The castle was already in an uproar.

The maids wanted to know what was going on in their Master’s bedroom, and their eyes kept turning to Evely. It was only natural for them to be curious, since someone was suddenly brought in and there was a lot of noise. They gathered and talked in whispers.

Evely wiped the tears from her eyes as soon as the maids left the room. But no matter how much she wiped, the corners of her eyes remained damp and she felt suffocated.

Avoiding the gaze of the other maids, Evely ran to the window on the other side of the secluded hallway. While she was trying to cool her burning eyes, she heard a gentle voice behind her.

“Evely.”

Startled, Evely turned her head. It was the princess.

She was a kind master.

“…… It’s so noisy inside. Did you cry?”

Evely felt like she was going to burst into tears at the calm voice, no less than the wind that was blowing. More tears came to her eyes as if comforting her sadness. But Evely held back the tears as best she could.

She was envious and hated Rose. But she was distressed that she couldn’t even hate her completely for doing her a favor. She blamed herself for being foolish enough to be jealous of her master princess, but as time went by, her heart grew dull. The guilt of hating someone else sank like a sediment, and only her jealousy of her rose to the surface.

“Why are you crying?”

Looking at Rose being kind to her again, Evely felt very ashamed of herself.

There was a moment when she didn’t want Rose to hate her…

In fact, she still feels the same way now. She didn’t want to hate Rose or be hated by her. She wanted to go back to the beginning, when nothing had changed for her Lord, his wife, and herself. Evely hesitated and opened her mouth.

“I’m sorry I look bad.”

“It’s okay. Actually, this is a secret, but I used to cry secretly when I was a child. It hurt my pride to show that side of me, so I never made it obvious.”

Evely looked at the princess and vaguely guessed that she must have had a different life than most royals. Occasionally, she would say something that sounded like an edge, but sometimes there was a shadow of self-mockery and loneliness attached to the side of her laughter. Was that why she was being attentive to her, a mere servant?

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

‘I’m sorry because I hated you.’

‘I hated you because I myself was too shabby and weak.’

“I’m not sorry for crying. I’m just sorry.”

Rose smiled at Evely and held out something. It was a small fabric pocket.

“Would you like some?”

Evely stared at Rose as if to ask what this was, and she continued speaking again.

“It’s a bag of candy. When you’re depressed, eating something sweet can make you feel better.”

Rose motioned for Evely to take it, but Evely hesitated, not daring to take it. After Ros waved for her to take it immediately, Evely had no choice but to accept the candy bag.

“Do you like sweet things?”

It was Rose who often ate particularly sweet desserts.

“Sweetness is because we know bitterness, it may exist. If you don’t know bitterness, you can’t enjoy sweetness.”

Evely blinked at the seemingly incomprehensible words. Rose said, staring through the window into the distance.

“I think that just as the front of a coin is the only way the back can exist, pain is the only way happiness can have any value. It is only through adversity that we can learn the importance of a happy ending. If everything in the world were sweet, people wouldn’t be eating cake and marveling at how sweet it is. They wouldn’t even know what is sweet. When I think of it that way, I feel like I can endure some of the pain and suffering I’m going through.”

Her expression looked determined. Her voice was crisp and clear, as if she was speaking to Evely. Rose turned to Evely.

“Don’t you think so?”

The look in Rose’s eyes was so blinding that Evely felt overwhelmed for a moment.

“So please don’t be too sad.”

Evely nodded that she would not, but she did, and all she could do that night was cry.

She was so sad, but she couldn’t even pinpoint exactly what it was that made her so sad, she just let the tears fall.

The night was as long as a woman’s cry.

***

“I’m late.”

Evely tied her hair up roughly and sighed. She’s been having trouble sleeping lately because she’s been thinking too much, but last night she cried all night and didn’t sleep a wink.

As a result, she woke up later than usual, and she was running late.

Evely finished her preparations and hurried out the door, where Olivia was hurrying towards her, calling out.

“Evely!”

She could see the servants and maids coming and going like crazy behind her. Somehow, it seemed much busier than usual mornings.

“Evely, have you seen the Princess?”

“Yes, yesterday…….”

