The early afternoon sun illuminated the grand stained-glass windows of the southern gallery, casting long golden shapes across the inlaid marble floors.
Wren and Isabelle returned to the castle together, walking hand in hand. The little princess clutched the maidservant's fingers with enthusiastic gentleness, swinging their arms in rhythm with her light, trotting steps. Her blonde hair, slightly ruffled by the garden breeze and water droplets splashed during their play, gleamed under the rays of natural light.
Isabelle, for her part, walked with a softer, more relaxed gait than during the previous hours of pure anguish. Her dress still bore a few traces of moisture on the collar and sleeves, but the warmth of Wren's laughter had restored a semblance of serenity to her. For the first time since the nightmare of the previous loop, the crushing weight of paranoia seemed to have temporarily dissolved.
"And did you see how far that bubble flew?!" Wren chirped, looking up at Isabelle with wide eyes full of joy. "If we practice a little more, next time we can make one as big as an entire fountain!"
Isabelle let out a soft smile, tilting her head toward the little girl. "Maybe a fountain is a bit much, princess... but I must admit your mastery of the water element is improving right before my eyes."
Turning the corner of the main corridor leading to the royal quarters, the two came face-to-face with the unmistakable figure of Riko.
Princess Wren's personal housekeeper stood near a brass candelabra, intently adjusting the folds of a dark velvet curtain. As soon as she heard the pitter-patter of footsteps on the stone, she turned around with her usual fluid grace.
Upon seeing her, Wren released Isabelle's hand and took a couple of steps forward, greeting her warmly with a bright, beaming smile.
"Riko! We're back!" the child exclaimed.
Riko immediately responded with an expression brimming with affectionate kindness. Her stern features softened into an almost maternal sweetness, a composed and impeccable warmth that seemed to thaw the air around her. She bent slightly at the knees to bring herself to eye level with the little princess.
"Welcome back, my little Lady," Riko said, her voice soft and velvety as she gently brushed a cheek with the tips of her fingers, clad in a white lace glove. "I see you had a wonderful time in the gardens... but look at you, your apron is slightly damp and your cheeks are all red from the sun."
Wren giggled, placing her hands on her warm cheeks. "We did water magic! Isabelle showed me a beautiful trick!"
Riko let out a small, composed sigh of playful scolding, shaking her head with an indulgent smile.
"It's wonderful that you enjoyed it, princess... however, you know full well it's best not to practice magic outside for too long, or you risk tiring yourself out like last time. Remember the fever last week? Your little body still needs to conserve its energy."
Wren pulled a little playful pout, looking down at her apron. "But I'm not tired..."
"I know, my lady, but prevention is always the best choice," Riko countered in a calm, reassuring tone. "Now you had better go to your room to rest a bit. I promise that in a few minutes I'll bring hot tea and freshly baked cookies straight to your room."
At those words, Wren's eyes filled once more with pure happiness. "Honey cookies?! The crunchy ones?!"
"Precisely those," Riko confirmed with a nod.
"Yay! Thank you, Riko!" the child exclaimed, then spun around toward the older maid. "Isabelle, you come too! Let's eat cookies together and keep talking about the water bubbles!"
Isabelle took a step forward to accept the invitation, but before she could open her mouth, Riko straightened up with extreme slowness. Her gaze settled on Isabelle, and her voice cut short the moment with a flat tone, professional yet imperious.
"Princess Wren, please go ahead and get settled. Maiden Isabelle and I need to exchange a few words regarding duties. She will join you in a moment."
Isabelle froze in her tracks. Riko's tone, polite though it was, harbored a micro-shift in inflection that set off alarm bells in the girl's head.
Wren looked first at Riko, then at Isabelle, and finally gave a small nod. "Okay! But hurry, Isabelle! Don't eat all the cookies before I get there!"
"Go on ahead, princess," Isabelle said, forcing her voice to stay steady and natural despite the sudden knot in her stomach. "I'll join you in just a moment. Wait for me in your room."
Wren trotted down the corridor, her leather shoes clicking cheerfully against the stone, until she disappeared beyond the gilded doors of her private quarters.
As soon as the child was out of earshot, a heavy silence fell between the two women.
Isabelle remained rigid in her stance. Memories of the previous loop, Hayjin's paranoid warnings, the blood on the snow, and the constant feeling that an executioner lurked within the castle ready to strike made her instinctively and deeply suspicious. She watched Riko intently, taking in every tiny detail: the upright posture, the hands clasped over her apron, the calm breathing.
"What did you want to speak to me about, Riko?" Isabelle asked in a controlled voice.
Riko offered a faint, formal smile. "There is a constant stream of guards and servants passing through the corridor, Maiden Isabelle. Follow me to the adjacent parlor so we may talk in peace."
"No," Isabelle interrupted with a promptness that surprised even herself.
Riko stopped, arching a single perfect eyebrow. "No?"
Isabelle swallowed hard, trying to hide her trembling fingers by clenching them into fists behind her back. The thought of enclosing herself in an isolated room with Riko triggered an unbearable sense of suffocation. If there was one hard-learned lesson she had gained from the terror of the loops, it was that isolated places were death traps.
