The next day, Yulania couldn’t get out of bed.
She had been listless since she entrusted herself to the maid’s care for a bath, and she fell asleep as if fainting. When she opened her eyes again, every muscle in her body screamed and refused to move.
The maid had chattered something during the bath, but she couldn’t remember any of it. Only the maid’s name vaguely came to mind.
‘Was it Maya?’
Even though Maya had given her a massage with her skillful hands after the bath, it didn’t seem to help much.
“Hngh…”
Even tilting her head brought on a wave of pain, and a groan involuntarily escaped her lips. The mental strength that had sustained her for ten days had burst. As the tension eased, her barely maintained physical condition collapsed. It was as if she was protesting the hardships of the past few days, and she came down with a full-blown body ache.
Marilyn was right. It was too much for her frail body to ride a warhorse for so long.
She couldn’t even reach out to ring the bell. Yulania slightly hunched her back and waited for someone to come to her room.
Fortunately, the wait wasn’t long. It was already late morning, so the maid came to check on her.
Knock, knock.
“Princess, it’s Maya.”
“Come in…”
Yulania gave a sigh-like answer from where she lay. Soon, the door opened carefully, and Maya wheeled in a metal trolley.
“Oh, you’re awake?”
“Yeah… ugh.”
Yulania tried to lift herself up, putting strength into her arms, but flopped back onto the bed. Her whole body was in an uproar, to the point where she didn’t even know exactly where it hurt.
“Oh dear, what should I do? Are you in a lot of pain?”
At the sight of her, Maya rushed over to help. She propped Yulania up by pushing three thick pillows behind her back. Yulania leaned on Maya’s touch, groaning as she barely managed to sit up.
Once she was settled, Maya brought the trolley, which had been left by the door, to the bedside. On the top shelf were silver utensils that seemed to be for breakfast, and below were a wet towel and a tray.
Yulania gave up trying to raise her arm again and opened her mouth.
“Could you brush my hair first?”
“Oh, yes!”
The first thing she did when she opened her eyes was to tidy her tangled hair with her fingers. She disliked facing others in a disheveled state. That’s why she had developed the habit of starting her day by brushing her hair.
Maya took a wooden brush from the dressing table and slowly brushed down her golden hair. She seemed fascinated by the soft hair, but she tried not to show it, which was quite cute.
“Thank you, Maya.”
“Oh, no! It’s my job!”
Maya blushed and became shy when she heard her name. Then, she hesitated, wondering whether to take out the tray as she put down the brush. It was clear that she was not used to serving others.
“I’d like to wash my face now.”
“Oh, yes!”
When Yulania subtly told her, she quickly took out the silver tray and soaked a towel in warm water. Then, she hesitated again, looking at her, before finally making a determined face and bringing the towel closer.
“E-excuse me.”
Yulania smiled to indicate that it was okay. Soon, a cautious touch reached her face. It was clumsy, but it wasn’t uncomfortable because she was being overly careful.
Maya carefully wiped Yulania’s face, looking around with wide eyes.
When she cleared away the towel and tray and hesitated again, Yulania couldn’t help but ask.
“Is this your first time working as a maid?”
“Ah… it’s my first time serving someone of high status. I was very clumsy, wasn’t I? I’m sorry…”
Then, Maya was startled and put her hands together and bowed her head. She bit her lip as if she had done something terribly wrong and didn’t know what to do.
“It’s okay.”
Yulania gave her a gentle smile. But perhaps because she didn’t deny her words, Maya looked dejected.
“How old are you?”
“Fifteen.”
She was just as young as she had thought.
Yulania wasn’t such a harsh mistress. If she was young and inexperienced, she could learn gradually. She didn’t bother to scold Maya and changed the subject.
“I see. Don’t worry too much. Is that food you brought up there?”
“Yes, it’s soft bread and mushroom soup. Would you like to eat in bed?”
“That would be nice. I’m sick, so I’ll need help.”
Yulania nodded slightly. When Maya opened the lid covering the utensils, steam rose and a savory aroma spread. She brought the trolley closer and picked up a spoon.
“I’ll give you the soup first…!”
“Okay.”
Maya scooped up a spoonful of soup with smoothly ground potatoes, mushrooms, and vegetables and brought it to Yulania’s lips. Yulania ate one bite at a time, just like a child being fed by Maya.
