden, Ariel immediately put her idea into action.
****
A short while later,
“There, your hair is done. Have a look.”
Ariel, having spoken, handed Luen the hand mirror resting on the table.
“No, thanks. Too much trouble.”
Luen rose from her seat, ignoring the offered mirror.
Then, she turned around.
The moment Ariel saw her face, she let out a soft gasp.
‘Oh, my heavens.’
Wasn’t it true that reality often surpassed the reflection?
Luen’s pigtails were far more adorable than they had appeared in the mirror.
So much so that Ariel felt an overwhelming urge to pinch her cheeks.
“My Lady… do you realize how incredibly beautiful you look right now?”
When Ariel spoke, Luen replied curtly,
“Just for having my hair brushed.”
“‘Just’? You’ve been looking like a ghost until now! One brushing has transformed you into a proper person, a person!”
“You…”
Oops.
Just as irritation began to well up on Luen’s face, Ariel quickly changed the subject.
“More importantly, My Lady, how about we go for a walk later?”
Luen responded without a moment’s hesitation.
“No.”
“Oh, don’t say that. There are so many beautiful flowers blooming outside. There’s even a rose that looks just like you.”
“So what?”
“Let’s go out and smell them together!”
Ariel exclaimed with a beaming smile.
Luen, openly frowning, retorted with an exasperated tone,
“Why would I smell them? Are you a butterfly? Go see them by yourself.”
“Hmph, fine then.”
Ariel turned her head sharply and said,
“I’ll go look at the flowers, then flutter away like a butterfly.”
“What?”
“You called me a butterfly, My Lady. I’ll fly far, far away.”
Ariel spun around.
Just as she was about to walk towards the door, Luen spoke.
“Don’t go.”
The unexpected emotion in Luen’s voice startled Ariel, who quickly turned her head.
Through the intricate fringe of Luen’s eyelashes, a pair of earnest, crimson eyes immediately met hers.
Though usually veiled by sharpness, Luen occasionally revealed her tender side in this manner.
It was a fact Ariel had only recently discovered.
Ariel found such an inner self of Luen’s truly beautiful.
“Fufu.”
Letting out a soft laugh, Ariel scurried back to Luen’s side.
Then, she spoke in a low voice,
“It was a joke. Where would I go without you, My Lady? I’ll be by your side for life. We promised, didn’t we?”
“……”
However, Luen’s expression showed no signs of improving.
Had her joke gone too far?
Ariel offered a wry smile and said,
“My Lady, we agreed to be together for life, didn’t we?”
“Yes.”
“That means we’ll always be together, so should I sleep in your room too?”
Ariel’s smile was foolishly bright, but inside, her heart was blackening with anxiety.
She had just blurted out the first thing that came to mind to lighten the mood, never expecting such words to escape her lips.
‘Luen would never agree to that.’
No matter how close they had become, there were still boundaries.
Wouldn’t she be even more displeased?
Ariel watched Luen, filled with trepidation.
Then,
“…Do as you wish.”
“What? Really?”
Ariel’s eyes widened at Luen’s words.
She had never, even in her wildest dreams, imagined Luen would agree.
“Really… you’re telling me to sleep over?”
“Yes.”
“But I have terrible sleeping habits.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll be sleeping in the chair anyway.”
Sleeping in a chair?
Ariel shook her head and said,
“My Lady, you’re already not well. Why would you sleep in a chair?”
“It’s fine. I’m used to sleeping in chairs.”
“Even so…”
‘I shouldn’t have said anything.’
Sighing inwardly, Ariel stated,
“I can sleep in my own room. I don’t want you to sleep in a chair.”
“I said it doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
She spoke with a resolute tone, as if this was one thing she absolutely could not concede.
Luen replied in a small voice,
“…Then sleep together. In the bed.”
Ariel’s eyes narrowed in a wince.
“Ugh, I don’t want to do that.”
“…Get out.”
“What?”
“Get out.”
Just a moment ago, she suggested sleeping together.
Now she was telling her to leave?
Was this the emotional fluctuation of a teenage girl?
Ariel rose from her seat with a bewildered expression.
“I… am I really leaving?”
“Hurry and leave. Get out of my sight.”
“Ah, ah! Don’t push me!”
Luen gave Ariel’s back a series of shoves. “Alright, alright. I’ll come find you at dinner time then.”
Ariel, looking crestfallen, dodged Luen’s hands and quickly made her way to the door.
Then, she exited the room.
-Thud.
Watching the door close, Luen let out a sigh.
At the same time, she raised her hands and roughly undid her tied hair.
****
“Why is My Lady like this?”
Ariel tried diligently to understand the heart of a teenage girl.
But it was proving to be quite difficult.
“Ugh.”
Sighing, Ariel trudged towards Luna’s room.
She was going to prepare lunch.
-Knock, knock, knock.
She knocked on the door, but there was no response.
Luna had probably already departed.
‘She told me to go to the Vice-Captain’s room, next to the training grounds.’
As Ariel knew it, the training grounds were in the western corner of the mansion.
It was a bit of a distance, but…
For Luen’s meal, there was no other choice.
Ariel quickly hastened her steps.
Past the Great Hall, through a small side door, a narrow path appeared.
Following the path, covered in rose vines, for a long while, she eventually came to a fork.
‘The training grounds were…’
To the left, she recalled.
Ariel immediately turned that way.