"If we are to talk... I prefer to do it outside. In the royal garden," Isabelle said firmly.
Riko stared at her for a long moment, her dark eyes seeming to scrutinize the very soul of the girl standing before her. Though she didn't understand the reason for such an unusual request given they had just returned from there and the afternoon sun was growing warm the housekeeper showed no sign of irritation.
"In the royal garden?" Riko repeated flatly. "Well then... if that makes you feel more comfortable, I see no reason why not. Let us find a bench in the shade."
The two women retraced their steps down the corridor and passed through the grand arched doorway opening onto the outer courtyard.
At that time of day, the royal garden was a hive of activity. It bustled with servants carrying laundry baskets and fruit trays, gardeners busy pruning boxwood hedges, and knights of Castle Opes patrolling the marble walkways in gleaming armor. The background chatter, the clanking of iron, and the crunching of gravel provided Isabelle with an invisible shield. Knowing she was surrounded by dozens of witnesses, the girl was finally able to draw a slightly deeper breath.
They stopped near a carved stone fountain under the shade of a tall cypress. Isabelle turned toward the woman, crossing her arms over her chest to mask her defensive posture.
"What is it, Riko?" Isabelle asked, cutting straight to the point, her voice attempting to sound authoritative. "What did you need so urgently?"
Riko smoothed a fold of her apron with a slow, elegant gesture. When she looked up, the feigned warmth she had shown Wren was entirely gone, replaced by an analytical, cold gravity.
"I wanted to ask you something about Hayjin," Riko began softly, lowering her voice slightly so as not to be overheard by the knights passing a few meters away.
Isabelle felt her heart plummet, but kept her face expressionless. "About Hayjin? What does he have to do with this?"
"Did you notice anything strange about him while you were shopping at the capital's main market?" Riko pressed, her eyes locked onto Isabelle's like two obsidian pins. "And above all... why did you return to the castle so early? Your orders were to remain in the city for the entire morning to supervise the supplies."
Isabelle furrowed her brows, unable to grasp the purpose of the question and feeling an instant surge of irritation mixed with fear.
"Why do you want to know?" Isabelle countered, taking half a step back and sizing up the housekeeper. "Since when are the movements of a personal knight and his decisions in the field any of your concern? Hayjin deemed it proper to return early to ensure security, that's all."
Riko didn't let the response shake her. She took a small step forward, closing the distance between them while remaining within the bounds of etiquette.
"I want to know what Hayjin is hiding," Riko said bluntly, her voice now as sharp as a steel blade. "I want to know what he said to you along the way, what he did while you were in the crowd at the market, and the real reason he has been acting this way since the moment he set foot in this palace."
Isabelle hesitated, unsure how to answer.
Her mind was a primal chaos. After the horrific first death in the loop after being run through and feeling the icy sensation of life leaving her body the girl trusted almost no one inside the castle. Anyone could be the traitor: Wilder with his brazen smirks, the sages with their secrets, and even Riko, who behind her mask of flawless perfection was perhaps the most unsettling figure of all.
On the other hand, Hayjin was the one who had protected her, the one who shared the awareness of that insane looping destiny. But revealing even a shred of what she knew was impossible.
Trying to buy time and figure out what cards the woman was really holding, Isabelle asked a direct question, letting a hint of skepticism show through.
"Why are you so doubtful about Hayjin, Riko?" Isabelle asked, wrapping her arms around herself. "What drives such deep aversion toward him?"
Riko let out a short, bitter breath. She didn't hesitate for a single second to reply, displaying a calculated and lucid contempt for the boy.
"Because I don't trust him at all," Riko declared with absolute firmness. "And you should do the same, Maiden Isabelle. Think about it dispassionately: I had never heard of him in all of Opes before now. There isn't a single register, a single document, or a veteran knight who knows his name or his house. He appeared literally out of nowhere, overnight."
The housekeeper indicated the direction of the Royal towers with an imperceptible tilt of her head.
"And the most absurd thing," Riko continued, her tone laced with venom, "is that everyone in here already seems to care for him and respect him... simply because he's supposed to be the son of the 'Dragon God.' A ridiculous story that Princess Zhilian and even the sages seem to have bought without asking the right questions."
Riko leaned slightly forward, her eyes narrowing into two calculating slits.
"I have served the royal family for years, Isabelle. I have studied the history of the realm and the ancient legends of the northern lands. I have never heard of the Dragon God having a son. And above all... that this supposed son is already ten years of age without anyone in the world having ever recorded his existence!"
Isabelle shook her head, trying to counter with a logical explanation to dismantle the woman's insinuations and defend Hayjin's position.
"Riko, you know full well how secretive the Dragon God is!" Isabelle countered, her voice tense but firm. "You know how far from Opes he lives! His sanctuary lies in the heart of the sacred northern forests! It takes days upon days of travel on horseback just to reach the borders of his realm from the capital! And the nearest town to his residence is more than a three-hour fast walk away... which is still an immense distance for any trade or news!"
Isabelle paused briefly to catch her breath, holding Riko's gaze. "It is completely normal that no one knew anything until now! He lived isolated from the world to protect his identity! You cannot condemn a boy just because his origins are shrouded in mystery!"
