Maria Aes Alcia.

Maria Aes Alcia was a young lady with quite a reputation in the noble circles. While her image in the court changed with the passage of time, she was still often a cause for many rumors and discussions among younger nobility.

Whenever she went to any social venues, she attracted many gazes and admirers. But it wasn't just physical attractiveness that made her so popular.

Throughout most of her life she'd gained a reputation for being quite... mysterious. She mostly kept to herself and rarely talked to anyone, outside of exchanging usual noble pleasantries. Combined with her looks, her curt nature attracted attention of many young noblemen.

Maria usually had a picture-perfect smile on her face. She was courteous in conversations and followed etiquette perfectly. But many claimed there was more to her. That beneath the seemingly ideal noblewoman was another layer—a true face hidden under the mask of courtesy.

Despite people's best attempts, she rarely engaged in long conversations with others. She would also scarcely talk about herself; much to her admirers' plight, not much was known about her interests and preferences. Despite that, young scions never ceased their attempts at courting her.

There was a certain depth in her eyes that pulled them in. They found themselves inexplicably lost in her gaze. And it was that same depth that also pushed people away. 

She was a polarizing entity: some believed her mystery to be a part of her charm, something that separated her from all the other beautiful flowers; but others thought her gaze to be discomforting, piercing. As if she could see right through them.

That had been her reputation until just a few years ago. After she became engaged to Fabian, she underwent a massive shift...

By the time high society took note, Maria behaved nothing like she used to. Instead of a reticent, mysterious beauty they now saw a normal, cheerful girl. 

She was talkative at social venues, chatted about her hobbies and interests, and smiled sincerely beside her partner. As if her previous image was all a lie.

When asked about the sudden change, the girl in question merely replied that it was a noblewoman's secret. In other words, it was not something she could discuss freely.

Those who could read between the lines realized this had to do with her family's orders. In other words, it was likely Alcias were playing up her appeal as a part of strategy for securing potential engagements. And judging by her popularity among young noblemen, that strategy worked wonders.

For a while, Maria's transformation became a hot topic at social venues. With time however, rumors settled down.

But even now, some people still claimed there was more to her story. They said that Maria merely tricked everyone into believing her newly-minted fake persona.

Those people were usually shrugged off as delusional. She had many admirers, and they were unable to come to terms with the reality of the situation. They had been played like a fiddle and failed to see through a simple trick of mystery and beauty. End of story.

And yet, those rumors remained. Yes, they were no longer passed around as mere gossip or talked about casually at social venues. But secretly, in private, stories still spread.

That Maria Aes Alcia was a fox, wearing sheep's clothing.

***

Three of us—Miss Maria, Lucy, and I—stood in the hallway near the reception room. Miss Maria was smiling and Lucy was successfully blending in with the air. Meanwhile, I was stuck in a state of shock.

C-come on, Ayumu, no time to gawk! W-what was I supposed to do again...? That's right! Noble manners—etiquette! You have to greet her like a true noble.

I got myself together and mustered up a greeting.

"G-greetings, Miss Maria. I-I thank the fate for blessing me with a meeting with you." I said, trying my best to sound as noble-like as I possibly could.

At first Maria's eyes widened in surprise. Then, they slightly narrowed. Finally, she laughed in amusement.

"Hehehe, is this a new joke or something? You always say the funniest things out of the blue," Maria replied, still smiling.

I-it didn't work, huh? Now that I think about, why the hell did I reply with a formal greeting after seeing how casually she entered the scene... Damn it, Fabian! If only you didn't get along with your fiancée... Now, I can't even hide my identity behind generic platitudes!

"What's with that awful greeting? If this was an etiquette lesson, I would give you 0 points, you know?" she added, "you didn't even offer gratitude to the Deas."

As Maria said that, a hint of teasing could be heard in her tone. 

She took a step back, and her body gracefully descended in a bowing gesture. As it did, her right leg shifted to the back, and her right hand went near her chest. Meanwhile, her left hand delivered a flowing motion that started near her head and went all the way to her left side. 

Maria's bow stopped just before her body reached a right angle. Then, she began to speak. There was a grace and a sense of distance in her words that wasn't present previously.

"My heart offers gratitude to Deos Fatima for blessing us with this meeting. Would your heart join mine in this momentous occasion?" she said and lifted her face slightly.

After a moment, I figured out she was waiting for my reply.

"Y-yes, it would," I muttered, confused.

"Then may our minds permit them such," she said with a perfect smile on her face and returned to a neutral position.

Then, her perfect expression melted away, giving way to a cheerful grin.

"Hehe, well, was it good?" she asked as if waiting for a praise.

"Y-yeah, it was perfect."

Yeah, okay. There was no way for me to know that that was the right way to go about it. What the hell is this all crap about heart and mind anyway?

"Haha, yeah. I just felt like the usual greetings are so stiff and stuff. Was trying to mix it up a bit," I replied, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Hmmm, I'm pretty sure yours was as stiff as any,"  Maria said with a ponderous expression, "you have the weirdest sense of humor... I kind of like it though! Come on, let's have a seat."

She grabbed my hand and smiled at me.

Goddamn it, Fabian... you have it good, don't you?

If I embarrassed myself in my previous life I wouldn't get a laugh. I would get a contemptuous glare instead, you know? Why such a drastic difference? Is it because he's hot? It has to be because he's hot, right?

"Y-yeah, sure. Let's take a seat, M-Maria." I agreed, internally cursing Fabian.

As I said that, I saw her eyebrow twitch ever so slightly. 

For a second, I thought her expression shifted, but after I blinked, her smiling face was still there.

