“Hurry up and finish…”
Su Ling whispered to herself, clenching her fists tightly in an attempt to ease her nerves.
As Sista’s footsteps drew closer, she lowered her head, her gaze sweeping from Su Ling’s toes upward.
Perhaps due to her anxiety, the silver-haired girl’s toes were pressed closely together, her unpolished nails elegantly shaped, their surfaces glimmering with the morning light like smooth, pale pink pearls.
Following the smooth arch of her foot upward were her evenly contoured calves and pink-tinged knees. Her slightly plump thighs were pressed tightly together, trembling ever so slightly, as if she was deliberately avoiding Sista’s gaze falling on a certain place.
“Don’t move.” Sista frowned, her tone commanding, as two slender fingers slipped between the tightly pressed thighs, gently prying them apart to carefully inspect every inch of her skin.
This woman… she really doesn’t plan on letting me go!
Su Ling knew she couldn’t resist, so she simply closed her eyes and pretended to know nothing. But doing so only made her more sensitive to Sista’s touch.
“Raise your hands.”
“Alright…”
She obediently lifted her arms, standing before Sista in a completely defenseless posture.
Then, Su Ling felt Sista’s fingers gently brush over her waist, then begin to press down, each motion seeming to check for something. She tried her best to suppress her discomfort and keep her breathing steady, but fine beads of sweat were already forming on her forehead.
“Is it done now…Your Highness?” Unable to bear the shameful feeling any longer, she finally spoke up timidly. As she spoke, she sneaked a glance at Sista, only to find those cold, stern eyes fixed on her.
“Mm, there’s no trace left by that woman. If Moria dares to touch what’s mine, I will never forgive her.”
After a long pause, Sista finally spoke, her face showing a satisfied expression. She withdrew her hand, her gaze once more turning cold, as if nothing had happened at all.
Su Ling let out a sigh of relief, the weight in her heart finally lifting. Thankfully, Moria hadn’t tried anything with her, if Moria had really bitten her, who knows how furious Sista before her would have become.
“Put on your clothes, tidy it up and your hair too.”
Sista glanced at the clothes Su Ling had placed to the side, signaling for her to get dressed, and Su Ling hurried to comply.
She slipped into her long dress, fixed her hair, and looped her fingers around her belt, tying a butterfly knot deftly behind her back. Only after she was fully dressed did Su Ling feel like she had returned to her usual self, her restless heartbeat gradually settling down.
“Do you have anything else to do later?” Sista asked.
“Mm, today it’s my turn to clean the corridor and windows from the library to the parlor, as well as all the staircases on the third floor, but, I am your personal maid. If Your Highness has any instructions, I will prioritize your orders.”
“Let Seban assign someone else to those chores. Since you have nothing urgent, stay here a while longer,” Sista said, hands clasped behind her back as she walked to the window, making it impossible for Su Ling to guess what she was thinking. “There are some things I want to ask you.”
“I understand, Your Highness.”
“Just now, Moria called you to the tea room. Did she do anything to you?” Sista’s voice was still cool and calm.
Su Ling shook her head. “Princess Moria didn’t do anything in particular to me. She just asked a few things about you.”
“About me? What did she say?” Sista raised an eyebrow, a hint of displeasure appearing on her face, though she still waited patiently for Su Ling to continue.
“She asked why you chose me as your personal maid, and also, who you usually associate with in the Castle,” Su Ling swallowed nervously, weighing every word with care. “I think Princess Moria’s real goal in seeking me out wasn’t me, but to find out about you through me.”
Sista didn’t seem surprised at Su Ling’s words; she only sighed helplessly.
“That woman… Forget it. Stay away from her in the future. If she tries to force you to do anything again, just refuse her. I’ll handle whatever happens afterward.”
Su Ling hesitated, then nodded lightly. She understood that Sista’s words weren’t casual; this was a real request that she not obey Moria’s orders in the future.
For a humble personal maid like her, this was a difficult demand. If it really came to that, how could she possibly refuse the command of a Princess of the kingdom? But Su Ling couldn’t voice her concerns—she could only silently pray that Moria wouldn’t trouble her again in the future.
“You have something on your mind, don’t you?”
“Eh?”
“When you came out of the tea room just now, you didn’t seem quite right. If you have any thoughts, just say them. I don’t like people who keep things hidden.” Sista seemed to see right through Su Ling’s mood.
“I—I understand.”
Hey, it’s not like I want to keep things hidden on purpose… Su Ling couldn’t help but complain inwardly. In the Blood Clan’s territory, saying too much is dangerous, that’s a vital truth. But since Sista was asking, she couldn’t keep hiding it.
“At first, I thought Princess Moria called me to the tea room because she had something for me to do. But the more we talked, the more I realized the person she really wanted to know about was you,” Su Ling said earnestly, looking at Sista.
“But if she just wanted to know about you, that motive doesn’t make sense—not to mention, why wouldn’t Princess Moria just talk to you directly? Even if she wanted to learn about you through someone else, there are others in the Castle who know you better than I do—honestly, I haven’t been here that long.”
Sista looked at Su Ling’s serious expression and found her somewhat adorable, her own expression softening slightly.
“So you think she had another motive?”
“I don’t know. I’m just curious, but as a servant, I don’t have the right to guess at the intentions of royalty.”
“Mm, you’ve pretty much guessed it.”
Sista smiled faintly, leaving Su Ling a little dazed. Judging by her expression, it seemed Sista had known the truth all along and had only wanted to tease her.
“That was just a trap to test me. The questions you mentioned were just a cover for Moria’s boredom. Her real purpose was to let me know you’d been taken away by her, and then see how I would react.”
“She wanted to see how important you are to me. She wanted to know whether I’d choose to clash with her, or choose to take you back…” As she spoke, her voice gradually softened,
“I lost to her.”
As they talked, the sun had quietly risen, its lazy rays filtering through the half-drawn, flowered curtains, casting the shadows of the two girls on the floor.
Su Ling stared wide-eyed at her, bewildered.
So, what does it all mean?
“Why do you…” She almost blurted out the question.