Lin Shu stood at the entrance to Seraphina’s bedroom, clutching rolls of bandages and medicine.
The door was shut tight. She raised her hand and knocked softly.
“Master, it’s me.”
The room remained silent for a moment before Seraphina’s voice finally drifted out. “Ah, my little sweetheart.”
“You’ve come at the perfect time. I’m a bit thirsty. Could you go to the kitchen and brew a cup of black tea for me?”
Seraphina’s voice sounded muffled through the heavy wood of the door.
“Oh, but I brought medicine and bandages. I wanted to help Master tend to her wounds.”
Lin Shu hesitated. Without Seraphina’s permission, she didn’t want to simply barge into the room.
“The injury is much better already. A vampire’s self-healing ability is very strong, so don’t worry.”
The conversation continued through the closed door, leaving Lin Shu with no way to see Seraphina’s condition.
‘Is that true? Her wound looked so deep when we were in the hall.’
An inexplicable feeling welled up in Lin Shu’s heart.
For some reason, she felt as though Seraphina was using these ordinary excuses to keep her at a distance.
‘Wasn’t I her personal maid…?’
She couldn’t shake the feeling that the gap between her and Seraphina was growing wider and wider.
Lin Shu silently crouched down and placed the medicine and bandages by the door. “Alright. I’ll leave these things here. If Master needs anything, please call for me at any time.”
Lin Shu cast one last glance at the shut door before turning to leave.
a short while later, the bedroom door cracked open, and Seraphina appeared behind it.
She had removed her clothes. The wound on her waist and abdomen had mostly healed, though the lower layers of flesh still appeared a raw, tender pink.
Cold sweat soaked the hair at her temples. The agony of torn flesh had been tormenting her for some time now.
Seraphina carefully crouched down to pick up the medicine and the roll of bandages.
She didn’t want Lin Shu to see her in such a pathetic state, or the girl would only worry more.
‘This pain… I should be the one to bear it alone.’
***
After Lin Shu brewed the tea, Seraphina sent another maid to come and collect it.
Still unable to see her, Lin Shu became more certain that Seraphina was intentionally avoiding her.
Her mood grew increasingly gloomy.
Sitting on her bed, she looked down and began to fiddle with the floral wreath hanging at her headboard.
It was the wreath Seraphina had given her the first time she had taken her to the garden.
The roses on it had already begun to wither, and only the woven vines still held their original shape.
“My little sweetheart.” Seraphina appeared at the doorway. She had changed into a new dress, and her purple curls draped over her shoulders.
Lin Shu started. “Master?”
She had thought Seraphina wouldn’t want to see her at all today.
“I made you worry. I’m fine now,” Seraphina said with a smile.
Lin Shu stood up to check Seraphina’s injuries. “Really? The wound has already healed?”
Seeing that the skin on Seraphina’s arm was perfectly intact, Lin Shu breathed a sigh of relief. “So, has the person who hurt Master been dealt with?”
Seraphina didn’t answer.
She averted her gaze, looking toward the wreath at the head of Lin Shu’s bed.
“That wreath is already old. I have a much better gift for my sweetheart. Do you want to hear about it?”
‘She’s changing the subject again!’
The accumulation of grievances and doubts instantly transformed into a ball of anger lodged in Lin Shu’s chest. She turned her head away. “I don’t want to hear it.”
Seraphina let out a soft laugh. She took a step forward, reaching around from behind to cover Lin Shu’s eyes with both hands.
“Then I won’t let my little sweetheart look, either.”
Lin Shu’s world went dark. She instinctively reached up to pull Seraphina’s hands away.
Seraphina breathed softly against Lin Shu’s ear. The puff of warm air grazing her earlobe made Lin Shu’s body shiver instantly, and her hands froze in place.
“There now, don’t move,” Seraphina whispered by her ear.
“I know my recent actions have made you sad. So, give me a chance, alright?”
Lin Shu’s heart skipped a beat.
‘Is Seraphina preparing to apologize or explain things to me?’
Driven by curiosity, Lin Shu complied with Seraphina’s movements. She allowed herself to be blinded by those hands and led, step by step, down to the first floor.
Lin Shu could feel the breeze on her face and the faint scent of flowers. Through the gaps in Seraphina’s fingers, she caught glimpses of light that told her they were standing in the garden.
Seraphina lowered her hands, and a transparent glass cube appeared before Lin Shu’s eyes.
“This is…?”
Lin Shu’s attention was captured by a unique seedling inside the glass.
The seedling was enveloped in a pale blue fluorescence. Its tiny branches were snow-white, looking pure and holy.
“I brought this back on my way home.”
“It’s called the ‘Moonlit Rose.’ It’s a rose that only blooms at night. Once planted, it will never wither.”
Seraphina held up the glass container and walked to Lin Shu’s side.
“I want to plant it in the garden with you. This will be a memory we leave behind together, and a gift that will never fade.”
“Let’s plant it together, sweetheart.”
Seraphina gazed tenderly at Lin Shu, her red eyes like the soft surface of a lake under the moonlight.
Lin Shu froze where she stood.
Planting flowers.
She remembered the fragments of sentences from that old maid’s diary. One passage had read: “…Master… garden… planting flowers…”
The same garden, the same roles, the same actions.
Leah’s shrill voice flashed through Lin Shu’s mind: “She’s just treating you as a replacement! You’re nothing but a shadow of the person she loved!”
‘So, was what Leah said—and what I suspected—all true?’
‘Why did it turn out like this?’
The person she cared about was right in front of her, and she had received a gift symbolizing a permanent promise. When two happy things overlapped, the result should have been a dreamlike happiness…
Even though bitterness wouldn’t stop welling up from the depths of her heart, Lin Shu forced herself to smile. “Alright, Master.”
They dug a small hole in the very center of the garden.
Lin Shu and Seraphina knelt on the ground together, carefully placing the roots of the Moonlit Rose into the pit and filling it with soil.
“There.” Seraphina patted the firm little mound of earth and smiled. “Doing something together really does leave a deep impression, doesn’t it?”
She paused, looking at Lin Shu. “It will always be here at home, right?”
Lin Shu stared at the seedling. Its tiny leaves swayed slightly in the night breeze.
“Yes.” She turned to meet Seraphina’s gaze.
Seraphina smiled. She closed her eyes and leaned in, pressing her lips gently against Lin Shu’s.
Moonlight spilled over them.
Lin Shu didn’t close her eyes. She stared at Seraphina’s face so close to her own, bathed in the moon’s glow, making her skin look exceptionally pale.
Unlike the kiss in the underground jungle, this one was light—far more tender.
Lin Shu thought:
‘Back then, did Seraphina do the same thing to that human maid?’
‘When you kiss me and close your eyes, whose face are you thinking of?’
The soft touch on her lips was warm, but Lin Shu’s heart was turning cold bit by bit.
Her hands trembled uncontrollably. She instinctively gripped her skirt, suppressing the bitterness inside.
Even if this love wasn’t truly meant for her, it was so fiery that it had given her hope again after leaving Leah.
Finally, Lin Shu closed her eyes and returned the kiss.