Riko listened with icy stoicism. When Isabelle finished speaking, the housekeeper merely curved her lips into a thin smirk devoid of warmth.
"Too many things don't add up with him, Isabelle," Riko said in a voice that brooked no argument. "His glances, his disproportionate reactions, the way he stares at the servants and knights as if searching for an invisible enemy... No child of a sacred entity would act in such an erratic, paranoid manner. There is something rotten about him."
Riko took another step toward Isabelle, lowering her voice to a piercing whisper, almost a command cloaked as a plea.
"That is why I'm asking you... please, Isabelle... keep an eye on Hayjin for me."
Isabelle gasped. "What?!"
"I want you to follow him," Riko continued, her eyes fixed on her with almost hypnotic intensity. "I want to know where he goes, what he does, who he talks to, which rooms he visits when he thinks no one is watching. Every single thing, Isabelle. Any detail, no matter how insignificant it might seem to you, you must report to me immediately."
Isabelle stood petrified. The idea of becoming a spy for Riko filled her with profound revulsion. She felt a visceral rejection twisting in her stomach. How could she ever betray Hayjin? The man who had practically saved her from death in the previous loop, the one willing to break himself just to shatter the bloody chain gripping the castle?
But Isabelle could say none of this. She couldn't reveal the existence of the loops, nor her own death, nor the invisible bond tethering her to Hayjin. She was trapped in a glass cage.
The silence between the two women grew suffocating, broken only by the sound of the fountain's splashing water and the marching footsteps of patrolling soldiers.
Isabelle looked at the woman standing before her. A terrifying, awful question rose unbidden in her chest a question born of terror for the boy's fate and the desperate need to understand how far the housekeeper's madness extended.
In a hesitant, almost breathless voice, Isabelle asked:
"...And what would happen to Hayjin... if it turned out he really is hiding something?"
The question hung suspended in the air.
Riko didn't answer right away. After a brief silence, during which the wind seemed to still among the branches of the cypress, the housekeeper tilted her head to the side. Her expression betrayed neither anger, hesitation, nor doubt. Her face remained a mask of pure, frightening neutrality.
Then, she uttered the words plain and clear, with an absolute calm that sliced through the air like a guillotine.
"I'd kill him... I'd kill him without a second thought."
Those words fell upon Isabelle like a block of ice.
A violent shudder ran down her spine, making her tremble from head to toe. Her blood ran cold as all color drained from her cheeks. Isabelle stared at her, horrified, her pupils dilated with sheer terror. There wasn't an ounce of uncertainty in Riko's voice; it wasn't a threat shouted to frighten, but a statement of fact. A verdict already signed, ready to be carried out at any moment with the exact same ease with which she would serve a cup of tea.
In that moment, Isabelle realized with chilling certainty that the woman standing before her was not merely a meticulous court servant, but someone capable of absolute, ruthless violence.
Riko watched her for a few seconds, taking note of the visible terror in the girl's eyes.
Instead of stepping back or adding further threats, the housekeeper took a step forward and, with an unbelievably natural and caring motion, wrapped Isabelle in an embrace.
Her lace-gloved fingers rested on Isabelle's back, pulling her into a warm, almost maternal hug a gesture of such grotesque intimacy and normalcy after what she had just declared.
Isabelle stood rigid as a statue, unable to return the gesture, her breath trapped in her throat as the scent of Riko's lavender perfume completely enveloped her.
"I'm counting on your help, Isabelle..." Riko whispered into her ear with boundless sweetness. "You're a smart girl, and I know you understand that the safety of the royal family is the utmost priority."
Riko slowly broke the embrace, stepping back and looking at Isabelle with a reassuring smile.
"And even if you don't help me... I would understand," Riko continued in a sympathetic tone. "I know how difficult it can be to find oneself caught in the middle of these situations. But I ask only one thing of you, Isabelle... I ask that you at least keep Princess Wren safe from Hayjin. Do not allow that individual to approach her unsupervised."
Isabelle couldn't utter a single syllable. Her tongue felt glued to the roof of her mouth.
Riko offered her one last, flawless curtsy.
"Now I shall go bring tea and cookies to Princess Wren before she grows impatient," the woman said in her usual crisp, professional voice. "Have a good day, Maiden Isabelle."
Riko turned and walked away with a light, elegant stride along the gravel path, moving toward the royal kitchens as if nothing had happened, fading into the shadows of the palace arches.
Isabelle remained standing fixed on the spot, staring at the ground beneath her feet.
The splashing of the fountain, the laughter of the gardeners, and the marching steps of the knights continued around her, but for the girl, the world had transformed into a silent nightmare. Her face was entirely distraught and terrified, her hands trembling uncontrollably at her sides.
Riko's words echoed in her mind like a death knell: "I'd kill him... without a second thought."
Isabelle brought a hand to her mouth, feeling a wave of dizziness and nausea wash over her. Hayjin wasn't merely in danger; he was being hunted by a monster disguised as a perfect maid. And if she couldn't put a stop to this madness, the next loop would never come to save any of them.