"Elisi"

Speaking her name, the king bent down next to her.

What does he want? She can bear no more torture. She was trying her best not to lose her mind.

"Elisi it is! I'm sorry... I needed to see your past"

With a light finger touch, he put her messy hair behind her ear. Her cap might have fallen on the floor.

It was like a soft feather touched her; she moved back; it was tingling.

She wished she could at least see his eyes, wished to know more about him beyond the superficial things she read about him in the book.

This was the first time somebody who wronged her has ever apologized. Her tears were hard to hold back.

He doesn’t know how much his words meant to her. It warmed her.

So many good things were happening to her in the castle, now the king and before Marta consoling her.

She had a knot of happiness in her throat. Trying to hold it made her body shaky. Good thing he could not see her.

And how is it that even one word spoken faintly by him calmed her down so quickly... Does he always speak this softly?

I can feel him so close, too close...

I hope he can't hear my heart exploding.

I can feel his face so close, he feels painful; I want to touch him.

Her sudden thoughts startled Elisi, realizing she could not hold a grudge against him.

She knew he had a kingdom to protect and even though she just experienced a very frightening moment, her lack of history with this place was indeed a suspicious case.

She remembered previously being abused and bitten by others for no reason at all. Even if she helped them, they took it as an excuse to use against her.

Such unpleasant memories should have stayed in the place she died. She wished those memories would keep haunting her no more.

She felt pretty relieved, knowing he got to witness her innocence with his own eyes.

Yet she could not tell if it was a good thing for him to have found out her true identity.

After hearing what he said, she got slightly worried.

What his reaction be after learning he is just a character in a novel?

Elisi was afraid he might not take such revelations too well and go crazy again, as he did in the tale she read about him and his daughter. If she was to discover herself not to be real, she might not have taken it well.

"As long as you won't betray me, I do not think I'll do it again"

He got up and kept standing next to her.

I hope he won't, Elisi wished.

She kept sitting, struggling to breathe on the floor.

Maybe the best thing was for her to leave and not bother him anymore.

Suddenly she felt something touching her, felt like the faint draft of his clothing tingling on her shoulder.

The soft breeze of the fabric kept lingering around her as if it wanted to be held by her. Wavering and without thinking, she answered the soft wind's call by reaching slowly with her hand to what she thought might be the hem of his robe.

She held on to it gently, then immediately felt pulled by it. When felt the pull, her grab became stronger. She did not let go of it; she clenched on it as tightly as she could and fallowed it.

Won't he ask me to let go? Doesn't he hate me for touching his clothes?

I can't see him.

"Sit here"

The same small couch as yesterday became her safe space. She sat on it as if she could slide inside the cracks in any given moment and disappear.

He sat next to her on his bed rest.

She could hear he was about to pour water into a glass, something she should do for him as his servant. How could she let him do it by himself?

The king noticed her intentions and told her to stay in her position.

Her heart started pounding strongly after he handed her a glass of water. There was no way she could accept such a thing. Even novel people don't get to be served by him, nonetheless a mere maid like her.

"Don't waste the water and drink it"

Elisi took a small sip from the glass. She was grabbing it with both hands as if it was dear as her life. Somehow that glass of water held her together.

Little by little the glass became empty, and it felt so much calmer than before.

Just moments ago her mind was in pure torment. Now it was quiet again as if nothing happened.

The room was indeed too quiet.