Within the palace's luxurious corridors, the familiar scene repeated itself like a living painting, with servants scattered throughout, performing their daily duties from cleaning the gleaming floors to polishing the sparkling glass, maintaining the palace's prestige and majestic appearance. Amidst this monotonous routine, one maid stood out, as if she were a rare flower that had bloomed out of place.
She was a woman of striking beauty in her early thirties, or perhaps a little younger, with light brown hair that shone like strands of liquid gold in the morning light streaming through the windows. Her eyes were deep blue, like the waters of a calm sea whose depths could not be fathomed, and her delicate features showed no signs of time's passage. She moved gracefully and carefully through the corridors, performing her duties with precision that resembled a sacred ritual.
Meanwhile, her graceful movements through the corridors didn't prevent her from chatting with her fellow servants, their conversations weaving threads of daily chatter about everything and anything. This time, the focus of their conversation was none other than the young master of the palace, Arthur Leonharth, whose name had begun to be repeated among them with curiosity mixed with excitement and whispers.
"Um... Have you noticed, Lilia? The young master has been acting strangely lately, hasn't he?" asked one of the maids in a low voice tinged with curiosity. She was an elegant-looking woman in her late thirties or early forties, with a slender figure and long brown hair adorned with a few light gray strands that lent it a touch of dignity as it fell over her shoulders. Lilia, who was working alongside her, cleaning the palace's gleaming glass windows, listened to her question about Arthur's strange behavior over the past few days, a behavior that seemed to have appeared suddenly out of nowhere.
"Ah, yes, you're right, Linda. I did notice that, and if my memory serves me correctly, it all started the morning after the young master's adventure in the rain during the storm five days ago. I still clearly remember the look of shock on his face and how pale he was when I saw him then, as if he had seen a ghost! Since that moment, his current strange behavior began, from his sudden outburst during breakfast that morning when his eyes fell on Mr. William, and so on."
Naturally, Lilia saw nothing wrong with Linda's question, so she answered her fellow maid naturally as she continued her work without turning around, oblivious to the strange look in Linda's eyes after hearing her response.
Linda stopped cleaning the glass for a moment, staring at her reflection in the shiny window, before turning her gaze back to Lilia and saying in a low voice, "That explains a lot... I noticed how he had become quieter than before, as if he were thinking about something all the time. Even when he's with other people, his mind seems to be somewhere else." She paused for a moment, then added with a slight sigh, "You know, Lilia... the young master doesn't seem like the child we used to know anymore."
Lilia did not respond immediately, but simply wiped the window slowly, as if thinking about Linda's words, and then finally muttered, "Yes... It seems like something changed inside him after that night."
Unaware of the truth behind her words, Lilia did not know how right her random thoughts were at that moment. Something had indeed happened, and the change within Arthur was not yet easy for anyone to notice, but it was palpable in his silence and the strange looks that began to creep into his every action.
Speaking of the devil, it was time for him to appear, for no sooner had they finished their conversation than they saw Arthur emerge from the corridors of the family's huge library, holding several books. Some of them were huge and heavy, but he did not try to carry them all at once. Instead, he carried some of them in his arms and placed others on his small cart, which he pushed calmly in front of him, heading toward his private reading and research room, as he had been doing for the past few days, as if diving into his own little world away from everyone's eyes.
"Oh, Aunt Lilia, Aunt Linda, good morning! How are you?"
Of course, Arthur, who had developed the habit of observing his surroundings at all times, had easily noticed both Lilia and Linda. Linda had also been a maid who had taken great care of him during his childhood. Along with Lilia, William, and a few others, Linda held a very special place in Arthur's heart. So, naturally, he greeted them before heading to his destination.
After greeting them, Arthur calmly continued on his way, pushing his small cart in front of him, his eyes sparkling with mysterious curiosity, as if a whole world was unfolding before him among those books.
Seeing this, Lilia exchanged a glance with Linda, wondering deep down why the child, who only a few days ago had been cheerful and curious in his simple, childish way, had suddenly become so engrossed in reading and isolation.
As for Linda, a warm, slight smile could be seen on her face, hiding a feeling of nostalgia, as she had noticed the subtle changes in Arthur's behavior. Thanks to everything she had witnessed over the past few days, she probably had a general idea of the reason for it and how it had caused little Arthur to change into his current state, which made him seem like a different person, and not just an ordinary child.
Most likely, the boy had seen something he shouldn't have seen, which had caused such a radical change in his behavior. At least, that was the best conclusion she could reach at the moment with the little information and evidence she had.
Nevertheless, neither of them wanted to interrupt his little journey, so they let him go on his way, while the echo of his footsteps reverberated through the corridors of the ancient palace, like hidden whispers heralding the beginning of a new chapter in the lively story of this palace.