The sounds coming from her mouth no longer seemed to come from herself amid her increasingly hazy spiritual perception.
The words that had become meaningless, the flame-like red hair dancing before her eyes—these ordinary things all became different under the strange emotions of this moment.
Angelina continued reading before the fireplace, her voice steady, as though she were brewing her present feelings into the most complex vintage, to be slowly savored over the long years ahead.
Whenever her voice overlapped with that of her grand-aunt Galina, she knew only one thing: she would probably need to take a bath later.
After an unknown amount of time, the Duchess, who had recovered somewhat, also left Shade's side. She adjusted her dress before returning to her chair and sitting down again.
"Help our knight tidy himself up."
She heard her grand-aunt's soft words and saw the Duchess toss her handkerchief to the maid.
The Black-Haired Maid then walked toward the knight she had been thinking of and suffering over. After cleaning him up a little, she knelt before the chair.
The Princess and the Duchess beside her were both watching Angelina as she shared the story, paying no attention at all to the maid's movements.
Yet Angelina felt as though she could hear her own soul trembling.
"Even a maid can... but I can't."
Without realizing it, she seemed to have gained the ability to observe the space around her in all three hundred and sixty degrees without moving her eyes.
But at this moment, she hated that ability, which gave her no way to escape.
The Head Maid cleaned him very diligently. Once she was finished, she stood and left to rinse her mouth, without interfering with the salon.
Angelina no longer wanted to think about what she had just done,