"You must let me see Lady June!" Naomi exclaimed at the man blocking the door to said Lady’s chambers.

The butler, a tall man with neatly brushed dark blue hair, the perfect form of which was only ruined by a few white locks falling over his left temple, only grinned in response. His hands rested on his hips, creating tiny wrinkles in his otherwise immaculate dark grey uniform.

"And why is that, little miss?" He asked in an amused tone. “June said that she wants to rest before the ball, so rest she shall. After your fiasco with the psychic cat, I believe it's well deserved.” He rolled his eyes. “Unlike you, I respect June's decisions and wants.”

The maid clenched the folds of her dress. She couldn’t put into words how much she wanted to punch him in the face at that moment. Unfortunately, he was a good head taller than her, and her nonexistent karate skills were too rusty to reach anywhere higher than his chest.

"What are you doing here anyway?" She asked. "Tonight of all nights, don't you have someone to kill in a different dukedom?” Naomi’s recollection of the events of that night’s ball was perfect; Ludwig was not meant to attend it.

The man chuckled.

"Getting cocky, are we?" He ran his hand through his hair and gave the maid a disdainful and vexed glance. His lips briefly pressed into a pitiful smile. "Don't you have a room to clean or a vase to break somewhere? Quit loitering in front of June's bedroom and get back to work," he continued with a dry tone.

“This isn’t about you!” The maid snapped at him. “I know we have our differences, and believe me, believe me, I like you just as little as you like me, but what I have to say to my lady is important! Her very life could depend on it.”

For a brief moment, Ludwig’s expression faltered. His smirk turned into a frown of concern, but he shook the expression away, running his hand through his hair.

“I think you’re lying and making up excuses to see her.” He dryly replied. “But, since I do care about June, I will give you a chance to explain yourself. Lay out whatever information - or evidence - you have, and I shall be the judge of whether or not her life is truly in danger. And no more tall tales of long-lost grimoires and psychic cats.”

Naomi clenched her skirt and apron even harder and looked away. The information she had was not of the kind she could share with him. It wasn’t so much that it was sensitive, but more of the fact that she knew he’d start properly interrogating her if she slipped up or said too much, and they were on a timer. And despite how much she refused to see it, she knew deep inside that Lady June might not take her side either in this argument, if her opponent was Ludwig, June’s close childhood friend.

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“Forget it,” Naomi muttered.

If he would not let her through, it meant that she needed to find some other way to reach her Lady and warn her about the ball she was about to attend. She could wait for her by her train carriage and explain the situation to her then. Or I could hide in the carriage itself and-

“Miss Naomi, I can tell what kinds of thoughts you’re having just by looking at your face.” Ludwig snapped his fingers in front of her face to fully get her attention. “Believe me when I tell you that it will not happen. Whatever it is.”

“But you really don’t understand, do you?!” She angrily exclaimed. “This-”

“What’s with all this ruckus?”

The door which Ludwig had been guarding slid open, and a beautiful woman emerged from within. She had short, straight, smooth, purple hair that she had tied back with an ornate wine-red ribbon. Her opal eyes were perfectly framed by her long and elegant eyelashes. She wore a simple yet form-fitting purple dress that hugged her muscular bosom and backside perfectly. She’d swapped her usual earthy perfume for a more floral fragrance. She smelled like early spring and looked like a campanula in bloom. Had Naomi not been in love with her already, she would have fallen for her all over again.

“My Lady!” Naomi exclaimed.

“Are you feeling better, Naomi?” She asked with her low and sweet voice. “It doesn’t look like you’ve recovered from whatever it was that had taken hold of you earlier today.”

The maid’s poorly contained lustful expression immediately turned into one of despair, as she recalled their earlier conversation and how it had gotten her kicked out of her Lady’s room.

“You mustn’t go to the ball,” Naomi spoke softly, almost whispering; pleading. “You mustn’t.”

Lady June looked up at her childhood friend, and he replied to her silent question with an uncertain headshake.

“Go rest, Naomi, I promise that I will return tomorrow.” Lady June said with a soft smile. “I promise.” She repeated, taking her maids’ hands into hers and bringing them close to her chest.

Naomi’s face turned red, and she immediately redirected my gaze to the floor.

“I… But …”

“Promise me you’ll go to your room and rest.” Lady June spoke as she took Naomi’s chin into her hands, lifting it up so as to lock their eyes together.

“I promise.” She replied, not thinking about her words, as her gaze got lost in Lady June’s jet-black irises that looked like a starless night sky, empty and longing for love …

Before Naomi’d realised it, the thoughts of holding her Lady in her arms and June holding her back carried the woman to her room.

“Shoot.” She swore and punched the wall before swearing again at her now aching wrist.

Due to her lapse in judgment, Lady June was going to die!

image [https://imgur.com/QNF8WGD.png]