Avy sat in the garden staring into space with hot cocoa in front of her, still wearing her pajamas. She wasn't able to sleep after she dreamt of the owner of the body's past and her mood wasn't any better. She was frowning while resting her chin on her knuckle as her elbow was on top of the table.

"Where's the old man who takes care of these plants by the way?" she asked her maid who was standing behind her, combing her hair.

"Sir Hanson was called to check the other estates' gardens Mi'lady. Do you need something from him?"

"No."

The little change in Avy's mood didn't go unnoticed by Mariel, she knew that her lady's behavior was different ever since she woke up that morning. She hesitated to ask, after all, she was just a new maid, she was not sure if the lady's recent behavior was her actual self or a whim that would eventually change.

"By any chance... Is there something the matter, my lady?"

"Or perhaps, did something happen yesterday?"

Avy raised her brow, she was a little surprised. She thought her personal maid was nothing but a cheerful and bubbly woman. She was quite perceptive and not as dense as she thought she was.

"Your clothes had some smudge of blood near the hem of the dress. And I saw no wounds in your body when I changed you into your nightwear." Mariel explained which piqued her lady's interest. Avy looked behind her back, her chin still on top of her palm with a small grin plastered on her face.

"What if I just had a nosebleed?" she asked

"W-was I wrong?" the Maid stuttered as she asked with hesitation.

"Answer my question first."

Mariel was hesitant and too embarrassed to answer, but nevertheless, opened her mouth to speak.

"Normally, One would wipe the blood with a handkerchief, if not, their hand, then wipe it on their clothes. But it would be a hassle to bend down and wipe it near the hem of the skirt My Lady."

"Then what does the blood means?"

"It can be an indication that miss went to a place where there is an injured person or animal, or even an object with blood on it." Avy was amused to see her maid being somewhat confident about her answer.

"What if I just passed by and didn't notice the blood?"

Mariel shook her head. "It would not be possible miss since the blood is in front of the skirt. And if you stopped in front of a blood-stained object, it would be a little cleaner, without smudges. It can only mean you crouched down since the blood is not only in one place but it also looked like stained while your dress is wrinkled."

"Wow. You're sharp. You could be more than just a maid, why are you serving someone like me anyway?" Avy told her, taking a sip from the hot cocoa in the table.

"S-someone like you My lady? You would be the second-highest woman in the Empire if the Empress were alive. You shouldn't belittle your position, Miss."

"I know I'm perfect. You don't need to remind me. But you could've gone to ladies with nice manners. You know what I mean?"

Mariel laughed softly, hearing the infamous bratty lady of the Powerful Duchy indirectly admit that she has the attitude is quite unnerving, much more in front of a maid like her. The rumors that she's blunt and straightforward seems to be true no matter where she looked at it.

"But I'm happy to serve you, My Lady." she responded with a bright smile, only to be returned with a deadpanned face by the Lady herself.

"And I really hope to learn more about Miss, if you would allow me to."

For a split second, Avy saw her best friend on the Maid, she was someone without people she can call friends either in her past life. And only the certain girl named Lucille extended her hand for her to grab and never let her go despite how unlikable her personality was. Of course, there were a few who tried to be friends with her, but they all got tired after some time and left. It's not as if she needs them though, she was never attached to any of them, after all, Lucy was there.

'But not anymore.'

She averted her gaze, keeping herself from thinking deeply about trivial things as such. She doesn't want to add more to the pile of things going inside her mind that moment, she still hasn't adjusted after only a few days after she watched herself die.

