-41-Days after Miriel left for the Capitol, Anne was sitting on the grass near the old hut a distance from the side of the mansion.She was staring at the blue sky with her head in her hands and her elbows on her knees."Haaa…" She sighed. It was just so boring without her lady at the mansion. She had so much free time she didn't know what to do.Many of the servants told her to take it easy, but it was not easy to do that. Anne wanted her to do things if she was working, and that was easy when she already knew what to do.But this was the first time she was not serving her lady, who had gone on a trip to the Capitol. Maybe she should have asked to go with her? Would she have agreed?
She sighed again, staring wistfully at the clouds in the sky.
"Can you stop sighing for a moment? I'm trying to train here." Mark said.Anne turned to Mark who was in front of a tree stump. He was sweating a lot in his white clothes and brown trousers. He bent his back and rested his hands on his knees as he stood, and there was an axe by his feet."Just keep chopping the wood, Mister Woodcutter." Anne replied.In the morning, Mister Mark would be chopping wood near the old hut for his training, which he started some days ago. It was uh…precision training, right, something her lady had suggested. Which made total sense to Anne.Anne would often join him as well, though not every morning since there were days she had other things to do. But when she did, it surprised her that she could do a lot more chops than Mister Mark could. Though she did hit the logs a bit to the left or right of the centre very often.But Mister Mark didn't hit the centre either, and he did split way less than her. And he would still be so exhausted and drained even after his few splits.Was it because he was concentrating so hard? Was it some technique to focus better?"If you're done resting, then head to the mansion and go help out or something. You're just disrupting my training with all the sighing you do." Mark said, his chest heaved as he breathed.Anne sighed again."Since Lady Miriel is gone I don't know what to do. I don't feel like doing anything at all." She said."Well that's your problem. Why do you have to bother me here with it?" Mark asked.He straightened and lifted the axe, then slowly lifted a log from the side to the stump. It was funny how he over-stretched his arms to lift the logs, was that also part of the training?
"You're taking it way better than I thought you would, Mister Mark." Anne said."Hm? What do you mean by that?" Mark said.He lifted the axe over his head, closed his eyes, opened it and brought the axe down. The axe split the log straight through but Anne could tell they were a bit uneven.Mark set the axe beside him as he sat on the ground."I mean, you aren't very sad or very depressed that she's going to the Capitol. Do you miss her alot? Does it make you want to just go to the Capitol yourself?" Anne asked."It's only for a few days. She'll return right after." He said.He covered his eyes with his arm as he sprawled on the ground."Say, Anne, why do you call me Mister Mark?" Mark asked."Hm? What do you mean by that?" Anne replied, tilting her head."You call me mister like Louis and Yorn, but you call Miriel lady instead of madam. Why am I mister? Why not Lord or just Mark?""Well," Anne thought for a bit and replied, "Because Mister Mark is Mister Mark."Anne bobbed her head. There was no better reason compared to that."But Miriel is Lady Miriel?" Mark said,"I'm not even much older than you, and I'm the same age as Miriel.""Eh? You are?" Anne's brows raised. That was quite surprising."Might be younger, maybe…" He trailed off."Oh, so you're the one that's clinging to her," Anne nodded. That explained a lot."No one's clinging to anyone." He raised his head to glare at her, then rested it again on the ground and stared at the sky.Anne sat there for a while, then stood up and patted herself."I'll be heading to the mansion then. Do your best to not disappoint Lady Miriel, okay? Mister Mark?" Anne said.Mark clicked his tongue and turned his head to the side.Anne grinned and paced towards the mansion.-There was not much to do in the morning since her lady was away. Normally Anne would wake Lady Miriel up after the morning training with Mister Mark - or around the same time if not - and would prepare her for the day. Then follow her around.Other than her afternoon training with Captain Hurlstead, she had no other fixed schedule, unlike the servants.Anne decided to clean her lady's room while she was away. Though she had to think about what she would do after that.She entered the room and it felt very bleak to her for some reason. Maybe it was because her lady was away?The walls were painted in a dye that was like wheat but whiter. Light entered the room through the panes of the windows and the balcony door.'Hm? The balcony door?' Maybe her lady wouldn't mind, probably.Anne went to the balcony door and opened it.She saw the vast blue sky above her and a wooden railing at the end of the balcony.The balcony itself was quite large, maybe half as large as her lady's room, or maybe a bit smaller.She leaned on the railing and stared at the mansion's land. The plants in the garden and the farmers caring for them, the trees and their leaves flying in the air, she could even see the barracks in the distance.
"Hm?"Below her, Anne saw a servant a distance away from the manion who was clinging to one of the fences. The servant had long grey hair and was wearing a blue female servant's dress.Anne leaned her head lower and placed a palm above her eyes.The servant seemed like she was twirling her fingers around for some reason. Right at the bottom of one metal fence and the top of the stone walls.When she was done, she turned away and headed back to the garden.'Now why would she be doing that?' Anne thought. She was curious, very curious.She rushed out of the room, down the hall, through the main doors and to the place which she - hopefully correctly - thought was the place.She stopped and examined the bars as she went past them.One had a string around its bottom - which caught her eye - and she examined it closely.Anne pulled the string and a folded paper came up on the opposite side of the wall.She pulled the letter to her, unfolded it and read it.She folded it again, and dropped it down the wall.Anne turned her head around to check, then ran back to the mansion.