M-must be my imagination...

Maria let go of my hand. She then brought her hand to her cheek and tilted her head in thought.  

"Hmm... What's wrong with you today? Are you feeling unwell?" Maria asked. Her tone was casual and her gestures were normal, but when I looked in her deep green eyes, I began to feel uncomfortable. There was something chilly about her gaze...

I-is she suspicious of me? Did I already screw something up!? It's all because of that damn Fabian and his playboy ways...

S-should I just nod along and blame it all on feeling sick...? Yeah, let's just do that. Take a deep breath and keep your calm, Ayumu! Y-you can do it!

"I-I... eghm... Y-Yeah, I-I'm—"

"—Young Master has felt unwell since this morning." Lucy interrupted my incoherent blabber.

Yeah, okay. Maybe I can't do it.

"I offered him to get some rest, but he refused to budge," Lucy added.

As always, Her tone was impassive, but it surprisingly had a calming effect on me.

N-nice save, Lucy!

"Y-yeah, it's just as Lucy says." I nodded along as I mentally sent my thanks to my loyal maid.

Mary paused, her smile already gone. She then threw a glance at Lucy. After a second or two, Maria nodded in understanding.

"I see... You never change, do you? And what's up with 'Maria'? Call me Mary, like you usually do."

"Y-yeah, sure. My bad, M-Mary," I replied somewhat panicked. 

O-oh, I see. So that's what it's all about... So Fabian was using a nickname for her and not her full name, huh? That's it. Pretty simple. It's always the simple stuff that goes under people's radars...

While I was mentally doing my best attempt at waxing philosophy, Maria fell in thought.

"Feeling unwell, huh...," she muttered. Then suddenly, smile came back to her face. "Well, whatever. We should sit down already."

As she said that, Maria turned around and headed to the reception room. I followed suit, and Lucy trailed after me.

When I entered the room, I stopped at the entrance for a moment as I looked at the available seats.

Where should I sit?

It was a small thing, but I'd already made too many errors in the past few minutes. I couldn't afford to screw up even more.

There were two main options. First one was on the chair opposite to Maria, second—right next to her, on the sofa. In other words, it was a choice between being physically closer to her or farther away.

After some deliberation, I hesitantly sat on the sofa. Considering what I knew about Maria and Fabian's relationship, sitting closer made a whole lot more sense.

As I sat down, Maria watched me attentively, before glancing at Lucy, who followed us in the room. Then, her gaze returned to me. Her eyes were narrowed sharply. 

She stared at me for a few seconds. As she did, her smile disappeared for but a single moment, before returning as if it was always there to begin with.

Unlike the beginning of this meeting, there was something different about Maria's smile. It was pleasant and relaxed, nothing wrong in sight. But looking at it inexplicably sent chills down my spine.

After a bit of thinking, I realized what it was. The answer was very simple.

That smile of hers didn't reach her eyes at all.

S-scary!

I gulped nervously. I could feel cold sweat forming on my back.

Meanwhile, Maria kept up her icy expression. While her stare was still directed at me, she also kept throwing glances in Lucy's direction. 

After a few tense seconds, Maria took a deep breath and began speaking. Her tone was casual, but simultaneously so cold that it felt like the temperature in the room dropped by a few degrees.

"Hmmm... don't you think it's slightly disrespectful for a mere maid to still be around?" Maria asked with a hint of exasperation. "It's our private time after all."

The entire room went silent. Tension was rapidly increasing. 

While I hesitated with a reply, I racked my brain, trying my best to figure out the meaning behind her words.

P-private time... Is she just saying that she wants to be left alone with her fiancée...? T-that would be pretty cute of her... if it wasn't said with a smile that could freeze hell twice over!

S-should I just nod along? B-but what's this terrifying aura surrounding her...

I was about to agree, but my self-preservation instincts struck an alarm. As my thoughts began descending into panic, I tried my best to get myself together.

Hold on, Ayumu. Calm yourself down. Maybe she doesn't mean anything special by saying that. I already got the etiquette wrong a few times. This could easily be more of the same... Or maybe that, but much more severe. That would explain her horrible mood.

As I continued that train of thought, I began reevaluating current situation from different angles.

Are servants not supposed to accompany nobles to private meetings? If so, why did Lucy even follow us? Is she just lacking in common sense?

She's the kind of maid who would open her master's bedroom with a door slam after all. I wouldn't be surprised if she just went in with us because she felt like it in the moment. Frankly, social subtleties were always beyond her...

Or was it the opposite? This could just be Maria's own quirks coming to surface. This girl does seem like someone who does whatever she likes instead of obeying social norms.

My mind raced, trying its best to not miss anything obvious. Finally, I reached a preliminary conclusion: instead of blindly guessing, I had to keep going based on what I could and couldn't do realistically.

Frankly, I don't even have the option of saying no anyway. No matter how you slice it, declining her request would be ten times more suspicious than the alternative. I just have to say yes and move along—

—Just as I was about to answer Maria, I caught a glimpse of Lucy's face. 

As always, her expression remained unmoving, still as stone. It was even more blank than usual. Yet something felt off about it...

"So? What are you waiting for?" Maria interrupted my thoughts. "Hurry up and order her to leave."

Her words brought me back to reality. Under Maria's scrutinizing gaze, I had no time to stare at Lucy.

Just as I was about to reply a single image flashed in my head.

In there, I saw a silver-haired girl. She was looking at me with her clear, blue eyes. On her face, a slight smile blossomed.

That smile lingered on the surface of my consciousness as I prepared to reply.