Ariadne and Edmund were in the hallway. Alon stayed in the command room, sorting things he would present to the other captains and his company platoon leaders. As they walked, the moon’s light came through the windows. She was silent, but ?Edmund didn’t like it, so he opened his mouth at the first opportunity.

  ‘Everything in the duchy's military was based on my annotations, duchess? Cool, hum?’ Edmund smiled as he continued to walk.

  ‘Humm... yeah... is cool, but I think the majority is an upgraded version of your annotations right now.’ She gave him a quick look and a smirk.

  ‘Well, that was the point, but don’t you find it weird that they evolved so fast?’ He scratched the back of his head.

  ‘Alon is an experienced warrior. He adjusted everything using trial and error based on the soldier's experiences; he is not too hard, peasant.’ With the corner of her eye, she glanced again at him.

  ‘That is amazing on its own, but what about my students? I taught them, but I think they are evolving way too fast. I know that is not something above what I could do, but they are improving my designs.’ He crossed his arms and looked at the duchess, puzzled.

  ‘I, too, think that everything is moving fast, but I put that on your teaching; now I can see that I’ve put too much faith in your teaching skills.’ She gave a timid laugh.

  ‘Wait a minute.’ Edmund sighed. ‘Never mind, but faith could be the answer to this growth in the duchy; I can’t be sure, but if it affects the healing magic, why not in this way, too?’ He tapped his chin with his index finger twice.

  ‘You have a point, peasant; all this is a mystery, but let’s focus on things that can give us an edge for now.’ She opened the door at the end of the hallway.

  The two entered the hall where the front door was. Instead of going to the room, Ariadne walked to a couch on the right side with a table in front of it. Edmund had little to do, so he followed her, thinking she wanted to talk more. It wasn’t too late, so a couple of maids passed by, and the moment Ariadne sat on the couch, she followed Edmund. The two approached and bowed to her.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  ‘Your Highness, do you want something?’ One maid spoke.

  ‘Tea and some cookies; bring it to the peasant to see if it isn’t too much to ask.’ She gave the two a tender smile.

  ‘N-No, we will be glad to bring it to you and Edmund; your presence fills us with happiness, right?’ The maid looked at the other.

  ‘Yes!!! We will do anything for you.’ She gave a broad smile to the duchess.

  The two maids walked fast out of the hall, and as soon as they closed the door and the two were alone, Edmund took a deep breath and shook his head for a moment.

  ‘See, this is dangerous; they were looking at you like you were their mother, no, something even greater than that.’ Edmund relaxed on the couch.

  ‘To me, what is dangerous is you sitting next to me like I’m your lover.’ She looked at him with the corner of her eye.

  ‘It's just you and me here, your highness, and I’m far away from you. Putting the fact that you literally can order me to kill myself, I think you are safe from my claws.’ Edmund laughed for a moment.

  Ariadne closed her eyes and smirked as she sat more comfortably. It wasn’t a bad situation for her as she remembered why she wanted him inside her office when she was there; his presence gave her a sense of calmness like everything would be okay when he wasn’t talking, but even that was at least interesting. She tried her best not to show it to him.

  ‘I wonder how long it will take until they start to wage war on your name, conquering land and all; that will be interesting.’ He looked up to the ceiling.

  ‘They will wage war when I say so, like is happening now, but I do understand what you are implying here, peasant; I’m not a fool.’ She looked at him.

  ‘Ho, you are getting me wrong; I’m saying among themselves... like, someone will say your teachings is something while others will say another.’ He turned his head and looked deep into her eyes

  ‘That can’t happen; I’m their leader after all.’ She crossed her arms and looked at the patterns sculptured on the side of the table.

  ‘With the people inside the duchy, no, but if you expand to Lavan or maybe Velvent, it will happen. You should think of basic laws everyone should follow if they are to be followers of the goddess Ariadne, but not now.’ Edmond looked at the door the two maids had entered before.

  The door opened, and the two maids got out, holding the tea, the cookies, and the teacups to serve the duchess and her slave. They put everything on the table in front of the duchess, who was happy to see the two working with such care; only Edmund didn’t feel the feelings they had for one another, one happy to serve and the other happy to be served but in a different level, a unique experience the two maids never felt before as typically only Alya was in charge of serving Ariadne.

  ‘You two can go; if you have nothing else to do, have a good night.’ Ariadne waved at the two while smiling.

  ‘Thank you, your highness.’ The two turned around and quickly entered one room while holding hands.

  By the day, Edmund felt like an outsider because of those moments some people of the duchy had towards Ariadne. It was unique, and because of that, he was afraid that someday he would be judged by everyone for not being like them. The backstory they made up for him helped alleviate some of it, and even so, it made him wonder about the future.