Nighttime came, yet Oriana’s moody master showed no signs of returning. Other servants would be happy to be idle for an entire day, but that was not the case for her.
’This Lord, if he stays out like this always and I hardly get a chance to interact with him, how am I gonna impress him? What about my plans to enter the palace? Where is he? Has he gone to the brothel again to spend a night?’
She frowned inwardly.
’I can’t waste my days like this. Master Cenric will arrive in Karlin in four days, maybe five if there is delay. I need to do something, but what?’
She continued to pace around in the main chamber, once in a while looking outside the window to see if she could see him returning. However, aside from the patrolling guards, the entire Ahren Residence looked quiet.
’Seems like he is not returning tonight as well,’ she sighed.
In the end, her injured knee began to hurt from all the walking. It no longer bled, but the throbbing pain was uncomfortable.
She went to her room, lay on the bed and began to revise her plans to enter the palace, but soon enough, she fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, she jolted awake, feeling restless.
’Huh? What’s this? When did I fall asleep?’ She sat up in the bed, letting out a yawn. ’Thirsty...I need water...’
She checked the water container on the bedside table, but it was empty.
’I have to go refill the pitcher from the kitchen.’
Still a little drowsy, Oriana opened the door and stepped out of her room, only to get a shock that almost caused her soul to jump out of her body.
There was someone sleeping on her master’s bed!
’Wait, when did the Lord return? I didn’t hear the door open. Why didn’t he wake me up?’ With the help of the dim light streaming in from the window, she saw the figure of a man with long hair lying in bed. She rubbed her sleepy eyes just to make sure. ’Am I seeing right?’
She tiptoed to his bedside and stared at that handsome face through the gauzy curtain of the canopy bed.
’It’s him. He returned yet his attendant was soundly sleeping. Will he punish me tomorrow? He changed into his sleeping robe already. Did another servant help him?’
"...ther..."
’Heh, who would have guessed that the Lord talks in his sleep.’
"...Mother!"
She heard Arlan’s muttering clearly this time.
’What’s wrong with him? Why is he calling for his mother in his sleep?’
Seeing him tossing about, his forehead creased, Oriana realized Arlan was having a nightmare.
’What should I do?’ She was at a loss. ’Shall I wake him up or let him be?’
She put the water container in her hand on the bedside table. Though she pushed aside the curtain, she hesitated to wake him up.
’Some people lash out when woken abruptly. I hope he won’t get angry when he sees me.’
However, there was something wrong with his expression. She could even see beads of sweat on his face. Her conscience could not ignore his situation.
She contemplated how to wake him up.
’Shall I pat his cheek? Shall shake him lightly at shoulder...umm...’
She looked at his hand which was clutching the blanket. ’He looks scared.’
His situation reminded Oriana of herself whenever she had those horrible nightmares of the voice calling her ’Esmeray’. Fortunately, her heirloom knife could ward them off, but still, simply remembering them was unpleasant.
Unknown to her, her hand had already moved towards his. She placed her warm palm over his cold one.
"My Lord?" Even before she could say more, she heard him let out a groan, and the crease in between his brows worsened.
She once again called for him. "My Lord?" She patted his hand, intending to wake him up. To her surprise, she found him grabbing her hand tightly, like a drowning man who had found his only lifeline.
In his dream, Arlan was hearing something else.
’Little flower, I am here... Little flower, don’t be scared...’
She was taken aback by his action and tried to free her hand, but his grasp was firm.
Oriana was about to flip out, but just as she was about to hit him awake, her other hand paused in the air. Arlan’s initially terrified expression smoothed out to one of calmness, his breathing also returning to normal. If not for the beads of cold sweat dotting his face, she would have thought he was playing a prank on her.
Glancing at his hand still grabbing hers, a small smile appeared on her face.
’Eh, so even this lord acts like a little kid at times.’
She could relate it to herself, how she wished to have someone by her side whenever she had those scary nightmares.
When she was young, she used to share the same bed with her grandfather. Whenever she would have a bad dream, being in his embrace, waking up to his comforting words, would allow Oriana to no longer fear the night. But as she grew older, her grandfather decided that even a little lady needed privacy and should have her own room. She could only hold onto a pillow or blanket after being jerked awake by her nightmares.
Though later, when she received that knife, the nightmares eventually stopped but there were circumstances in the past she forgot to keep her knife under her pillow—or when foraging in the forest, she needed to spend the night outside without it. Whenever those times happened, she suffered the same and missed the old days where Phil would hold his little granddaughter to sleep.
Those few incidents without that knife had taught her a brutal lesson, that was why she began to bring that knife with her wherever she goes. Oriana stared at the sleeping man and her gaze turned to pity.
’Though he is annoying and I don’t like him, who can blame me for being a kind person who sympathizes with him?’
She let him hold her hand for a while, standing by the bed like a statue. However, time passed and her back began to ache, her position slightly leaning forward. It would be more comfortable if she were to sit down at the edge of the bed, but she would probably be punished for overstepping her boundaries as a servant.
’How long should I stay like this? Am I going to spend my entire night watching him sleep?’