By mid-afternoon, Aila’s basket was neatly stacked with wrung-out, pristine white laundry.

The winter wind scratched at her hands, reddened from the cold water, but Aila didn’t mind.

She was relieved not to be late.

If things went well, she could hang the laundry and rest briefly before evening.

As she straightened from her crouched position, a brief dizziness struck her.

After blinking several times to dispel the lightheadedness, Aila picked up the basket.

When it came time to return, worry raised its head once more.

‘It’ll be fine… right?’

Would the guards let her pass peacefully this time?

Perhaps they would find fault with her like they had threatened earlier and refuse to let her inside.

Anxiety grew relentlessly in Aila’s heart without pause.

The back gate was getting closer and closer.

“Huh?”

Fortunately, the gate was wide open. The guards didn’t bother her again either.

Moreover, for some reason, different people from the guards she had seen in the morning were standing watch at the gate.

‘They must have changed shifts.’

Having found the reason, Aila finally let out a light sigh of relief.

Perhaps those men worked from night until morning? Then, if she went out just a little later, she might not encounter them starting tomorrow?

With these various thoughts, Aila headed toward the clearing near the back gate where the clotheslines would be hung.

Just then, thick ropes stretching across the air caught her eye in the distance.

Both ends of the ropes were firmly tied to trees, and between them, dried fabrics fluttered in the wind.

The moment her gaze was briefly captured by the movement of those fabrics.

“Ah…!”

Her ankle caught on a laundry basket someone had left behind.

For an ordinary person, it would have been a simple matter of lightly twisting their leg to pass by, but not for Aila, whose ankle had weakened from wearing shackles for so long.

Her body’s balance was disrupted in an instant.

Without time to do anything about her tilting body, Aila tumbled to the ground.

Splash! The basket she was carrying tumbled with her, and the wrung-out laundry spilled out everywhere. The fabric that rolled in the mud quickly became a mess of wet dirt.

‘No…’

Her face went pale.

No, no.

With hands swollen from doing laundry, Aila began frantically picking up the fallen clothes.

She had no time to examine her own body, which had been dirtied from the fall. All sorts of thoughts swirled chaotically in her mind, which had gone blank.

I need to take them back and wash them again. But there’s nowhere near enough time for that. Maybe just rinsing would be possible? No, that level of cleaning won’t remove the muddy water.

I should tell the head maid the truth instead…

However, the moment she recalled that cold gaze, she lost all confidence.

There was no way she wouldn’t be angry at a maid who couldn’t even handle something like this properly. Perhaps she would be thrown out after just one day.

And her father would never forgive such a useless daughter.

Suddenly, tears welled up.

Her vision blurred, but even in the midst of this, her hands unconsciously continued picking up the laundry.

She saw one piece of laundry that had rolled far away.

Aila wiped her tears and reached out her arm.

At that moment, something pitch black flickered behind the laundry, and soon a shadow fell over her head.

Aila, who had unconsciously raised her gaze, froze in place.

A massive presence struck her like a rushing arrow. With an intensity that was utterly inescapable.

The man stood backlit.

Due to the shadows that half-covered his face, only his straight nose bridge, sharp jawline, and smooth lips were visible, but this didn’t hide his perfect appearance.

His hair, catching the fading sunset light, fluttered beautifully in a reddish-gold color.

Blond hair. Recognizing this uncommon color, Aila’s heart sank.

That color…

In tension, fear, and a faint expectation she didn’t even recognize herself, she unconsciously gripped her skirt tightly with her hands.

While her gaze wandered frantically seeking answers, the man tilted his head slightly.

Then the face hidden by the backlight was revealed.

Below a few strands of golden hair flowing down his forehead, blue eyes were positioned.

Aila’s pupils dilated greatly. Her heart began beating frantically and steeply.

Thump, thump, thump. The pounding sound echoed in her head like a drum.

‘How.’

Her small lips moved soundlessly.

She had only seen one person with this appearance in her entire life.

The boy who had been brilliant and enchanting like he was wrapped in light. An existence she would never have encountered in her lifetime if not for her father’s greed.

‘No way, it can’t be. That’s impossible. This is the northwest region.’

It was far from the place where that incident had occurred. It was nearly from one end of the empire to the other.

Fearing that revenge might come someday, her father had abandoned everything overnight and fled to this distant place. That’s what she had understood.

But, yet…

Those indifferent eyes from that day were looking down at her. The face drawn by flawless features was extremely expressionless, even eerie.

Before she knew it, her body began trembling on its own.

Absolutely not. He would absolutely never forgive her and her father. The boy’s dry warning that it would be better not to catch his eye rang in her head.

Yet she couldn’t take her eyes off the man.

The moment she averted her gaze, she had a terrible premonition that he would mercilessly bite her neck.

“S-sorry…”

Her voice trembled terribly. She couldn’t even finish her words properly.

Nevertheless, driven by the unconscious thought that she had to clean up the situation before her, she was fumblingly reaching out to grab the fallen laundry.

With a sound like something squishy being crushed, the fabric on the opposite side was heavily crumpled. At the same time, thick muddy water splashed and dirtied her hands.

After blinking to barely clear her blurry vision, Aila saw black boots that had trampled the shirt.

Ah… Her slender fingertips trembled.

“What did I do to make you cry already?”

The man’s voice pierced her ears. It was a voice so soft and gentle that it became eerie instead.

Aila trembled with hunched shoulders, unable even to lift her head.

Did he recognize me?

The kidnapper’s daughter, that loathsome and cowardly girl.

“I, I can unlock the prison lock. R-really, I can.”

How shameless must she have seemed for daring to say such words?

Even worse, when he discovered that even that was a blatant lie, when he realized that she was the one who had prevented his escape.

He must have wanted to kill her.

“Hmm? Why are you crying?”

The voice that had been coming from above seemed to draw closer, then suddenly her chin was grabbed.

As her head was forcibly lifted, Aila trembled like a startled bird.

The man’s face was right in front of her. Eyes like burning blue flames looked down at her penetratingly.

The cold gaze swept up from Aila’s nape to her tear-soaked cheeks and reddened eyes in turn, then one side of the man’s well-shaped lips twisted slightly.

“The ruined clothes are ‘mine,’ so it’s troublesome if you cry.”

Aila’s eyes widened greatly. No way, no way.

The master of the castle. The veiled existence she was told not to be curious about or dare to know…

Her breath caught. It felt like someone was choking her and shaking her entire body. The fear that instantly invaded her mind seemed to preserve her body, fixing her in place.

That boy had finally become a man and appeared again.

To punish her. To finally atone for that day’s sin this time.

“Are you scared?”

The man who had graciously knelt on one knee asked again.

“What could be so frightening? Ruining the laundry? Or dirtying the master’s clothes?”

Only then did Aila notice the man’s pants and boots, stained in various places.

Aila, who had been endlessly dropping tears from her eyes, finally managed to open her mouth.

“I was wrong…”

She couldn’t think properly due to fear. What flowed through her parted lips was merely mumbled pleas for forgiveness.

After watching those entreaties for some time, the man opened his mouth.