Anna's love

The luxury carriage rattled gently as it made its way through the cobblestone roads. It had a polished black exterior gleaming under the sunlight. Golden embellishments adorned the edges, with intricate carvings of the Londor duchy crest etched into the panels.

Inside, Mesuna sat elegantly, her arms crossed, glancing out of the window at the passing countryside. Beside her, her younger brother, Dilhan, was slumped against their maid Anna, his head resting lightly on her shoulder.

Anna, however, didn't seem to mind in the slightest. She sat frozen, her cheeks tinged pink as she stared at him, her eyes soft and full of unspoken thoughts. Her lips quirked up slightly as if savoring the moment and her face betrayed her as she started to look like a teenager in love, completely unaware that Mesuna was watching her with an amused but sharp gaze.

Mesuna coughed deliberately, breaking the silence.

Anna jumped slightly, her face flushing a deeper red. "M-my Lady!" she stammered, quickly looking away. "I wasn't—uh—I was just… spacing out!"

"Spacing out, were you?" Mesuna leaned back with a knowing smirk, tilting her head slightly. "You seemed very focused for someone who was just spacing out. Tell me, Anna—what's it like, serving my brother?"

Anna blinked, clearly flustered by the question, but her face brightened immediately as though she couldn't help herself. "Oh, it's my greatest passion, my Lady!" she said, clasping her hands together.

"Your passion?" Mesuna raised an eyebrow, a sly grin tugging at her lips.

"Yes! Young Master Dilhan is so wonderful! He's polite, though sometimes he has this mischievous side," Anna began, her words spilling out like water from an overturned jar. "And the way he frowns when he's reading those reports—oh, it's just adorable! And sometimes, when he thinks no one's looking, he sneaks a second serving of dessert even though he pretends to dislike sweets—"

Mesuna's expression flattened as she watched Anna ramble on, but her sharp eyes never left the maid's face. Something about the way Anna spoke—so filled with affection and adoration—made it clear that this was more than just a maid's loyalty to her master.

"And then there's the way he—"

"Enough." Mesuna raised a hand to stop her. "It looks like everyone except me knows him better,"

Anna froze mid-sentence, her face turning pale. "M-my Lady?"

Mesuna's voice dropped, her tone sharper now. "It's not good to take his future away from him, Anna. Do you realize what you're doing?"

Anna blinked, her lips trembling. "I-I don't understand..."

Mesuna leaned forward, her eyes narrowing. "Soon, Dilhan will become a candidate for a royal betrothal. A princess, Anna. Do you think this—" she gestured subtly between the maid and her sleeping brother, "—is something you can compete with? Do you think you can compete with someone from royal family, no less that white storm princess?"

Anna's face fell, her hands clutching the edges of her maid uniform tightly. She glanced at Dilhan, who remained peacefully asleep, oblivious—or so she thought.

Mesuna expected Anna to stay silent and give up on whatever thoughts she had, but something unexpected happened.

"It's not good to force something like that on him, my Lady," Anna said softly but firmly. "It should be his choice who he wants to be betrothed to."

Mesuna blinked in surprise, momentarily taken aback by the defiance in Anna's voice. A grin crept onto her lips. "Well, aren't you bold?" she said, leaning back against the cushioned seat. "Here I thought you'd crumble at the slightest intimidation, like everyone else. But no—you've got some fire in you."

Anna looked up, startled by the unexpected compliment.

Mesuna chuckled softly, shaking her head. "I'll say this, Anna. I'm glad someone strong is standing beside my brother. But strength alone won't be enough." She tilted her head and smirked. "You'll need it to stand against a princess and a stubborn old man who's determined to sell his son to royalty."

Anna's eyes widened, and for a moment, her breath hitched. "You mean…"

"Yes," Mesuna said simply. "My father. Duke Londor"

Anna swallowed hard, suddenly aware of the monumental challenge ahead of her. She sighed and muttered, "What am I up against…but My lady how did you know?"

Mesuna, pleased with the reaction, leaned back and allowed herself a laugh. "Good luck, Anna. You'll need it."

She had no desire to answer Anna's question.

But before Anna could respond, she hesitated, then shyly glanced up at Mesuna. "My Lady… I heard that you met him. The man everyone's talking about—ZeroVeil."

Mesuna blinked, the question catching her off guard. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, her expression lit up, and a small blush crept across her cheeks.

