"Then my lady should behave like one," Martha commented.
Before I could say another word, she pulled out something from the pocket of her sleeve. "This is for my lady."
I swallowed my words and asked in surprise, "For me?"
"Hmm."
'Present for me?" I smiled lightly and took it from her, not waiting for a moment.
It was a delicate, finely carved hairpin with multiple and brightly shining stones fixed on it. Delicate gold chains hung to it, forming a semicircle, giving it a sophisticated look.
"It's pretty," I said with a light smile, suppressing a childish squeal not to show her how happy I was that she got a gift for me.
"But this pretty hair ornament almost cost me my job, my lady," Martha replied, hinting at the trouble I caused.
'Ohh, so she went to that shop to get this hairpin for me when I was running away,' I thought and felt bad at the memory, but as usual, there was no need to show it to her and apologize for it. 'I'm a princess, after all.'
"Thank you for this gift."
Ignoring my thanks, Martha went to fix the bed for me as it was late. "Tomorrow, we will have a cooking lesson for my lady."
The smile on my face disappeared as I exclaimed, "Tomorrow?"
"Hmm." Martha nodded while getting a new set of bedsheets and quilt for me from the wooden cupboard.
'No way,' I screamed inside. "But, we had it a few days back."
"Those few days were long back," Martha replied.
"I'm a princess. Why do I have to—"
"One day, by chance, if my lady is lost in the wilderness or somewhere unknown, she should know how to survive. People will not be kind to you when they call you a witch."
"Why do I need to when you are here—?"
"What if I'm not there with my lady, just like what happened today in the marketplace?"
Her words reminded me of the man who saved me. Ever since we returned to the palace, my thoughts were occupied with worry for Martha and about what could happen to her. I almost forgot about that man.
"That man!" I mumbled and looked at Martha. "Did you see the man who saved me? Who is he?"
"My lady, I didn't see anyone but one beheaded body on the ground," Martha replied.
"He was there," I insisted. "He was the one to behead that man. He has scary red eyes and—"
"My lady must have made a mistake," Martha interrupted me and finished preparing the bed. She then went to add more wood logs to the fireplace.
Sulking over the ignorant Martha, I complied and went to bed. "It's not the first time I've seen him … I don't know how to explain, but I'm sure it's him."
I looked at Martha, whose back faced me as she tended the fireplace. There was no reaction from her, as if she didn't hear me.
"I once saw him fighting in the mountains, and he was the one to pull me underwater... You don't believe me as always." I couldn't help but feel infuriated by her reaction—or rather, her lack of one. Whenever I said things I've scryed to Martha, I always got silence in return.
Martha finally finished her work and stood up to look at me. My eyes were full of expectations that she would say something this time, but…
"Seems like it's due to lack of sleep that my lady is having weird dreams," Martha commented. "I'll ask His Majesty to send more books for my lady to study so her mind will stop imagining absurd things."
"I don't want to study those boring books." I pulled the quilt over my head and lay in bed.
Martha came to fix the quilt properly. "Studying is important for my lady. One should have all kinds of knowledge if they wish to survive in this cruel world."
I turned to one side, my back facing Martha. "I don't see any of its use when I can't even use that knowledge."
"Then how come my lady recognized the flammable oil on that curtain and defended herself?"
Martha was right. It was because I have studied the situation of the nearby kingdoms and the current trade between them. Back then, I was curious to see what kind of expensive things were imported from the eastern kingdoms. Afterward, Martha brought one tiny bottle and showed it to me. We ended up using that expensive oil to ignite fire for our cooking lesson….Annoying cooking lesson.
Since I was young, Martha had taught me to read and write, and there was always a stock of books sent by the King for me to study. Though I wouldn't say I liked studying as I was upset with my father and didn't wish to follow any of his orders, I had to do it because of Martha, as she always found a way to make me do it.
Her favorite trick was, giving me a target, and if I finish it to her satisfaction, she will take me out. Sometimes, she would make my favorite food. Taking me out was the best deal for me, and I always did my best to get that deal done.
"Goodnight, my lady," Martha said, but with me being stubborn, I didn't wish her a goodnight back. I heard the door of my room open and close, which meant Martha had left.
Finally alone, my thoughts wandered about. 'Why does the King want me to study everything? Not like I'll be the one to rule his kingdom… Then...is this his way to torture me silently?'
Tired of having so many questions in my mind, I closed my eyes, only to remember that red-eyed man again. I couldn't stop thinking if he was indeed the man I saw in my vision.
The first time, I could only see his back and tattoo. The second time, those red eyes and the same tattoo.
"It's the same tattoo. I can't be mistaken," I mumbled. "Those eyes...?"
I focused on remembering and compared the eyes I saw in water and those I saw in the marketplace.
"Ahh!" I covered my mouth immediately to suppress myself from screaming loudly, or it would have ended up breaking all the glasses inside my bedchamber.
"Did...Did he just see me naked underwater?"
