Taking care of the caretaker

"God, why can't I sleep? It's so frustrating!!" Aria ruffled her hair and thought.

She then went to the window and opened it to calm herself. Aria stood there, letting the cold breeze calm her down. It was the end of January, so it was obviously cold. Suddenly a cold wind blew which made Aria shiver.

"I'm glad it doesn't snow in the fire kingdom." Thinking this Aria pulled her dress closer to her and was about to close the window when she caught sight of a figure, walking hastily through the grounds towards the adjoining forest.

Aria thought, "Now which idiot has such an important work that he is running through the grounds on such a cold...."

But Aria was not able to finish her thoughts as at that minute, the clouds moved and the moon illuminated the figure.

"PENNY!?!?!? What's she doing at this hour!!??"

Normally, Aria wouldn't have bothered and asked Penny about it the next morning. But for the past few weeks, Aria had been worried about Penny's safety. "I can't believe she is running around at night, after I asked her to take care of herself." Aria sighed to herself.

"Why do I feel like I'm Penny's caretaker and not the other way around?" Aria thought as she grabbed a cardigan, threw it over her dress, and got out of her room.

As Aria quietly came out of one of the side doors of the castle, she looked around. Penny was long gone, and she could only follow the general direction in which Penny went. Thinking this, Aria began walking. She suddenly heard some ruffling behind her and dived into a nearby bush. Aria barely had time be thankful of all the training she had done due to which she had gotten so agile, as another figure came from the direction of the castle.

As he got closer, Aria recognised him as the servant who was looking at her weirdly the day Penny was attacked, the one who was standing away from everyone else.

Aria slapped her forehead, "This Penny, god knows what she has gotten into." Cursing internally, little Aria ran behind the tall man, as fast as her little legs could carry.

When she reached the edge of the surrounding forest, Aria had already lost the man. She stood on the edge and listened. And she was right. She could hear little murmurs if she was quiet enough.

Aria followed the sound, listening intently. But soon, she did not have to do so. Penny's and the man's voices had become loud enough to be heard properly from the edge of the forest.

Aria got a little closer and hid behind some bushes when she was able to properly see both of them. Aria looked and realised that they were arguing.

Penny: "How could you say that it has nothing to do with you!?!?"

The man: "I will not be jeopardizing such a good job for something like this."

Penny: "I never asked you to jeopardize your job. I just want to raise it together."

The man: "That is jeopardizing my life. I cannot take responsibility for a woman, let alone a child."

Penny: "But.....but...."

The man: "And you're going to have to leave your job, because soon your stomach will start showing. My salary is obviously not enough to feed three people."