Alicia dove underneath the desk just as the door began to open. There were two rows of drawers on either side of the desk and Alicia wedged herself into the space between them, praying that no part of her would be visible from the doorway. She knew that it would be an extraordinarily bad idea to be caught outside her room wearing just her undergarments. The news would inevitably make it back to her father and step-mother, which she knew from experience would result in a harsh punishment. Even worse, it could potentially cause trouble for Miss Hartwright in the form of nasty rumors among the staff. The last thing she needed right now was to alienate someone who was already suspicious of her.

From beneath the desk, she heard a muted voice say, “Miss Hartwright, I’ve brought your breakfast.” The footsteps came closer as the woman set a metal tray down on top of the desk. Alicia could see the woman’s shoes and stockings right next to her face. She must have been one of the maids, but Alicia didn’t recognize the voice. That wasn’t too surprising; there were many housemaids and she had never really paid them much attention. Once they had started to avoid her, she had begun to make a point of ignoring them as well. Now, Alicia held her breath and did her best impression of a statue, desperately hoping that the woman would leave.

“That was quite fast,” Miss Hartwright replied from above, her voice remarkably steady. “Thank you.”

“It was my pleasure,” the woman replied, beginning a curtsey. Alicia silently pulled her legs in and away from the woman, thankful in that moment that she wasn’t wearing a heavier dress that would have given her away. Fortunately, the maid didn’t seem to notice her.

“By the way, could you do one more thing for me?” Miss Hartwright stepped forward, redirecting the maid’s attention.

“Of course, Madam,” the woman said.

“Could you ask Lucille to come to the library? I need to discuss some details of the young lady’s education with her.” The maid bowed and then turned to leave. Alicia was becoming lightheaded, but she still waited until she heard the door shut again before she began breathing again.

“You may come out now, my lady,” the governess said after a moment. Sheepishly, Alicia crawled her way out of the confines of the desk. Miss Hartwright watched her emerge with an unamused expression.

“I don’t suppose it needs to be said, but that behavior was not very befitting of a noble woman,” the governess said in a dry voice.

“I know,” Alicia replied, looking away. “But I thought it was necessary.”

“I agree,” Miss Hartwright responded. “Although if you had just behaved with propriety to begin with, you wouldn’t have been in this situation at all.”

“I was wrong, and I apologize,” Alicia said. It was painful to admit, but she could see now that it would most likely have been better to wait until her regularly scheduled lesson to try and research the subject of past lives; her original plan to enter the library, quickly find the information, and then return to the bedroom undetected now seemed hopelessly optimistic. Still, she might be able to salvage the situation. “Please don’t tell the Duke.”

The governess raised one eyebrow, a carefully curated expression that expressed skepticism while remaining respectful. “He is my employer and my lord, so should he ask I am not able to lie about what has occurred. However, as long as you never pull something like this again, I don’t see that this matter is worthy of his attention.”

“Thank you, Miss Hartwright,” Alicia said. She sat down in the chair, collapsing with relief. In truth, she was already quite tired as well; the day before had been both eventful and stressful, and she had experienced hardly any restful sleep during the night. If she had been more in her right mind, she would never have done something as improper as walking the halls in her dressing gown.

“Although, I do need to know for sure that this won’t happen again. I will ask you again what I asked before we were interrupted; what caused you to so suddenly be interested in past lives?” From Christine’s experience with people, Alicia could tell that Miss Hartwright had become suspicious of her; she had seen the look of realization on the woman’s face. It seemed that her governess had pieced some of the puzzle together, and now Alicia had to decide whether to lie or reveal the truth.

Lying had a certain appeal; after all, Miss Hartwright herself had called many of those who remembered a past life to be mad, and Alicia knew that her own case did not neatly fit the description of persistence. At the same time, she didn’t know if she would be able to successfully conceal her own circumstances, especially since she saw Miss Hartwright for several hours every day.

It was of course quite risky to tell the truth, as well. However, it occurred to her that there was no reason she would have to tell the whole truth. Perhaps if she framed it correctly, she could convince her governess that this really was a case of persistence without lying to her. If Alicia played her cards correctly, she could even win her trust.

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Certainly there was something to be said for having Miss Hartwright as an ally. Strict though the woman could be, she was obviously both smart and knowledgeable. Already Alicia knew that if she wanted to hold power of her own, she would need an adult to help her make connections. In that regard, Miss Hartwright might be practically ideal. The trick now was to find a way to bind their fates together, to ensure her governess’ loyalty.

