Hera and Freya returned with their entire clothes covered in sand, especially at the bottom of their dresses, which were soaked with sea water. The two of them walked slowly, leaving a trail of water at every step, because of that Freya and Hera took the initiative to circle the mansion and enter through the servants' door.
“Freya how did you become like this... Oh my... Lady Hera.” Mrs. Oz greeted them with a shocked look on her face, not long after she swiftly took a clean towel and wrapped Hera's shoulders, she then gave another towel to Freya. “Freya, you go and take a bath before you get sick. This time I will attend Lady Hera with her bath.”
Both of them fell silent after hearing Mrs. Oz's words.
Freya suddenly panicked. As Hera's personal maid, of course she has an obligation to serve all her needs, but until now she only brought snacks and tea whenever her lady was reading in the library or when she was spending time with Lady Ruth. Apart from that, her lady does it all by herself, take a shower, get dressed, or braid her hair. Well... Freya also sometimes helps to braid Hera's hair.
Freya wonders what her role actually is in her lady life, every time thinking about it making her a little sad.
As if understanding Freya's distress, Hera nodded at her. “You can go on ahead, Freya. Don't get sick and please bring my regular tea later.”
The panic feeling in Freya's chest subsided. “Very well, Milady.” She hurriedly went to clean herself.
“How was your day, milady?” Mrs. Oz walked beside Hera, she smiled warmly. After hearing all of Lady Ruth's stories about Hera, she had been waiting for the opportunity to meet her, and then it had been a week since they had met and Mrs. Oz already thought of Hera as her own granddaughter.
“It's been a great day. I met children who were playing on the shore. Mrs. Oz, do you know where the orphanage in this city is located?” Hera asked.
“Orphanage?” Mrs. Oz seemed to think for a moment. “Of course. Lady Ruth often donated food and clothing to them.”
Hera frowned, she wondered why she didn't remember such a small thing.
She no longer asked anything, neither did Mrs. Oz.
Mrs. Oz opened the door for Hera and led the girl to the bathroom, she glanced at Hera and told her to sit for a while. She then walked towards the bath and started filling the tub with warm water, before turning back to Hera with a comb in her hand.
“I can do it alone.”
Hera was just about to take the comb from Mrs. Oz hand, but she already walked behind her.
“Let me do it, just this time, milady.” Mrs. Oz did not let Hera move, she gently began to untangle Hera's matted hair.
“What scent do you want, milady?” Mrs. Oz asked.
“Lavender.”
Mrs. Oz nodded, combing Hera's hair once more to make sure nothing was tangled, before returning to prepare Hera's bath with the scent of her choice.
Hera did not move from her place even though Mrs. Oz had finished preparing the bath and was now staring at her silently, she didn't know how to tell Mrs. Oz that she shouldn't wait for her to take a bath.
Mrs. Oz understood why Hera was silent, she smiled at Hera. “I'll tell the chef to prepare your light dinner and give it to Freya.” She said that before finally leaving Hera alone.
...
By the time Freya entered Hera's room with a tray of tea and sandwiches, her lady had just come out of the bathroom in her nightgown.
“Milady, Lady Ruth can't accompany you to dinner today, she's still in her study.” Freya informed her then placed the tray on the table, which had been moved by the window.
Hera did not ask why, she herself was just about to tell Freya to tell her grandmother that she was too tired to accompany Ruth to dinner.
“Do you need anything else, milady?”
“No. You should rest too, Fre. I won't do anything after eating, you can come back in the morning to clean the table.”
Freya was reluctant to leave, but it was an order from her lady and also she knew how much energy Hera used when playing with the children. Her lady had never been that excited before.
“Well then, get plenty of rest, milady.”
Hera saw Freya closed her bedroom door slowly, she took a seat and slowly chewed on her sandwich. Hera looked out the window and waited... kept waiting for something.
Several hours passed, soon it will be midnight. Hera got up from her seat, felt around the wall until she found something, pressed it and a secret door opened. She always went through the secret route for her midnight walks.
Hera enjoyed the silence of the night, she tightened the shawl that she draped over her shoulder. The wind that carried the scent of flowers blew at her, blowing away her loose hair.
She slipped out again that night, enjoying the night sky filled with stars and moon, accompanied by the sound of crickets on the quiet night.
Hera took a deep breath, inhaled the fresh fragrance that spread across the air and when she opened her mouth, white fog escaped her mouth. They were about to enter winter soon, the air was getting colder every night.
“You have to wear thicker clothes if you want to go out at night.” Zane, who came from nowhere, draped a heavy coat over Hera's shoulders. “I am back.” He added, taking Hera's hand and helping her onto the stone steps that surrounded the garden.
“How are things there?” Hera asked while balancing on the narrow stone steps, the hands Zane was holding stretched out to help balance her body with every step she took. “Did they succeed in getting them to confess this time?”
“Same as before. The assassins killed themselves as soon as the guards were off guard. Even though they did poorly on the assassination attempt, they remained loyal to the organization.”
The day after their arrival at Greene's mansion, Hera, as usual, allowed Zane to sneak into the basement of the Sixon family to find out who hired the assassins to kill the Duchess and her daughter.
“So we don't know who wants to destroy the Sixon family? Ah…” There was a tone of disappointment from her sighed.
Hera didn't really care about that, but they were going to put in another attempt on the mother and daughter pair during the auction they were holding in a few weeks.
“I have left a letter, warning them to tighten their guard at the auction. But, Milady, do you really want to go to that event?”
“Yes. The Greenes were invited and my cousin was coming in a few days to attend.” Hera muttered, smiling towards the sky. “I want to see the paintings she made.”
Zane's grip on Hera's hand strengthened without him noticing, Hera also didn't pay attention to that, they had already circled the garden and returned to the starting point.
“You know your family will be there too, right?”
Hera nodded.
“And you still want to go?”
Hera narrowed her eyes at Zane, then jumped down and pulled her hand away from the man's grasp. “They won't recognize me. All guests must wear a mask.”
They will recognize you. Zane wanted to shout those words at Hera, but he just kept quiet.
“Zane…” Hera called out his name. “Earlier I met a little girl, her name is Emma. I don't know why, but I really want to carry her, anywhere, and don't want to let her go. Isn't that strange? I've never felt that close to anyone before.” Hera stared blankly at the sky, she did not see the dark expression on Zane's face.
Hera had no intention of telling anyone about her feelings, but this is Zane, he knows what she doesn't know. Hera just wanted to see how the man responded to this, how he would explain the feeling of longing that suddenly arose in Hera's heart for a moment when she saw the little girl running towards her.
...
Zane didn't say anything. He didn't want to explain anything to her about that matter, he clenched his fists until he had blood on his palms. That man had warned Zane about this beforehand, but he didn't believe it would happen this quickly.
“I can only temporarily lock all of those memories, but I can't control or lock her feelings. Therefore, make sure she doesn't meet or feel any familiar feelings that will make her slowly remember all those locked memories.”
And at that time Zane simply replied casually that he would not let that happen.
But he's already done it twice. The first time when he let Luca meet Hera, it was then that he saw an unexpected expression appear on Hera's face in this life.
And secondly, when he was not by Hera's side when she met a little girl named Emma.
Emma.
That is the name that Hera had prepared for the baby she was carrying on her previous life.
Emma.
Hera liked that name, she even knit the name on every baby clothes she had prepared.
Emma.
Hera couldn't see the baby being born, they killed her baby, the innocent life in her stomach.
Emma.
Emma is part of the reason why they locked her memory.
Wow Now I am sad.