HE/HEROINE AND MY VILLAINESS

                                      (ALMOST YET NOT CLOSE)

Mary approached the door and knocked with her right hand, alerting the person inside that someone was outside. The young caring woman didn't wait for their madam to respond to her knock before stating her intention.

"Madam, this is Mary. The young miss is with me, and she wishes to speak with you," she said, and hurried footsteps echoed through the room before the door was opened wide in haste, surprising them.

"Vendia, oh my child," Madam Rose rushes to her daughter, cradling her in her arms as if they hadn't seen each other in days.

Yerre, on the other hand, was taken aback by Madam Rose's actions, but she tried to remain calm and let the elderly lady embrace her in her arms.

"Uh, g-good morning, haha," Yerre said, feeling awkward as Madam Rose let go of her and gently caressed her face as she smiled relievedly.

"Good morning, come on in," Madam Rose replied, grabbing her daughter's left wrist and dragging her into the room.

"Young miss, I'll be waiting for you outside. Enjoy your conversation, madam," Mary said, bowing as she gave the two people a private space inside the room to talk.

"What brings you here so quickly, my child?" Madam Rose inquires as she pours some tea into the cup in front of her.

They’re now sitting on separate couches facing each other as they converse.

"I hear father went to the castle this morning," Yerre began, and Madam Rose's face turned bitter as she picked up the tea cup with a warm tea in it with her right hand.

"Yes, he did," Madam Rose replied, sipping her drink and returning it to the table before looking straight at her daughter, her eyes filled with uneasiness as she spoke.

"The king summoned him early. Why do you inquire? Do you want to see the crown prince as well?" she added, her voice tense.

She tried to calm herself and stop thinking about what had happened to her daughter as a result of her obsession with the crown prince, but she failed. Her face turned pale with worry, and her voice trembled, which worried Yerre.

"No, I don't want to bother my father, and why would I want to see the crown prince's mother? Is he someone I've met before?" Yerre replied quickly, to relieve the tension in the room, while pretending she didn't know the crown prince, which made Madam Rose sigh and smile.

She had finally regained her youthful complexion.

"Well, you saw him and met him once. But you don't know him that well," Madam Rose responded flatly.

"Ah, I see. That's great news. I'd be embarrassed if I'd known him before and had forgotten about him. What if we meet and I act as if we've never met before? Wouldn't that be disrespectful on his part?” Yerre explained.

'Actually, I don't think so. I think he deserves it,' Madam Rose thought as she sipped her tea from her tea cup and returned it to the table.

"Let's not worry about that crown prince any longer. Instead, let's get back to the topic you want to discuss with me," Madam Rose said, refusing to discuss the crown prince any further.

Yerre smiled at her, and the image of the crown prince vanished from her mind.

"Um, I'd like to go out with Mary today.  To buy new dresses for me to wear," Yerre explained, which surprised Madam Rose.

“What? But you already have an abundance of dresses. Why would you go out and purchase a new gown? " Madam Rose's doubt of her daughter's words arouses once more, thinking her daughter was going to buy another dress to impress the crown prince as she had done before.

Madam Rose had completely forgotten about her daughter's memory loss because her anxiety had taken over her emotions.

Yerre could feel the air in the room becoming heavy and uneasy once more, leading her to believe that Madam Rose had misunderstood her words yet again.

She maintains a calm attitude as she smiles at Vendia's mother and decides to broaden the subject in a different pattern in order to alleviate the confusion caused by her words.

"Mother, are noble people permitted to make donations to the people of the town?"  Yerre's question perplexed Madam Rose and diverted her attention away from the point of her words.

"We are allowed to do such a thing as long as it contributes to the Astrod land, why do you ask such a thing? Do you have any plans? My child, have you already regained your memory? '' Madam Rose inquired, her eyes filled with panic and fear.

Yerre noticed her expression and couldn't help but smile and shake her head.

"No, mother," she responds, 

"I haven't regained my memory yet. However," Yerre added, 

"I do have something I want to do." She admits.

Madam Rose felt relieved that her daughter's memory had not returned, but she was still concerned about what her daughter might want to do.

"What exactly is it? Can your mother assist you in any way? " She inquired, a nervous smile on her face.

"Well, as mother said, I have a lot of dresses, but whenever I saw those dresses, I felt this heavy emotion in my heart that I couldn't understand, but I also wanted to ignore or forget it, so I just decided to dispose of all of my expensive dresses," Yerre said, her face unconcerned about the dress.

"What exactly do you mean?" Madam Rose was taken aback by her daughter's words, and as a result, she has calmed down.

"Well, I asked Mary earlier to transport those dresses to my storage drawer because I plan to give them away to those young women who live in town tomorrow. That is, if my mother and father allow it," Yerre replied, which made Madam Rose smile and feel such relief emotion inside her heart that her eyes lit up with gladness and tears of gratitude flowed.

"Oh, my dear child. My child, my child, you've returned. Mother had missed seeing this side of you. Oh my," Madam Rose stood up and went to back hug her daughter, satiating the emotion she felt inside her heart as she cried it all out and kissed her daughter's joyous left cheeks.

Yerre couldn't help but giggled in between Madam Rose's kisses on her cheeks, and she also had a few sentimental tears in her eyes as she held Madam Rose's embrace.

'Don't worry, Madam Rose, your child may have vanished. But I'll make sure she stays in your memories forever,' Yerre thought, glad to have this kind of moment with Vendia's mother.

"Hehehe, mother, stop, it tickles, hehe," Yerre chuckled between her words.