All of this flashed through Alicia’s mind in the span of a few seconds. She had never had much need to manipulate others before since as the daughter of a Duke all the servants, commoners, and even lesser nobles that she had met always did as she said. She had similarly been raised to be obedient to those of a higher social status than her, such as her parents or the Prince. Now, though, she was aware of the fragility of her own status. With her own life on the line, if she had to tell a half-truth to win over support, so be it.

“I had a dream last night,” she began, looking down at the desk. “Although it felt more like a vision. I know this might sound silly, but it was just so vivid, and I couldn’t get it out of my mind even after I woke up.”

“Tell me about the dream, my lady,” Miss Hartwright replied, leaning in. She seemed at once intrigued and concerned.

“Well, I was somebody else,” Alicia said. “In a place that was utterly alien; a building with a lot of metal and glass. And I was talking about the future of Estelar, and how there would be a great calamity, and how it would involve me--not the other me of the dream, but me as Alicia. The woman in the dream said that Alicia would turn into a monster and cause great harm to the country. Then I woke up, and I wanted to dismiss it as just nonsense, but it was so real and I had these other memories as well, and it was all just so scary…”

Alicia trailed off, and then she involuntarily started to sob. she hadn’t meant to get that emotional, but as she started talking the feelings of fear and anxiety that she had been holding back seemed to burst forth like a tidal wave.

In a rare display of affection, Miss Hartwright knelt down and wrapped her arms around the young girl. Alicia tried to restrain herself, but she couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. Her governess pulled the girl close, gently stroking her hair as she cried. “It’s alright,” the woman whispered. “It’s going to be alright.”

Finally, Alicia calmed down. There was something incredibly comforting about the way that Miss Hartwright was holding her, something she hadn’t felt in over a decade. Even as she was embarrassed by her lapse in behavior, she still didn’t want to break away from the contact. Eventually, though, she pulled away. wiping her face clean with the sleeve of the dressing gown, and Miss Hartwright let go as well.

“I am sorry that you experienced that, my lady,” Miss Hartwright said, standing again. “It may have been a memory or it may just have been a bad dream. Either way, it sounds like you’ve been through a difficult time. I know that--”

There was another knock on the door, interrupting whatever the governess was going to say. This time, a voice that was unmistakably Lucille’s called out, “Miss Hartwright, Charlotte said that you wanted to see me?”

The governess quickly crossed the room and opened the door, ushering Lucille inside, and then abruptly closed it behind her. Lucille took in the scene with in shocked silence--Miss Hartwright with her tear-stained gown, and on the other side of the room Alicia, still in her dressing gown and with red, puffy eyes.

Miss Hartwright was quick to explain the circumstances. “I found the lady in the library; apparently she had some night terrors and fled here. I believe we would both prefer this to stay quiet for the sake of our future employment; I doubt I need to tell you how it would look if someone saw the lady in such a state.”

Lucille’s expression went from concerned to terrified as the woman spoke. “Yes, that would be best,” she managed after a moment. Alicia had never seen the woman look so scared; normally Lucille seemed unflappable, even when Alicia was throwing cushions or jewelry at her.

“I’m sorry, Lucille,” Alicia said, realizing for the first time as well how her actions would have reflected on her maid. Briefly she wondered why she had never thought much about the impact of her behavior before. Lucille looked at her as if she had grown another face, and Alicia became acutely aware of how infrequently she had ever apologized to her maid in the past. That seemed to be another unexpected element of Christine’s influence.

The maid hid her true feelings quickly, however, and acknowledged Alicia’s comment with a deep bow. “I am sorry as well, my lady, that I was not there to help while you were frightened.”

“Could you retrieve our lady’s clothes? I think it would be best if we didn’t try to bring her back to the room in this state,” Miss Hartwright interjected.

“Of course,” Lucille replied, “I’ll bring them at once.”

Lucille left to go and retrieve the clothes. Miss Hartwright ran her hand over her head, seemingly ensuring that the bun was still in place. She turned to Alicia and gave her a tight smile. “Well, my lady, this has been an adventurous morning, but it seems as though it will work out in the end.”

Alicia felt her heart constrict as she couldn’t help but feel guilty; she had been planning to heartlessly manipulate this woman, and now she had been comforted by her instead. On top of that, she had unthinkingly put both her maid and her governess at risk with her reckless actions, and they had repaid her callousness with kindness. Still, if she was going to change her fate, there was something she needed to ask.

“Miss Hartwright,” she asked, her voice still wavering, “this may seem like a strange request, but do you happen to know any lawyers?”