After her bath, Sveta stood by the window and watched the line of carriages gradually disappear into the distance.

The night before, Aiden had taken her to dinner at Hazel’s.

The meal had been pleasant enough, filled with Hazel’s playful jokes and Aiden’s brief, restrained replies.

In fact, it had been almost cheerful.

Now, however, she found herself regretting that Hazel, who had brought warmth to the table, was leaving.

A quiet premonition lingered within her, whispering that she might never see him again.

Noticing her subdued mood, Hazel drew close to her and said.

“I sincerely hope you find happiness, Milady.”

“…I wish you fortune, Viscount.”

They shared the same farewell that they had exchanged on the bridge the day she fled.

Hazel smiled gently.

His lips, the same rich color as Aiden’s, curved into an elegant, refined smile.

It was a beautiful smile.

Even now, a day later, she could recreate it perfectly from memory.

Gazing towards the road where the carriage had disappeared, Sveta whispered.

“I wish you fortune, Viscount. Truly.”

Soft spring sunlight poured over her dark hair.

As it dried, her damp locks lifted slightly.

Stepping in front of the mirror, she began to work violet oil into her still-moist hair.

“Milady, let me do that for you!”

Amy, having finished tidying the bath, spoke brightly as she approached.

“Please don’t do it yourself—call for me. I’ve told you before, I truly like serving you.”

“Thank you.”

Amy was perhaps a little too eager and brushed Sveta’s hair a little too roughly, but Sveta endured it without complaint.

She remembered how Amy had once trembled with fear at the prospect of being dismissed.

She also thought of Beth, who had stood beside her that day, looking at her with sorrowful blue eyes.

‘What became of Beth?’

Since that incident, Beth had vanished.

“Beth, did you tell Lady Noma? About the child?”

“I’m sorry, Sveta. I had no choice. I was afraid Lady Noma might kill you. I thought… if she knew you were carrying a child, she wouldn’t be able to bring herself to kill a woman with a baby…”

Sveta had not believed Beth’s excuse.

And so she had not forgiven her.

‘But what if Lady Noma had already resolved to kill me from the beginning?’

Whether she had carried a child or not, the outcome would have been the same.

‘I would have been attacked and fallen into the water anyway.’

Perhaps Beth’s betrayal had little effect on Lady Noma’s resolve.

After all, she was a Strilland.

Strillands did not consider maids to be human.

With a bitter expression, Sveta traced the rounded frame of her hand mirror.

After a moment’s hesitation, she asked lightly.

“Amy, I haven’t seen Beka lately.”

“Beka?”

“Is something wrong?”

Still brushing diligently, Amy replied,

“The head maid assigned her to different duties recently.”

Sveta nodded.

“I see.”

‘That’s a relief.’

She swallowed the rest of her words.

She could not forgive Beth.

And yet, her heart still ached for her.

It was foolish, perhaps, but it was true.

Maybe it was because of the tender memories she had of her days as a slave, when Beth had shown her kindness.

Not every moment of that past could have been a lie.

If they had been—

—then she would have to deny it all.

And that would be too painful.

It would be too cruel.

To steady her tangled thoughts, she lifted the hand mirror.

Then she heard a polite knock at the door.

“Is it His Grace? I’ll see.”

There were low murmurs coming from near the door. From the sound of it, it was Sir Pailin.

Amy bowed deeply to him, then closed the door and returned.

“The knight says he has something to tell you.”

“Is that so?”

“I’ll help you change first.”

The moment Sveta rose, the hand mirror resting on her lap slipped and fell.

Crash.

It shattered instantly into several pieces.

“Oh! A broken mirror! That must mean something good will happen today.”

“Breaking a mirror means good fortune?”

“Yes. There’s a tradition of stepping on and breaking a mirror before undertaking something important. They say that if you don’t cut yourself on the shards, good things will follow.”

As she spoke, Amy quickly gathered the fragments.

“Milady, please step back. You might hurt your feet.”

“You don’t need to trouble yourself so much, Amy.”

“No, Milady! It’s my duty. If you were to be injured, I would—”

Was she truly that afraid?

Amy’s ears reddened as she bowed her head.

Sveta softened her voice as much as she could.

