It was already evening by the time Mira finally met Aron, and even that meeting happened purely by chance, while she was trying to escape. Escape whom, one would ask, when she herself could barely explain it clearly.
After all, with the guests about, the mistress was too busy to scold her or order her around with more chores, and under normal circumstances, Mira should have been enjoying the rare freedom. She should have been able to enjoy all the food and everything else that came with such occasions. But instead, she found herself cornered.
Instead, she had been caught by the three lords, who seemed to find her the way a bee found honey—no matter where she went, they followed. Every attempt she made to slip away had failed, and she was sure they were doing it on purpose while watching her reactions with open interest.
Even Master, who was always an expert at handling everything, had ended up glaring at her more often than not, through out the day, because he had been unable to separate the lords from her completely. The situation had clearly gone beyond his control, which made her want to cry.
When Master, who was an expert, had not been able to manipulate the Lords, how was she, who had hardly ever interacted with anyone outside of the other servants like her, was supposed to handle them? They kept flustering her and teasing her.
She couldn’t help but wonder if something was wrong with their head. They were supposed to have been offended by her absence and her careful avoidance of them since their arrival yesterday, but instead, they seemed to show nothing but amusement.
By the time the afternoon wore on, Mira’s patience had been stretched thin. Finally, now that it was evening and Master had succeeded in taking all three of them away which gave her a chance to escape.
Her only regret? Missing out on the dinner feast. The thought made her stomach twist for a moment. But that was actually better, she consoled herself. After all, with all the attention those three people were showering on her, and with Master glaring at her the entire time and those three lords teasing her, she would probably not have been able to swallow a single bite properly. She would have had indigestion.
But now that she had raced out, she had no idea which way to go. She slowed for a moment, breathing hard as her heart pounded, realizing too late that her usual hiding places were no longer accessible to her. Those three already had found two of her best hiding spots! Hmpf! Another thing that showed how vexing they were!
She panicked for a moment. Since they already knew about the kitchen and the alcove, what was she supposed to do now?
Running blindly, she did not look where she was going and so walked straight into a wall. Then frowned. What was a wall doing in the middle of the garden? Then, she caught a glimpse of a black tunic.
Her eyes widened at once. Had one of the lords followed her out?
Before she could turn around and run for her life, a familiar voice spoke up, "Where are you running off to now, you minx?"
She froze, then slowly looked up, and the moment she realized who it was, relief washed over her so strongly that her shoulders sagged. She smiled, and without thinking twice, she stepped forward and threw her arms around him.
"Aron! When did you get back?" she said quickly. "I missed you. What did you bring me this time?"
She let go just as quickly and began moving around him, peering this way and that as if the answer might be hidden somewhere on him, her excitement plain as day and almost childlike. Aron sighed softly and flicked her forehead.
"Did you miss me," he asked, "or did you miss getting a gift?"
"Getting a gift," she replied at once. "Show me, show me."
"Just for that, I won’t show you. First, you have to show me what you’ve learned in the last six months from the books I gave you."
Mira pouted and opened her mouth, ready to tell him that she had already mastered everything, when a voice called out her name from behind.
"Mira!"
She turned and saw Molly hurrying toward them, and her stomach dropped at once. Molly never came looking for her unless something was wrong, and this time was no different.
"Miss! Miss! Mistress is looking for you! She wants you to—"
"You couldn’t find me," Mira said quickly, cutting her off before she could finish. "Tell mistress that."
Before Molly could react, Mira grabbed Aron’s hand and tugged him along, pulling him away as she ran toward the lake without looking back.
Unknown to all three of them in the garden, three pairs of eyes had watched the entire scene unfold from the library on the first floor, and anyone who knew them well would have been able to tell just how angry they were.
As the three men stared at the figures running hand in hand, they almost leapt out of the window and followed them outside. The girl who had spent all day trying to avoid them and whenever one of them got a bit too close, lecturing about propriety, had just now thrown herself into the arms of another man.
And then, she had caught his wrist and run away alone... It seemed, their spies had investigated correctly. For all her proper behavior throughout the day with them, she was a promiscuous woman who already had a sweetheart.
Just as the three men were supposed to turn away, however, a scene caught their eye. The man who had been ’dragged’ away by Mira, stopped at the edge of the garden, his eyes glittering as he stared at them, as if challenging. Despite the distance, each could see each others gazes and Lancelot, Zai and Kalyn, all three read the possession and challenge in Aron Mast’s eyes.