My cheek still stung.
I sat alone on the stone bench behind the servant's hall, the white handkerchief clutched tight in my hands. Soft silk. Embroidered with silver thread. The initials read: E.A.
It felt like a dream.
"Why… did she help me?"
I'd never spoken to a noble before—not really. They never looked me in the eye. And someone like her—Lady Evelyne Ardent, the infamous daughter of Duke Ardent, rumored to become Empress someday?
She shouldn't have even seen me.
But she did.
She saw me crying on the ground, juice stains down my dress, the laughter of other girls still ringing in my ears. And instead of walking away… she stepped in.
Her voice was sharp, like the edge of a sword. She cut through the others like they were nothing.
And then she turned to me.
She knelt down, cleaned the dirt from my face with her own handkerchief, and said—
> "You'll be seeing me often."
But after that?
Nothing.
She stood up, turned her back to me, and walked away without looking back.
She never asked if I was okay.
Never even smiled.
The silence she left behind was louder than anything else.
---
Later that evening, I asked one of the older maids, "Do you know Lady Evelyne?"
The maid snorted. "Know her? Everyone knows her. Cold as ice, that one. They say she never cries. Never laughs. Just stares at you with those silver eyes like she's already decided what you're worth."
I looked down at the handkerchief again.
No… that's not quite right.
Those eyes weren't cold. They were tired.
And lonely.
---
I don't know why she helped me.
I don't know if she even remembered my name.
But I held onto that handkerchief like it was a promise.
One day…
I'll return it to her.
---