Ashelia clutched the cloak with the broken bow in it tightly to her chest, her mind in a daze. She knew her own strength in this state, so how in the world was she able to break an enchanted oaken bow?!
She bit the inside of her bottom lip. 'I can't let father find out about this… but I don't know any other enchanter other than him…'
She finally let out a sigh. First she had to succeed in getting back to her room without being spotted. Then, she'll think about how to get a new bow without the Duke finding out.
She turned toward Meryl and let out a breath as she mounted her. "Let's go, but you have to be twice as fast so we don't get in trouble."
* * *
Forty minutes later, Ashelia arrived at the opening behind the manor. She let Meryl pass through first so she could push her through in case she got stuck.
Once they both got through, she made sure to cover up the hole properly before she headed toward the tree she was sitting under before and retrieved her book from under the dirt.
Ashelia didn't even spare another glance at Meryl, and started to head toward the entrance of the manor.
She hadn't taken up to five steps when she saw a petite man a few meters away from her. There was a horse beside him that he led by the reins, but what caught Ashelia's attention was the way he stared at her.
He was the manor's popular stable master, Vincent, and he stared at her wide eyed.
Ashelia's body went cold. 'No… Did he see me come in through the hole?'
Vincent, the stable master, noticed the young lady coming from the orchard a few moments ago. He had intended to greet her with a smile but the words died in his throat when he saw her disheveled appearance.
Lady Orlan looked disarrayed. Her hair looked as if it had been drenched just moments ago and it looked like an absolute mess. A part of her dress appeared on the verge of ripping, in her possession was a coat he had never seen the Duke wear before and her sour mood was quite obvious.
"My Lady…" Vincent managed to say. "What on earth—"
"Hello, Vincent," Ashelia interrupted curtly. "Are you perhaps taking that horse on a walk?."
"Oh! Ye-yes," the stable master stammered. "She's pregnant so I have to get her to move around…"
Ashelia gave him a beaming smile. "You are as considerate as ever, Vincent." She told him. "Well done. We will talk another time."
"O–of course, My Lady." Vincent answered, his confusion and bewilderment plastered on his face as he watched her leave.
Ashelia walked confidently through the manor's front door like she had done nothing wrong. But she prayed in her mind that the stable master hadn't noticed anything odd.
She dropped her quiver full of arrows along the way as she took to the stairs toward her bed chamber. The servants she passed turned their heads in her direction with confusion in their stares.
But Ashelia didn't notice that, she was trying desperately not to run into her father by all means!
Before she reached the door to her bedroom, she bumped into a woman in the hallway, causing her to stumble back in surprise.
"Honestly," Ashelia started in an exasperated tone. "Who—" Her words trailed off abruptly as she caught sight of the person. "...Lyra?"
Rubbing her nose with a groan, Lyra looked up at the young woman who had called her name. "Yes, My—"
She paused, her brown eyes circling as she took in Ashelia's messy appearance. "My Lady!" she hissed, quickly taking Ashelia by the arm and dragging her into the bedchamber.
Ashelia's expression was full of confusion as she observed her maid's urgency, watching as Lyra shut the door behind them. When Lyra turned to face her, Ashelia's brow furrowed.
"My goodness…!" Lyra exclaimed in shock. "Do you have any idea how you look, My lady?!"
"Ho–how I look?" Ashelia stuttered, not sure of what her maid was talking about.
'Is something wrong with how I look?'
Lyra took her by the arm again and guided her toward a large mirror hanging on the wall. She positioned Ashelia in front of it.
"Do you see what I see, my lady?" Lyra asked.
Ashelia studied her reflection in silence, her eyes widening in bewilderment. "I… I see." She answered in a small voice as the tips of her ears reddened.
'Oh my goodness, I didn't know this was how I looked! So that's why Vincent was staring at me like that…!'
Nodding in agreement, Lyra gently turned Ashelia around to face her.
"Please don't tell me you walked through the entire manor like this?" Her maid's voice was as gentle as ever.
"I... I did." Ashelia stuttered, her voice low as the redness of her ears spread to her face. "I could die from embarrassment..."
First of all, she hadn't noticed the tear in her dress when she was washing it at the lake and secondly, that lunatic Archduke dried everything but her hair!
'If you're going to do something, do it perfectly!' She let out a small sigh. Still, she was grateful to him. She would have looked a lot worse if he didn't dry her off.
Lyra's eyes slowly drifted to the coat she was clutching in her hand and her brows furrowed. "What is that, my lady? And where on earth did you find it?"
Ashelia traced her line of sight and froze. "Umm…" she swallowed. "Well, I found it… somewhere–"
"So you sneaked out of the manor." Her maid concluded, making her purse her lips.
Lyra shook her head, her expression was unreadable. "Honestly, my lady," she started, her tone gentle but firm. "I know how you can be, but this is..."
"I know," Ashelia agreed, her voice was a bit remorseful. "But it's nothing to worry about, I promise."
"Says the lady who walks into her own manor looking like she is no longer a virgin," Lyra teased.
A wave of embarrassment washed over Ashelia and her face turned bright crimson. "Lyra!"
"I only tease, my lady," her maid said, her eyes literally twinkling with amusement. "Now come, I need to get you out of this horrible looking dress," then she eyed the slender coat in her grasp.
"And put that coat aside, my lady. If the Duke were to see you in the state you are in and with that strange piece of clothing, he would not be too happy."
"Yes, please," Ashelia agreed, before heading to her bed and hurriedly shoving the coat under. "Hurry, before it's time for lunch."
Lyra gave her a skeptical look. "Lunch?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "What lunch? Lunchtime passed over an hour ago, my lady."