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Veronica stood just a few feet from the door, her gaze locked on the second maid who still lingered awkwardly beside the grand, ornate bed.
The second maid fidgeted, her fingers nervously toying with the corner of her apron, her eyes darting between the motionless figure on the bed and the other maid.
She had spoken too much, she knew it.
Her words had been careless, her suspicions whispered too freely.
And now there was no taking them back.
But then, unexpectedly, Veronica expression softened.
Her rigid posture eased, and she let out a faint sigh.
"I just remembered something," she began, her voice calm but tinged with a strange intensity. "You… you entered without permission."
The maid's heart skipped a beat, a cold rush of fear tightening in her chest.
Panic flashed in her eyes as she instinctively stepped back, her voice caught in her throat.
But Veronica didn't seem angry. Instead, she took a slow breath, her gaze growing almost gentle.
"Let me just tell you something," she murmured. "Though I don't admit things like this to people… I've taken a slight liking to you. Somehow. Even I don't fully understand it."
Her words carried a quiet honesty, a vulnerability that seemed almost out of place in this gloomy room.
The maid blinked, her fear mingling with confusion.
"Th… thank you," she whispered, her voice trembling, but gratitude clear in her tone. "I… I appreciate it."
Veronica lips curled into a faint, genuine smile.
"That's why… I will allow you to leave. You can escape," she said, her voice firm but warm. "Don't look back. Don't say a word to anyone. Just leave now, before anyone else realizes you were here."
The maid stood frozen for a moment, disbelief and relief crashing over her like a wave.
Her gaze lingered on Veronica, as though trying to understand the sudden kindness, the strange mercy she had been shown.
"Ehh… I—" she stammered, shock and confusion twisting across her face.
But Veronica didn't give her a chance to finish.
Her voice was steady, yet there was a subtle urgency beneath her calm tone.
"Yes, you can go. Leave now, before Sir Valen returns." Her lips maintained that faint, almost comforting smile, but her gaze was sharp, unyielding.
The maid felt her pulse pounding in her ears, her thoughts a chaotic storm.
"But… what if he finds out?" she whispered, dread curling around her words.
The thought of Sir Valen's piercing gaze, his cold, unreadable eyes, sent a chill down her spine.
He was not a man known for mercy.
Veronica smile softened, but her eyes never lost that calm intensity.
"If he does," she began, her voice unshaken, "I will deny it. I have served my lord and Sir Valen for quite some time. I know how to handle such things. If he truly wishes to incriminate me… then so be it. But I refuse to let an innocent person like you be dragged into his schemes."
There was a strength in her words, an unwavering resolve that seemed almost impossible for someone of her position.
A simple maid, yet she spoke with the quiet authority of someone who had seen far too much.
The maid's eyes widened, genuine surprise painting her features.
Veronica's lips curled into a soft chuckle, her voice light but laced with a strange, quiet confidence.
"Don't be so surprised," she said, brushing a stray lock of dark orange hair behind her ear. "I've done things like this for many people over the years. This isn't my first time."
The maid stared, words caught in her throat.
Veronica's calm demeanor seemed almost surreal, given the suffocating tension that had lingered in the room just moments ago.
"I've helped people escape… those caught in the web of this twisted world, both in the resistance and outside," Veronica continued, her voice soft but firm. "I suppose it's a habit I can't quite break. And if fate is kind, I will continue to help more."
Her eyes seemed to shimmer for a brief moment, a flicker of something, hope, perhaps, or something far more complicated.
The maid didn't know what to say.
Gratitude, fear, confusion, they all swirled within her, a storm of emotions too tangled to put into words.
But Veronica's calm smile and gentle, steady gaze offered a sense of comfort she hadn't realized she desperately needed.
"So, I think you should start going," Veronica urged, her tone turning more serious. "Sir Valen might return at any moment, and he is… very fast in completing his tasks."
The maid's breath caught.
That fear she had been trying to suppress clawed its way back, sharper than ever.
With a shaky nod, she turned, hurrying toward the door, her fingers fumbling as she reached for the handle.
But when she tried to push, the door didn't budge.
A cold chill ran down her spine.
Her breath quickened.
Panic began to claw at her thoughts.
Was she locked in?
Was this some sort of cruel trap?
Had Veronica lied?