***

It seemed that the Princess wasn’t coming back.

Something must have happened.

Evely heard that some of the servants saw the Princess secretly leave.

What should the master do then?

Wouldn’t he get a new wife?

Uncertain and groundless rumors spread through the castle like a plague. The only ones who remained silent were Evely and Alec.

Evely deliberately did not express her mixed feelings. Instead, whenever she had time, she would lie in bed and read the letters she found in her drawer.

“I’m sorry that I left everything to you.”

What on earth did she leave?

It was a time when she had been repeatedly worrying about such unanswerable questions. Evely jumped to her feet when she heard her master was going to look for her.

Alec was sitting at his desk working when Evely arrived at his office. When he saw her, he pointed with his eyes to a small table in a corner.

She sat down on a chair in front of the table. On the table was a cup of freshly poured tea and some cookies neatly arranged. Evely had a sweet tooth, but she couldn’t bring herself to eat the cookies right now.

She reached out and wrapped her hand around the teacup, and warmth trickled down her fingertips. A faint aroma wafted through the air and echoed in her nose.

Evely rubbed the surface of the cup and slowly opened her mouth.

“Is your wife not coming back …… permanently?”

The question was a little different from before.

The words were a little abrupt, but there was a certainty in her calm voice.

“If that’s the case.”

The answer fell surprisingly plainly.

Alec got up from his chair and strode toward the table where Evely was sitting.

He stopped in front of her.

“That doesn’t make any difference.”

He extended his hand toward her. He grasped her thin chin, looking at her endlessly. Suddenly the force of his hand made Evely’s eyes widened, but she was so overwhelmed by his mood that she stood still, frozen. Eventually his lips parted sullenly.

“So you’ll be taking the place of the Princess. “

In place of the princess?

Instead of the princess?

Evely’s eyes visibly wavered as she asked in a daze.

“What do you mean? Please explain.”

And yet she did not avoid his blue eyes, but accepted them nonchalantly.

Time was quiet, yet piquant. It felt like an endless tug before it snapped like a resilient rope. None of them talked, but they were letting out more with their eyes than anything else.

This made it even harder to breathe. Then, as if to cross the heavy air, Evely heard the butler’s clear voice from outside the door.

“Master, a call has come from the Imperial Palace. They say it is urgent.”

At the voice calling him again, Alec let go of Evely’s chin. Then, in a clear voice, he said.

“I’ll tell you the details later. Just know that’s how it is.”

“What about …… my opinion?”

Evely bit her lips and asked resignedly.

“If you have an opinion, you may speak. But if it goes against my wishes, I will not listen.”

With that, Alec left the room.

Evely sat there still, unable to even breathe properly. She began to feel short of breath, as if she was crying sadly. With shaking hands, she brought the cup to her mouth and the fragrant tea flowed from between her lips. The bittersweet aftertaste made her tongue tingle.

[I’m sorry I left everything to you.]

For a moment, the teacup slipped from her hand.

Clink!

A sharp sound echoed and the glass shattered, but Evely’s gaze was only forward.

This was it.

The whole puzzle seemed to fit together. It felt like every word the princess had said to her, every piece of her behavior fit together.

‘Do you want to go out for me? Our hair color is similar, so no one will know if you go out instead of me.’

‘Maybe they wouldn’t mind at all if I died or disappeared. Will you remember my face?’

That was why she didn’t attend every official sitting.

“So you’ll be taking the place of the Princess.”

Evely laughed bitterly.

Her master was going to make her a princess, or rather, he was going to make her live in the Princess’s place.

Evely sprang up from her seat. She heard something crushing under her. The fragment her foot stepped on, broke into smaller pieces.

Evely finally realized that the teacup was broken and sat down urgently. Then she began to remove the glass shards with her bare hands. Ouch!

She brought her fingers to her mouth in pain, touching it casually for a moment. Blood oozed out from the cut mark, and she could taste the fishy taste on the tip of her tongue. It wasn’t the first time she had cut her hand, but it seemed to tingle more than ever. Maybe it was the pain in other places that weren’t on her fingertips.

It was painful to be around him.

When she didn’t give him her heart, she was fine. It wasn’t hard to just mix bodies. The only thing that was hard was her body that had to take his physical strength.

But at a certain moment, her heart began to suffer.

She became the one who doubted that her master would look at her and thought of the Princess. That was the reason why she asked him to call her by her name. Maybe she had instinctively sensed that this would happen at that moment. What would it be like to live in Rose’s place?

‘Will I really be the one he embraces this time, or will he think of Rose while embracing me?’

One day, a traveling entertainer told her a story about a prince and a beggar. It was an old story about two similar people whose lives would completely change based on one moment in time. She used to listen to it with great interest as a child. She never thought that story would become her reality.

***

That night, as soon as he got back from the Imperial Palace, Alec went to visit Evely.

But before he could say anything, she spoke up first.

“I have a favor to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“You said before that you would listen to me, so please make sure you do.”

Withstanding his stare at her, she quietly began the words she had prepared.

“…I’d like to tell my late mother about this.”

Evely didn’t have to say what it was, Alec already knew.

“Do so.”

His reply was even colder than expected.

“Don’t stay too long.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll be back soon. It’s my job, and I thought you should know.”

Probably, if she told her mother about this, she would reply, “Live a life of love.”

She was trying to live a life of being loved.

But she didn’t want to be someone’s replacement.

She didn’t have the confidence to live next to someone who saw another woman through her.

She wasn’t sure that she wouldn’t love him.

And most of all, she couldn’t stand herself for loving him.

So Evely decided to run away.

“Thank you very much. I will leave immediately tomorrow.”

She wasn’t a servant since birth, anyway. She didn’t have the pride of working for this family like Charlotte did, and she didn’t hate this life, nor did she like it. So, she just wanted to walk away now that she couldn’t stand it anymore.

* * *

The castle, seen in the bright morning, was bigger than ever.

Standing in front of the large main gate, held her light luggage tightly.

Yes. She had left here before for the same reason, but the weight of her steps seemed much different now.

The maid who had come to see Evely off gave her some money. She didn’t want to take it because it seemed like a large amount.

“It’s really okay.”

“I’m fine too.”

“It’s really okay this time. Please, last time….”

“Please. This is the order from the head maid.”

Reluctantly taking it, Evely bowed her head.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing.”

Evely bowed deeply to the maidservant who answered bluntly.

“You’re always grateful.”

The maid waved her hand as she walked away.

“Don’t thank me. I didn’t give it to you.”

Evely glanced at the small, muffled voice, but the maid was already inside the mansion.

Evely slowly looked around the endless castle.

It was where she had worked for over three whole years since she was sixteen. She had many good memories, and many not so good ones.

She left a letter in faltering handwriting for Briana, but it was unknown if she could read it. It was hidden deep inside, and she would probably see it after a long time.

The content of the letter was simple. She told Brianna to keep her remaining salary. And…

‘May you live happily with the person you love.’

Evely was most concerned about leaving Brianna behind. After a while, when it’s quiet, she will be able to see her face again. Evely thought.

Even though she had already made her decision, her feet didn’t move easily.

She felt like she was leaving too much here. But she also knew very well that she should leave before she gave more.

Her heart was aching.

But just because it hurt, she couldn’t let her heart be alone here. Even if it hurts now, she had to cut out the unresolved feelings for herself in the distant future.

“……. I can do it.”

As a reminder of her will, Evely cut off her red hair as soon as she left the castle.

* * *