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I stopped in my tracks.

I thought I had heard her wrong. But looking back at her, Rebecca’s expression gave me the answer.

“Are you surprised I brought it up?”

“… No.”

She let out a low laugh. Her cold expression relaxed momentarily, making her look a little wistful.

“Mistress. I recognise your loss. And I hold the dead close to my heart. I had said it in place of those who are not here.”

She looked into the far distance.

“I hope you think the same, mistress.”

“I… do.”

“Yes.”

Rebecca smiled before walking away. Lowering her eyes, the sorrow she displayed a moment earlier had disappeared. I would not grow by cowering in sadness. Neither would I grow by moving past it. I had to calmly acknowledge it. That seemed to be what Rebecca was trying to convey as she walked away.

“I have gotten everything ready. You may leave with the patrols.”

“What about you, Rebecca?”

“I’m thinking of heading somewhere for a while.”

“Where are you going?”

“To be exact, I was planning on meeting someone.”

A moment later, she spoke to me again in front of the carriage.

“Mistress. What family do I hail from? What kind of templar is my father?”

“… The Duke of Aventa is a Templar of the Sword. But why are you asking?”

“My father had an older sister though she was not that much older than him. She was my aunt.”

I listened to her wordlessly, not understanding why she suddenly brought this up.

“She was once a Templar of the Sword who was more skilful than any other but she had one day disappeared, defying an Imperial Command. But I heard from her the other day.”

“Who is she?”

“Her name is Marissa. She no longer wishes to be called by her last name.”

I widened my eyes.

“I plan on asking her to return to her family.”

I widened my eyes. (1) I wasn’t surprised to find out that the Saintess Marissa was Rebecca’s aunt. Because I already knew that. But I was surprised to see Rebecca bring this up. Ever since she had opened her heart to me, she had never talked much about her family.

“… What if she doesn’t want to return?”

Rebecca seemed to ponder for a while before saying.

“If she doesn’t, I’ll ask her to teach me.”

Her red hair shook vigorously like a blazing flame in front of my eyes.

“You want to learn swordsmanship?”

Black eyes met mine in the midst of the swirling winds.

“No.”

Hairs of two different colours intermingled in the air. My heart was thumping loudly.

“Swordsmanship was not the only area she excelled in.”

Rebecca did not speak any further. She said she would tell me when she had the chance.

“No law in the Empire bans women from becoming dukes.”

Her blacks eyes glistened like black stones embedded in white snow.

“The coup had only brought losses. To the patrols and to me too.”

Was it because she was glowing like fireworks that my surroundings were blurring? Her smile was cold but her gaze remained clear.

“But time moves forward without giving time to grief. Perhaps the world would change according to what you do now.”

As the carriage began to move forward, Rebecca slowly edged away.

“So, I’ll support you. I hope you have a nice day. Mistress.”

***

The carriage ride to the North Tower felt long. Interestingly enough, it got chillier as we headed more northward.

“This is probably because of the powers left behind by the God of Snow and the Sea. They had blessed the northern part of the palace.”

The main god taking care of the Central Palace was the God of Death residing in the basement of the palace.

“Strong gods had rushed to bless the palace.”

The God of Fire had blessed the eastern palace, the God of Wind had blessed the western palace and the Goddess of Beauty and Love to the south. And in the north, it was said that that area of the palace had been blessed by the God of Snow and the Sea.

“The northern palace harbours winter’s energy.”

A part of the palace that held a season not seen elsewhere in the palace. I had wondered why Rebecca had handed me a thick mantle to wear.

It was not long before I reached the tower and got off the carriage. Moreover, since there was only one tower in the north, it quickly stood out to me. It didn’t take long to find a way to get in.

“Princess.”

We had gathered in an open lot not too far away. Soricks handed something out to me.

“Princess, you will be heading in as one of the maids working in the tower.”

This was familiar. When I unwrapped the clothes, it really did become more familiar.

“Meta had already finished recon of the area. You shall enter as a maid and head towards the top of the tower.”

He informed me of the precautions. It didn’t sound too different from what Anna had told me before.

‘I never thought I would be acting as a maid again.’

I remembered how I had borrowed Anna’s clothes to go to the laundry place.

“In the meantime, we will be responsible for monitoring the tower.”

“Yeah. Be careful.”

Soricks gave a slight smile.

“Princess, you must be careful too.”

