NOVEL NEXT Chapter 19: The Rumor
A small grin was evident upon Amaragi's lips as she silently closed the door to her and Maren's shared room, the latter still blissfully asleep in his bed opposite of her own. Straightening her attire slightly, she tried her best to recompose herself while she was walking down the hallways, even though there were not that many servants out and about this early in the morning.
This idea had more or less struck her out of the blue, but once it had popped into her head, it refused to leave her alone. More or less keeping her awake for most of the night with a feeling of anticipation.
What do they always say…? The path to a man's heart was leading through his stomach. And she was very much intent to find out whether or not Maren was one of them as she made her way to one of the kitchens which the servants normally used.
Surely a warm breakfast served right to his bed would get her to take another step forward…
… and even if it didn't work, she would find a way to improvise.
Rounding a corner with merry thoughts in her head, she almost didn't even notice the two servants who were quietly muttering amongst themselves as she had finally arrived at the grand kitchen. Not minding them at first, she almost made her presence known by stepping inside, at least, until she suddenly stopped right in her tracks.
"... do you know who he is? I've seen him quite often around the princess, but where did he come from?"
"A bodyguard maybe…? No, but… I don't know. Albeit the princess doesn't seem to mind his presence, does she?"
"You don't think he is… or is he…?"
"But that's impossible, isn't it? If he were a noble, we would have surely heard about him… is he a commoner?"
Somehow, the more she listened in, the more her irritation level seemed to overflow. Combined with the fact that it was still this early in the morning, it was definitely not a good match.
With two noticeable and heavy steps, she finally entered the kitchen with a strong air of authority around her, and all it took was a subtle glance towards the two servants before they all but scrambled off in an awkward manner, pretending not to know about anything.
In the end, when she was finally alone, a long sigh escaped her lips, her previous anticipation having faded away slightly.
Of course there were rumors spreading around… how foolish of her to think otherwise, but she had truly not noticed before…
… albeit suddenly, her annoyed expression disappeared in the blink of an eye. And in its place, another grin formed upon her lips, this one even larger than before.
Well then… if they were already so diligently spreading around rumors…
… then why shouldn't she make good use of it?
"Thanks so much again for actually making me breakfast… you know you didn't have to…" Amaragi made a conscious effort to suppress her gleeful smile as she subtly glanced at Maren, witnessing the way he was almost shyly facing the ground in a flattered manner.
Part one was a success. Even though she would have to watch out now, since she was certain that he, being him, would most likely try to return the favor in some way.
Now…
"Don't mention it, I'm happy you liked it…" unbeknownst to him, her plan had long set into motion the moment she spotted a pair of servants down the hallway, dutifully cleaning the ground and carpet with brooms. Thus, she suddenly stopped near a large painting on the wall, depicting a beautifully illustrated scenery.
Albeit the content was utterly unimportant. Maren curiously stopped as well at her side, wondering what had caught her attention as he eyed the grand picture on the wall.
"Quite a beautiful painting, no?" with a tilt of his head, he now regarded it more closely, failing to notice the way she subtly closed the gap between them.
"It certainly is…" before he knew it, her head was already gently resting against his own and near his shoulder, affectionately nestling against his side. And while he was naturally still slightly confused about her sudden interest in this piece of art, he never realized how the two servants up ahead were staring with wide eyes, their expressions all but dumbstruck.
Maren couldn't help but watch with silent longing as they both passed through the grand kitchen, Amaragi unintentionally leading him through while they passed even more servants and some chefs along the way. All of whom respectfully bowed at the presence of the crown princess before they dutifully resumed their work.
However, Amaragi suddenly stopped yet again in her tracks when they passed a large metallic plate, numerous sweet and sugary treats resting upon its surface and beautifully decorated as well. Of course, Maren's stare had not gone unnoticed.
When one of the chefs became aware of her questioning glance, her request obvious, he merely nodded his head as a matter of course. Thus, she carefully took one of the treats with her gloved fingers before she elegantly took a step closer towards Maren, eyeing him with a slightly lidded gaze as she held it close to his mouth.
"Do me a favor… and say ahh~" her voice was almost like silk, the mere gesture causing him to gasp in surprise and embarrassment, unintentionally doing what she asked along the way before she popped it into his mouth. The sweet and heavenly taste spread all around in his mouth, and Amaragi chuckled slightly in a pleased manner when she saw the mixture of enjoyment and embarrassment on his face.
And once again, even though they pretended not to, each and every single pair of eyes in the room was upon them.
When the evening approached, both of them heading back towards their room after a day of nothing but idling around, Maren hesitantly broke the near serene silence between them. All while glancing down at the way Amaragi was openly holding on to his hand as they walked, more or less causing each and every single servant who passed them to stop briefly in their tracks.
"... Amaragi…?" she gently hummed in a questioning manner, signalling to him that he had every ounce of her attention.
"... you've been acting a bit weird today…" opening an eye to glance back at him, Maren couldn't truly read her expression, especially not when he swore that he could have seen a grin upon her lips.
"I have no idea what you mean."
AN:
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