Just as Martha stepped out of Seren's bedchamber, the calmness on her face was replaced with worry. She was lost in thought as she entered her own room, and even as she sat on a wooden chair next to the window, the worry on her face never eased.
Martha's room was next to Seren's room. When Seren was young, Martha used to stay with the little princess the morning she woke up until she fell asleep. As the little princess was isolated in her tower all her life, abandoned by the entire world for reasons she didn't understand, she was scared of everything around her, especially people. Martha was the only exception; as her nanny, she had been around Seren since she was a baby.
As such, although most royal servants have their separate quarters from where they could be summoned by the chambermaids if needed, as Seren's only servant, Martha's living arrangement was different. She stayed in the guestroom directly beside Seren's bedchamber.
Although it was only slightly smaller than the princess's room, it was stripped of the decorations befitting a royal or a noble. It only had the basic furniture inside, and it looked pretty bare compared to others' living quarters. Perhaps, the only good thing about it was that she had the room all for herself.
Martha looked out of the window and thought about the incident in the marketplace. She couldn't believe Seren escaped, and she didn't even get a hint. Martha looked at her hands and twirled her fingers to check something.
'Is this spell losing its effect? How come I didn't figure out her whereabouts? It has never failed before,' Martha thought in a daze.
Martha recalled the scenes one by one. After buying the hairpin for Seren, Martha returned to the dress shop, and Seren didn't come out of the changing room despite waiting for so long.
Worried something happened to the princess, Martha tried to sense her whereabouts, but she couldn't reach Seren. When she stepped inside the empty dressing room, she found that the olive green dress Seren took with her was lying on the floor.
'I am sure she didn't come out of the shop.' Martha checked with the owner if there's another way to exit from the shop, and as expected, the backdoor was open.
'This girl!' Martha stepped out of the back door to manually retrace the steps Seren took because the magic spell she had always used to track the princess didn't work, and she couldn't understand the reason.
Only after walking along the alleys, guessing where she could have gone, did Martha realize that there was some unknown energy stopping her spell from locating Seren.
'What is this? I have never sensed such energy before. Why can't I reach her?'
Feeling even more worried for Seren, Martha picked up the pace, searching for her like a crazy mother who had just lost her child in the crowd.
Soon, she reached the market's plaza, where she saw an angry mob forming. Even without hearing their conversation, she was sure it had something to do with Seren.
"What happened?" Martha asked one group of women who were whispering among themselves compared to the rest who looked angry; they looked scared.
"There is a witch here, and she burned a few people," one of the women replied.
No longer interested to hear more, Martha hurried towards where most of the people gathered, and Martha realized she was headed towards a place Seren would never go.
'It's all my fault. How can I be so careless?' Martha cursed herself as she thought. "Fire? Someone must have done something to anger her." The area she was in was where ill-mannered men go for pleasure, and Martha could guess what must have happened.
Martha tried to sense Seren's presence again but frowned. 'Who is stopping me from reaching her?'
Soon, she heard a commotion in another alley where a mob of furious people blocked the entrance, yelling at someone.
'She must be there.' Martha stepped forward only to see the mob shifting back in panic, and she heard a familiar masculine voice, the same voice she heard while leaving the Second Princess's engagement ceremony.
"Didn't I warn you before? Anyone else wants to try again?"
The scared mob was too terrified to move, and Martha managed to squeeze her way to the front and saw a man with a bloodied sword. There was a corpse on the street, and it appeared that he had just beheaded the man.
'Who is he?' Martha thought, and her sight followed the familiar hat that the man held. It was Seren's hat.
Because of the man's threat, the mob had dispersed, and she found herself face to face with a red-eyed stranger. Based on how he carried himself, she could guess he was not an ordinary person. However, based on his expression, he recognized her and was probably someone from the palace. Martha didn't have time to talk with him as she needed to find Seren, but she was sure that the man had no ill intentions for the princess.
When she went closer, the man offered her the hat. The two didn't talk, and Martha went inside the alley as she was sure Seren was there.
Recalling the entire incident, Martha again looked at her fingers. 'Is it because of him I couldn't track her?'
Crack!
A sudden cracking sound pulled Martha out of her thoughts, and she looked at her window where the glass had small cracks on it.
Martha stood up from her chair immediately and hurried to go to Seren's room.
'But I didn't hear her scream.'
-------
Drayce was comfortably lying in bed, still thinking about a pair of pretty purple eyes, when his highly sensitive ears caught a muffled scream, followed by the sound of glass cracking.
Drayce found that the window of his room had some light cracks on it. He climbed out of bed and checked if there was an intruder outside who might have thrown a stone on his window or if maybe a swift bird had accidentally hit the glass, but there was nothing.
"This place is strange," he mumbled and recalled that muffled scream he had just heard. It was a woman's voice for sure and a familiar one too.
One corner of his lips curved up to form a little happy smirk. "Is she thinking about me, screaming at this late hour of the night? Did I scare the little kitten into having a nightmare?"
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