Chapter 21: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Yudith, having arrived at the lounge where Chloe was, stopped at the door.

She needed to quell this boiling jealousy and obsession, or she feared Chloe would hate her. Taking a deep breath, she announced her arrival through the guard.

“Milady?”

Chloe, as if only then realizing, her face paling, approached Yudith.

“I… I’m so… sorry… The young lady here… had a slight accident.”

Yudith, surveying the room with narrowed eyes, sighed softly.

The faint scent of wine permeated the room. She had decided that Chloe would be the first person she would share a drink with, but it felt like that was being stolen by someone else again.

She wanted to share every first experience with her. How many times had things been twisted today already?

“…Come here.”

Her voice, no matter how hard she tried to raise it, remained low. The emotions she felt now were so heavy that she had no余裕.

Kasia, who was watching the situation, sensed something was amiss and was about to call out to Chloe, but Yudith, as if not allowing it, grabbed Chloe’s arm and pulled her into an embrace.

Then, with a sharp gaze, she glared at Kasia and slammed the door shut.

-Bang!

As if to say, no more words.

Left alone in the room, Kasia stared at the closed door, dumbfounded. That woman was definitely the New Grand Duchess. The red gaze she had received sent a slight chill down her spine.

Yudith gripped Chloe’s wrist tightly and headed to her room. She moved quickly to the room they always slept in together, always shared.

Chloe, being pulled along, almost dragged, whimpered as if in pain, but Yudith didn’t stop.

“M… Milady…”

Despite the call, Yudith simply continued, her eyes downcast, pulling her to the room, and Chloe couldn’t shake off her grip. It was clear that she had forgotten the promise and entrusted it to someone else on this important day, failing to attend Yudith’s coming-of-age ceremony. The anger was natural.

Therefore, Chloe quietly followed. It was the first time in eight years that Yudith had been this angry, and she was afraid of what the outcome would be.

Only after arriving at the room did Yudith release Chloe’s wrist. The wrist, flushed red, throbbed with pain.

A heavy silence settled in the room where only the two of them remained. Chloe felt her heart sink heavily, so she spoke first.

“…Milady… I was wrong… on such an important day…”

“…That’s not it.”

Yudith turned her head and looked at Chloe. Her eyes were watery, and she looked as if tears would spill at any moment. Chloe answered again to Yudith, who denied her excuse.

“…I should have been at the coming-of-age ceremony.”

“…That’s not it.”

Once again, Yudith shook her head and looked straight at Chloe.

“…Milady…?”

Tears streamed down Yudith’s face. Yudith, shedding tears that fell drop by drop to the floor, simply stared at Chloe with wide eyes.

Only then did Chloe approach Yudith and wipe away her tears with her hand. Nevertheless, the tears continued to fall, showing no signs of stopping.

She shed tears but made no sound of crying. Chloe felt guilty at the sight of the red eyes that simply stared at her, hiccuping.

“Milady… I was wrong.”

“…What did you do wrong?”

She couldn’t say anything. If she said she was wrong for missing Yudith’s coming-of-age ceremony, Yudith would say that wasn’t it. She didn’t know what answer to give.

“…I was wrong about everything.”

“…Why don’t you know?”

Slowly. Slowly, Yudith approached. For every step Yudith took, Chloe took a step back.

“You really don’t know?”

The question continued as she looked up at her. She continued to step back to avoid the slowly approaching Yudith.

As she stepped back, she tripped over the bed frame and fell backward onto the bed.

Yudith, as if coveting it, climbed on top of Chloe and continued to make eye contact.

She could see the red, flushed eyes from crying. Chloe turned her eyes away to avoid Yudith’s burdensome red eyes that continued to look at her.

“…Why don’t you keep your promises?”

“Promise…?”

It was true that she hadn’t kept her promise to go to the coming-of-age ceremony, but she said that wasn’t it. So this question was clearly a different question.

“You promised… You clearly promised to stay by my side…!”

Yudith, looking anxious, shed tears once more. The tears that fell drop by drop wet Chloe’s face, making her skin feel hot.

“Why…? Why do you keep trying to go somewhere else? Why?!”

The emotions she had been holding back collapsed and poured out onto Chloe. Chloe could do nothing but listen to the lament, like a dam that had burst.

Yudith, looking down from the bed, began to press Chloe more desperately, as if she was even more overwhelmed.

“You were trying to leave me…! Why did you do that…?”

“What are you…”

The only time she had talked about leaving Yudith’s side recently was during the conversation with the young lady earlier.

‘Is she talking about the conversation with that young lady earlier?’

