When she first met Charlize, Mary was perplexed.
'I heard rumors are widespread that she is a wicked woman.'
Why did she become the prince's teacher?
She was wary because she didn't know what she was thinking. As such, rumors from society about Charlize were bad.
But it didn't take long for Mary to be ashamed of her mind, who was judging by what others said.
It was the first time in her life that someone paid such warm attention to a maid.
It was difficult to get close to her, but she was a very sweet and friendly person.
"Is this the scent you made?"
"Yes, it is a poor skill, but…"
"You, you're a genius."
She only had a hobby of making perfumes, but Charlize was the first person to praise Mary for her ability.
She thought she was good at it, but no one paid attention to the scent. Although she was unusually concerned with her sense of smell, she was disappointed and discouraged.
But Charlize said no.
"That's a natural talent."
As if engraved in a soft voice.
She said it over and over again.
First recognition.
For Mary, the world was a scent.
There were several times when sight and scent were mixed, and the smell was seen as color.
Fortunately, not every time, but sometimes at very intense moments, the scent appeared as a color.
For example, the scent of grass chirping under the warm sunlight of spring was blue. The cool scent flowing through the air during the first snow was gray in heat.
And when she looked at Charlize, she witnessed her scent as a color. Very clearly.
'It's white.'
Her color.
It was transparent and white at the same time.
It was surprisingly intense. She only had the impression that she was so pure that it could not come to her senses. It had a very fragrant scent. It even felt divine.
Why… A color that is drawn into the depths helplessly and never able to escape.
A color that will affect people's hearts.
She's surprised.
She's dreamy like a fairy.
The red scent floating very slightly like powder resembled the color of blood and it was dizzying.
A scent that seemed to have been spread softly wrapped around Charlize's body.
"You will surely succeed in making perfumes."
"How can I as a maid…"
It was a secret that could not be brought out to anyone, so she kept it alone.
But Charlize, as if she had read Mary's mind. Said.
"If you don't trust me, trust me. Trust my eyes."
A gentle voice. She was infinitely kind and sweet.
The beautiful appearance was unrealistic. All of her aura and scent were not felt in front of Charlize.
The large, fragile-looking eyes were moist with water, and the delicate hands of the young noble lady had no calluses. The features on the small face were like a delicate scented candle.
'A fragile person.'
Seeing such a person, she was ashamed of herself for only listening to the ridiculous rumors that she was a wicked woman.
Then it was one day.
"Why are you crying?"
An imperial knight ridiculously insulted Mary because her parents were florists.
She didn't mean to cry, but tears were piling up in her eyes.
Charlize held her and asked her kindly, and she spilled it as it was.
"It's, it's not a big deal… But the knight…"
Mary was sad.
Because of her emotional personality, she was hurt more than others, but she was not good at rejection. Mary used to be targeted more than others, saying it was fun to tease her.
Mary cried but explained the whole story clearly.
"Good job."
It sounds like she did a good job explaining it.
Charlize asked.
"Do you want me to scold him?"
It was a bright smile.
It was a sly smile.
Mary shook her head in embarrassment, with eyes often told that she resembled a puppy.
"You don't have to do that. That knight is really scary… he's tall, and he's very strong anyway… I'm afraid you'll get hurt."
"He insulted my maid, shouldn't I have to act?"
Charlize was sweet until the end.
However, when Charlize found the knight and set him up in the battle, she looked different.
Charlize, who stood at the battle with a fresh look.
The swordsmanship that unfolded after that.
'Beyond the human level.'
It was unrivaled swordsmanship.
After that, Mary had never seen such swordsmanship.
Unbelievable. It was just amazing. After the battle, no one dares to touch Mary.
She couldn't shut her mouth just by looking at Charlize's swordsmanship.
At the end of the battle, there was a death-like silence from the knights who watched, and the sighs that were barely uttered.
Mary never forgot.
Even the Shadows who were later called elite among the elite were embarrassed to compare his swordsmanship skills compared to Charlize.
But what caught Mary's eye was not Charlize when she showed off her splendid presence. It was sometimes Charlize.
One time, Charlize was sitting by the window, looking down at a book boredly. She remembers the title of the book was 'Why Should We Praise the Great Empire'.
The cool eyes were different from her appearance of holding a sword, so she was suffocated. It was like a different person.
'Maybe this is the real grandmaster.'
A strange thought crossed her mind.
Even though she was just reading a book, she was so overwhelmed by Charlize's atmosphere that she couldn't even speak.
She stood there as if nailed to it, staring at Charlize.
Charlize smiled when their eyes met. A smile that is close to a reflex reaction.
If the laughter of the day was just soft and sarcastic. laughter now.
If her smile of the day was just soft and bright. The current smile is.
She gets sucked in as if she's bewitched by the same woman. Temptation. Fatal. And…
'Death.'
It was a suffocating smile that she didn't know how to describe in words.
After Charlize became a grandmaster.
The nobles became afraid of Charlize, but Mary was more afraid of Charlize's aloof boredom, than her charismatic and cold-hearted appearance.
