Chapter 62: Let me see your face

“What nonsense are you spouting? Don’t forget your own situation.”

Linko couldn’t help but remind Flora, who was making such a promise.

No one is that much of a pushover.

As Moria’s de facto prisoner, Flora should know she didn’t have much freedom at all.

Choosing to help a maid who was under the Young Lady’s special scrutiny?

That would definitely require making concessions and sacrifices she’d rather not, and enduring even more torment from Moria—that much was obvious.

Linko didn’t want that to happen.

Not to mention, if this girl named Aurora was actually Moria’s trap, Flora’s goodwill in helping her might all be for nothing—not only would she have to make concessions, she wouldn’t even get what she wanted in the end.

But before she could voice all these consequences, Flora smiled and said first,“I believe you’ll help me.”

Linko’s hand trembled.

She gritted her teeth and snapped, “You can’t always expect everyone to be kind to you!”

The more Flora acted this way, the more annoyed Linko became.

“Sorry…”

“What are you apologizing for? Forget it, I can’t stand you.”

There was no changing her temperament.

Linko just went ahead and stripped off Flora’s dress.

When she turned to look at Aurora, that girl was still blushing so hard she didn’t dare look at Flora.

Linko immediately felt her irritation rise.

“Haven’t you ever helped your mistress change clothes before? Or had your family help you change? We’re all girls here… tsk, get your act together.”

“But Miss Flora is really beautiful…”

Perhaps because of Flora’s words, Aurora relaxed a little and spoke up with a bit of grievance.

Flora glanced at Linko in surprise, and seeing Linko fall silent at those words, she couldn’t help but laugh.

“I can’t be so good-looking that you act like this, can I?”

“I don’t know how to say it. Of all the people I’ve seen, you’re the most beautiful… No, that’s not it, you’re pure…”

Aurora did her best to describe Flora with her limited vocabulary, but Linko only sighed, nodded, and stopped her from continuing.

“That’s just human nature, you’re not wrong. If you think she’s pretty, take this chance to look a bit more. You can’t see her like this every day.So stop acting like you want to look but are too scared. Otherwise, you’ll regret it if you never get another chance.”

After saying this, Flora’s mouth hung open in disbelief, and Linko added, “If you keep this up, I’ll smack you.”

“Hey, isn’t that a bit much?!”

Flora felt her cheeks flush at Linko’s words, but deep down her feelings were more complicated than embarrassment.

Was she really that beautiful right now?

Looks like Moria and the others’ standards weren’t so bad—even other girls thought so.

To be the center of attention, maybe that really was true, in every sense.

“All right, hurry up and take off your stockings.”

Honestly, Linko was even less able than Aurora to look directly at the undressed Flora.

Sure, she’d seen her like this before, but her feelings now were nothing like before.

Back then, Flora’s temperament was completely different too.

Now, with all these complicated emotions, plus her changed impression of Flora,all Linko could do was force herself to act strict to cover up the excitement a maid really shouldn’t feel.

After unfastening the dress, she didn’t even dare look at Flora’s legs in her underclothes, staring at the floor instead.

She didn’t raise her head at all as Flora pulled off her stockings!

After gathering up the clothes, she gave direct orders to the suspicious maid.

“Miss Aurora, help her get changed. This dress isn’t hard to put on. I need to take it for cleaning, so don’t leave this room until I come back.”

“Eh, Linko?”

Flora didn’t really understand why Linko handed this task to Aurora, a maid she’d expressed nothing but irritation toward.

But she only called Linko’s name, and by the time she looked over, Linko was already holding the dress at the door, her back to them.

“There’s some follow-up work I need to do right away. Also, about the promise you made—I have to make arrangements for that, you know what I mean.”

“Then… take care, all right? See you in a bit.”

Hearing that, Flora didn’t press further.

The follow-up, of course, referred to Meifei’s situation.

Her negotiations with Meifei at the banquet had gone well, but she still needed someone like Linko to explain things and help arrange what came next.

That was something she really did need to get done quickly.

And as for the promise she made… Linko was truly a good person, to do this for her whims.

Even if all Linko was really doing was conveying her wishes to Moria and Duke Delan, trading terms for her desires, Flora still chose to see the head maid’s actions as a sign of kindness.

Doing her best to view others’ help as goodwill had become her best way to maintain herself in this situation.

With the door closed, Flora turned once again to Aurora, who, though still shy, was holding the dress, ready to help her change.

“Miss Aurora…”

“What is it?”

For some reason, even though it was just her name, Aurora felt as if Flora was being awfully close to her, making her even more nervous.

The blue-haired girl reached out and gripped the hand holding the dress, not lightly.

“Don’t be nervous. Someone might be spying on us here…”

Aurora stiffened, eyes wide, but Flora only looked more serious.

“I don’t need to say what my life is like here… But, Miss Aurora, you wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”

“O-of course not!”

Confronted with such a question, Aurora couldn’t keep calm, her voice rising—but her response made Flora break into a dazzling smile.

“I can see it. Miss Aurora is a really simple person, hehe…”

“You sound like a bad person, Miss Flora… Could you let go of my hand? I… uh, could you please put on your clothes first…”

It was only then, as the two drew too close, that Aurora realized and pleaded a little, but Flora didn’t let go—instead, she gripped her tighter.

Her voice dropped.

“I don’t ask for your help or honesty. It’s just that, if you always use magic to disguise yourself when dealing with me, I really can’t bring myself to fully trust you. But precisely because of that, I believe you don’t have much to do with Moria. In fact, you might not be a maid at all.”

“Eh…”

Aurora blinked, staring into those beautiful blue eyes, feeling in that instant as if Flora had seen straight through her.

Like clear, transparent water—the blue-haired girl seemed to see right into her heart, effortlessly.

“You found out?!”

She blurted out, shaking off Flora’s hand and covering her face.

“You didn’t already notice before, did you? I’ve never been so embarrassed.”

Recalling how, at the banquet, she’d actually crawled over to lick the cream off Flora’s dress, Aurora felt she’d definitely been recognized by the surrounding guests.

Her face instantly turned bright red.

The spell disguising her appearance dissolved before her hands even covered her face.

Now Flora understood why she used magic to change her looks.

It wasn’t to trick anyone, but simply because she was too beautiful.

To put it bluntly, with a face like Aurora’s, no noble would let her work as an ordinary maid.

With the last trace of wariness gone, Flora couldn’t help but wonder: for someone who got thrown into confusion by a few words, wasn’t she maybe a little too much of a fool?

And so jumpy, too.

Well, maybe “simple” or “cute” was better than “foolish.”

Letting go, Flora looked at the flustered purple-haired girl, lost in thought.

But the more she thought, the more guilty she felt.

Did she go a little too far?