“…It is a gift His Grace selected with great care.”

“I know. I do know…”

It felt as though black water had risen to her throat, threatening to swallow her whole. Her shoulders trembled faintly with helplessness.

“He gives me such a precious gift on a whim, and then treats me like this…”

She hated him. She hated Aiden, who had the power to restrain her even when he wasn’t there, leaving her unable to move.

Raw, unrefined anger surged up her throat. Heat gathered behind her eyes. Sveta lifted the hem of her skirt and ran straight into the flowerbed.

“Miss, I will go instead.”

“No, stay where you are. I’ll do it!”

Sveta drew in harsh, ragged breaths. The uncharacteristic sight made Pailin’s gaze waver.

“…Your dress will be ruined.”

“I don’t care.”

The entire garden had been torn apart just to plant the rose bushes, leaving dark, velvety soil scattered unevenly across the ground.

She hated Aiden and, by extension, the garden he had ordered to be cultivated.

Overflowing with roses in every shade of pink, the garden became the helpless target of her restless anger as she strode through it without restraint.

She seized a rosebush and shook it for no reason, but she could not bring herself to break a single stem. Instead, she drove her hands into the blameless earth, clawing at it with furious desperation.

She remained like this for a long time, consumed by her anger, tearing at the soil as though it alone could bear the weight of her pain.

“…Shall I help you?”

As if embarrassed, Pailin tilted his head slightly and asked the question.

It was only then that Sveta realized how crazy she had been acting.

Her labored breathing had already begun to slow down. The wild mass of emotions raging inside her quietened down, too.

“No, Sir. I’ll do it.”

Her voice had grown steadier now as she began searching for the bracelet.

It did not take long before Sveta spotted it resting atop a lush, full blossom.

“…Here it is.”

The hand that lifted the bracelet was filthy. She did not take off her white lace gloves, which were now covered in dirt.

The hem of her white dress was no better.

The sunlight burned harshly overhead. Sveta wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. Her face must have been a mess by now, too.

‘I hope he sees me like this.’

She found herself hoping he would say that this was the reason he had grown to dislike her.

“Sir Pailin, I found it.”

Sveta called out to Pailin, who was standing like a statue where he had been standing.

She trudged towards him, her feet sinking into the soft earth with every step.

Suddenly, she felt something hard press against the tip of her shoe.

It was a small, neatly rounded stone.

“……”

Just as Sveta bent to pick it up, a large shadow fell over her.

At the same time, she heard Pailin’s voice.

“My lord, you have returned.”

Sveta slowly stood up and found herself face-to-face with the man looking down at her.

He had gone to see the Queen and returned a changed man. Aiden stood with his arms crossed, tilting his head slightly.

His gaze travelled over her sweat-dampened forehead, disheveled hair, the palm-sized stone and bracelet clutched in her hands, her blackened gloves, and the dirt-streaked hem of her dress.

At last, Aiden managed to speak.

“…I did not know you had an interest in gardening.”

The sight of her dress, weighed down with clumps of soil, made his skin crawl, as if hundreds of ants were scurrying across it.

Every nerve ending prickled sharply.

Forcing himself to ignore his unease, Aiden lifted his gaze to meet hers.

In the pale golden light of the afternoon sun, her glass-like eyes shimmered with stillness.

“It seems to me that Your Grace is the one interested in flowers.”

Sveta did not take the hand he extended toward her as she stepped out of the flower bed.

“Do you like the newly planted roses?”

“I like this stone better.”

“……”

She held the stone tightly as though it were precious, then turned and walked ahead.

Her small frame wavered slightly, as if she had an injured ankle.

“Sveta, are you well?”

“…Yes.”

“I will support you.”

“……”

Aiden persisted, holding out his hand once more.

Sveta stopped.

For a moment, she lowered her gaze to his clean leather glove.

Her expression, clouded by conflicting emotions, revealed nothing.

“You seem angry. And perhaps sad.”

“Pardon?”

“I was speaking of your expression.”

At last, she turned away, deliberately ignoring the hand he offered.

“…I am angry because you came, Your Grace. And I am sad because of this stone.”

Her response was sharp and daring, and clearly intended to cause offence. Yet the attempt itself was not particularly offensive.

In fact, it was faintly ridiculous.

Aiden let out a soft, breathless laugh and fell in behind his partner — the woman who claimed to be heartbroken over a mere stone.

Her black hair, which cascaded down to her slender waist, swayed gently with every step she took.

And yet, somehow, he felt as though he was the one being pulled along, unsteady and helpless, swaying with her every movement.

***

Back in her bedchamber, Sveta summoned Amy inside.

“I think I need to bathe again.”

“Yes, I’ll prepare it right away.”

“All right.”

“Um… it might take a little time to get everything ready. But I’ll wash you as quickly as I can!”

Amy spoke without the slightest hint of complaint.

Sveta nodded. It had been her own sudden request to bathe, and she felt somewhat apologetic instead.