'What is real?'
Now that Charlize is gone, the truth is unknown.
Three years have already passed.
***
In fact, Mary had always been afraid of Dylan. It was because of Mary's secret ability.
It was because Dylan's scent, which Mary witnessed, was surprisingly dark.
'It's creepy black.'
Blackened. It was a blatant scent, reminiscent of a devil.
'The other day, when the Duke and His Majesty had a private meeting.'
To serve tea, she once went into a room where the meeting was in progress.
At that time, Kahu and Dylan's atmosphere was unusual. Most of all, Dylan's scent was the darkest and blackest that Mary had ever seen.
She was afraid of the endless darkness.
"A deal is a proposal that can only be made in an equal position. Kahu."
Kahu and Dylan's gaze collided as if there were bursting sounds in the air.
The cold and low atmosphere made her whole body shudder.
As she intervened in the middle, Mary felt like her body was being torn apart.
"Your Majesty won't regret it either. Wasn't it already destroyed just as it was about to fall?"
"…What's your real purpose?"
"It's like Your Majesty."
It was a threatening scenery.
Kahu and Dylan did not only raise their swords, but glared at each other as if it were a battle that risked the lives of the knights.
'At that time, probably, about the grandmaster…'
She could see it.
The two powerful people are talking about Charlize who disappeared.
Just being there made Mary feel choked.
Mary poured tea on both of them with her trembling hands. However, her head was already blank, and her body weighed down by heavy air was out of control.
Dylan lifted his teacup and spoke calmly.
"Do you want to die?"
"How can God die? Leaving the empire of the wise king alone."
There was even an illusion of hearing the tension tearing apart.
However, the tense atmosphere was as if it were a lie, and immediately after, the emperor bit a bland smile.
At first glance, it seemed that the freshness of the boy in the past was reflected in the emperor's composure that was immediately restored.
"…"
"I'll step back now."
More than that, the decision was an abuse of confidence.
Mary bowed her head down and stepped back.
Witnessing the moment of the private meeting, Mary knew nothing. She realized only one thing.
'I think I know why the grandmaster left.'
It was profane, but it was.
In fact, Mary. When she saw Charlize and Dylan together in the past. She used to have a terrible sense of incongruity.
'It's like the grandmaster is being encroached on by the emperor.'
Charlize's sacred white scent was mixed with Dylan's black scent. Later, to the point where she didn't even notice what Charlize really was. She's deeply colored.
Mary,
She felt as if the grandmaster was being eaten and possessed by the emperor.
Of course, Charlize was always ahead of Dylan on the surface.
Even now, Dylan desperately looked for Charlize, who had left. All historians and nobles supported Dylan as a wise king.
A capable emperor who united the continent into one less than two years after the war began. The voice of an excited scholar was routine, saying that there was no precedent for such a revival in the history of the founding of the Empire.
It was a peaceful era no matter what anyone said, and it was the undeniable heyday of the empire. Charlize's presence, who raised the genius wise king, grew day by day despite her absence.
But Mary was afraid.
Because she has a much more sensitive sense than ordinary people. The unknown unconscious kept whispering.
It's dangerous. It's twisted.
"Mary, the maid, answered the call that Your Majesty has sought."
Dylan was in the grave of the 7th Concubine.
The steps to the emperor were terrifying. Mary trembled with courtesy.
His cool face was as natural as his original.
When Charlize was there, he was soft and friendly as if he had been hit by a warm spring breeze.
Traces that can no longer be found.
Dylan, who was caressing the flowers in the burial mound, glanced at Mary.
"Don't you want to see Charlize?"
It was a lingering ending, but it was His Majesty's question.
Mary held her breath.
Actually more than Charlize, she was scared of Dylan. Because the scent can't be erased.
It is the empire of a wise king that united the continent. He's a handsome man who makes people's hearts pound automatically.
Her whole body just stiffened.
"Of, of course. Is there anyone in the royal family who does not miss the grandmaster? Your Majesty."
Mary felt like her sense of smell would be ruined by the black scent, but she managed to endure it.
She's afraid.
Even though she was facing the wise king, she was instinctively afraid.
Fortunately, maybe it was a heart-warming answer, Dylan smiled briefly. He still had a beautiful appearance that seemed to be captivating.
"Do you like wizards?"
"Yes? Yes. Your Majesty…"
After getting caught up in affirmation, Mary slowly raised her head.
Dylan just smiled softly. Mary seemed to understand the psychology of those who obeyed their rulers.
Then she asked, as if possessed.
"But why the wizard…"
When Charlize was there, he was restrained, but when the grandmaster left. Dylan showed a clear presence.
What Charlize wanted to see was the truth.
"It's time to bring Master back."
With an unfamiliar sound, the emperor stood up as if the waiting had ended.
Mary was disconcerted. If he wanted to bring her, could he have brought it?
But she was afraid to ask a question and bowed her head.
Dylan ordered.
Mary listened stiffly.
***
3 years have passed.
Alperier's Death Knight.
Charlize raised her head.