The blonde maid pressed her lips together in worry. She did not care what Shade had realized; she only knew that today's outing had brought the man before her even more troubles and sorrows.
Although Matilda was not Miss Belinder, divining the recently fallen sword fragment had been quite easy. The broken half of the sword had fallen into the Tatton River. Though Shade's hands were injured, he still did not let Matilda go into the water, retrieving the sword himself.
Worried that the Church's team would arrive soon, they did not linger there and quickly returned to Belinder Manor.
The first person they encountered upon returning was Angelina, carrying a stack of books and apparently heading somewhere. The little princess immediately noticed Shade's injured hands, then hurried into the house to call for help.
Before long, Luvia, Megan, and the Illustrious Miss, who had still been at the manor and aboard the ship, all arrived.
They scolded Shade for his carelessness and pulled him away for treatment.
Only after Shade had been dragged away by the ladies did Tifa emerge from behind Matilda.
The Black-haired Maid took one look at Matilda's expression and fully understood what she was thinking. Tifa placed a hand on Matilda's shoulder.
"Are you blaming yourself for not being any help and instead holding everyone back? Don't worry. Shade has never cared about that, or our little princess would not be here now."
"I..."
Matilda's golden hair concealed the side of her face. She had not changed after returning and stood in the entrance hall of the Countess Manor in a coarse linen dress, looking utterly out of place here.
"Your heart feels unsettled. You feel that you may have misunderstood him before, and now you understand what he usually does, don't you?"
The very