The head maid looked at Alya and received a light bow as she opened Ariadne’s office door. For a second, she saw that she was looking to the side and smiling; her eyes followed, and Edmund was again laid on the couch. More to the side, Leah was sitting across from him on a chair, and she could hear mumbles.

  ‘Duchess, the chiefs of the villages are waiting.’ She gives her a light bow.

  'Thanks, Rita, and I’m leaving, peasant.’ She looked to the side.

  'Alright, Duchess, I bet you will do a great job in whatever this is about.’ He waved his arm at her.

  ‘The villages are towns now, and they want advice on how to do things. When I return, I want to know your progress in these months because you just slept here.’ She passed by Rita.

  As Ariadne left the office, Rita closed the door behind her, and Alya followed the duchess, but the head maid headed the other way. She needed to remind the kitchen to make more food because of the village chiefs.

  The door right before the kitchen was open, and noticing this, she tried to close it, but right before she touched the knob of the door, she was pulled into the room, and the door was suddenly closed. The first thing Rita saw as her eyes opened was her husband, Alon, as her hand touched his chest.

  ‘Honey, what are you doing?' She pushed him away.

  ‘I just wanted to say hello; you know I’m your husband,d after all.’ He put his hands on her hips.

  ‘W-wa-wait, why are you doing this?’ Her back touched the wall.

  ‘What? I can’t be close to my wife?’ Alon smiled at her while looking into her eyes.

  ‘No, the pro-problem is that you are not li-like this.’ She looked away from him.

  Alon noticed her face. He lifted her face by the chin and kissed her on the cheek. Rita’s eyes widened with the surprise of her husband's kiss, and again, she pushed him away, but this time, her first action after that was to open the door next to her and run to the kitchen.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  ‘It happened like Edmund said it would; how did he know?’ Alon crossed his arms.

  The head maid suddenly entered the kitchen and startled everyone working there. The chef approached her, put a hand on her shoulder, and looked at Rita’s red face.

  ‘What is the problem, Rita? Are you sick?’ She looked at her face.

  ‘ Alon acted strange. He had never done something like this before; it was not bad, but it was so sudden I just ran.’ Rita took deep breaths while keeping her hands close to her chest.

  ‘What did he do?’ She looked concerned.

  ‘She pulled me into a room, put me against the wall, and did stuff that he never did to me. I panicked.’ Her face became flustered.

  ‘Ahh… I remember Captain Alon talking with Edmund in a room yesterday. Edmund said you were wasted on him because he didn't do much with you.’ A maid who was cutting vegetables said.

  ‘What? Wasted?’ Rita looked confused.

  ‘Yeah, he said that the captain was treating you like you were friends, not a couple; an elegant and majestic woman like Rita needs to be treated better; he even said Alon should watch out because he could lose you.’ Another maid close to the magic over replied.

  ‘I would never... What is that young man even saying?’ Rita covered her face while moving her body from side to side.

  ‘Alon even tried to punch Edmund after that; it didn’t work, but the captain looked angry. Edmund said he would give him some tips, and the things that came from his mouth make me blush.’ The maid, cutting vegetables, looked down, trying to hide her face.

  ‘Anyway, we have the chiefs of the villages as guests, so we need to make more food than usual.’ Rita composed herself.

  ‘I already did this; Her Highness told me about it before her training this morning.’ The chef returned to her counter, where she was preparing meat.

  Before going out, Rita opened the door a little to see if Alon was outside. She noticed that the room he was in was closed. She opened the door and went to the laundry room, where two maids were folding the clothes.

  ‘Hello girls, everything is alright?’ She walked around the room.

  ‘No head maid, with these devices, everything is so much easier; they even dry the clothes.' She smiled at Rita.

  ‘They are expensive but not impossible to buy. My husband said we will have one in three months, but I will save too to help him.’ The other maid commented.

  ‘I have so much time to do other stuff now; I’m having tea with the neighbors, which is fun.’ Rita chuckled.

  ‘Edmund’s students are building more things; the bakery now has better prices, and our prayers for the goddess are not in vain.’ The maid closed one of her hands and put it close to her mouth while closing her eyes.

  ‘Indeed, continue with your work.’ Rita opened the door and left the room.

  The head maid continued with her usual patrol, seeing all the maids work and correcting some of them until she saw the room door open. With no one in the corridor, Rita came closer and tried to reach for the nob. She was grabbed by the hand and pulled inside.

  ‘This time, you are not going to run.’ He grabbed her other hand.

  ‘Again?’ Her eyes widen.

  Alon kicked her against the wall while closing the door. There was no sound from the door closing; only the sound of the birds outside could fill the silence in the room. She was so anxious and took his action so seriously that her eyes were fixed on him. He came closer to her left ear, and with a calm and tender voice, he spoke.

  ‘My love.’ Alon gave her a light kiss on the lips.