The beginning of a relationship that should not work out (part 1)

"Morning... State your business."

The guard shook his head, trying to get rid of the haziness, and focused on the situation at hand.

"Ah...! My name is Medea. I wanted to inquire whether Earl's mansion requires another servant and came to offer my references and a letter of recommendation in case I might prove useful."

The young man introduced himself eagerly, although it was clear that he was quite nervous – he also took out a stack of papers and a rather thick envelope with a wax seal from behind his back and offered it to the guard while bowing his head.

"...huh...?"

The guard blinked a few times, staring cluelessly at the papers...

"Oohhh...! Job hunting! You don't want to leave things like that with me, youngster."

Something clicked in the guard's brain, and he gasped in realization, backing off from responsibility.

"A-ah...! Is that so...? I'm sorry...! I'll be on my way then...!"

Medea flinched and lowered the papers, bowing his head a few times in embarrassment, starting to move away.

"No, not – that's not what I meant! Wait a moment."

The guard felt awkward, and he stopped him before reaching out toward the hidden rope inside of his post.

The concealed rope was connecting the guard's post with the bell inside the mansion – it was a simple device that notified the servants that their presence was required by the gate.

"Yes?"

Within a few short minutes, a short maid showed up and asked, looking questioningly between the guard and the timid black-haired man.

"Ugh... This fellow is here to inquire about a job and wanted to leave his references and a letter of recommendation. He's quite a polite lad, so do take him to the head butler."

"...is that so...?"

The guard groaned at the sight of the maid's face and became almost suspiciously eager to vouch for Medea, to which the maid squinted her eyes at him with a strict expression.

"Good morning, Miss. My name is Medea."

"...hello..."

As the guard was presenting him, the black-haired man bowed his head politely, getting the reluctant woman's attention.

"Don't get your hopes up. Follow me and try to not get lost. The Rotteloss mansion is quite big."

"I'll do my best!"

The maid seemed to give up on the silent grudge against the guard and nodded at the black-haired man, motioning to him to follow her.

-----

A tall young woman with sapphire eyes, wearing a worn-out bathing robe, sat down on the bed and loosened up the tower boundling up her long blond hair and carefully rubbing it again to make sure most of the moisture was gone.

*thump*

"..."

The window that the young woman kept open while going to take a bath made a sound as if someone was about to close it without her consent, making her tense up and grit her teeth.

"...I might not have the power to fire you, but after so openly trying to steal my pendant, even you should have enough decency to not show up for a few days, Mary."

She almost managed to hold back, but in the end, the bitterness she felt was too overwhelming to just bite down her tongue, and the blond-haired woman scoffed in a hushed voice while rubbing her neck.

Under her fingers, she could easily feel the slight bumps where the straps of the half-heart necklace dug into the skin.

If the accessory wasn't a bound item, the thin straps would have broken easily, and the pendant would have been gone.

"Even if my own father is more eager to believe you when you lie and say that I gave away the jewelry and money to some beggars – even though I do that sometimes – if you try to touch it again, I will...! I will..."

The young woman started off strong, but then as she talked, all of her confidence diminished exponentially until she was left stuttering and cowering, sitting at the corner of her bed.

"I... I will do something about it this time! I'm serious...! Even I have something that is more important to me than anything... else...?"

Since she did have some conviction in her, the blond-haired woman managed to end up her sentence just a bit feisty, but she also turned around, deciding to face the maid she thought that she was talking to.

"…"

It wasn't the maid named Mary, though...

A black-haired man was leaning against the edge of the small desk while reading through a crumpled piece of paper he took out from the small thrashcan.

His thick glasses were pulled down and were hanging at the very edge of his nose, suggesting that he didn't really need them to aid his eyesight.

"I like the way you started the response letter to his royal highness the Prince, but why did you throw it, dummy?"

Medea looked up from the paper that he straightened out to examine, and the pendant in the half-heat shape dangled loosely from his neck.

"Medea-AH...!" *thump* *THUMP*

"!!!"

The woman's reaction was so unexpected that the black-haired man was taken by surprise – she launched herself at him without a second of hesitation, tripped, and ended up hugging his waist instead of falling into his arms as she had intended.

"M-Medeeeeaaaaa...! It's you, right?! Please, please say it is you...! Your offer! I agree! I'm yours, so don't leave my side anymore...!"

"...!"

The woman cried out, not even trying to get up but kneeling by and clinging to the black-haired man's body so desperately as if she expected him to leave or at least try to push her away.

The crumpled letter that Medea was reading through fell to the floor as he was staring wide-eyed into the beautiful sapphire eyes glistening with the heartfelt tears that enhanced their beauty by a thousandfold.

Medea didn't show up in Zorivia's room without a plan – he showed up prepared, but as always, Zorivia managed to interrupt him in an unexpected way.

Her touch, the sound of her voice, the sight of her tears - all that accumulated on top of the longing he felt for each second of each minute of each hour of each day of each month of each year he was away from her and multiplied by the confirmation that she felt the same way incinerated whatever Medea had originally in store.