Inside the moving carriage.

Two delicate maidens pressed close in an intimate embrace.

A soothing herbal fragrance filled the air.

The silver-haired maiden beneath jolted upright, eyes wide.

Her pink pupils shrank in shock.

Breath hitching, she flinched away from the beautiful face mere inches from hers.

Her averted gaze caught the girl’s translucent, snow-white neck.

The tea-haired maiden on top stretched her slender leg, wedging her knee between the silver-haired girl’s tightly pressed thighs. She knelt on the seat between them, leaning her whole body down.

Their cheeks touched.

Skin met skin with zero distance between them.

The silver-haired maiden felt the other’s impossibly smooth cheek.

Her body trembled slightly. Flushed with tension, she turned crimson.

"Neh… you’ve never done this before, right? I haven’t either. Want to…"

Sweet words spilled from the tea-haired girl’s parted crimson lips.

"What… eh?"

Vier yelped like a startled cat, jerking upright on instinct.

But—

She’d completely forgotten the soft weight still draped over her…

*Thud…*

Her hard skull cracked against Alyssa’s forehead.

*Thump…*

Alyssa’s eyes fluttered shut. Her body went limp, collapsing back into her seat.

Vier stared at the motionless girl.

She must’ve fainted…

Only then did Vier realize her terrible blunder.

"Alyssa?"

Her voice cracked with panic.

"Alyssa! Are you alright? Can you hear me?"

She shook the girl’s shoulders. No response.

"I’m sorry, I’m so sorry—it’s all my fault."

Though no healer, Vier had learned battlefield first aid. She pinched Alyssa’s philtrum firmly.

After a moment—

Alyssa’s fingers twitched.

Vier pressed harder.

Her eyelids fluttered.

Alyssa blinked awake to find Vier’s worried face hovering above her.

Rubbing her throbbing forehead, she suddenly paled. "Ah! What happened? I’m so sorry, Vier—did I do something disgraceful?"

"N-no? What’s wrong with you?"

"What did I *do*? Please tell me." Tears welled in Alyssa’s pleading eyes.

Seeing her distress, Vier haltingly described her strange behavior.

*Ansal’s teasing echoed in her mind. Was every "perfect match" she found truly flawed? Just how cursed was her judgment?*

*She almost laughed at the absurd thought: "If the Tree God disguised himself before me, I’d probably see through him too!"*

"Vier, I’m truly sorry. I have… a condition. Sometimes I act completely against my nature. No doctor’s been able to cure it." Alyssa hung her head, guilt-ridden.

"You startled me, but *I’m* the one who should apologize."

"Please forgive my rudeness…"

"Are you hurt?"

"No… Vier, aren’t you angry?..."

"How could I be angry? It’s not your fault. And I hit you—I should be begging *your* forgiveness." Vier’s cheeks burned.

"Of course I’m not angry. I was in the wrong first."

"There’s no wrong here. Let’s just forget it."

"If it happens again… stop me, okay? By the way, Vier—where are you from? After Seaside City, let me take you home." Alyssa’s glossy lips parted gently.

"I’m a wandering adventurer. No fixed home."

*A plausible lie. Many roamed this dangerous world.*

"You don’t trust me?" Alyssa’s delicate brows furrowed.

"Huh? Why would you think that?"

Vier wasn’t puzzled by the question—but by what gave her away. *Anyone traveling beyond city walls was an adventurer. Even fortified cities with cannons couldn’t guarantee safety here.*

"You forgot we bathed together. Your skin is flawless—no scars at all. What kind of adventurer has skin like porcelain? If you have secrets, I won’t pry. But don’t lie to me." Alyssa’s logic was airtight.

*Eh?*

*That was her reason?*

*She was right, though. Every adventurer bore scars.*

*Vier remembered her own—honors carved in flesh, each a memory of agony only she knew. Now those marks, that past, were gone. The loss ached.*

"Well… I’m from the Eastern Pearl Empire."

*Since she saw through the lie, a half-truth would do.*

"Really?? Wonderful! We’re countrywomen! Where in the Empire is your home?"

Alyssa beamed like a child given a new toy.

"Home? The State Orphanage, I suppose. But I’m grown now—I can’t return."

The silver-haired maiden’s voice held no sorrow. Compared to her years training in the Northern Coalition, childhood felt like a distant dream.

"Ah? So you’re…?"

Alyssa covered her mouth, her eyes swimming with more grief than Vier’s own.

"I was left at the orphanage as an infant. Never knew my parents—likely dead. Yes, I’m an orphan. But it’s all in the past. I had a master in the Eastern Pearl Empire. He’s… unreliable, but at least I have someone to turn to."

*She’s right. I do need somewhere to go.*

"Then let me take you to him! I won’t rest until you’re safe!" Alyssa insisted.

"After we parted, Master never stayed in one place over three months. He might be abroad now. I’ll find him myself."

Vier declined gently. *That restless old man… suddenly, seeking him felt pointless.*

*Working in the Eastern Pearl Empire was an option—but like her master, she chafed at routine. Staying put felt like a cage.*

As Vier pondered her path—

Alyssa’s eyes lit with understanding. "Oh! So you’re searching for your master alone? That’s far too dangerous! What if you meet that awful blond boy in the forest again?"

Vier forced a dry chuckle. *This misunderstanding was safer than admitting she was a fugitive—Wolthus Empire’s most wanted.*

*No need to explain why she appeared in the woods. This lie worked.*

"How about this—you come home with me. Work as my personal maid. I’ll pay well. I’ve been needing a lady’s attendant… Will you accept?"

"A personal maid? *Me*?"

Vier’s shriek echoed in the carriage.

*The First Knight who once decided the fates of Northern Coalition officials… reduced to a lowly servant?*

But her shock wasn’t about status.

*Personal maids stayed glued to their mistresses day and night.*

*A knight with a man’s heart in a woman’s body.*

*A girl with a mysterious "condition".*

*Master and servant.*

*Could this possibly end well?*