Crystal looked at her maid, and tears started to come from her eyes. They welled up slowly at first, gathering at the corners before spilling over. The tears started falling down her cheeks, leaving glistening trails in the morning sunlight.
Mari watched this happen, saw the tears forming and falling, and she rushed to Crystal's bed immediately. Her professional instincts kicked in. Something was wrong. The young miss was crying, and Mari needed to know why, needed to fix it.
She looked at Crystal with concern, searching her face for signs of pain or distress. Was it the injury? Had the healer missed something? Was she—
Out of nowhere, Crystal hugged her.
Mari froze. Her body went completely rigid with shock as Crystal's arms wrapped around her and pulled her close. Before she could process what was happening, before she could even think to respond, she felt tears falling from Crystal's eyes onto her shoulder. Warm drops soaking into the fabric of her servant's uniform.
Mari was still in shock as Crystal held her. Her mind couldn't quite catch up with reality. I mean, why wouldn't she be shocked? This was Crystal Aserra. The pampered, spoiled brat that every noble in and around the capital of Asterion knew about. Hell, even nobles outside the capital knew who Crystal was and what kind of person she'd been raised to be.
It was not an exaggeration to say that after the royal family, the Asura Clan was the second richest and most powerful family in Asterion among the noble houses. Both in terms of economy and military strength, they stood head and shoulders above other clans. Their wealth was legendary, their warriors feared and respected. No family would dare to cross the Asura Clan openly, not unless they wanted to face serious consequences.
And then there was Crystal's grandfather. General Aserra, the patriarch of the Asura Clan himself. A man whose name alone made enemies reconsider their plans. He loved and spoiled both Crystal and her younger sister Aria excessively, giving them whatever they wanted, protecting them from any consequences of their actions.
Crystal had grown up knowing she was untouchable, that she could do basically whatever she wanted because her grandfather would smooth over any problems. It had made her arrogant, entitled, the kind of person who treated servants like furniture and peers like competition.
So for her to hug Mari like this? To cry on her shoulder? To show this kind of vulnerability?
It made no sense.
Mari stood there awkwardly, half-bent over the bed, with Crystal's arms wrapped around her and tears soaking into her shoulder. She didn't know what to do with her hands. Should she hug back? Pat Crystal's shoulder? Just stand here and let it happen?
After what felt like an eternity but was probably only a minute or two, Mari carefully extricated herself from Crystal's grip. She straightened up and took a small step back, putting some professional distance between them.
She looked down at Crystal, who had released her without protest. The young miss was just sitting there on the bed now, and her expression was… strange.
Crystal looked lost. That was the only way Mari could describe it. It was like she was here physically, sitting right in front of Mari, but not actually present mentally. Her eyes stared at something Mari couldn't see, focused on a point in the middle distance that might have been the wall or might have been something else entirely.
It was weird to say, strange to even think, but that's what it looked like. Her eyes looked lost, haunted by something Mari couldn't understand.
But it didn't matter, Mari decided. Even after everything that had just happened, the screaming about ghosts, the bizarre hug, the tears, Crystal was still the same person. Still the young miss of the Asura Clan. Still Mari's responsibility to care for.
After a moment of consideration, Mari moved to the medicine cabinet and retrieved the pill the healer had left. She returned to the bed and held it out.
"Take this, young miss," Mari said gently. "The healer prescribed it. It will help with your recovery."
Crystal's eyes focused slightly, awareness returning to her face. She looked at the pill in Mari's hand, then up at Mari's face, then back to the pill. Without saying anything, she reached out and took it, placing it in her mouth and swallowing it dry.
After taking the medicine, Crystal's eyelids began to droop. The pill must have had sedative properties, something to help her rest and recover. Within minutes, she was lying back down on the bed, eyes closing, breathing evening out into the rhythm of sleep.
Mari stood there for a moment, looking at Crystal's sleeping face. She didn't show much expression as she watched. It was weird, actually. Crystal had always treated her servants in a very specific way. Not badly, exactly. She wasn't cruel or actively mean. But not particularly well either. She was indifferent mostly, treating servants like part of the furniture, acknowledging them when she needed something and ignoring them otherwise.
That hug had been completely out of character. As was the crying, the vulnerability, all of it.
Mari continued to look at Crystal's sleeping body with a weird expression on her face, something between confusion and concern and maybe a tiny bit of hope that this change might be real and not just temporary effects of the head injury.