"Oh, you mean the ZeroVeil? Our lord streamer?" Mesuna's voice suddenly grew animated, and her hands clasped together. "He's amazing! Incredible, even! I mean, who else could hack into a magical network and expose the Church of Inquisition like that?"

Anna tilted her head, watching Mesuna with surprise.

"And did you see how calm he was under pressure? He saved my life, Anna—saved me from those bastards who almost ruined everything in Thimoria!" Mesuna leaned closer to Anna, her eyes sparkling. "You wouldn't believe how he moves. So smooth, so composed! And his voice—it's got this commanding quality that just makes you want to listen!"

Anna blinked, taken aback by Mesuna's sudden fangirling. "My Lady, you seem… very impressed by him."

"Impressed?!" Mesuna gasped dramatically. "He's a genius! A visionary! He's…" She paused, taking a deep breath. "...He's the kind of man you don't want as your enemy, let me just say that."

Anna chuckled nervously because he couldn't understand how could someone get Ember Knight excited like this. Mesuna was famous as someone cruel and cold among people, but not the kind of cruel that people disliked. Instead people liked her more because she was cruel and cold.

One could say it is the maso type of relationship among them and Mesuna.

Mesuna sighed, her excitement dimming slightly. "But with everything that's happened, it feels like the world is on the brink of chaos. And soon, war might come knocking at our door."

Her gaze shifted to Dilhan, who was still sleeping peacefully—or so she thought. Her expression softened, a rare vulnerability showing in her eyes.

"I worry for him," she admitted, her voice quieter now. "If the Principality gets pulled into this, he might be deployed. He's smart, but… I don't know if he's ready for the battlefield. I just hope he'll be strong enough to protect himself."

Meanwhile, Dilhan was wide awake, though his breathing remained steady and rhythmic, his eyes firmly shut. They think I'm asleep. Perfect.

Internally, he was panicking. What is this conversation?! First Anna's calling me cute and talking about desserts, then Mesuna's trying to marry me off to a princess, and now she's worried about me dying in a war?!

He fought the urge to sigh out loud, his brow twitching slightly. If I wake up now, it'll be so awkward… They'll know I heard everything. No, I can't let that happen. I'll just stay asleep. Play dead. Yes, that's the best option.

He could feel Anna shifting slightly beneath him, probably to adjust her posture. Her shoulder was warm and oddly comforting, though he'd never admit it out loud.

Anna, you really have to stop looking at me like that, he thought, recalling the way her gaze had lingered earlier. And Mesuna—why are you always scheming? Can't a man live a peaceful life without being betrothed to a princess?

He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling at the ridiculousness of the situation.

"Well...Well, aren't I popular? This does feel good to be wanted by a beautiful maid like her. I guess I will have to return those feelings."

He thought about a plan to surprise Anna sometime later, but now he was just busy pretending to be asleep.

Back in the waking world, Anna glanced at Mesuna hesitantly. "Do you think the war is inevitable, my Lady?"

Mesuna sighed deeply. "It feels like it. Our allied nations won't back down after being humiliated so publicly. And now that everyone knows what Ziglat and there church had done in Thimoria…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "I only hope we can keep the Principality from being dragged in too deeply."

"It's already been a week since the attack, and I heard that all allied nations are going to be deploying the armies to borders. It's going to be a big war, Anna,"

Anna looked down at Dilhan, her eyes softening. "If war does come, I'll stay by his side. I'll protect him."

Mesuna smiled faintly, though there was a hint of mischief in her eyes. "You're really something, Anna. Just make sure you're ready for what's coming. Protecting him might be not be possible for you, unless you are same level as me when it comes to power."

Anna nodded firmly. "I'll do whatever it takes."

Mesuna chuckled. "Well, I suppose he's lucky to have you, then." She glanced at Dilhan one more time before turning her attention back to the window.

But she decided to give a one last fair warning to Anna. "Ohhh! I almost forgot but you're not the only girl that has a crush on my brother. There was this elven girl called Cali, his classmate. I just wanted you to know because I don't want him to become a cheating man so you should know about that,"

Anna didn't reply instead she gave a slight nod as she already knew about Cali. The thing that she didn't know was how is she going to deal with this rival of her love.

The carriage continued its journey, the sound of wheels on cobblestones filling the silence.