“No, today!”

Olivia’s face went white as Evely replied that she hadn’t seen her today.

“The Princess is gone.”

“She was good……”

“Just as the front of a coin allows the back to exist, it is only through pain that happiness can have its value. It is only through adversity that we can learn the importance of a happy ending.”

Suddenly, Evely remembered the words of the princess yesterday. And then Evely, who remembered her determined eyes, huffed. She slowly opened her mouth with a look of surprise on her face.

“……already gone?”

“Yes. I don’t see her at all.”

Boom.

Evely felt as if something was falling from her heart.

Olivia’s voice that urged Evely to look for the Princess with her only passed her like the wind.

****

The princess was gone.

She was outside the castle when everyone’s eyes were focused on Alec, Evely, and Daniel.

The servants in the castle were worried about the princess’s disappearance and set out to find her now, but somehow Alec just kept repeating the words, “Let’s wait and see.”

However, even after four days had passed, the Princess’s whereabouts remained unknown, and Alec eventually ordered knights to search for her.

He mobilized the appropriate troops and searched everywhere, but there was no news of the princess.

And about that time, Evely found a piece of paper deep in a drawer in her room.

Evely could read and write. It was something her mother had taught her. She had told that to the princess, and she had listened with interest, which seemed surprising to Rose.

It was a peculiar thing for a commoner to know writing. Her father had told her that learning to write would help her in life someday, and her mother had taught her to write. Not to the point where she could speak fluently, but she could read and write a little.

[To you.]

Evely fumbled to read the text on the paper. It was one short line.

[I’m sorry I left everything to you.]

The Princess didn’t mention who, but Evely realized at once who it was.

And at that moment, she also realized that the princess would never return. What did she mean to leave everything behind?

Evely occasionally ruminates over the words of the note. When she was mopping, sewing, and cleaning up the house, the words seemed to flutter out and shake her.

The princess was gone and the castle was distraught.

Due to Alec’s sudden busy schedule, they didn’t get a chance to talk properly, and things between them just drifted along as they had that day, with no progress or regression. With the princess gone, what was the point of her being offended and heartbroken over the situation? Her master or even herself, didn’t have to care.

Evely thought that her relationship was like a thread tangled in a corner.

A ball of string that has yet to be untangled.

If someone doesn’t make up their mind to unravel it, it will remain tangled in place forever.

“I miss him.”

Nonetheless, she wanted to see Alec.

She wanted to see him so badly that it made her crazy to be wailing over him. She hated him, who couldn’t be entirely hers. She hated him for punishing innocent people and doing bad things to her, for making her disappointed…….

Hate and disappointment. That point has not changed. And the fact that she wanted to see him didn’t change.

Maybe love is not something you do because you like the person all good and without omission.

But we do it nonetheless.

Resentment and longing.

Like the front and back of a coin, like the sweetness of a cake and the bitterness of tea. No, it is as complex as a small road stretching out.

Like that, the mind was tangled in many ways without being united. A

As such, my mind was tangled into several pieces, not united into one. Having said that, I can’t even throw it away in the end. …….

‘Where does my mind flow to?’

Ha…..

As Evely was organizing the office as usual with a deep sigh, Alec suddenly walked in. It had been a long time since she saw his face, but Evely couldn’t smile as usual. Because there was something ahead of the pleasure.

“…… When will your wife be back?”

As questions go, the end was very monotonous.

Alec chuckled at the words. Then he added.

“I’ve given her everything I’ve promised.”

Evely thought that her master knew everything. Just as he knew about the princess’s night walks, he must also know why she disappeared. The fact that he started looking for the princess a little later must have bought her time to escape.

So what was the reason for letting the princess go? Was it because he loved her too much?

Didn’t he love the princess and send her away because he loved her too much?

Even though Evely thought it was ridiculous, it stirred her mind. It became agitated like a ship that met the wind and waves.

Alec brushed past her. As soon as he reached for the handle, Evely asked again as if she had grabbed his step. For some reason, her voice sounded a little sad.

“Are you going out?”

“I’ll be back.”

With a gait as cold as his voice, her master was once again out of her sight.

* * *