Hera did not return to her room, instead her feet were already walking along the uphill path that would lead her to her mother's memorial. She needed to be alone now, before they left to meet the Duke, they passed several maids who were preparing to clean her room and by returning to the eastern side she would not be alone like she used to be.
She began to feel that she had no more place in the manor. That's right, from the beginning she really had no place in the manor, especially in that family. They were all just strangers whom she had only met a few times in her entire life.
Hera was starting to feel stupid for being so excited when she discussed her presents with the Duke, what exactly did she expect from it? But for sure, she won't let them control her life. Isn't it enough that fate has played with her life by repeating it over and over again, she did not need anyone else to rule over her life.
The sudden burst of emotion slowly subsided, Hera did not know why she was suddenly like that, she never showed her anger no matter how angry she was before. And also she had guessed what the Duke was saying about the debut party and of course about the marriage, she knew that one day, when that man finally glanced at her for the first time only to subtly chase her away with a marriage.
Hera stopped walking when she saw the angel statue in front of her, she took a deep breath and exhaled roughly, as if releasing all the remaining anger in her tight chest.
“Lady Hera, we have to go back and treat Milady's wounds.” Freya behind her struggled to keep up with Hera's fast steps. “It will rain soon, milady. We have to go back now.” She begged, tugging at Hera's arm but the girl completely ignored Freya.
Freya frowned deeply, she turned around and looked at Zane who was just silently watching them with a dark face. After staring at Zane for a long time and finding that the man had no intention of bringing Hera back to the manor anytime soon, Freya turned back to her lady, who was already in front of the angel statue.
Hera lifted her head and stared at the angel statue in front of her with a warm feeling, somehow she felt safe in that place, safer than under Zane's protection.
Hera slowly sat beside it, leaning her head against the statue. Closing her eyes and enjoying the cold wind that blows towards her, soothing her from all the anger inside of her.
“Milady…” Freya couldn't convince Hera to come back with her at all, her lady didn't even listen to anything she said, as if there was no one else in that place besides her.
Freya even glanced at Zane, “Do something.” She mouthed to him, asking for help, but the man just shook his head.
There was nothing he could do if this was what Hera wanted to do, he could only keep watching the girl's movements restlessly. Unlike Hera, Zane did not like this place, a place where he realized his stupidity and his selfishness.
The sky that was previously bright now began to look gloomy, raindrops started to soak the ground, and it didn't take long for heavy rain to pour into certain parts of the city. Especially at the Duke of Silverna's residence, the heavy rain was enough to stop all activities of the servants and guards and make them immediately take shelter from the rain.
But Hera, who loves the rain, doesn't let Zane create a barrier around her to keep out the rain. She loved the feeling when the rain hit her skin, the coldness of the wind that brought the raindrops, the earthy scent of the rain began to accumulate in the air. It was calming, making her slowly fall asleep, only then could Zane lift Hera’s body and bring her back with Freya following them from behind.
When they reached the eastern hallway, all of them already drenched in rain, attracted the attention of the maids who had just finished cleaning Hera's bedroom. A few of them quickly looked for Mrs. Shin to report what happened, according to the head maid’s instructions, if anything happened to Lady Hera they should immediately report it to Mrs. Shin. Without any delay.
Zane kicked the door to Hera's room and slowly laid her down on the bed, and then he got out and let Freya do what she had to do.
Without saying anything, Freya immediately took a clean towel and started drying Hera, who started to wake up and got up to sit on the bed. “Please hold on for a second, milady. I need to take the shards out.” Freya held Hera’s arm gently.
“Hn…” Hera only muttered for a moment and looked at her palms that were being cleaned without an expression on her pale face.
Rather, Freya was the one who was grimacing in pain as she slowly took out the shards from the broken cup that stuck to Hera's palm, her eyes began to turn red trying to hold back her tears.
“I’m fine, Fre. Don’t cry.” Hera coaxed her.
After confirming that there were no more shards stuck in Hera's palm, Freya glanced around, looking for something. Not finding what she was looking for, the girl grunt in annoyance. Freya took a clean cloth, dipped in the basin of water and slowly started patting Hera's palms gently.
“It must be painful. How can you do that? Even if you are very angry, never hurt yourself like this, Milady. What if this wound leaves a mark?” Freya muttered with a low voice, he stood up, took one of the thick blankets and immediately wrapped Hera's body in it.
“It’s fine.” These are nothing compared to all those scars.
“What's going on here?” Mrs. Shin entered the bedroom in panic, her pale face grew even paler when she saw the bloodied towel on the basin of red water. “Freya… How could this happen?” Mrs. Shin demanded an explanation from Freya, who seemed relieved to see her.