She wanted to ask how she knew, but Chloe’s mouth closed at the sight of the eyes that so desperately demanded her.

Yudith could no longer bear it.

If things continued like this, she felt like she would disappear one day, so she had to hold onto her somehow.

Even if it was pathetic, even if it was forced.

As long as Chloe stayed by her side.

It was different from the atmosphere she had imagined. She didn’t intend to do this.

Nevertheless, she was desperate, so she decided to show Chloe the emotions she had buried for eight years.

Hoping that this would become the chain that bound her.

Yudith finally couldn’t control the emotions in her heart and confessed her feelings.

“Chloe. I like Chloe.”

A red blush rose beneath her red eyes. The fact that she was slowly confessing her love with cherry-like lips was a heavy emotion that even the insensitive Chloe could immediately recognize.

Nevertheless, Chloe couldn’t accept that answer.

Because she was her master and she was her maid. That boundary had to be maintained. She felt that if that thin line was broken, they would mix in an instant.

“I also like Milady as…”

I like you as my master.

Before that answer could be finished, she shook her head and looked down at Chloe with a trembling voice once more.

“I like your ears, your eyes, your nose, your mouth, your hands, your body, your legs, your arms, your voice, your scent, everything you show me.”

Chloe’s eyes widened, and she could only listen to Yudith’s confession. She knew that she relied on her and kept her by her side.

But she thought it was affection, not the love she was talking about.

No, in fact, she might have known. But she would have ignored it.

She knew that the way she treated her went beyond treating a normal maid.

But… she unconsciously rejected it.

Because the person in front of her was the master she had served for eight years.

She couldn’t look at her like that, so she ignored her love.

“I…”

Yudith, who was begging for love so desperately that it was almost pathetic, lowered her voice and whispered.

“I like you, I really like you.”

Only then did Chloe’s face also turn red. She didn’t know how to respond to her Milady’s confession that she loved her.

She knew that the magnitude of the emotions that Yudith was confessing was not something that had arisen in a year or two. That’s why she thought she had to keep the line even more.

“Milady… I…”

She was anxious. This answer wouldn’t be the right one. But there was a line that had to be kept.

“I…”

The distance between Yudith and her was getting closer and closer. Slowly. She couldn’t think properly as Yudith’s face came down slowly.

She couldn’t bring herself to say it. How could she reject this heart that wanted her so intensely with just one word?

Chloe, biting her lip sadly, avoided Yudith’s gaze.

I can’t accept Milady’s feelings.

Chloe couldn’t give that answer of rejection.

Because Yudith covered Chloe’s lips and kissed her, the mouth that could have said the words of rejection was blocked.

Yudith’s heat was deeply intertwined in Chloe’s mouth, which had been gently biting her lips.

Soft and sweet lips that, once touched, would take away the will to resist at any time.

Yudith grabbed Chloe’s hair as if in anguish and pulled her closer.

Her breath quickened.

Only the maddening breathing echoed in the room.

The sensation of her lips tingling to the tips of her hair.

Sparkling eyes, sparkling lips.

Chloe’s mind went blank, and she couldn’t think properly.

She felt like something was exploding in her head, and she couldn’t even think properly.

“Haa…”

Yudith let out a panting breath and buried the lips she had barely separated on Chloe’s neck.

A maddeningly sweet scent came from Chloe’s neck.

The skin that touched Chloe’s body felt hot as if it would burn.

Yudith stopped on Chloe’s neck and whispered as if pleading.

“Please… don’t leave me.”

Yudith looked at Chloe with watery eyes.

If she allowed anything more than this, it would really be irreversible.

She had to push her away now.

But… how could she reject those eyes?

How could she reject that flushed heart that had been living with such anguish until now?

Chloe didn’t say anything and cupped Yudith’s cheeks with her palms.

Her lips overlapped again.

Yudith kissed Chloe’s lips, the bridge of her nose, her eyelids, and then kissed Chloe deeply once more.

‘It’s a midsummer night’s dream… Yes… this is a dream…’

Chloe closed her eyes, focusing on the overlapping lips.

Slowly. It felt like the world was stopping.

Only the two of them panting echoed in the stopped world.

Her mind turned blank, and she couldn’t think of anything.

It was as if stars were exploding in her head.

Chloe, who felt like she was losing her mind from the first kiss, parted her lips.

A sweet thread stretched between them.

With the promise that the sweet thread would not be broken and that they would be together forever,

They overlapped and were stacked again, helplessly.

Once more.

And once again.

The dream that bloomed like a heat haze in midsummer.

For some reason, it didn’t disappear and continued to go on.