“It’s already so late, and you actually jumped down?” Nori flicked her slightly messy ponytail, stomped over in her little leather boots, and crouched down in front of her. “You really are an amazing Maid. Why did you hesitate for so long?”
“Because… it was Your Highness’s command.”
Marentia hesitated as she spoke.
“So because it was my command, you were even willing to risk your life?” Nori laughed softly, her voice as melodious as a lark’s song.
“How impressive, truly admirable. I like people like that.” Nori reached out her small hand to Marentia. “You, be my personal Maid.”
Marentia stared at that outstretched hand, still in a daze. The cute face of the girl before her, together with the lingering thrill in her heart from just now, mingled to create a unique feeling.
Love… Am I in love?
She realized she had fallen for Nori, even if she herself couldn’t explain why. Those brilliant, glowing red eyes of Her Highness seemed to have drawn out her very soul.
From that day on, she always stayed by Nori’s side, taking care of the Princess’s every need—her food, clothing, and shelter—as well as soothing the little Princess’s tantrums.
The work was hard, but with that feeling of love in her heart, Marentia didn’t dislike it at all. She did her duties as a personal Maid with utmost diligence, giving Her Highness everything she had.
It seemed that Nori wasn’t as terrifying as the rumors claimed. Though outwardly proud and bossy, in private, when it was just the two of them, she would always reveal an unexpectedly gentle side.
She still remembered the second New Year’s she spent in the City after arriving, when Nori gave her a Pig’s Eye Stone Pendant.
To avoid drawing attention, the Pig’s Eye Stone Pendant was made very small, hidden beneath her collar and easily concealed. Marentia carefully tucked it away at the bottom of her own clothes chest, and wouldn’t wear it openly unless it was absolutely necessary.
“If you like it, I can give you as many of these as you want,” Nori said with a mischievous smile.
“No matter how many you give me, I will always treasure them, Your Highness,” Marentia replied quietly.
Nori laughed, swung her foot, squinted her eyes, and leaned close to Marentia’s ear.
“Ordinary people never have the right to receive a gift from the Royal Family. But, Marentia, do you know why I gave you a New Year’s gift?”
Marentia lowered her head, her face burning.
“Because I like you, Marentia.”
So, she received the first confession of her life.
Her heart pounded wildly, and Marentia had never dared to imagine she could win the Princess’s love. She was even a little overwhelmed by surprise when Nori took her hand.
“I… I love you deeply as well.”
“Then, from now on, when we’re alone, you don’t need to be formal. Just call me Nori, okay?”
In the days that followed, Marentia felt as if she were living in a dream.
Whether it was bickering and hugging Nori, spending sweet days together like lovers, or risking her life to investigate and passing on secret documents that betrayed the Kingdom—
Everything felt as if it were all a dream.
“Marentia, what are you doing standing there?”
She snapped back to herself, seeing Su Ling before her, carrying a bundle of stolen goods and looking at her with a hint of worry.
“I… Huh? Nothing, I was just…”
Marentia fumbled with her hands, speaking incoherently, not even knowing what she was saying.
Su Ling adjusted the package in her arms, sat down on the steps beside her, and her braided silver hair hung over her shoulder.
“Are you alright? You didn’t show up at Maple Court today. Ever since the last investigation, you’ve been absentminded.”
“I… I was just startled, it’s nothing serious,” Marentia said weakly.
“It’s alright, it’s all in the past now,” Su Ling said comfortingly.
“Thanks,” Marentia leaned against the stone wall, tall and thin like a bamboo pole.
The two of them sat in silence for a while, not knowing what to say. Their relationship wasn’t that close, and they only chatted like this on rare occasions.
“Su Ling,” Marentia suddenly remembered something. “How is your relationship with Her Highness Sista?”
“I’m not sure how to describe it,” Su Ling seemed surprised by the question, but still shared what was in her heart. “I’m Her Highness’s personal Maid, and Her Highness is my Master. That’s all there is to it.”
“I see.”
“Yes, between Master and servant, status is clearly divided. Rather than talk about relationships, it’s more about loyalty, right? I’m a Maid, so I belong to Her Highness.”
“That’s true.”
“What about you?”
Marentia hesitated for a moment, then turned her head and met Su Ling’s bright, clear eyes.
“I’m just guessing, but you asked me because something happened between you and Nori, right?” Su Ling asked directly.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Marentia sighed, feeling a strange sense of inferiority in the face of Su Ling’s perceptiveness.
“I care deeply about Her Highness, and she cares for me as well. But I’m afraid I won’t live up to Nori—Her Highness’s expectations.”
Propping her chin, Su Ling nodded as if she understood.
“If it really troubles you that much, why not talk it over with her?”
“Huh? Just say it directly?”
“Of course. Rather than let things drag on, it’s better to be clear before it even starts.”
The silver-haired girl smiled gently, her brows soft, and a hint of encouragement shone in her blue-green eyes. Marentia opened her mouth, but in the end, it only became a sigh.
She knew Su Ling was comforting her, her tone gentle, but what welled up inside Marentia was still an unspeakable sense of loss.
She’d long sensed Sista’s special feelings for Su Ling, and had seen the two of them together, somewhat intimately, in the corners of the Castle.
“So you and Her Highness can communicate so openly…”
After she finished speaking, Marentia stood up, feeling a bit envious and somewhat at a loss, gazing at Su Ling.
“Sorry for venting so much. I should get back to work soon,” she said.
Without waiting for Su Ling’s response, Marentia quickly left the stairwell, feeling her chest tighten and her thoughts in chaos.
That night, when she returned to her own modest servant’s room.
Marentia sat on the edge of her bed, held her head in her hands, and closed her eyes. Those perfectly replicated, faded-yellow Parchment Maps lay scattered across her bed, like waste paper abandoned at random.
The cold wind drifted in, searching like a wolf, and she hung Nori’s Pig’s Eye Stone Pendant around her neck, hoping to borrow its warmth to recall that day of tenderness.
“Nori… you do love me, don’t you?”
The girl murmured toward the cold, hard wall.
But the night was too deep and too cold, and everything was swallowed up in the shadows.
