Chapter 40
She couldn’t deny that being called pretty, something she’d never heard once since coming here, made her feel a little pleased. Still…
“If the witch’s curse has been lifted, doesn’t that make her the fairy queen now? Shouldn’t we be calling her Lady Tiona instead of Kiara?”
“Lady Tiona? But wasn’t Lady Tiona supposed to be our king’s consort…”
“Shhh!”
The word “our king,” blurted out carelessly by one of the younger servants, caused a small crease to form between Ael’s brows. Fortunately, one of the older servants had the sense to slap a hand over the younger one’s mouth just in time, and the situation didn’t escalate further. Still, it didn’t take much imagination to guess what might’ve happened if the conversation had gone on any longer.
The servants seemed to have come to the same conclusion. The one who appeared to be their leader stepped forward and bowed politely.
“…Then we’ll be taking our leave now.”
“Alright. Good work. Ah, take this sheet with you while you’re at it.”
By then, even Ael didn’t stop them from leaving. He handed the sheet, the one Kiara had been wrapped in, to the leader trailing at the back of the group, and as if something had just occurred to him, added a final remark.
“And this time it was you who came to carry the bathwater… but next time, send the maids if you can. There’s a pulley, after all. It’s not proper for men to be coming and going in a lady’s chambers.”
It sounded thoughtful enough on the surface, yet a faint crease had appeared between Ael’s brows as he spoke.
Men shouldn’t enter a lady’s quarters?
He’d grown up in the imperial palace, where no one gave a second thought to the gender of the staff. He didn’t know why it was suddenly bothering him now. It hadn’t, just earlier. Kiara had still been in her robe when he’d brought her here and he hadn’t hesitated at all.
So when had that started to change… Ah.
“Such beautiful eyes.”
“So lovely.”
Yes. It was the moment he’d heard those words — the moment he realized that even to their eyes, Kiara looked beautiful.
Ael fell silent, his expression stiff. The senior servant, quick on the uptake, ushered the rest of the staff out. The heavy wooden door closed, and as the sound of their footsteps faded down the tower’s steep stairs, Kiara shot him a sideways glare.
“…What was that all about?”
“What was?”
“Suddenly telling people to say hello, make eye contact, all of that…”
“Were you planning to live like that your whole life?”
Her grumbling trailed off at his reply. Ael, now seated at the edge of the bed beside her, muttered the words to himself.
“If that’s what you want, I’m fine with it. As long as you’re in this little room, I don’t have to worry about you getting hurt, or dying, or anything like that.”
So he was worried after all.
Kiara looked over at Ael, seated beside her. He had just unfastened the hand guard on one side and let it fall to the floor. Now he was unclipping the clasp that held his cloak in place. The blank look on his face as he shed his armor struck her as strangely tired — enough to bother her.
‘…He said he was exhausted yesterday too. And he barely got any sleep…’
Surely he didn’t stay up the entire time after he left? As Kiara looked at him, her face tinged with worry, Ael continued speaking.
“But even if you’ve decided to hole up in here for good, you’ll still need to deal with people from time to time. Someone has to come in for cleaning, laundry, that sort of thing.”
“C-Can’t we ask Madam Raelin to handle that…?”
“Ha, Raelin.”
Ael let out a half-laugh as he dropped the cloak roughly to the floor. The way he spoke — the slight lift of one corner of his mouth — somehow felt mocking, which made Kiara frown.
He hadn’t liked Raelin from the start. Was it really just the issue with her sneaking out supplies?
‘…But that was because of me…’
Uneasy, Kiara hunched her shoulders a little and muttered as if to herself.
“Madam Raelin did do something wrong… but didn’t you say you forgave her…?”
“Forgive her? Sure, let’s call it forgiveness. Doesn’t mean I enjoy seeing her face all the time. As you know, I have to stay close to you.”
“S-Stay close…?”
Kiara asked cautiously. Now that she thought about it, even yesterday, Madam Raelin hadn’t watched her take her meals like usual. She’d just left some food and candles on the floor before vanishing. It must’ve been because of Ael.
All the while, Ael continued stripping off his gear at a leisurely pace. Gloves, arm guards, shin guards…
“…At least until we figure out how to break this bond. Damn it.”
He cut himself off with a sudden curse, and Kiara’s eyes widened. It wasn’t as if she wanted to be bound to Ael either, but still wasn’t he a little too bitter about it?
Wait, did he say there was a way to break it?
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