Mayana stood still without moving, then the veins in Bainti’s eyes bulged.

“Have you stuffed cotton in your ears? My words don’t…..”

Bainti’s mouth gaped open as she was about to curse. Mayana came clomping down the freshly cleaned stairs to face Bainti.

“Have you gone mad!”

“You must be the mad one, not me.”

Bainti’s jaw dropped again at Mayana’s defiant words.

“What, what did you say? You are telling me that…..”

“This button, is it yours?”

Bainti looked at Mayana’s face with an expression that was both perplexed and furious. Just as she was about to snatch the button away, Mayana quickly hid it in her palm.

Bainti shouted in an annoying voice.

“You thieving wench! Can’t hand it over? Stealing from others and then brazenly…..!”

“Don’t talk nonsense. I can’t stand it anymore.”

Mayana roughly grabbed Bainti’s wrist. In an instant, Bainti was pulled down by her, using all her strength to fend off Mayana.

“What are you doing!”

“What am I doing? What am I doing, you ask? Don’t you know very well why I’m doing this? That I stole this button, are you serious? Shall I tell you where I found it?”

“Stop your nonsense and hand it over! Hand it over and leave!”

One by one, the servants gathered, drawn by the sound of the two fighting. However, neither Mayana nor Bainti showed any signs of backing down. Mayana still attempted to pull Bainti along, while Bainti repeatedly fended her off.

“Let go of it, you crazy wench!”

Bainti shoved Mayana hard. Mayana’s body slipped on the notyetdry floor, hitting the railing with a snap! Fortunately, she didn’t tumble down but was momentarily breathless from the direct blow to her side.

Bainti rushed at Mayana, who was crouching in pain, and grabbed her arm to snatch the button.

“Bainti!”

A sharp cry came from the top of the stairs. The moment everyone looked up, Mayana shouted.

“Your Highness, what are you doing! You shouldn’t come out alone!”

Mayana, who was hurriedly trying to climb the stairs, let out a groan as she clutched her side. Damn, that hurts……. She grumbled to herself.

Ariante spoke.

“Bainti, why did you clean the stairs so poorly?”

Bainti narrowed her eyes and snorted.

“Your Highness, what are you talking about? I worked hard to clean them all morning, but Your Highness’s maid has messed it up. Don’t you see?”

“No, I don’t see? I just see dirty stairs. Stairs covered in mud.”

Then there was a bang! Thick black mud splattered over the white, cleaned stairs.

Bainti’s face turned pale, and Ariante furiously threw a small potted plant, causing more mud to clump together on the floor.

“Your Highness! What are you doing?”

With a flushed face, Bainti screamed. Ariante glared at her with pursed lips.

“How can we walk on such filthy stairs? Clean it up. Right now.”

Ariante, who had spoken coldly, reached out to Mayana, who was still standing stunned.

“I’m hungry. I want to wash my hands and eat. Hold me.”

Mayana still looked shocked but picked up Ariante. As they turned the corner towards the right side of the hall, they heard Bainti’s irritated scream from behind.

Mayana said.

“Your Highness, why did you do that? What’s with all that mud?”

“You don’t need to know.”

Ariante’s eyes glanced down from Mayana’s arms.

“Were you hurt earlier?”

“You mean when I bumped into it? It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
Mayana carefully seated Ariante in a high chair and brought clean water in a pottery bowl to wash her hands.

She meticulously removed even the tiny grains of sand trapped beneath Ariante’s small nails and looked at her with a worried face.

“Your Highness, is it because of me?”

Ariante’s eyes widened as she pouted and said,

“No? I just hate that wench Beinti.”

“Normally, you only threw toys at her. You were a bit harsh today.”

Ariante’s round forehead furrowed.

“You’re saying I was wrong?”

“Of course, it’s not only Your Highness’s fault. Beinti also did wrong, but that behavior is not good. If you throw something, someone can get hit and hurt. Next time,….”

As Mayana’s words trailed off, Ariante’s eyes became even more fierce. Her arms folded, as if daring Mayana to say something, looked far from forgiving.

However, Mayana took a short breath, and said in a calm voice,

“Just roll the ink bottle.”

Ariante’s eyes widened. Her little nose twitched like a surprised rabbit. Perhaps it was a completely unexpected statement. Mayana made a slightly mischievous smile and tapped Ariante’s nose.

“You understand? Don’t throw it, roll it.”

“You’re really weird.”

“How fortunate? That someone as strange as me is serving Your Highness. If I had been a nag, Your Highness would have been so frustrated you’d burst by now?”

As if concocting a mischievous prank, their soft laughter overlapped.

(This is a time separator.)

Mayana, who had seated Ariante at the dining table, rushed to the kitchen to check the lunch plates.

‘I knew this would happen.’

On the plate were large cut vegetables left as they were. Mayana began to mash the things Ariante disliked with a long spoon.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Don’t you see?”