Cordelia was getting old, but her years of training in the Northern Kingdom kept her body and mind strong.
However, the will to live wasn't there anymore.
After the princess had been taken to be executed, the once noble lady-in-waiting turned slave had sunk into a clockwork routine of waking up at the break of dawn and working herself to near death till dusk.
Her conscience just couldn't take the fact she was alive while the woman she vowed servitude was now gone.
Princess Elysianne had saved her from the overseer's wrath, but in doing so, she sacrificed her own life.
She was just a mere woman who served the Whitecasters. She didn't deserve to be saved by Princess Elysianne.
Cordelia wanted to kill herself, but couldn't find the courage to do so.
Working herself to the bone and throwing all care out the window was her own way of punishing herself for that.
"Cordelia Sashnu, you must come with me," the old man spoke once again.
The woman was suddenly pulled back from her melancholy.
She had her back to him when she returned to plowing the dirt. Cordelia raised her weary eyes over her shoulders to meet his gaze.
The man's horse neighed as he steered the animal to the other side where he could look at her better, all the while Cordelia's eyes followed him.
He slid off his saddles, and then bowed down to greet her formally.
Henry had finally recovered from his initial shock. At closer inspection, Cordelia seemed to be someone pretty useful despite her weary image.
She was going to be great as a maidservant.
However, he will just leave it to the prince to decide if she was worthy to serve him as a blood servant as well.
"My master's wife instructed me to bring you over to be her maidservant," Henry said when Cordelia continued to plow instead of responding to him.
"I am sorry, sir, but may I ask who you are?" Cordelia replied with a query instead.
"Ah," Henry raised his head, "forgive me, I forgot my manners. I am Henry, and I serve the second prince of the Western Kingdom, Prince Aleksander Ardorlean."
He snuck out the emblem he had shown to the overseer to get leverage, and Cordelia's brown eyes gravitated towards it. She immediately recognized the Ardorlean's crest.
Cordelia might have become a slave, but she was still a learned lady of the North. She studied and trained both her mind and body, emerging as a top student in her time at the academy.
She stopped her chore and instantly straightened her back.
"Why does a princess of the West want a slave to serve her?" Cordelia asked Henry with a wary tone.
"You will know when you meet her, she didn't give out much instruction but your name and how you looked," Henry said, his eyes darting towards the pocket watch.
It ticked audibly by the second, and each tick reminded him he needed to be back at the manor as soon as possible.
After all, he wasn't on a leisure ride to the countryside.
"Come now, hurry," Henry added in a rush.
He rid his horse again, extending a hand over to Cordelia who was still confused. She looked over to where the overseer was, and then back to the old man.
"Am I even allowed to go with you?" she whispered, "I don't think he would agree."
"The overseer doesn't have a say whether he can keep you here or not," Henry assured her, "the prince's wife needs you, and that is reason enough for you to come with me."
Cordelia mulled over the offer for a second.
It was bewildering that someone from the royal family would specifically ask for her to serve them.
Suddenly, a thought hit her – nobody knew her name except the Princess Elysianne.
"May I know the name of the prince's wife?" she asked Henry.
The old man was getting irritable with her hesitation. The last straw broken.
Henry replied through gritted teeth, "I don't really know her name, nor do I care! But just like you, she was once a slave just days ago. The King Raxus stopped her execution and – unfortunately – decided to wed her to the prince I serve."
Cordelia's eyes widened.
"Now, come quickly or else we will both be – ah!" Henry yelped, involuntarily tugging the reins of the horse in shock as Cordelia suddenly climbed behind him without warning.
She was swift and graceful in her movements, almost too lithe for most women.
At first Henry didn't notice, but indeed Cordelia was tall and broad as described. Sitting behind him, she towered over several inches.
The woman, despite her age, had a well-toned body too.
She might have lost a lot of weight with less sustenance since becoming a slave, but there was no denying that she had a trained physique.
Henry was intrigued, if not a bit wary, to say the least.
Why did the slave princess want this woman to serve her? Somehow, it piqued his curiosity even more about their true identity.
"Take me to her," she said.
The woman's eyes were dilated, a frenzied look washed over her face.
Henry heard his pocket watch ticked incessantly.
The attendant threw his personal thoughts at the back of his head for the meantime and without further delay, kicked for the horse to go forward, signaling the animal to run as fast as it could.
In less than an hour, the two of them arrived at the rundown manor. Henry slid down the horse, whereas Cordelia didn't even wait for him to help her down.
She was independent, and Henry withdrew his outstretched hand awkwardly. This was the second time she snubbed his offer, he noted.
He cleared his throat, and then proceeded to lead Cordelia into the manor.
Cordelia's nerves were getting the better of her. She wanted Henry to walk faster, but couldn't dare to demand him to do so.
They passed the great hall, climbing to the second level where Henry knocked on a closed door.
"Your highness? I have arrived with the woman," the man called out.
There was a shuffling sound within the room, and Cordelia clenched her fists behind her in unease.
'Could it be Princess Elysianne?' she fretted.
Footsteps echoed inside the room, making the woman's tensions rise even more.
Every step the princess on the other side took was a step closer to what Cordelia prayed for to be true.
A seemingly impossible miracle of a reunion.