Genevieve and Isabel got back home without anyone aware of their disappearance except Mina and Beth. The journey back home, Isabel noticed that Eve was unusually silent so she decided to ask;
"Eve," she called her attention and Eve turned her head to look at her, "are you alright? You barely said a word all the way back. Is something bothering you?"
Eve could see that the princes was worried about her. She set her lips into a smile and said, "I am fine. I was just thinking about the places I visited today."
Isabel smiled immediately upon hearing her talk about their secret outing and she was pleased that she loved it.
"You should be getting ready for another one very soon," she said with excitement in her voice and it was when Eve was about to say something that Mina and Beth came out of the house. They both wore a bored expression and Isabel walked up to them. They bow their heads to greet her and Isabel asked them, "Why do you look so dull?"
"We barely did anything today. You should have taken us along with you," Mina replied her and Isabel pulled her brows.
"What of Maidservant Ann?" she asked them.
"Maidservant Ann hasn't left her room since morning. She told us not to disturb her," Beth answered her.
"Hmn, that's not like her," Isabel said and went inside. Mina and Beth also followed and Eve watched their backs until they were gone from sight. Turning her feet, she decided to go to the garden where the flowers were already starting to bloom.
Throughout the journey back, Eve could not stop thinking about what maidservant Ann had told her. She later came to know that she won't be attending the celebration despite being invited personally by the king himself. Eve wondered why she would do that. Why is she trying so hard to push everything away? It was something Eve will never understand. She has watched her several times and saw how her life was. It was as if she had no one, not even a single family, and no one came looking for her. Eve couldn't tell how her life was like that. She wondered if that was what she was keeping her from. A lonely soul…
Eve stared at the garden a little longer while sitting on the grass and she compared her own life to the flower. When the weather is good and favorable, the flower blooms and the color brighten; when the weather is harsh and isn't favorable, it dries up, loses all its colors and eventually withers away. The only way to prevent that is to have someone to tend to it, someone who will keep watering it.
Would her life eventually wither away someday? Would there be someone in her life who would tend to her the same way she was tending to the flowers?
As she sat there thinking, her mind drifted back to the incident that occurred when she was out of the palace. She can still picture the expression on the tutor's face as he asked her if she was okay. Eve doubted if he recognized her as the princess maid and that was the reason she left in a hurry after thanking him, fearing that he would remember her face and make a report.
A palace maid can't be out of the palace except they were being sent on an errand. This was the reason her life was like a cage, more reason why anytime she attempts to sneak out with the princess, she always has the fear of being caught.
Her mind soon went back to the horse riders and Eve had noticed their outfits. They were the king's soldiers and seeing how they all rode in, she knew that he was also back. A small smile crept on her lips as she thought that she doesn't need to go see him, knowing well that he will come to look for her.
"Eve."
Eve turned her head to look behind her and she saw Mina standing there, looking stressed and a little annoyed.
"Why will you be sitting here? I looked everywhere for you."
Eve turned her body and stood up, dusting the back of her dress and straightening it.
"What is wrong?" she asked her.
"Maidservant Ann is asking of you," Mina let her know. "We have been with her the whole time and yet, it is you she wants to see," she mumbled but Eve heard her.
As they head back to the house, Eve decided to ask what has been on her mind but Mina took that time to ask her instead;
"Could it be possible that Maidservant Ann is ill?"
"Why did you say that?"
"Well, earlier today, I think I heard her coughing but it was like she was trying to suppress or cover it. I had asked if she needed water and she told us not to disturb her."
Eve turned her eyes back to the front and she thought about what Mina said. Was Maidservant Ann ill? If so, why would she try to hide it?
"Eve," Mina called again and said, "Is there something you are not telling us?"
Eve slightly furrowed her brows at her words and when she turned her head to look at her again, she saw her staring back.
"Because why would she want to see you all of a sudden when Beth and I have been with her since and would not let us see her?"
Exactly! Mina was right. Why would Maidservant Ann want to see her? It was what she also thought about.
They got back to the house and Eve could see Mina's eyes following her as she went towards Maidservant Ann's room. When she reached the door, she didn't knock on it immediately and when she eventually made up her mind, she slowly brought her hand up and placed two knocks on the door.
"Come inside," Maidservant Ann said from inside and Eve pushed the door open before stepping inside and shutting the door behind her.
Eve observed everything the moment she was inside. Maidservant Ann was sitting by her desk and she was writing something down on a paper. She didn't raise her eyes from what she was doing as she was so concentrated on it. She moved closer to stand at her side instead of the front because she didn't want to block the direction of the light with her body.
"…trapped in this space forever and I do not know where to…" Eve had caught a glimpse of part of the letter she was writing but Maidservant Ann had just finished and she started to roll it up before putting it into her drawer and closing it.
Maidservant Ann raised her head up to look at her and she took few seconds to just stare at her in silence. Eve on the other hand thought she had done something wrong and that she would get scolded for it again, but even at the thought of that, she could not help but notice the paleness of maidservant Ann's face. Even her eyes had dulled. It was as if they had lost its colors. The color of her lips also was starting to fade. They were closer to turning white…
Maidservant Ann blinked her eyes and parted her lips to speak to her;
"The king asked to see you, tonight."