It had been a year since Noah began living as a noble .After he had gotten used to giving orders to the servants and learning the various complex rules of etiquette, a maid started to look at him with a smile whenever she had the chance to catch his attention.
She wasn’t exceptionally beautiful, but she always kept herself clean and well-groomed, and she smiled a lot. For some time, the brown-haired maid had been volunteering to serve him and following his every move wherever he went.
She would watch him in silence and with curiosity whenever he did something. And when he couldn’t ignore her anymore and finally looked at her, she smiled with the lightness and purity of a dandelion spreading its seeds in the wind. Then she asked him in a hopeful voice, "Do you need anything, Young Lord?"
Noah watched her for more than two months because people with bad intentions often pretend to be nice. The belief that the poor are good people simply because they are poor was a dangerous prejudice. In his previous life, he had seen people with very little fighting fiercely to take what others had.
Even friendship didn’t last long when money was involved. He remembered the friend who had suggested they share an apartment, but then tried to run off with the security deposit. Noah caught him and turned him in to the police.
Trust was a valuable asset that should not be given easily, and Robert had told him this many times.
"Of all emotions, be careful not to trust someone too easily. It is the strongest of them all, but too much of it during times of crisis could lead to your downfall."
But the maid kept coming closer to Noah and smiling at him.
"I knew you must have been thinking about something important!"
Whenever he was in charge of a trial at Robert’s request or did anything as a noble, she would praise him with bright eyes, no matter how small his actions might be. Noah sometimes felt uneasy, but he did not try to send her away.
He wasn’t sure if she was being sincere, but he didn’t tell her to leave. Instead of pushing her away, he chose to keep an eye on her and let her stay with him.
Robert called him while this routine was happening.
"Do you like that girl?"
"I don’t know."
"This is the first time you’ve avoided the question."
It seemed Robert had sensed feelings that Noah himself wasn’t yet sure of. Noah thought about whether he should admit his feelings or keep pretending he didn’t know anything, in case she was dangerous. But his decision to live as a noble overcame his hesitation.
In his previous life, he had ignored the people he was attracted to because of his situation. Maybe being a noble made him miss out on some things, but it also gave him more than it took away, so he didn’t see any reason to keep hesitating.
He chose to be honest and gave in to his desire.
"Don’t I have the right to be attracted to her?"
"Don’t make assumptions. I’m rooting for you."
"Are you rooting for me?"
"People who have experienced love are better at handling it. I’ll just watch from the sidelines."
After that, Robert never mentioned the maid again.
That conversation didn’t lead to a sudden change. Noah kept having doubts, and maybe he hoped she would see that he was being careful and leave on her own, but she stayed with him until the end.
Noah started to pay her more attention, even though he was afraid that she might become more than a passing presence in his life.
One day, he gave her a piece of ice.
"Oh, it’s cold! Young Lord, what is this?"
"Put it in your mouth and you’ll feel better. Next time, wear lighter clothes. You’re sweating because you’re wearing all these clothes in the heat."
"Young Lord, is this ice?"
"You’ve never seen ice before?"
"Where I lived, it was warm all year round. This is the first time I’ve ever seen it."
The maid shivered at the strange feeling, but she kept rolling the piece of ice between her hands, smiling like a child. Her behavior wasn’t appropriate for a maid, but Noah couldn’t scold her when they looked at each other through the ice.
Her eyes looked bigger behind the clear piece, and they stayed focused on the image of the boy who hadn’t yet reached adulthood.
"Look! I can see you through it too!"
"Because it’s clear."
She put the piece of ice in her mouth and said quietly, "It’s so cold."
Her puffed-out cheeks were funny, but Noah was too busy watching her to laugh. At that moment, he realized how easily he could be influenced by other people’s kindness.
She had been with him for almost two years, but he had never asked about her past or asked her about herself. But after that simple conversation, he started to spend more time with her and pay more attention to her, even if he didn’t realize it.
He started noticing things he hadn’t paid attention to before. For example, he noticed her hair looked more tousled than the day before. He also noticed the difference between her forced smile and the one she gave when she was genuinely surprised. Finally, he noticed the way her lips parted slightly when she saw something magical. He also noticed how she would sometimes step on the hem of her skirt as she hurried after him, then look at him anxiously to make sure he hadn’t seen her nearly trip.
"Young Lord, what’s on your mind?"
"Nothing."
"But it seems like you’ve been watching me for a while."
"I was just... breathing."
At first, Noah was afraid she would reject him, so he wanted to settle for the special connection they had formed. But as time went on, his desire grew, and he started feeling conflicted about love. The more he felt something growing between them, the more he told himself it was just in his imagination even as he secretly hoped it wasn’t.
He felt jealous whenever she spoke with the other servants. Then he felt bad for being jealous, and he resented the social standing that prevented him from acting on his feelings.
What finally made him decide to take action was his decision to live as a noble. He was happy with his life.. He repeatedly told himself he was satisfied with what he could not have. He was tired of that life.
When he asked her name, hoping to become closer, the brown-haired maid, with tears streaming down her face, replied:
"My name is Yelo, Young Lord."
Noah took her hands, hoping her tears were tears of joy. The name Yelo quickly became important to him, and he promised himself that he would take care of the first woman he loved.
He knew that his social class would not allow a maid like her to become his official wife, but he believed he could at least ensure she would have a life where she lacked for nothing.