Finally, she turned and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her so as not to disturb the young miss's rest.
When she stepped into the hallway, Mari immediately noticed something. A small figure was standing just outside Crystal's door, or not quite standing. More like curled up against the wall in a tiny ball.
Mari looked at the figure and recognition hit immediately. She moved closer and saw it was a young girl, small and delicate-looking. She looked similar to Crystal in some ways, the same general bone structure, the same black hair. But different in others. Her eyes, currently closed as she dozed, were blue instead of Crystal's dark brown. And she was much younger, maybe ten years old at most.
The girl was asleep, or mostly asleep, curled up like she'd been waiting outside Crystal's room for hours and had eventually dozed off from exhaustion. Her small body was pressed against the wall, knees drawn up to her chest, head resting on her arms.
Mari looked at her for a moment, feeling something soften in her chest. Then she bent down and carefully lifted the small figure, cradling her gently. The girl was light, easy to carry, her small body fitting comfortably in Mari's arms.
As Mari carried her down the hallway toward another set of rooms, she looked down at the sleeping child. This was Aria Aserra, Crystal's younger sister. About ten years old, still innocent in the way children could be before the world taught them to be otherwise.
Mari reached Aria's room and pushed the door open with her shoulder. The room was decorated in softer colors than Crystal's, more childish, with toys and books scattered around in the organized chaos of a child's space.
She moved to the bed and carefully laid Aria down on the soft mattress, adjusting the pillows so the girl's head was supported properly. Aria looked peaceful in sleep, her face relaxed and untroubled.
Mari smiled slightly as she looked at the sleeping child. At least this one was still sweet, still kind, not yet corrupted by the arrogance that seemed to infect most noble children as they grew older.
She was pulling the blanket up to cover Aria when the girl's eyes fluttered open. They were unfocused at first, confused about where she was and how she'd gotten there.
"Mari?" Aria's voice was small and sleepy, slurred slightly with drowsiness.
"Shh, it's alright," Mari said softly, tucking the blanket around her. "You fell asleep outside your sister's room."
Aria's eyes widened slightly, more awareness returning. "Sister! How is she? Is she okay? The healer said she was hurt badly and—"
"She's fine," Mari interrupted gently, placing a hand on Aria's shoulder to keep her from sitting up. "Crystal woke up. She's resting now, sleeping peacefully. The healer gave her medicine. She'll be better soon."
"Really?" Aria's voice was filled with hope and relief. "She's really okay?"
"Really," Mari confirmed. "Now you need to sleep too. You've been worrying yourself sick, and it won't help your sister if you make yourself ill."
Aria nodded slowly, though she still looked worried. "Can I see her tomorrow?"
"Of course. First thing in the morning, I'll take you to see her. But only if you sleep now."
"Okay." Aria's eyes were already closing again, exhaustion pulling her back down. "Promise you'll wake me if… if anything happens?"
"I promise," Mari said, even though she had no intention of waking a ten-year-old in the middle of the night unless absolutely necessary.
Within moments, Aria was asleep again, her breathing deep and even. The worry lines on her small face smoothed out as she sank into proper rest.
Mari stood there for a moment longer, looking at the sleeping child. Then she quietly left the room, closing the door softly behind her.
As she walked back down the hallway, her thoughts returned to Crystal. To that strange hug, those genuine tears, that lost expression. Something had changed in the young miss. Whether it was the injury, some kind of spiritual awakening, or something else entirely, Mari couldn't say.
But she'd been serving the Asura family for years, had been Crystal's personal maid since the girl was twelve. She knew Crystal's moods, her expressions, her patterns of behavior.
And what she'd seen today was completely different from anything before.
Mari paused outside Crystal's door, considering going back in to check on her one more time. But no, the young miss needed rest more than anything. The medicine would keep her sleeping for hours.
Instead, Mari turned and headed toward the servant's quarters. She had duties to attend to, preparations to make. The young miss would need proper meals when she woke, and the healer's prescription needed to be filled at the clan's pharmacy.
But as she walked, Mari couldn't shake the image of Crystal's face. Those tears. That desperate hug. The whispered words: "I have a second chance."
A second chance at what?
Mari didn't know. But something told her that the Crystal who woke up next time might be very different from the pampered, spoiled young miss everyone knew.
Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing remained to be seen.