Chapter 4

When he finished speaking, Louis smiled nicely and turned to the wooden table.

Soon after, he put well-dried tea leaves in an ivory teacup and poured hot water.

“It’s peppermint tea. They say it is good for headaches. You have severe headaches when you are stressed, Ayla.”

“… Thanks.”

Ayla’s body, leaning on the bed, slowly got up.

As she received the teacup and the cool and pungent mint scent irritated her nose, her eyes closed by themselves.

Staying at Louis’ house for a week, her daily life was like a dream that kept repeating.

In the morning, there was a simple meal and, by the time she woke up, Louis would come in and give her a warm cup of tea for the day.

They sat on the sofa, under the sunlight, read a book, and had a delicious lunch together.

When it was time, sweet desserts and tea were served.

In the evening, they had time to briefly talk about the book they read that day.

That’s right… It really was like a dream.

Thinking that the daily routine she was getting used to would be over today, the tea she was sipping felt bitter.

“Is it today? Going to the palace…”

“Yeah. I will be fine. Nevertheless, I am good at adapting right? So, don’t worry too much.”

“Ayla…”

“It’s a good thing I have a good friend like Louis Daniel! Thanks. A lot…”

She tried to make her voice as bright as possible, but it seemed to be a failure.

With her eyes fixed on the floor, Ayla fiddled with the teacup.

A heavy silence ensued and, when she raised her head, she could see Louis’ expression of disapproval.

As Ayla looked at him as if asking why, Louis let out a small sigh and continued.

“Ayla, our marriage… I didn’t say that lightly.”

“I know. You’re trying to help me because I’m an old friend.”

Louis shook his head from side to side to Ayla’s innocent response.

“All this time, I’ve only been waiting for the day you would return. Every time I went to see you with all kinds of excuses, you don’t know… How I felt.”

“…”

“The way to ‘Fencers’ was not smooth… But still, it was fine. I thought that if I endured this, I could see you up close, so I endured everything.”

“Stop playing around.”

“I’m not friends with you. No, I won’t be anymore.”

It was a lie to say she didn’t know Louis’ heart.

She just tried to pretend she didn’t know, she wanted to say that she felt the same way.

But the reality she faced was cold. As if anticipating what would happen, Ayla’s lips were tightly closed. She had to do it, for everyone.

“So, no matter when… If you change your mind, let me know. I will always be waiting by your side.”

***

She dissuaded Louis from taking her to the palace and hurried to the entrance.

The procedure was simple, but the inside of the palace was so complex that it took quite a while to find the accommodation she was assigned to.

There are four main palaces in the Royal Palace, and the largest one on the east side was the King’s residence.

West to that, is a palace where the male members of the Royal family live, such as the Crown Prince and other Princes.

There was the south palace, where the Queen and Princesses lived, and the north palace, where distinguished guests from other countries stayed.

Among them, Ayla’s place was closest to the west palace, where the male royal members lived.

“It’s here… The place I will live at.”

In a room of about 26㎡, there were two shabby single beds, a small individual desk, and an iron hanger placed on one side.

Inside, there was dust all over the place, as if human hands had not touched it for a long time.

“Ah… Then, shall we do some cleaning?”

Click.

As she heard the door opening, she turned her head and saw a middle-aged woman, whom you could feel the elegance at a glance, standing at the entrance.

“Miss Ayla Serdian?”

“Yes. I am Ayla Serdian… Who are you?”

“I guess you don’t even recognize your superiors. I am the head maid, Rose.”

“Ah… Hello.”