“Ah!”

After walking for quite a while, Peter threw her somewhere. Ann trembled violently. The hood was suddenly ripped off, and she saw her cruel cousins. Ann struggled to free her bound hands. 

But the rope had been tied so tightly that it only dug into her wrists without loosening.

“Ugh, hnngh!”

Ann shook with fear as she looked around. The sharply jutting tombstones looked ominous. Peter giggled at the sight. Liz and Mary did the same.

“You always said you wanted to see your mom. So we brought you here.”

Ann looked up at Peter, her face covered in tears. She had no idea why they were doing this. Ann wiggled her hips, pleading to be saved. Suddenly, wetness spread between her legs. 

Liz noticed and laughed, saying she was like a stray dog that couldn’t even control its bladder. Ann trembled with shame and clenched her fists.

Liz, clutching her stomach with laughter, suggested stripping her clothes and tying her to a tombstone. Peter agreed it was a good idea. Ann looked up helplessly at her cousins casually exchanging such horrific words.

The three siblings praised each other for the good idea, then stripped off Ann’s pajamas and threw them far away. Ann spent the night tied to the tombstone wearing only her underwear.

* * *

Ann was discovered a little after five in the morning. The person who found her was the cemetery keeper. 

In a cold wave so severe that even wrapping himself in thick fur couldn’t keep out the chill, Ann was dying. 

He took off the thick outer coat he was wearing and covered Ann with it. Then he held her tightly and went to the village.

He didn’t know which family’s child Ann was. In fact, Bluebilt Village was overflowing with parentless children. 

Children who were practically beggars banded together in groups and attacked anyone, adult or child. She might be one of those children, but he thought he should look for a guardian just in case. 

After some thought, he decided to visit the person with the widest connections in Bluebilt.

Charlie, a retired soldier, was acquainted with most of the neighborhood and knew something about the Rosenthal family situation. 

He said the child was the Rosenthal family’s granddaughter. However, he didn’t know who was taking care of her. Eventually, he went to Paula, the youngest sister and the only one he knew.

“Oh my.”

It was morning. Paula woke to the dull sound of knocking on the door. She irritably asked who it was, then flung the door open. At the door stood a man with a bushy beard.

She froze for a moment, looking at him, then at the girl in his arms. It was her niece. Whatever had happened, she looked absolutely terrible.

“Where should I lay her down?”

“Uh… oh, there, put her there.”

Paula pointed to a worn sofa with a less than pleased expression. The cemetery keeper laid her on the sofa as instructed, then said they should probably find a doctor. Paula nodded. Shortly after, a doctor the cemetery keeper had fetched visited her home.

Paula mentally calculated how much the doctor would charge for the examination. And she wondered whether she should pay for it. 

She’d heard that Pierre’s daughter was being raised by the eldest sister, Rosie. She couldn’t understand why the child had ended up at her place, but there was no way to kick her out immediately.

She let the doctor examine Ann, then went to her eldest sister’s house.

“What? She came to your house?”

“Robbie the cemetery keeper brought her. I don’t know what happened, but she was pale like a corpse and unconscious. If Robbie hadn’t told me, I would’ve thought she was dead.”

Paula muttered with disgust. Rosie looked at Peter, Mary, and Liz, who had come home at dawn. The children were eating breakfast like nothing had happened.

“Paula, you should keep her.”

“What?”

Paula cried out in surprise. Rosie frowned like her ears hurt. Paula looked incredulous.

“Anyway, both Dora and I have taken our turns. She’s family, after all. You’re our sister too, so you should take her for once. We agreed to split everything fairly. If you really hate it, send her to an orphanage.”

“But I…”

“She’s pretty useful. She did her share at Dora’s place. But Dora has a nasty temper…”

“If she’s so great, why don’t you keep her?”

“She doesn’t get along with my kids.”

Rosie shook her head. She knew the cause of this incident—that is, the ringleaders were her own children. And she knew that Ann could have easily died. 

If it hadn’t been for sheer luck, Ann would surely have died. Last night was terribly cold, and if she’d been left in the cemetery for hours, something would surely have gone wrong.