"Do what you want."

~~~

Ciel Arkwright woke up early like he used to, he was all dressed neatly and had already taken a bath hence he went straight to the dining hall expecting his sister to be eating breakfast but he was greeted by all the empty seats and servants cleaning the surroundings.

"Has my sister not woken up yet?" she asked the maid nearby.

"Good Morning Young Master. The Lady stepped out of her room long ago." the Maid answered.

"Where is she?"

"As far as I know, the Lady went to the Garden with her maid."

Ciel just nodded her head and the Maid went back to her work, it was unusual for Avy to go out so early in the morning, did she perhaps, hear about the Prince escorting another Princess?

"It can't be." he mumbled under his breath.

"What is?" he didn't even need to turn around to know who was the source of the voice. It was no other than the Prince who also just woke up, standing behind him holding an apple.

"It has nothing to do with you, Your Highness."

"If you're talking about Lady Avana, I saw her walking to the garden. In her nightwear. Barefooted." Ciel's brows knitted together before he quickly walked towards the direction of the garden. The Prince who has nothing else to do followed him.

"What's with you?" Prince Light asked but Ciel didn't bother to respond and just continued to walk, Avy's acting too strange that he's not sure what's going on inside her head. She was usually hard to predict, but she became way more unpredictable.

They arrived at the garden and the small table could be seen from afar, with a lady sitting on a chair and another woman standing behind her. It was his sister, she was indeed still wearing pajamas without anything on her feet, the side of her face was resting on the back of her hand, her elbow on top of the glass table, quietly staring into space with a bored expression on her pretty face.

'She doesn't look like she's upset though...' Ciel thought when he saw the face that looked like she was not even thinking of anything.

He and the prince walked towards her, the Maid, Mariel seemed to notice their presence and was quick to inform her lady about their arrival who just glanced sideways and blew air indicating that she was not interested. Only Mariel paid attention and bowed her head to acknowledge them when they finally came.

"Good Morning, Sister." Ciel greeted with a smile before sitting on the chair across Avy, Light, who still didn't know what was going on just copied his gesture and sat next to him.

"You kids wake up earlier than expected." she said. "Now, why are you here?" she added.

"I... wanted to greet you good morning..." Ciel trailed off in embarrassment since Avy was staring at him dead in the eye without taking her attention away from him. Good thing she quickly shifted her gaze to the second Prince who was sitting beside him.

"And you, Prince?" she asked.

"I followed him." he pointed at the dark-haired boy.

"I didn't ask you to follow me, Your Highness."

"Well, you looked like you were about to cry so I wanted to see if you will."

"I didn't know you were so worried about my well-being, Prince."

"No way. I just thought it would be a spectacular scene to watch the Genius Swordsman cry."

"And doesn't it sound interesting to know that the Genius Mage likes to gossip that much?"

Avy looked at the two boys glaring and lashing out at each other with a not so pleased expression, her brows were creased and she was clearly pissed off about their behavior that didn't match her mood. She was already in a bad condition and the two were looking for another reason for her to be irritated.

"Hey. Hey. Stop." she blurted out that stopped interrupted the exchange of words of the two equally annoyed boys. But their annoyance was not as bad as her's.

"Go to the kitchen and eat some candies. Or just go somewhere else and play." her foxy eyes were as sharp as a sword that can cut anything and it made the two lower their heads to avoid her stare, it was as if it was piercing through their skull. Even the Prince was frightened of how intimidating the Lady can be.

"Tch. Kids." she muttered in an exasperated tone.

No one dared to utter another word and the garden was filled with uncomfortable silence that only Avy didn't feel. She was busy thinking bout many things, missing her books, the garbage and scraps that she treated like treasure, and everything back where she came from. And of course, she was also thinking about that child's well-being.

"I wonder if he ate breakfast." she mumbled in a low tone, gazing into nothing.

"Should I go visit him?" she added, not minding the people around her who clearly heard what she said.

"My brother is away at the moment."

She turned her attention towards the Prince who spoke and stared at him for a couple of seconds before opening her mouth.

"Why are you so certain that I was referring to your brother?" she asked.

"Then do you have another man in mind?" he was still not used to how she looked at him with those scary eyes of hers, but nevertheless met them confidently.

Avy chuckled, right, she doesn't have friends, to begin with, it would sound suspicious if she talked about another man when she's obviously a loner.

"Where is he then?" she said but knowing her temper, Light hesitantly looked at Ciel.

"His Highness is in the North, sister." the young Arkwright answered.

Avy was not interested at all, but she has to. The crown Prince will be her future spouse after all.

"I see. What is he doing there?" she once again asked, but this time, she was answered by silence and the Two youngsters only avoided looking at her, giving it away that they wouldn't dare answer.

She looked behind her where Mariel was standing. "Do you know about this Marie?"

The two looked at her with eyes saying 'don't'. But the loyal maid didn't budge, not at all bothered.

"His Highness, the Crown Prince is escorting the Royal Families located in the Northern Lands for the upcoming Summit, My Lady."

"How nice of him." she stated halfheartedly

"Not really. He's even known as Kriseon's walking iceberg." Light scoffed.

"Isn't Kriseon's Gentle Hurricane?" Ciel commented. "Right?" he added looking at Marie.

"You're talking about Lord Grey, Young Master."

"What? Isn't Grey's name Kriseon's unbreakable?" Light told her.

"That's Lord Casper, Your highness."

"Pfft." Avy drew their attention by the sound of her refraining from laughing. She was covering her mouth while looking somewhere else, her shoulders shaking up and down.

"So lame." she said. "How about Ashton? Does he have any nicknames?"

"I think it was Raven of the flower field?"

Avy couldn't contain herself anymore and burst out laughing, she didn't hold her loud laughs back.

"Oh my God, people of this Empire sound so smart." she guffawed wiping the tears that formed in the corner of her eyes.

The three present was awed by the sound of her hearty laughter that filled the air, making the atmosphere brighter and lighter than before. It was their first time hearing her laugh like that, even Ciel, who's her brother was surprised.

"Would you mind telling me more about them?"