“Now that I think about it…”

At some point, the maids who used to enter in pairs had dwindled to just one.

‘Come to think of it, the knight who stood openly at the door—and the one beneath the window—seem to have disappeared as well.’

It must have been since the day he said he knew she was not Beth Gould.

The day he took her to the glass conservatory after so long in confinement.

A sudden question surfaced.

‘How did he find out that I wasn’t Beth?’

It was not something that required much thought.

If he had suspected her identity and chosen to uncover the truth, nothing could have stopped him. He was Strilland. That fact alone was explanation enough.

She had never truly believed that she could hide it forever.

Just one year — that was all she had hoped for. Perhaps she could deceive him for a year. If she could receive even a fleeting look of affection from him during that time, she thought she would be able to die without regret.

She had resolved to die willingly in Beth’s place.

But what had become of that resolve now?

She had intended to offer him her life in Beth’s place — a life that she had placed in his hands without hesitation. And yet, in a single cruel moment, it felt as though everything had slipped away.

A hollow, withering sense of loss swept through her.

She realized then that she had lost the two people she loved most.

Her throat burned, dry and raw, as though grief itself were scraping against it.

‘So I was betrayed by both of them…’

It was merely a thread of curiosity that had led her to such a cruel conclusion.

Sveta slowly sank to the floor, drawing her knees up to her chest and curling into a ball as though trying to hold herself together.

Her wandering gaze finally rested on the smooth stone, drifting aimlessly through the air like smoke.

She had found the stone by chance, half-buried in the soil.

But she had brought it back for a reason.

It looked exactly like the stone she had once treasured, and that resemblance had awakened something warm and painfully familiar in her heart.

“My precious stone…”

She murmured softly, drawing out a single strand of memory.

It was old enough to have faded by now—yet one she could never forget.

***

She was ten years old.

Back when Beth used to torment her.

Back when shackles had hung from her ankles.

Back when she was forced to follow Beth around all day, obeying her every command.

“Look at this. Isn’t it pretty?”

Beth held out a doll with a radiant smile.

“It looks just like me!”

The blue glass beads set into the doll’s eyes shone transparently. Its tiny red lips, painted with a delicate brush, looked dainty and vivid.

As she ran her fingers over the fluttering pink fabric of the doll’s dress, Beth said.

“Touch it!”

“No, my lady. I couldn’t possibly…”

If she touched it, Beth would surely find another excuse to strike her.

Clutching her worn skirt tightly, Sveta hurriedly lowered her head.

“Tch, how boring.”

“……”

“Go and do the laundry already.”

Beth dismissed her with a heavy sigh.

Sveta made her way unsteadily towards the well.

Despite it being a bright spring afternoon, the water was freezing. She drew it up and poured it into the wooden tub full of laundry. Then she bent over the wash, scrubbing with quiet determination.

In the midst of her struggle with the heavy, sodden cloths, she heard a familiar set of footsteps behind her.

With each stride, the sharp clink of the sword at his waist announced the presence of Jace Gould unmistakably.

Sveta’s hands stilled.

A tremor ran through her.

“You left out some of the washing again. Are you going to keep doing that? Hm?”

Jace Gould snapped at her harshly.

He threw a pile of laundry over Sveta’s head.

Of course, it wasn’t just laundry that he threw.

Something struck her shoulder with a thud before falling to the ground. A fist-sized stone spun at her feet before coming to a stop.

“Finish up quickly and come back! Don’t keep our Beth waiting. Hm?”

“……”

“Answer me!”

“…Yes, Master.”

Jace walked away, his footsteps as characteristic as ever.

Sveta stretched out her cold, stiff fingers and picked up the stone.

For a moment, she was reminded of the doll Beth had received as a gift.

The truth was, she had been envious.

It was something she hadn’t even dared to dream of, but she had wanted a doll.

No, just to touch one.

“It’s a pretty stone.”

She murmured softly and glanced around.

After making sure that nobody was nearby, she carefully slipped the stone into the pocket of her apron.

In the absence of a proper doll, she would plait straw and fashion a small figure with her own hands, playing quietly with her fragile creation. Perhaps she had only wanted to imitate Beth.

But even that small, innocent indulgence had been denied her.

Jace Gould had burned the straw doll before her eyes, turning her meagre source of comfort into a cruel spectacle.

“This is something they can’t take from me. They can’t burn it. So… it should be all right if I keep it.”

Her dark mood lifted instantly.

Sveta slipped her hand into her pocket and gently stroked the stone inside. It might have been foolish, but she felt as though it carried a quiet promise of luck. And so, she chose to believe in it.

From that moment on, good things began to happen one after another.

Beth told her that she would be her secret sister. Beth no longer tormented her. Instead, she handed down dresses she had already worn and promised to teach her how to ride.

Then, one day, Beth brought her a small horse.

Holding out a worn bridle, Beth said—

“Here. This foal is yours now.”

Sveta stared blankly as a smile spread across Beth’s face.

The corners of her sharp lips stretched wide, elongating into an almost too-bright smile.