Madam Rose couldn't help but release a relieved smile when she heard her daughter laugh and saw her smile again. She holds her child for another second before releasing her with a contented feeling.

She then went in front of her daughter and bent down, holding her cheeks with both hands, requiring Yerre to look straight at her as tears of joy flowed down her cheeks.

"I really miss this side of you. Oh my child, I truly miss you so much. My daughter has grown tremendously. You're making your mother old so quickly," Madam Rose remarked under her sobs, causing Yerre to laugh and touch her hand, which touched her cheeks as she, too, shed tears of emotions that Vendia's heart had felt at the time.

'I understand. I'm sure you miss this side of your daughter terribly. I understand. I can feel it in your caress and words, Madam Rose,' Yerre thought, feeling sympathy and sadness for the real Vendia for not being able to experience this moment herself.

Then the awkwardness she felt towards Vendia's mother vanished. Yerre bends her body and takes Madam Rose into her arms. Vendia may not have embraced her mother since she became a teenager and adult.

And she was correct, because when Yerre took the initiative to hug Vendia mother, Madam Rose flinched and was taken aback, but she hugged her back.

"Oh, my child," Madam Rose continued to express her emotion towards her child for three seconds, until she, like Yerre, had enough.

Madam Rose returned to her seat and cleaned her face with her handkerchief, while Yerre also cleaned her face with the tissue on the table.

"Mother, you cried a lot today. I only want permission," Yerre said, her words tinged with humor.

"Hahaha, don't be concerned. You have my permission, but it will only be valid for four days. I can't let you out yet because the doctor says you need to rest for four days first," Madam Rose explained, smiling at her child.

"I understand, mother," Yerre said, her eyes brightening with joy.

"Do you want me to set up a space for you to set up your stall? I can ask the town chef ahead of time for permission so you don't have any problems later when you distribute those dresses' you want to give to the young women in Astrod town," Madam Rose said.

"I can also ask your father for help in making the town people who have young daughters aware of your purpose of contribution," Madam Rose added, as she poured herself a cup of warm tea and asked her daughter if she could butt into her business.

Yerre smiles and takes her teacup in her hand, sipping the tea inside before responding to Madam Rose's question.

"I would be delighted to receive, mother's assistance, but I'm afraid I might cause disruption at your workplace," Yerre responds, concerned.

"Why would you say something like that, you're my daughter, and I'm your mother?  Work can be rescheduled. I want to make sure my daughter gets what she wants first," Madam Rose said, a gentle smile on her lips. Yerre set the teacup down and smiled gratefully at Vendia's mother.

"Then I'd be intruding for a while, mother," she said, and Madam Rose smiled.

"Thank you for paying me a visit today," Madam Rose said, and Yerre nodded, rising from the couch with a smile.

"Well, then, I have to leave now because I don't want to keep my mother late on her duty," Yerre said, as Madam Rose stood up from the couch and strode over to her work table, pulling something from a drawer.

"Come here for a moment," Madam Rose said, motioning Yerre to her side.

"What exactly is it, mother?" Yerre inquired, intrigued, about what Madam Rose was holding in her hand.

"This is a card that demonstrates our family's authority. Use this when you go to town on Thursday to buy something. Simply show this paper card to the retail shop that you will visit, and the payment will be handled by our family bank account later," Madam Rose said, as Yerre took the card from Madam Rose's hand, staring at it as if it were a rare object.

'So this is what Vendia uses to purchase those expensive materials. I'm speechless,' Yerre thought. She couldn't believe that such noble people only needed to show this business name card to any business shop and everything would be easily paid for.

"Why don't you go to our library and read some books you like, to pass the time?" Madam Rose suggested, jolting Yerre from her reverie.

“Em! I'll do that later, but not right now. I'd like to tour the house with Mary first, and I'd like to meet chef Andria," Yerre said, giving Vendia's mother a thoughtful smile before hurrying out to meet Mary.

"All right, do whatever you want, but don't overuse your body; the doctor said you shouldn't do heavy things yet," Madam Rose explains.

"I know, I'm going now, mother. Don't overwork yourself either," she replied, giving Vendia mother one last hug before exiting the room, closing the door behind her and calling out to Mary.

"Mary."

“Miss? " Mary turns around and smiles at Yerre as she strides over to her.

“What does the madam have to say? Did she give you permission to go out? " She inquires, and Yerre responds with a sweet smile.

"She agreed to let me go on Thursday, but I needed to stay and rest for the time being." Yerre sighs, looking disappointed and bored, and Mary cannot help but sigh in response.

"I see, but it's a good thing she let you out on Thursday," she says.

"Yeah, Mary, I'm bored staying in my room by myself, "Yerre admits, a dissatisfied expression on her face before returning a playful smile to Mary as she places her right hand on Mary's shoulder, acting like a buddy and feeling surprised of herself.

This is the first time she has acted like this; her current behavior is similar to Alda's. This is not at all like her. Yerre laughed at the thought and admitted that she misses her best friend terribly.

She takes a deep breath and snaps her thoughts to she won't feel emotional as she continues to act like Alda toward Mary.

"Hehe.  You don't have another errand to run yet, right, Mary? " She inquired.

“Uh? " Mary was taken aback for a moment by Yerre's question and cheeky expression, causing her to baffle and smile before responding.

“Yes , not yet.  Miss," Mary responds.

“Great! I'd like to take another tour of the mansion and meet chef Andria, can you show me the way?" Yerre said with a broad smile. Mary returns her smile and nods.

"All right, miss," Mary said,

"I'll be your tour guide for today."

“Okay! Let's get started! " Yerre exclaimed in a high-pitched voice.

To be continued...