“Mrs. Shin… Thank goodness you are here… I- I…” Freya couldn't hold back her tears anymore, she started crying.
Hera subconsciously patted Freya's head with her uninjured hand, before casually saying, “There's nothing you need to worry about, Mrs. Shin.”
Mrs. Shin was stunned by the calm voice with the same serene expression on Hera’s face.
A few minutes later her room became even more crowded with the arrival of Michael and Sir Aaron, making Hera roll her eyes in growing irritation, her jaw tightened as her face darkened.
“Lady Hera…” Michael's voice made Hera turn her gaze towards the door, which was already wide open. Behind him, a man with white robe and large suitcase stands in silence, waiting for Michael to introduce him to Hera.
Hera narrowed her eyes before looked away, ignoring those who just walked into her room without even knocking on the door. Even if she said something they would never listen to her, moreover Hera didn't want to deal with anyone from this family again. If she stayed quiet they would continue to ignore her, like always.
After receiving no answer from Hera, Michael slowly approached Hera's bed, followed by the doctor who was ordered by The Duke to check Hera's injuries.
“Lady Hera, this is Sir Aaron.” Michael introduced the man behind him to Hera, “The Duke has requested Sir Aaron to check your injuries, Milady.” He announced his intent and purpose in coming to Hera's room.
“Hn…” Hera made a few sounds of response, can no longer ignore them.
“I already took out the shards, but just in case there are still shards small enough for me to see. Please have a look, Sir Aaron.” Freya said with respect towards Sir Aaron.
“Excuse me, milady.” Sir Aaron pulled a chair and sat beside Hera’s bed, he held out his hand to her. “Could you stretch out your hand, milady?” Sir Aaron, the family exclusive doctor, stated with a little bit respect in his voice for Hera.
Hera extended her hand towards Sir Aaron without a word, he examined the wounds on Hera's palm. “You did a good job.” He praised Freya, making the girl lower her head shyly. Sir Aaron started to clean the wounds with medicine and wrapped Hera’s palm with a thin gauze, he then provided additional gauze and medicine to have Freya change the bandage regularly for the next few days.
Finished with that, Sir Aaron still held Hera's hand gently. His experienced hands soon pressing on Hera's cold wrist, looking for her pulse. He could see that there was something wrong with Hera's condition when he was treating her wounds, he just needed to confirm it.
Soon enough, Sir Aaron's gaze immediately looked serious. He pulled his hand away from Hera's wrist, “Excuse me for a moment, milady.” Then his index and middle fingers were already on her neck, making Hera stare at him coldly.
For a while they just stared at each other in silence, one with a cold gaze on her eyes and the other showed a deep concern for the other.
“How have you felt these days, milady?” Sir Aaron asked.
“I'm fine.” Hera mumbled.
“... Is there anything uncomfortable with your body?” He asked another question with a deeper frown on his face.
Hera, who was too lazy to say another word, just shook her head. Hera looked around her room, she no longer saw Mrs. Shin and Freya inside her room, no idea since when they left her room.
“What's the matter, Sir Aaron?” Michael, who has been silent the entire time, chimed in when no one made a sound for a while.
Hera sighed while massaging her forehead slowly, her head was spinning because of the uproar in her room.
“Nothing wrong with me.” Hera chuckled, she smiled weakly, her eyes narrowed down. “I want to rest now.”
“...”
"..."
The two men stayed silent, not moving an inch from their place and just staring at her for a long time, trying to find something… anything that was wrong about her, maybe her gesture that indicates something.
Received no answers from the two men in front of her, the smile on Hera's face faded, her cold face looked tired and paled.
“Could both of you please let me rest?” She asked rather politely to the two men. “Just come back another day and if I still am not fine… then I will answer anything you want to ask me.”
Hera didn't know if her words could convince them to leave her alone or not, but she really didn't want to see or talk to anyone right now.
“Alright. I'll be back in a few days.” Finally, Sir Aaron sighed, he gave in to Hera's requests.
“Hn…” Hera smiled and made an empty promise to Sir Aaron without him knowing.
Shortly, Michael led Sir Aaron out of Hera's room, leaving her all alone. But before he could close the door, Hera called out his name, made him stare at her with his slightly raised eyebrows.
“Tell him that next time… don't care about me. Don't look for me. Just leave me alone, as usual.”
Her room felt quiet and calm once again, she leaned her back against the headboard of her bed and glanced at Zane who was silent the entire time. “Do you have anything to say to me?”
