Tia lay on the carpet, her silver hair scattered across her pale cheeks as she stared blankly ahead, locking eyes with Mephia.
Both of her hands were pinned against the carpet by Mephia, rendering her unable to move.
Their faces were barely half an arm’s length apart.
Lying there, Tia could even feel Mephia’s breath.
It was fragrant, soft, and slightly warm…
Being pinned down like this caused her beautiful face to flush crimson.
Her gem-like blue eyes gradually brimmed with tears, adding a touch of fragile grievance to her expression.
She looked just like a bullied little white rabbit.
However, her internal thoughts were entirely different from her outward performance.
‘Damn!’
‘How did reality end up being so different from the picture in her head?’
‘She had forgotten that Mephia possessed her own strength. A simple stumble shouldn’t have been enough to make her fall…’
‘So, what pose are they in now? A carpet-don?’
Mephia had clearly not expected things to develop this way either.
After a brief silence, she suddenly realized the situation and pushed herself up from the carpet.
“Are you all right?”
She seemed to ignore Tia’s pitiful expression.
“Ah!”
Tia let out a startled cry after standing up.
Only then did she notice that a large piece of her lower hem had been torn, exposing her long, slender, white thighs to the air.
The messiness of it all carried a strange sense of temptation.
However, this was truly damaging to her image as a lady.
In response, she hurriedly turned her back to Mephia, the blush on her face deepening.
Her delicate hands tried to block her lower half, attempting to cover her exposed thighs.
Yet, the more she did this, the more it felt like a display of suggestive reluctance.
“Lady Tia, this…”
Mephia averted her gaze.
She did not choose to take advantage of the situation, but since this had happened because of her, there was a hint of embarrassment in her voice.
“Why don’t you go change your dress first?”
“Um, okay.”
With her back still turned, Tia did not respond immediately.
Only after a moment of hesitation did she agree with a hint of disappointment, before retreating to her room in a rather flustered state.
Mephia retracted her gaze and calmly looked toward the rest of the hallway on the second floor.
***
Inside the room, as soon as Tia closed the door, she leaned back against it and let out a cold snort.
To be honest, the failure of the Hero-Saves-Beauty Plan was beyond her expectations.
Fortunately, she had been decisive enough to immediately act out a pitiful persona.
In that state, not only did her charm double, but she could also evoke a strong sense of guilt in others!
Not to mention that after realizing her skirt was torn, she had played along with it, using her beauty to tempt Mephia while maintaining her identity as a weak person who needed protection…
Normally, anyone standing behind her would have approached her out of guilt and a protective instinct.
Even if they didn’t truly fall in love, they would have at least fallen into her Affection Trap!
But—but what was wrong with Mephia?
What was with that calm expression and tone?
She had pinned her down and even stepped on her skirt, causing a fragile Noble Young Lady to suffer such embarrassment.
Did she have no sense of guilt or protective instinct at all?!
‘…No, that’s absolutely impossible!’
‘As a human, she must have emotions and desires. It’s just that she hasn’t been stimulated enough yet!’
‘I can’t rush, I can’t rush. Everything must be done slowly!’
Thinking of this, Tia regained her confidence.
***
“Sorry for making you wait.”
When she left her room and met Mephia again, Tia had changed into a pale blue dress.
Coordinated with her blue butterfly hair ribbon, she looked like a legendary Lake Spirit.
She tilted her head and smiled at Mephia.
The moment that smile bloomed, the sunlight of the world seemed to grow dim in comparison.
Mephia nodded to her and quickly turned her head away, as if she didn’t dare to look at her.
Tia noticed this small gesture.
She walked to Mephia’s side with a light laugh, leading her further down the hallway while introducing the portraits hanging there.
The figures in these paintings were all ancestors of the Harris Family.
Many of them were from ancient history, with only their names remaining, until Tia stopped in front of a white-haired old man with sharp eyes.
She paused her footsteps.
“This is… my grandfather. Because he fell in love with a commoner girl, he rejected the family’s arrangements and was nearly expelled from the clan. Fortunately, he eventually proved himself and persevered.”
“But I suppose I should be grateful for his persistence; otherwise, my father and I wouldn’t exist.”
As she said this, Tia spoke as if she were joking, but her clear eyes seemed to be clouded by a shadow.
Buried deep within her words was an unspeakable pain.
“You sound like you aren’t very happy?”
“Am—am I?”
Apparently not expecting Mephia to notice her emotions, Tia’s eyes betrayed a hint of astonishment and panic.
At the same time, she quickly fell silent.
The sadness in the depths of her eyes grew more intense.
After a short while, she forced a smile and stiffly changed the subject.
“Let’s… let’s talk about something else. It is said that when grandfather was young, he often went out on adventures and slew many Monsters. He was quite famous.”
“Lady Mephia, have you ever seen Monsters?”
Mentioning Monsters finally brought a glimmer of light to her eyes, but Mephia could see through it.
Beneath that light remained the hidden pain of being a Noble Young Lady.
She knew why Tia had been silent earlier.
It came down to one word: marriage.
The sons and daughters of noble families often had no control over their own marriages.
Tia was no exception, which was why she reacted that way when mentioning her grandfather.
They seemed glamorous on the outside, but in reality, they could not control their own lives. It was truly pitiful.
How could anyone be happy marrying someone they didn’t love?
In the face of Tia’s awkward attempt to change the subject, Mephia said softly, “I have.”
“Eh?! Then, can you tell me about them?!”
Upon receiving that answer, Tia took an excited step forward and grabbed Mephia’s arm.
However, she soon realized her own disrespect and hurried to back away.
Biting her lip, she lowered her head.
Her face was filled with deep apology, disappointment, and fear.
“I’m sorry. I… I just got too excited and did something so inappropriate. Please forgive me, my lady. I… I will continue the tour…”
A Canary.
To ensure their daughters were obedient, some forms of Aristocratic Education were exceptionally strict.
Aside from etiquette and necessary common sense, they wouldn’t teach them any further knowledge and would even restrict their freedom.
They were like a Canary in a cage—beautiful and pure, yet fragile and pitiful.
They craved freedom and longed for life outside the bars.
But once they struggled and failed, they would gradually tuck their wings away and bury those thoughts deep in their hearts.
By that time, even if the cage door were to truly open one day, they would no longer know how to fly.
Tia was exactly like that.
Aristocratic Education did not cover Monsters.
Knowledge of Monsters was that “freedom” to her.
But the moment she reached out to touch it, the consequences of past failed attempts to seek freedom would surface in her mind.
Noble families were never soft-hearted when it came to a Canary trying to escape.
Moreover, because of this “freedom,” she had just lost the poise expected of a Noble Young Lady.
At the thought of the punishment she might receive later, Tia hurriedly retracted her wings and hid back in her cage, her face reflecting her terror.
“My lady… my lady, come this way…”
The dejected Tia reached out, wanting to lead Mephia to the other side of the corridor, but a single sentence from the latter made her stop in her tracks.
“There are many types of Monsters. I have seen quite a few.”
“Huh?”
Her delicate body trembled slightly as Tia quickly turned around.
Her dim eyes ignited with a new light.