“That won’t happen. And you won’t be dismissed.”

“Truly?”

“Yes. Truly.”

Relief washed over Amy’s face at that assurance alone.

She swept the floor clean, then hurried to the wardrobe.

When she dressed Sveta in a white gown with a voluminous skirt, a smile lit up her face.

After tying a pale violet ribbon neatly around Sveta’s waist, Amy stepped lightly towards the door and waited to be dismissed.

“Have a good day, Amy.”

“Thank you, Milady. You as well!”

Not long after Amy left, Pailin entered. He bowed slightly.

“His Grace has answered Her Majesty’s summons and gone to the palace. If you wish to walk, I was instructed to escort you to the conservatory.”

“……”

“And… I thought it best to return this.”

He held something out towards her.

It was the bracelet she had thrown into the flowerbed the day before.

Sveta looked at it quietly.

A faint crack marred the edge of the coral rose.

The pearls, which were clearly expensive at first glance, still glowed with a soft lustre.

“It’s clean. Did you polish it yourself, Sir?”

“Yes. While I was cleaning my sword… I thought I might as well.”

His voice trailed off.

It must have been difficult to polish such tiny pearls with such large hands.

Unable to dismiss his efforts as meaningless, Sveta accepted the bracelet.

“…Thank you.”

“Yes, then.”

As he turned to leave, she spoke.

“I would like to walk.”

“Yes. If you lead, I will follow.”

“Today, I would like to walk in the garden. Not the conservatory.”

Pailin hesitated before replying.

“If you catch a chill, my lord will be concerned.”

“I am not so fragile that a spring breeze will make me ill.”

“……”

He said nothing more. He simply followed her.

The spring sunlight was bright, though the wind was mild.

Her dark hair, gleaming faintly, swayed softly in the breeze.

It was loosely arranged. By any measure, it was untidy.

Sveta did not care.

‘If only he would say he’s tired of all this… that I lack refinement… that he finds me distasteful.’

As she walked past the garden, the artificial lake came into view.

Its black surface, gaping towards the sky, suddenly seemed like the open mouth of a monstrous beast.

She stopped abruptly.

The hairs on the back of her neck prickled.

Her breathing quickened.

‘I thought I would be all right.’

She had fallen into the water the previous autumn.

At that time, she had recoiled from even the slightest touch of water on her skin.

By winter, her fear had dulled somewhat.

She could now step into a bath with water up to her ankles.

Bathing was still difficult, but possible.

She believed that she could at least approach the lake.

“Are you well?”

Pailin asked carefully as her entire body began to tremble.

“No—yes. It’s just… I’m fine. I should go back.”

She had planned to throw the bracelet into the lake.

Even Sir Pailin wouldn’t have been able to retrieve it.

That was why she had deliberately chosen this path.

Yet she could not bring herself to go any closer.

The memory of that day seemed to rise from the ground beneath her feet, slowly creeping upwards.

Sveta pressed her toes firmly into the earth and forced herself to take a step.

With trembling fingers, she placed her hand on her abdomen.

‘Berry.’

Ivan explained that the child within her had died the moment the blade pierced her stomach.

In other words, the damage had been done even before she fell into the water. And yet, she still felt as though Aiden were to blame.

She could not forget the cold look in his eyes as he left her to drown.

‘If he had known that I feared water, would it have been different?’

If only he had known.

If only.

Regret changed nothing.

It was a meaningless supposition.

As Sveta stepped fully into the garden and shook her head slightly, Pailin spoke.

“It was by my lord’s command.”

“What was?”

She followed the direction of his pointing finger.

The garden that had once been filled with bright yellow daffodils last spring was now entirely covered in pink roses.

“He ordered the garden to be redesigned.”

“Why would he…?”

The rose attached to the bracelet in her hand felt unbearable, too.

Impulsively, she threw the bracelet away as she strode towards the flowerbed.

“…Milady.”

Pailin’s startled voice sounded behind her.

“I’m sorry, Sir Pailin. You went to such trouble to retrieve it.”

She turned to look at him.

When their eyes met, Pailin lowered his gaze at once.

“It is nothing. I can retrieve it again.”

“No. Please don’t.”