Fortunately, she didn’t feel nauseous anymore. After finishing her meal moderately, warmth spread through her body, and she was able to turn her head a little.
Looking out the window, the world was dyed pure white. Heavier snowflakes than yesterday were constantly falling from the sky.
Unlike the relatively warm climate of the capital, the Makari Territory sees snow from late autumn. Around the time the autumn rain ends, it turns into snow like this.
Looking at the snow piling up on the roof, she was reminded of the territory residents who had welcomed Santia yesterday. And suddenly, she felt the absence of him, who had been with her for ten days.
“Where is he?”
“The Duke went out early this morning with the knights. I think they went to check beyond the wall.”
Maya’s eyes lit up as she answered the unexpected question. She seemed happy that she was being asked something she knew.
After finishing cleaning up the dishes, Maya looked at Yulania, expecting something, but there were no more questions.
Instead, Yulania requested something she could do.
“I need to rest a little more. Could you help me lie down?”
Yulania slowly blinked her heavy eyelids and opened her mouth. It seemed that fatigue had built up. She had only been awake for a short time, but her body felt relaxed, and she was falling asleep again.
“Yes, Princess!”
Yulania closed her eyes as she buried herself in the bed with Maya’s energetic touch.
Yulania woke up to a sharp, piercing scent.
She didn’t know how long she had been asleep, but it was dark all around, and a candle was lit in the room. She blinked drowsily and tried to put strength into her body, but her whole body was still full of pain. Her lower back, in particular, felt unusually stiff.
She gave up trying to get up and looked for the source of the scent. The culprit was easily found.
A large man was sprawled on the couch not far away, tilting a glass. After blinking her eyes, a couple more times to focus, she saw a dark blue aura subtly leaking around him.
“…Santia?”
It was the same appearance she had seen at the capital’s mansion. He couldn’t control his energy and was already half out of his mind. He smirked and looked at Yulania.
“Our princess… did I wake you?”
“…”
Why was he doing this again? This time, in her room. Yulania narrowed her brows slightly and asked.
“What are you doing here?”
But Santi didn’t answer the question and spouted nonsense.
“The demons… are rampant again.”
“…”
“I’ve been killing them for a whole twelve years, but they’re still, still alive. It’s really sickening. Damn it.”
What had happened in the land of demons today? His true feelings were contained in the rough curse.
She had never seen them herself, so she didn’t know, but she had heard that demons were terrifying and dangerous beings. Yulania somehow thought he looked tired and offered a dry word of comfort.
“You’ve been through a lot.”
At those words, Santi’s eyes widened, and he suddenly stood up from his seat. The carelessly placed glass hit the table with a clatter.
He stood tall in place, staring as if Yulania had said something she shouldn’t have, and then strode closer. And completely unexpectedly, he leaned his upper body close, resting his elbow next to her face.
The bed shook greatly from the violent movement. She was trapped under his large frame, and dark blue mana swirled around her.
Yulania, startled, reflexively raised her arm, but her hand, which went down again due to the surging pain, couldn’t reach Santi.
“Ugh!”
“Looks like you’ve got a bad case of the body aches. I can tell you can’t move.”
Santi looked down at her with a crooked smile, as if her appearance was amusing. Even the unemotional Yulania couldn’t help but be flustered by the sudden situation.
She met his face, which was close enough to touch, with trembling eyes. Then, he said something incomprehensible.
“Do you know you didn’t keep your promise today?”
“What promise?”
Yulania genuinely asked back, puzzled. She had just arrived in the territory yesterday and didn’t even have time to talk to him separately. Of course, there was no promise either.
“You didn’t come to see me off. I went to work early in the morning.”
“That’s because—”
Yulania quickly opened her mouth, dumbfounded by the words that followed. She was lying down because she was sick, but he couldn’t even overlook that once?
But Santi cut her off.
“So, I’ll take it now.”
“……!”
His face came closer in an instant, and she tasted a bitter taste of alcohol. Hot lips roughly swallowed her delicate lips.
“W-what are you doing…!”
It was the first time they had kissed in a room left alone like this. It was an unnecessary contact. But Santi, who wasn’t in his right mind, didn’t seem to care about such things.
He whispered, stretching his lips into a seductive smile.
“Why.”
When Yulania couldn’t speak, he wore a victor’s smile and looked down at her as if mocking her.
“It’s something you always did in front of others, why are you being so coy now.”
