Inside the room, all four maids stared wide eyes at Edith, who stared blankly into the distance. Only coming to their senses when the bowl in the hands of Brianna slipped and fell to the ground.
The crisp clanging sound startled them back to realization.
"Forgive me, my lady," Brianna quickly said, squatting down immediately to pick up the bowl while Stella moved swiftly to clean up the water that now wet the floor.
"You should be more careful, Brianna." "Stella chided in a whisper tone.
But amidst all the chaos, Edith remains placid, reacting to nothing. Not even the awful sound of the Bowl's impact with the ground or the apologies the maids tendered.
"It's not my fault, Sis. You saw her yourself. How is that same lady we served last night?" Brianna argued.
Stella looked up at Edith and couldn't disagree with what Brianna had said. She looked at Hildegard and Audrey. They also looked as shocked and puzzled as they were.
The woman they served all the while had raven black hair. She was human. Although one with an astounding beauty, it appeared her skin glistened under the light. The one in front of them right now was nothing like that.
With hair as white as snow, in voluminous curls cascading down to her hips, her skin is now even more tender than before, almost translucent. Her ears also no longer that of a human as they had increased in length.
They were yet to see her face since she had had her back to them the whole time, but they could tell it was her— somehow.
"Hilde," Audrey called. She moved closer to Hildegard, even pinching her lightly to get her attention. "What should we do? I don't know if we were meant to see this," she whispered when Hildegard looked at her.
Just as Hildegard opened her mouth to speak, the door opened, startling them as they scurried to hold it back so no one else came in.
The lady wouldn't want many people to see her in that form. They thought.
"Step aside," Evans' voice came through, stopping them in their tracks.
"Sir Evans," they all said in unison and instinctively stepped to the side and away from the door. But they couldn't allow themselves to relax when they saw the king right behind him.
"Your majesty," they greeted, their head remained low.
Davion paid no heed to them and walked inside. His heart skipped a beat the moment he laid his eyes on her, and when it began beating again, its speed accelerated.
Then slowly, as if intentionally, Edith turned, and his heart sank. It ached so badly that he felt suffocated.
Her face, as ethereal as it was, was drenched in tears.
"You are all excused," Evans quickly said, dismissing the maids. He was as shocked at everyone as to see Edith in that form. He knew she had some connection to Novara, but he never thought she was an indigene just like himself. Maybe even more so than he was.
Without waiting for a second command, they all left so quickly that one would think they were being chased out.
With only the three of them left, silence ensued. Davion was too stomped to speak, and Edith didn't know what to say. Evans didn't know whether he was in the position to speak in the current situation either.
"Leave us, Evans," Davion finally spoke.
With a curt bow, Evans left, but not before casting one last glance in Edith's direction, noting the unique shape of her irises.
"Greta," Davion called. Taking slow steps, he approached her.
"Mother…. I…. I can no longer sense her…
Why? Why can't I?" More tears welled up her eyes the more she talked, and every teardrop was like a sharp jarb piercing through his heart mercilessly without hesitation.
"I can no longer sense my mother. Why?"
Without as much as a second's hesitation, he closed the distance and pulled her into his arms.
He didn't know what to say to her or if words could help. All he could do was this. This was his way of comforting her.
Feeling her body tremble in his arms had him feeling powerless. The more she cried, the more he wished to take all of her troubles away, but he knew that was only wishful thinking. Even if he was to take all of her current burdens away, new ones were bound to take their place.
Minutes passed, and Davion didn't utter a single word. He just held and let her cry. He didn't know why he wanted to console her so much. Or why it hurts so badly to see her cry. Maybe it was because of the dream from the night or the unexplainable and undeniable attraction he felt towards her.
He just knew he wanted to do whatever it took to make her stop crying.
"I am sorry," he uttered after several minutes had passed, and she was a little calm. "I am sorry that I can not offer greater help to you than this," his arms around her grew firm, and she instinctively clutched his clothes as if afraid he would let her go any second.
"I truly wish I could provide you with all the answers that you need," he continued. His voice still sounded as defeated as when he first spoke. "All I can give to you now is my promise, Greta. I will protect you no matter what happens," he cupped her face and gently cleaned off the tears with his thumbs. "I will protect you."
Edith froze. Everything around suddenly felt nonexistent as his words replayed in her mind. She felt the weight of the promise. The sincerity behind every word and that left her even more shocked.
His actions towards her had always been a puzzle to her, but this…This is on an entirely different scale. To make it even more complicated, she wanted to believe him —she actually believed he would.
"Why would you do that?" Edith asked. She stepped away to put a little distance between them. She didn't regret getting emotional with him. His presence was comforting. His words were reasuring. "Why would you go to such lengths for a total stranger?"