The morning of the following day settled quietly over the house.
The first rays of sunlight slipped through the windows, brushing the rooms with a soft, warm glow, as if waking each corner with a gentle touch. The house began to stir slowly, the familiar sounds of a new day rising in subtle rhythm.
Footsteps echoed softly from inside, growing steadily louder. Everyone was already awake and preparing for work, everyone except one person.
Stella remained in bed, which was unusual for her.
When Mrs. Howard came to check on her, Stella explained that she was feeling slightly unwell and wouldn't be able to work that day.
Before leaving, Mrs. Howard's expression flickered with a hint of irritation, then she stepped away without another word.
"Oh, having connections here really is convenient," Stella murmured, still lying there, her gaze drifting to the sunlight dancing across the windowpanes.
A faint swelling marked her eyes.
After returning from the library the previous evening, she hadn't managed to close them for a moment throughout the night.
"Well, if she didn't know about my good relation with the family, she would have dragged me straight to work."
Stella found Mrs. Howard to be a somewhat kind woman, though only when everyone was working without pause. On one occasion, she had forced a maid to continue despite a persistent, harsh cough.
But that wasn't Stella's concern at the moment. She had to face the task already entrusted to her by Liam and Mr. Loran.
"Well, I admit it, I was foolish again this time. I wasn't careful enough. Damn me."
After a while of scolding herself, she got up and went to her small desk, taking out the book secretly brought from the library last day.
"Alright… getting upset about the past won't help. I need to find a way out of this mess."
She opened the book and began to read carefully. Even though some handwriting was unclear and a few words were difficult, Stella understood most of it.
Months of mingling and reading in the library had helped her a lot. Speaking in the local dialect came naturally now, instead of the short, clipped way she used to speak in the South.
She tried to focus on the book before her, yet thoughts of the last day refused to leave her mind.
In a month, she would have to leave for the West to carry out her mission, spying for the Loran family and the ruler of the Eastern region.
When Liam told her about it, it felt like she had been struck by lightning. He and his friend had coordinated everything while she was still reeling from the shock.
"Damn it… in the end, I had no choice but to accept. Refusing would be dangerous in this situation," she muttered, resting her head on the desk.
In reality, neither of them had forced her to go directly, but behind their polished words and friendly faces, there was a subtle pressure and even a hint of blackmail.
"If I hadn't accepted last day, I would have accepted today or tomorrow. Here, a person doesn't really have a choice, especially someone like me, a mere maid. How suffocating!"
But what troubled Stella the most was that Liam already knew everything that had happened with Rosamund, and had even taken advantage of it !
She realized this when he calmly said to her, "Miss Alina, I hope you haven't been troubled these past few days by certain people in the house. I apologize for my sister's insistence on your attending dinner that evening. But don't worry, I will handle it later. For now, just think carefully about what we said here today."
Hearing this, Stella understood that it had been Liam who suggested it to Annie in the first place, insisting she come to the dinner, then pretending to care about her in front of the guests to see how Rosamund and her mother would react. From a distance, he had been watching everything unfold.
"Hahaha… what a cunning person. He got rid of her through me without me even realizing it. I bet he's already told his grandparents everything about her actions here, to prove she's an unsuitable candidate for marriage. That way, he gets rid of their pressure and distances himself from this family even more."
This was Liam's cunning, and it made Stella even more wary of him. She understood that must never make a mistake in front of this man.
A month later, the Linden family departed for the North.
The maids described Rosamund's expression at the farewell, they seemed clearly displeased. Everyone joked that they would probably never return after refusing the marriage proposal.
While everyone else was busy with the gossip, Stella's mind was consumed with finding a way out of her predicament.
The day of the journey to the West was approaching, yet no convincing plan had appeared.
"Should I pretend to be sick… or admit that I lied and that I'm not really from the West? No, that would only make them suspicious about why I'm here!"
In the end, only one idea seemed feasible, she would have to wait for the right moment and escape during the journey.