After a while, I, who was now dressed as a maid, got off at the main gates. The guards had glanced at my shabby carriage before scanning me.

“Is she the new maid?”

“I guess so.”

One of the guards who were staring at me soon lifted his spear.

“Head to the top. There will be someone there to guide you.”

“Yes.”

I slipped into the tower through a window.

They had told me to head to the top but no one said anything about guards.

‘Of course they didn’t. Meta did the recon.’

There were a lot of guards here but in contrast, there were a few attendants including maids and footmen. Of course. Since this tower was just another prison.

‘Is it this room?’

I slowly opened the door.

‘Is no one here?’

I was momentarily surprised by the empty bed before I scanned the room.

It was then I noticed a man staring out the window forlornly. The man slowly turned his head.

“Ah. Are you the new maid?”

His voice sounded friendly and gentle.

“Yes. I’m new here. I look forward to working with you.”

As I slowly lowered my head, I removed my mantle.

“You seem to be having a hard time in the cold.”

Until that point, the man was still staring out the window. Glancing towards what he was staring at, I realised that it was a white palace. The towering pillars seemed to have been inspired by a Grecian Temple. Along with the undulating roof, the sun-stained landscape looked magnificent.

“Brilliant, isn’t it?”

He whispered. There was warmth behind his voice that sounded pleasant.

“Yes, it is so.”

I thought he was smiling but instead he was staring at me. HIs eyes then widened.

“You said you were a maid?”

“Huh? Yes.”

Why did he look so shocked?

The corners of most princes’ eyes were slightly raised. Fleon, Amor and Dane’s eyes were like that.

Though it made them look like various breeds of cats.

But Julian’s felt quite different. The corners of his eyes dropped softly, drawing a gentle brow line and his nose was sharp and prominent without taking away from the rest of his face, blending into the rest of his features harmoniously. Perhaps it was because he was smiling but despite wearing tattered clothes, just curling his eyes alleviated him out of his shabbiness.

‘So, his good looks weren’t for naught.’

Being one of the main characters in the story, he was indeed beautiful. I understood why he was praised but I was not impressed.

‘But why does he still look so shocked?’

Even with that calm smile, he still looked surprised. Julian slowly held his forehead.

“You’re a maid?”

His eyes were dark brown like the colour of the soil after rainfall. Confusion was swirling within them.

“Impossible. Why are you just talking to me like this? Did something come up?”

“… Do you know me?”

“How could I not? You’re my only sister. The sole Imperial princess.”

Eyes of different colours faced each other. Goosebumps dotted my skin. How did he recognise me?

“Ashley. I’m meeting you again. It’s nice to see you.”

He spoke as if he knew me very well. I retreated a step when I saw him waving his hand as if we had met before.

“How do you know me? I don’t think we’ve ever seen each other.”

“You’re not wrong, are you?”

I had never meant to hide who I was anyway. I had been planning on keeping this pretence until the opportune time arrived.

“Don’t you remember? I can recognise you from first glance.”

“Through what?”

He could have recognised me through the colour of my hair or my eyes. But it felt different. He was acting friendly with me as if we had met before.

“Speak clearly. I don’t like people beating around bushes.”

“Oh my… You really don’t remember, do you? I thought you would have a vague recollection of it.”

He smiled awkwardly.

“I had even given you a gift. So, I thought you’d remember.”

“A gift?”

“Yeah. On the day of the Founding Festival, I had gone out with my Templars of Wisdom. To buy a little something. And there you were, with the desert princess and, for some reason, the Prince of Walter.”

As he spoke, I recalled the past. And I soon realised what he had been referring to.

“If we meet again, shall we have a meal together?”

“A meal? You don’t have to…”

“Fate flows in accordance with the gods’ will.”

“… Are you flirting with me?”

A long time ago, before the [Primo Salvatio], Prince Cjezarn insisted on being given a stage tour which was why we went on one along with Ahasia. And the man I happened to meet at the stall.

“Does fate have to involve a relationship between man and woman?”

His face overlapped with Julian’s.

“… Ahasia’s necklace?”

“Ah. So, it was the desert princess’, right?”

Julian gave a slight smile. He had given me such a weak first impression that I could have never imagined him to be the leader of such a huge faction at the time.

“So, you’re saying that that pushover was you?”

T/N:

(1): The author repeated this twice. Not sure if it was a mistake but I left it in just in case.