All the servants, attendants, maids and helpers at Veldam Castle were dismissed. Those who assumed it was because of the king’s madness were shocked to see that even the head servant, who served the king closely, was at the head of the line of those dismissed.

Everyone was curious to know the reason.

About a month later, some of the dismissed servants, unable to hold their tongues, began to talk. They said that the king, unable to control his anger after being humiliated at the recent tournament, had killed the maid of the woman he was in love with. Rumour had it that he had even forced the princess of a small, insignificant vassal state – whose name no one could remember – to take up the saw herself and cut up her maid’s body. People were horrified by the story.

As a result, Veldam Castle struggled to find new servants. But the lure of money was strong. The mad king’s only redeeming quality was that he paid generously, and the new servants were promised two gold coins a year. Despite their trepidation, the people entered Veldam Castle to work.

The woman who had lost her maid – killed because of the king – fell ill for several days. It was only natural. After all, she had spent the whole night sawing the bloody body of the maid who had died because of her. No one could remain unaffected.

The new maids pitied her.

But a woman called Nadia, who had been the princess’s maid for a short time, shrugged her shoulders and said to the new maids, “That woman had it easy, if you ask me.

“Why?”

A young girl among the new maids asked, her eyes filled with curiosity. Nadia scoffed. Normally, as a senior maid, she would have put the new recruits in their place rather than answer such questions, especially considering how understaffed Veldam Castle had become. At any other time, she would have told them to get back to work.

But Nadia wasn’t in the mood to work, and the eager girls in front of her seemed more than willing to take on her tasks out of curiosity. Looking at them with half-closed eyes, she finally spoke, as if reluctant to reveal a secret.

“The king beat the princess mercilessly. Every night you heard sounds as if someone were dying. You have no idea how horrible the king’s habits in bed are. You can’t even imagine.”

The girls gasped in horror. Some of them, no doubt, had come in the faint hope of catching the young king’s eye, bearing his child, and one day seeing him take off the golden mask. They’d soon give up on such thoughts.

Nadia gave them a warning, as if to remind them of something they’d overlooked.

“If any of you are thinking of ending up in the king’s bed, forget it. More than ten women have left this castle in coffins after being beaten to death by the king.”

“…”

“Just look now.”

Nadia gestured with her chin towards the distant door of the princess’s room. The recently ill woman hadn’t left her room for days. Yet her door was gleaming and soldiers were stationed around it. The reason was simple.

“They say he doesn’t beat her, but the king doesn’t leave her alone for a single day, even when she’s unwell.”

“…”

Some say she barely sleeps, kept awake by the king until dawn, only to doze off exhausted in the morning. There are also rumours about how explicit the sounds of their nights together are, though at least it’s a relief compared to the screams that used to echo out. It was the only consolation for those outside.

It is also said that when the new maids enter her chambers in the morning after the King has left, they find her in such a deep sleep that she doesn’t wake until noon. This surprised Nadia – she remembered the Princess as someone so sensitive that she could rarely sleep for more than a few hours.

When she finally woke, she would often go out, bite her nails and lock herself in the library to read all day.

And occasionally some of the maids passing through the corridors would hear her laughing wildly in the library.

“Ahahaha, ahahaha!” – her laughter, muffled but desperate, sounding as if she despised the thought of anyone hearing it, but could not help herself. The maids who overheard her were convinced that she had indeed gone mad.

Nadia had heard the sound once too.

“Ahahak, ahaha. Ahahahahahaha!”

The sound had sent shivers down her spine. She was convinced that the King’s madness had infected the Princess as well, and Nadia felt a wave of relief wash over her, glad that she had turned down the position of Princess Dion’s handmaiden.

* * *

“They say I’m crazy.”

Malyn said, lying on the bed with an indifferent tone. She enjoyed the soft, thin fabric beneath her bare back. In her hands she fiddled with a mask – a thin, golden mask. It covered only the bridge of his nose, leaving his jaw exposed, and felt smooth and warm, as if it had just been worn.

“Is that so?”

Yes, it had just been on his face.

Still lying down, Malyn looked over at the man next to her. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at her with a smile. His straw-coloured hair was much shorter than she remembered it being a month ago, but his blue eyes remained as calm as a still lake. She set aside the mask she had been fiddling with, rested her head on one arm and looked up at him.

“Yes. I sleep in the morning, lock myself in the library to read when I wake up, skip meals and pick at some fruit – and just like that, I’ve become the ‘madwoman’. Honestly, I don’t know where you’d find a madwoman as privileged as me”.

The man, Layla, reached out and gently brushed her hair back.

“You should still eat properly, no matter how much you pretend otherwise.”

“It’s not pretending, I just don’t have much of an appetite.”

Layla’s expression changed to one of concern.

“Are you feeling unwell?

“Not at all. I’m just… terribly blessed.”

Malyn scoffed.

Only the two of them knew that she was only pretending to be the “madwoman”. And it made sense.

They had gone through quite an ordeal to pass off Layla’s body as the King’s, feeding it to the dogs to leave no trace. After that bloody mess, one of them had to pretend to be insane to avoid suspicion, while the other had to pretend that his fits of madness still hadn’t subsided. Layla’s voice was almost gone from a month of shouting at everyone around her to keep up appearances.

“It’s simply a matter of disgust. I used to enjoy meat so much that it still often appears on my table, but after watching the dogs chew up his body all night, I find the whole thing rather disgusting.”

Layla’s expression darkened even more at her words. Sighing softly at the sight of his face, Malyn sat up and brushed his hair back.

“Stop blaming yourself. This isn’t your fault.”

“Yes.”