022 - Loss And New Hope (1)

At night...

There was a room that took up almost the entire third floor of the mansion itself. And there is a young girl with shoulder-length short brown hair dressed as a maid standing in front of the room's door, which is now tightly closed.

Her eyes trembled as she glanced at the white door.

For the past five years, the room's door has remained tightly shut.

It was never opened unless the person behind the door required anything, in which case she would barely open the door and stretch her hand out of the room to collect the thing she had requested from the maid earlier, without revealing her complete face or body.

It seemed as if the figure from the tightly closed room didn't want to disclose herself to the outside world, or perhaps she despised the outside world entirely. Nobody knows what she's thinking.

But, at the very least, the maids who lived in this mansion could guess the main reason why the owner of the room never opened the door or left the room.

As a result, they tried not to disturb her and aided as much as they could providing the peace that the figure of the room's owner was craving.

However. After spending a long time locked within, the owner of the room, whose door was always closed, unexpectedly emerged.

As if that wasn't enough to startle the three maids, the room's owner also spoke to them, even though she seemed uncomfortable about something. Even the room's owner touched food that had never been touched before.

The maid held back her tears as she remembered the happy days that had only lasted two days.

"Princess didn't come out again?" asked a maid in an apron, audibly emerging from beneath the stairs.

She was carrying a firmly closed food tray.

The tray with the food was clearly on its way to the owner of the third-floor room if the owner decided to leave the room and eat.

Unfortunately, the door has been closed once more. They had no idea when the white door will be opened again.

They can only wait and wait, hoping the door will open again.

Just like yesterday. There will be more days like yesterday. Even if it means waiting a year, two years, or even five years.

"... Even though I'm already pleased that the Princess finally wants to eat my cooking." The maid, who also served as the mansion's head chef, mumbled to herself.

"Mona..." After hearing a low mumble from her, the shoulder-length short-haired maid couldn't keep back her sobs anymore.

"Huwee--....!" She let out a baby-like whimper, but Mona, the head chef, quickly covered her mouth so her screams wouldn't be heard in the room in front of them.

"Hummphhfftt!!"

"Ssshhh! Meila, calm down...!" Mona whispered, her hand still covering the maid's mouth. Mona tried to hint at the white door that stood between them.

When she noticed Mona's signal and saw the white door that was still tightly closed, Meila, the maid with short shoulder-length brown hair, nodded her head slowly.

"Don't be loud," Mona urged, withdrawing her hand from over Meila's mouth, which was going to cry out loudly.

Meila nodded again. Her eyes were still wet, and her body was trembling. But she was trying hard not to make a whiny sound that would disturb the person behind the white door.

Mona returned the tray of food she had left on the table near the stairs after ensuring Meila's quiet. She then placed the tray of food on the front white door's table. Mona ensures that the tray is correctly closed so that the food retains its heat for an extended time.

Meila stood silently as Mona carefully place the closed tray on the table before gently knocking on the white door.

Knock. Knock.

"Your Highness," Mona began after a few seconds of knocking on the door, "I have placed the food on the table; please eat it before it gets cold."

There's no response.

"..."

Both Mona and Meila could only sigh heavily. Perhaps they should wait till tomorrow, the next day, or next week.

'It doesn't matter. The Princess must be out,' whispered their inner voices at the same time.

They both believed the Princess will appear, just like yesterday.

Of course, they must believe.

If the maids, the Princess' closest close person, don't trust her.

Who else would believe the figure hiding behind the lonely door?

"Let's go back," Mona says as she approaches Meila, who is stunned.

Meila nodded. As they went down the stairs, they both kept quiet.

"Ah." Mona noticed a maid waiting for them both at the bottom of the stairs.

"...No?" Melanie, the maid's name who had her hair in a bun and was very well dressed, asked carefully.

Meila and Mona both nodded at the same time.

"...Don't worry, the Princess will appear. Let's get back to work."

With a heavy heart, they had to leave the quiet third floor.

Finally, the three maids assigned to the mansion in the middle of nowhere could only return to their duties with a gloomy aura around them.

***

"...Are they already gone?" mumbled a girl with almost silvery bright white hair that gave off a wonderful shine as she stared at the securely closed white door.

The girl wiped the snot from her reddened nose.

She had cried nonstop from sunset till midnight.

She even ignored the call from her maid outside the door, who sounded concerned that she had decided to close herself up without giving a clear reason.

She didn't care if the Princess' three maids were suspicious of her sudden shut-in.

The girl merely cried silently.

She, of course, cried when she learned that her precious possession had vanished.

"Ah, not disappearing... But falling into the hands of a knight from Marquess Berdandy's household!"

"You idiot, Faerieeee!" screamed the girl whose eyes had swollen with tears.

Faerie punched her cushy bed, tears dripping down her cheeks.

"It'd be like waving my death flag if I went to the house of the first Imperial Prince's closest friend!"

"However, if I don't go to the knights who work at the Marquess castle, my 'God's Blessing,' which is worth more than my life, would end up in the hands of young master Liam Berdandy!"

Liam Berdandy. It was the name of the young master, as well as the successor of the Marquess family, who protected the Western border territory.

The family's patriarch, Lombardi Berdandy, is believed to have been the Great Emperor Graham's closest friend during the war. They had each other's backs. Because they were so close together on the battlefield, the enemies nicknamed them the 'war mad.'

Therefore, once the war was finished and the Moel Empire was established. The Great Emperor Graham desired to bestow onto his closest friend and confidant the position of a Duke whose territory was in one of the capital's territories.

The Head of the Berdandy family, on the other hand, refused, preferring to request merely the territory near the enemy Kingdom as the land he would manage afterward.

Finally, the Head of the Berdandy family was promoted to the rank of Marquess and was given command of the western border territory, which was bordered by numerous hostile Kingdoms.

The Berdandy Family also entrusted the responsibility of the Sunset City, which was also located in the western border region and was a valuable city with vestiges of the Great Emperor Graham.

The western border territory was well-led, protected, managed, and ruled by Berdandy's descendants. No, it might be more accurate to describe it as 'perfect'.

It was because no one dared to do anything, let alone attack, on the side of the Kingdoms that were opposed to the existence of the Moel Empire as the center.

Because of this, Marquess Berdandy's family earned the title 'the perfect guardian of the west'. As a result, Marquess Berdandy's family's position grew stronger and more important among the capital's aristocrats.

And the young master, the famous Marquess Berdandy's successor, was now a close friend of the first Imperial Prince.

"I read a few lines in the novel where it was mentioned that the first Imperial Prince used to sneak outside the Imperial palace secretly merely to play with his friend Liam Berdandy."

Faerie wiped her tears away. Her mind worked as hard to remember the novel's plot. But the result is nil.

"Why didn't Goddess Gaia take detailed notes when the Prince arrived at the Western border region?"

Faerie did not dare to visit Marquess Berdandy's castle while the first Imperial Prince was also present.

Her neck instantly became chills. The picture when sharp swords touched her neck, causing her to cry once again.

"You shitty novel!"

"ARGH! ... (sobbing) God damn it!"

The girl kept crying and cursing.