"So, please! Don't act so presumptuous. I was the one who asked to be by Her Highness's side. Her Highness simply listened to my stubbornness."
Saya shook off her brother's hand. Her sparkling eyes were determined.
"She is the one who protected me. Then and now. If you insult her one more time, even I won't tolerate it."
Theo swallowed the shock.
He couldn't possibly accept the fact that his sister's blind loyalty surpassed even the love between blood relatives.
"Just as you abandoned me and chose revolution, I chose Her Highness."
"I!"
"Don't be angry. You know you don't deserve it."
Saya's steps, as she was about to turn around, stopped.
"If you're going to the Holy Land. I hope you take care of yourself. Goodbye, Theo."
"..."
There was no promise to see each other again, no promise for the future.
Theo was unable to stop his sister from leaving.
He was looking at her foolish back with resentment when suddenly he realized something.
The fact that he left Saya alone and didn't even show her his back.
***
Saya walked quickly.
"..."
It wasn't until she passed where she had met Theo and reached a deserted place that she stopped walking.
Saya tightly closed her eyes and bit her lip.
"Hoooo... Haa!"
She took a deep breath.
Saya repeated the breathing until her chest swelled and felt like it would burst.
After some time had passed, Saya opened her eyes again.
"I have to go home!"
She headed to the Princess's palace with a lively smile and a clenched fist that seemed to erase the darkness from before.
And then she came across a maid from the palace carrying a thousand baskets.
"April, please do my laundry! I'll be back soon!"
"No, It's okay. It's not that heavy. You go to the palace quickly. Her Highness has returned and is looking for you."
"Her Highness? Yes!"
Saya nodded vigorously and ran as fast as she could.
As she got closer to the palace, her heart started pounding as if all the courage she had had until then had disappeared. When Theo came to visit his sister, Medea prepared a room in the outer palace for her.
So that the siblings can talk freely without being noticed by people. At the time, Saya thought it was just Medea's consideration, but now she's a little scared.
'Will Her Highness still accept me? What if she tells me to follow my brother since I am Theo's younger sister?'
And soon Saya discovered the Princess.
The Princess was drinking tea on the terrace overlooking the beautiful garden.
Saya's heart was filled with emotion at the sight that was unchanged from usual.
"Your Highness!"
So, without realizing it, she forgot her manners and called the Princess.
The shout was so loud that Neril, who was picking up a sugar cube to put in her tea from across the way, overturned the sugar container.
"I, you!"
"Eek. I'm sorry. Your Highness. Are you surprised?"
Even Neril, who was glaring, looked lovely today.
"Neril, I'm fine. Saya, how was your trip?"
Medea turned her head toward Saya. Their eyes met.
Many stories flowed beneath the silent eye contact.
Saya nodded vigorously, holding back the tears that threatened to fall.
"Yes! I'm back!"
By the Princess's side. This is where I should be.
"That's good. Bring me more sugar cubes."
Medea gestured calmly toward the overturned sugar shaker.
"Yes! Just leave it to me!"
Saya nodded vigorously as if she was a warrior called to save the world, and then quickly left.
'What did that child eat wrong?'
Nerill was bewildered by the intense appearance of this child, who was usually quick-witted.
"I heard Theo enter the palace. It looks like Saya has also decided on a place to stay."
"Ah..."
Neril nodded with an expression that suggested she was guessing. Then she voiced one last concern.
"Saya, can I trust that child until the end?"
"If you didn't believe her, you wouldn't have kept her by your side in the first place."
Medea bent down and stroked the sunflowers in the garden.
Meanwhile, in the Princess's palace kitchen.
Saya was a perfect maid, burning with the desire to assist Medea.
"Chef! Please take care of the sugar shaker, this, and that! Her Highness will be in the market!"
In addition to the sugar shaker, Saya also did not forget to pack some snacks and food that she had gotten from the chef, with whom she was friendly.
"Oh, I got it. Wait a minute, you little punk. I need to get the cake from the ice rink."
The chef grumbled at her request and got up.
"...What?"
While waiting for him to go get the cake she had stored, Saya spotted a figure moving in the pantry of the kitchen far away.
"Sister Marieu? What is all that?"
"Ugh!"
Saya approached and poked her.
Marieu, who was sweeping food into a bundle, jumped up in surprise.
"No, I was surprised! Are you a ghost? Without even making a sound?"
Marieu suddenly got angry.
"I think you're crazy. You haven't learned anything, so your voice is as loud as a firecracker..."
She kept rubbing her chest and stomach, expressing her irritation. But Saya didn't care and just shook her head.
"Fruit, bread, and even beef jerky? What the heck? Who gave you permission to steal food?"
Marieu hurriedly hid the bag behind her, but Saya had already discovered it.
"Stealing? I'm going to eat it!"
"You're eating all this by yourself, Sister? It'll rot before you even finish it. Are there ten beggars in your stomach?"
Saya grumbled. It was as if she knew it was all a lie.
"Don't you know that stealing the palace supplies is something that the punishment is 10 years old? Do you think your butt will be spared?"
"Yeah, what's your problem- can't you let this go?"
Marieu hurriedly picked up the bag and tried to leave, but Saya's strong hands wouldn't let go.
"Oh! The chef is coming! Over here! Over here!"
Marieu, startled by Saya's fuss, put down the sack and turned away.
Saya, who said she would bring a sugar shaker, showed up carrying a tray full of snacks.
"Your Highness, do you know what I just saw?"
There was also steam coming out of her nose.
Neril quickly took the tray down and asked, worried that Saya's breath would touch the cake on the tray.
"What the hell is going on?"
"That's what Sister Marieu said! She stole food from the kitchen again! She said she was going to eat it herself, but who would believe such an obvious lie?"
She pointed down the terrace with her hand.
They saw Marieu approach April, who had brought in her laundry, and say something to her.
As April shook her head, Marieu grimaced and rubbed her stomach with an uncomfortable expression.
"My sisters say that these days, people even steal pillowcases and sheets from the laundry room. And do you know where they go with all that?"
Saya stuck out her lips.
"To the little Duke Claudio! As Your Highness's maid, she visits that trash every day and imprisons him!"
Saya also developed good relationships with the prison guards when Minister Etienne was imprisoned last time.
Her bright and cheerful personality and the small bribes she gave at the Princess's command melted the hearts of even the sullen guards.
So, she was the first to find out about Marieu's secret visit.
She thought Marieu was so ungrateful.
Medea forgave the sins that Marieu committed against her, which deserved death. Does the person who committed them have no brain or at least no shame?
Saya has already heard from the maids around her about the plot that the former chief maid and Marieu had plotted to trap the Princess before Saya entered the palace.
'I should have pretended not to know and hit her hard earlier...'
While Saya was slamming her trembling fist into her palm in belated regret, Medea looked down at Marieu below the terrace.
Her green eyes didn't miss the slightly swollen lines and prominent curves of her body.
Although not noticeable, her waistline is thicker than usual and she keeps putting her hand on her stomach as if she is uncomfortable.
'Something good happened at my uncle's house?'
Most of the court ladies, including the maids in the Princess's palace, are unmarried.
However, Medea, who had given birth to two children in her past life, was able to notice the change in Marieu.
"Your Highness, shall I wait in front of the prison and arrest her on the spot?"
"You didn't have to go that far to find it."
Medea shook her head.
In her green eyes, there was a leisurely look of waiting for prey.
"She'll come back here anyway."
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