The police had no interest in poor villages like Bluebilt. It was a slum where people died constantly. They wouldn’t care about one child dying. But Rosie didn’t want her children to become murderers.

If no one reported it, the police wouldn’t care, but the fact would remain that her precious children had tormented and killed their cousin. She would scold them, but if Ann continued to stay in this house, something like this might happen again. Liz especially couldn’t stand Ann.

“How can you say that?”

“Then send her to an orphanage. And please leave now. You’re being so loud I think our youngest can’t sleep.”

Rosie fussed at her sister while soothing her whimpering infant. Paula grumbled and left the house. After walking a bit, she muttered quietly.

“A maid… that actually sounds pretty good.”

* * *

“What do you…”

Ann’s lips fumbled. He whispered, “Don’t you remember?” 

Her heart, barely hanging on, seemed to plummet to the floor. Lennox looked at the woman who had gone pale like someone about to die. She’d been sitting there the whole time with an innocent face, pretending to know nothing. Lennox found it detestable.

“So you’re my friend.”

“……”

“My precious friend.”

He released Ann. Unable even to breathe properly, her lips only trembling, she looked at him with clenched fists. Lennox watched her from a distance. He hated the woman who couldn’t compose herself and only shook.

“Strange, isn’t it?”

“……”

“The first time was a bit awkward, but you liked it anyway.”

“Your Majesty, I…”

“Is it because of what happened after?”

Ann, who had been looking down, raised her head. Lennox stared at the woman who was starting to turn blue beyond pale. The trembling woman collapsed. He approached her slowly, his face twisted crudely. Then he softened his anger and spoke.

“…I’m sorry.”

A gentle hand grasped Ann’s shoulder. Ann flinched and tried to push him away. Lennox looked at the moisture forming in her transparent blue eyes. He chewed on the anger rising in his chest. That incident wasn’t a mistake. At least what happened that night…

Since she never allowed it again, it would be an unforgettable event for him.

“Please go.”

“Ann.”

“Please, just leave…”

Ann muttered while pushing away the chest of the man holding her. But the more she did, the tighter Lennox held her, trying to support himself. His stomach churned. Suddenly dizzy, the strength left her legs. She closed her eyes without realizing she was losing consciousness.

She heard someone cry “Ann!” in her ear, but she couldn’t hold onto her fading consciousness.

“What’s going on?”

Countess Hervonne, who had rushed over at the news, tried to calm her sinking heart as she asked Duchess Valenska. The duchess, who had just arrived, looked extremely pale. Beside her were Queen Dowager Ingrid and Viscountess Celinac.

Except for herself, the maids of Tulip Palace had been attending a reading at the Grand Salon. 

The Queen Dowager said she had seen the King and his maid Ann at Tulip Palace before attending the reading.

“They say it happened not long after she saw off Her Majesty the Queen Dowager.”

The maid who delivered the news that Ann had collapsed only said that much. When she collapsed, why she collapsed… Ann had always been healthy. 

Especially if she was with His Majesty the King, there was no reason to collapse…

‘Or is there? Could he have brought up that incident again?’

Countess Hervonne bit her lip hard. If Ann reacted this way, it could only be about that incident. She clasped her hands to her chest and swallowed a sigh.

She hadn’t been able to attend the reading because she was nursing her mother, who had the flu. If she’d been at the palace, she could have rushed over sooner.

Regardless of status, Ann was a child she had raised like an adopted daughter. Her heart sank whenever something happened. Especially after that incident three years ago…

“Sir Mori.”

The sound of a door opening was heard. Queen Dowager Ingrid stepped forward. Sir Mori, the royal physician, clasped his hands together neatly. The Queen Dowager spoke with a worried expression.

“How is Ann? May we go in?”

“Well… His Majesty has forbidden entry for the sake of Miss Rosenthal’s stability…”

At the physician’s answer, Ingrid narrowed her brow. The man with the monocle kept his head bowed as he composed his expression. Countess Hervonne pushed through between them, frozen in place.

“So is Ann all right, Sir Mori?”