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As soon as Helena received the order from Princess Louise, she ran to the kitchen.
She procured a picnic basket, filled it with snacks, and packed plenty of blankets to sit and lie on.
She swallowed nervously at the thought of meeting the rumored Second Prince for the first time.
‘𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴’𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 “𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘳’𝘴 𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥,” 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?’
Thanks to the fame of Monk Didio, Caesarea Monastery was filled with guests all year round.
It wasn’t unusual for high-ranking nobles to be among the guests, but it was Helena’s first time being assigned to serve one of them exclusively.
It had been less than three years since she entered the monastery, and she had no experience in serving nobles up close.
‘𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵…….’
But the prince had come all the way to this remote monastery to heal the wounds he had suffered in the war.
‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯.’
Helena clenched and unclenched the handle of the basket with her stiff, nervous fingers.
As she left the monastery and hurried towards the waterfall, the red sunset fell over her head.
🔹🔹🔹
Lurick and Helena had to meet at the waterfall alone, so the last thing I needed was to be anywhere near them.
‘𝘐𝘧 𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘓𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘢.’
But I couldn’t just stay in my room.
‘𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥.’
I couldn’t risk provoking Lurick too much; it would be counterproductive.
So, I carefully calculated the time.
‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?’
I had to give them enough time to exchange a few words, but Lurick couldn’t be so late that it would raise suspicion.
“I’m going out for a bit, Phoebe.”
“Without calling for a maid first, Your Highness?”
“I told Helena I would meet her downstairs since she was stopping by the kitchen.”
“Ah, I see. Please be careful!”
Phoebe smiled brightly, her hands diligently working on her embroidery.
“Take care.”
It seemed she had been diligently practicing embroidery since yesterday, when I had asked her to draw a camellia flower.
She didn’t even urge me to embroider, as if she found my skills lacking.
‘𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴.’
I swallowed a laugh and quietly slipped out of the women’s quarters.
Just as I was passing the entrance to the monastery, I heard someone call my name.
“…Lou?”
Someone called my name.
I flinched and turned around to find Ren standing there.
“You scared me……”
Ren sighed.
“You scared me…… What are you doing here alone? Where’s Phoebe?”
“Ah…”
If I told him that I was trying to give the monastery maid and the crown prince some alone time, even the eccentric Mage Tower Master would be shocked.
I quickly came up with an excuse.
“Phoebe is in her room working on something I asked her to do. So…… I told her I was going to the waterfall with my brother.”
Ren looked around and tilted his head.
“Where is His Highness?”
“He’s going to meet me there with the monastery maid. I thought about it, and I told the maid to go ahead and wait for me too.”
He looked at me incredulously.
“And?”
“And what? Both of them are waiting for me at the waterfall right now. So, I have to go.”
“Oh my God, Lou…”
Ren frowned and rubbed his forehead.
“It’s already getting dark. Why are you being so careless, especially out here in the countryside? What are your guards even doing?”
I shrugged nonchalantly.
“I told them I didn’t need an escort because I would be meeting my brother soon.”
“You make it sound like the ten guards His Highness brought with him are completely useless.”
Judging by the way he was lecturing me, there was no way Ren would let me go to the waterfall alone.
Looking at the darkening sky, I was starting to lose my confidence anyway, so I decided to take advantage of the situation.
“What’s the problem? You’re here now.”
“I just ran into you……”
He was about to say it was just a coincidence, but then he seemed to realize that we were alone now.
“Hmm! Well, in that case…… shall I walk you there?”