Two Swords and the Angel’s Feather

“I’ll hold it for you.”

Ellen straightened her back and held the tray tight.

“No, this is my job.”

Ryder frowned. Soldiers closed the door from behind to the bedroom. Ryder nodded to the soldiers approaching behind him.

“My soldiers will do it.”

Ellen stopped and looked straight at him. Her hands holding the tray clenched. The soldiers approached Ellen but stopped midway at the look on her face.

“I’m the exclusive maid of honor for Her Majesty. It’s my duty to check, pack and carry the things my queen needs. Bringing and placing meals is also part of my mission. Who will be responsible if the tableware goes somewhere else and I can’t pack the next meal, or if it’s broken? Who is responsible for anything wrong with Her Majesty’s meal?”

Ryder’s expression hardened. Ellen raised her head and continued in a firm tone.

“It’s my responsibility because I’m the maid of honor. I’m the only one, her sole exclusive maid of honor. You can’t just take away or denigrate my duties.”

“I didn’t mean to disparage you. It’s just… it’s just empty plates. Can’t you supervise while my soldier does the carrying? You don’t have to carry them yourself.”

“I will do my job. I’ve been carrying it just fine until now.”

“That’s what a fool does. What if you carry that heavy thing and drop it? Isn’t that more difficult? Get the soldiers to do it. All you have to do is to supervise them.”

Ryder’s voice grew shrill. Ellen flinched. She hated it when he treated her like a fool. She didn’t want to hear that from him, even if everyone treated her like a fool. It felt like she was being stabbed with a knife twice.

“The soldiers have a lot of other things to do. It’s not their job to carry meals.”

Ellen’s voice was weaker than before, but she did her best to answer, straightened her back, and turned around. It was hard to walk, and her arm shook due to the heavy tray, but she didn’t want to show it to Ryder.

As she reached the end of the corridor, someone suddenly popped out. The women’s colorful dresses’ trains got entangled, and she lost her balance. The plates on the tray shook and spilled on the floor and Ellen’s dress. The teapot also crashed to the floor with a loud noise.

“Oh, my God! What are you doing!”

“What a klutz.”

The women, standing in a crowd, looked at Ellen and stood back with a frown. Ellen bit her lips. In the middle of the women, Countess Bryson glanced at her, flapping her fan.

“You don’t seem to be able to walk straight at all. Oh dear, shouldn’t you pick it up and put it back? It is Her Majesty’s precious leftovers, after all.”

The women giggled and laughed. Ellen bent down and began picking up the fallen dishes. She was so stupid. She felt like she was such an idiot. She should have hurried down.

Heavy footsteps were heard from behind, and the laughter of the women stopped. She then heard Ryder’s voice.

“Help the lady.”

The soldiers quickly came up and began to help her pick up the plates. Ellen wanted to push them away, but they had done nothing wrong. She held her anger in and accepted their help. A soldier picked up the tray from her hand and piled it up with the plates.

“Oh, Duke Madison. I thought you were busy, but it looks like you have time to follow the tail of a woman’s skirt?”

Countess Bryson stepped forward and looked him up and down. Even though she was coquettish, she sounded arrogant.

“I’m not too busy to help a Lady who’s fallen.”

Ryder spoke in a cold tone. Countess Bryson looked at him with her eyelashes flapping.

“You don’t seem to know who the real lady here is.”

“He’s a man who can sympathize with his subordinates and the poor. That’s the attitude that a good aristocrat should have. Though you know nothing about that, Countess.”

At Ellen’s words, the women looked back at her. She looked straight at Countess Bryson, leaving the dishes to the soldiers.

No matter how uncomfortable Ryder was and how much she did not want to be involved with him, she just didn’t want to see him treated like a fool because of her. It always happened to her anyway, but there was no reason for him to be bashed.

As Countess Bryson moved her head, the colorful decorations on her head shook.

“Are you trying to tell me that the Duke has given you sympathy?”

The women giggled from behind. Ellen intentionally put the hair from her scarred side behind her ear. The women gasped at the clear sight of her twisted ear and scars. She could see one person fainting in the back.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m not confused about my status. However, you seem to be overly envious of me. I don’t see how you could consider it  an insult to accuse the Duke’s interest towards myself of being more than sympathy.”

Countess Bryson’s face burned up. Not waiting for her answer, Ellen turned away and gestured to the soldier holding the tray.

“I’m sorry, but I’d like you to bring it with me to the kitchen.”

The soldier nodded and followed her. Ellen bent her knees towards the Duke, bowed, and hurried off. She heard Countess Bryson saying sorry for her rudeness to the Duke from behind, but she didn’t want to keep listening.

***