Dawn broke.
Anna was already sitting in her room waiting. Usually at this time, a servant would bring her a delicious breakfast. Since Ariel was long gone, the person bringing her breakfast was different every day.
"Croll? It's actually Croll! I can't believe Milan found her to be Her Highness's personal maid. Is she not afraid His Majesty will punish her?"
A guard's voice suddenly came from outside the door, but it was not spoken aloud; it was an inner thought.
Anna frowned slightly.
"Croll," she softly whispered the name.
Dusty memories slowly unlocked, and her eyes suddenly lit up.
Croll!
Grant's daughter.
When Anna's mother was alive, Grant was the bravest and most loyal knight in the Kingdom of Ferent. That was until the Queen was replaced by Anna's stepmother, Caroline, who imprisoned Grant on charges of framing the King.
In other words, Croll was now essentially the daughter of a convicted minister.
Soon, three knocks came from the door.
"Come in," Anna said gently.
She raised her eyes to watch the entrance. Soon, a girl about her age wearing a standard maid uniform walked in. She didn't have snow-white skin, but she had a head of snow-white short hair that looked clean and sharp, like a tempered blade.
When Croll saw the Princess, her inner thoughts quickly revealed themselves.
【Her Highness is very beautiful. The former Queen was kind to Father. Protect the Princess.】
【Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty!】
Anna's mouth twitched. This was the first time she had seen such straightforward and concise thoughts. Compared to Leona's mind, it was the complete opposite extreme.
Leona's thoughts were like countless intertwined threads, chaotic and disorganized, requiring her to spend a long time untangling the knots before she could see through her mind.
Just as Anna was reflecting on this—
Croll placed the tray on the table, pressed her right hand over her left chest, took half a step back with her left foot, bent her knees, bowed, and lowered her head slightly.
"Your Highness, I am your personal maid, Croll. From now on, I will be taking care of your daily life and protecting your safety."
"Um... Is this your first time being a maid?" Anna asked after a pause, observing Croll's actions.
Croll raised her head, asking in confusion, "Why do you ask that, Your Highness? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, it's just that you performed a knightly salutation just now," Anna said with a wave of her hand.
She didn't understand why Milan would arrange such a maid for her. Besides, this maid could only stay by her side for less than ten days.
Croll froze upon hearing this, realizing she had used the knight etiquette she practiced most daily. Her cheeks flushed slightly as she quickly pulled back her hand and bowed in apology:
"I am deeply sorry, Your Highness. I have never studied palace maid etiquette. From now on, I will study diligently to become a qualified maid."
"There's no need. In the future, you don't even have to use formalities when we meet. After all, you can only stay by my side for nine days," Anna replied with a smile.
Croll seemed to misunderstand her meaning and began to blame herself in her heart.
【Did something wrong. Made Her Highness dislike me. Croll deserves to die.】
Anna sighed helplessly, thinking to herself that being overly rigid wasn't a good thing either.
Remembering that Leona hadn't eaten yet, she waved to Croll.
"I am about to eat. You may step down for now."
Croll seemed reluctant and took a step forward, saying anxiously, "But Milan warned me to stay with Your Highness at all times and never leave your side."
"But you are my maid now, so you should listen to me. I simply prefer eating alone. Besides, I'm only asking you to wait outside the room, which isn't too far away."
"But..." Croll wanted to argue further, but Anna interrupted her.
"Step down."
Seeing that the Princess was no longer indulging her, Croll withdrew from the room.
Once Anna closed the door, Croll stood straight as a ramrod outside, her eyes blinking only once in a long while.
The two guards stationed at the entrance felt uncomfortable all over seeing this scene.
Udarik plucked up the courage to strike up a conversation. "Croll, what happened inside?"
Croll didn't answer a single word, not even turning her head to glance at him.
After exchanging a glance with the other guard, Udarik knew deep down that these nine days would not be easy.
Even the finest guards couldn't stand all day without chatting a single word. Seeing Croll's posture, both felt this state of affairs would persist for a long time.
【Her Highness told me to wait. Guard talking without permission. Detestable.】
Hearing Croll's inner thoughts, Anna stared blankly at the door.
Afterward, she crawled under the bed and knocked on the hidden door leading to the secret passage.
Leona seemed to have been waiting for a long time and quickly crawled out from inside.
Following the aroma, she ignored Anna and walked straight toward the dining table.
"You really make yourself at home," Anna couldn't help saying, seeing Leona treat the place like her own.
Leona didn't refute it. Even if Anna didn't allow it, she was going to eat this breakfast.
Only she knew what it felt like to eat plastic for seven days.
She rubbed her hands together and looked at the sumptuous breakfast.
A glass of berry juice, four slices of smoked lean ham, two slices of soft whole wheat bread, a small pat of butter, two egg waffle pancakes, and a small dish of raspberries.
Fortunately, Anna had specifically instructed for a larger portion of breakfast, and since her own appetite was small, it was just enough for the two of them.
What puzzled Anna was that every time Leona ate, she insisted on Anna handing the food to her.
Just as she was about to drink the glass of juice, Leona stopped her.
"Your Highness, could you give that glass of juice to me?"
At the same time, Anna finally sorted out the main information from Leona's intricate inner thoughts.
【Any food handed to Leona by Anna is non-toxic.】
However, she knew nothing of the Main God's existence, nor had she read Western horror stories, so she naturally didn't know about miraculous things like rules.
She carefully handed the juice to Leona.
Yet, even during this careful process, the glass of juice still spilled.
Only then did Anna realize that the thought in Leona's mind was not groundless.
"Your Highness, were it not for me, you would already be dead today," Leona said, pointing at the juice spilled all over the floor. "This glass of juice is poisoned."
Anna thanked her, looked at Leona, and said calmly:
"It was probably poisoned by someone from your side."
"I think so too," Leona nodded.
Currently, Anna was to be married off to a prince from another kingdom, so the King would certainly be especially responsible for her life.
Since it managed to bypass the physician's inspection, there was a high probability it was an invader.
After all, invaders were all endowed with abilities.
Of course, Leona hadn't completely cleared locals of suspicion either. After all, there was still a Queen in the royal palace who knew how to make poisoned apples.
However, according to Anna, the Queen harbored extreme disgust toward her in her heart, but would not kill her, wanting her dead even less than the King did.
Except the King was unwilling for her to die, whereas the Queen was terrified of her dying.
Rate on N.U.