Just then,
“Ugh…!”
She hadn’t noticed someone walking from the opposite direction.
Ariel collided with someone’s chest with a thud and stumbled backward, falling.
“A maid, is it? Tsk. Born of low standing, so they can’t even look straight ahead.”
The voice was distinctly unfamiliar,
Yet chillingly familiar.
Ariel’s eyes snapped open, and she slowly raised her head.
A man, who looked as if Luen might if she were male, was looking down at her with an annoyed expression.
-Tsk, tsk.
The way he adjusted his clothes clearly showed his anger.
Ariel immediately recognized who the man was.
‘The Grand– Grand Duke!’
Quickly scrambling to her feet, Ariel offered,
“I, I can help you.”
“No need. Retreat immediately.”
“B-but…”
The very moment Ariel tried to say something more,
-Thud.
An overwhelming presence, far stronger than Luen’s killing intent, pressed down on Ariel’s body.
Her face instantly turned stark white.
The Grand Duke, looking at her as if she were an insect, stated,
“I absolutely detest having to repeat myself.”
“……”
“Get out of my sight, now.”
Ariel, unable to utter a single word, quickly fled the scene.
-Thump-thump.
Her small heart pounded violently.
It wasn’t until she had walked a considerable distance from where she encountered the Grand Duke that Ariel finally let out a breath.
Then, she looked back in the direction the Grand Duke had been and defiantly raised her middle finger.
‘Isn’t he a complete lunatic?’
He bumped into me, and then blames me.
Moreover,
‘Luen has to fight against a madman like that?’
She hadn’t even escaped her mother’s shadow yet, and beyond that shadow, an even greater threat awaited.
Luen’s future began to deeply concern her.
‘However,’
That was one thing, and this was another.
Ariel decided to prioritize getting Luen’s meal.
Fortunately, the training grounds were now in sight.
-Clang! Clang!
Startled by the occasional clanging of swords, she searched for the Vice-Captain of the Knights’ room.
Where on earth was it hidden?
The Vice-Captain’s room was nowhere to be seen.
‘Where could it be…’
Just as Ariel was patting her aching legs,
A nameplate for the Vice-Captain of the Knights came into view.
“Found it…!”
Ariel exclaimed and quickly rushed towards the room.
-Knock, knock, knock.
She knocked on the door.
No sound came from within, yet the door mysteriously swung open on its own.
“Huh?”
Why wasn’t the door closed?
Ariel cautiously poked her head through the open doorway.
In the center of an ordinary room, a tray laden with food sat by itself.
And on the chair beside it,
‘Insane.’
A man as large as a bear was seated.
She was certain this was the Vice-Captain of the Knights, but…
Ariel gulped.
Suddenly,
“……!”
The man’s figure vanished.
At the same time, a gust of wind from the front brushed Ariel’s face.
Her golden hair floated up and then settled back down.
Wind, when no window was open?
‘Surely not…’
Ariel slowly turned her head, like a rusty robot.
The bear-like man was standing directly behind her.
“Gah!”
Ariel shrieked and recoiled in terror.
The man, after scrutinizing Ariel’s face, let out a booming laugh and said,
“Ahahaha! My apologies for startling you. You must be Miss Ariel, correct?”
“H-huff…. Yes, yes…”
She managed to reply, still gasping for breath.
“The Captain informed me of your visit. Here, please take this.”
He said, gesturing towards the tray.
Ariel watched him, beads of sweat forming on her brow.
‘He wouldn’t attack me for taking the food, would he?’
She cautiously grasped the handle of the tray, subtly gauging his reaction.
Thankfully, he merely let out a hearty laugh, exhibiting no threatening behavior.
‘Phew.’
Sighing with relief inwardly, Ariel said,
“Thank you.”
“Not at all, it’s my duty! Haha!”
His laughter was as enormous as his stature.
It was so loud that the entire house seemed to reverberate.
“W-well then, I’ll be going now.”
“Ah! Indeed, but Miss Ariel.”
“Y-yes?”
Ariel looked at the Vice-Captain of the Knights, who had called out to her, with a flicker of apprehension.
Whether he noticed her unease or not,
He cleared his throat.
Then, he spoke in a low, even tone,
“You are truly beautiful.”
“Ah… yes. Well then…”
Ariel gave a noncommittal reply and fled the Vice-Captain of the Knights’ room as if escaping.
She deliberately ignored his voice shouting, “See you again later!”
****
“So, you went to the Vice-Captain of the Knights’ room?”
Thus, Ariel, having returned to Luen’s room with the food,
Was now being interrogated.
By Luen, no less.
“Yes.”
As Ariel nodded, Luen frowned and declared,
“The Vice-Captain of the Knights is a man. Tell me exactly what happened.”
“But…”
“Tell me.”
“……”
Ariel felt wronged.
‘I bumped into the Grand Duke and struggled to drag this tray all the way from the training grounds, all because of whom?’
With a tearful expression, Ariel recounted what had transpired at the training grounds.
“…And so, the Vice-Captain of the Knights told me to take the tray.”
“And?”
“And…”
Did she have to say this too?
Ariel hesitated for a moment, then closed her eyes tightly and confessed,
“The Vice-Captain of the Knights told me I was beautiful.”
Luen immediately stated,
“You are forbidden from leaving.”
“What?”
“I said, you are forbidden from leaving.”
