Strange Window (3)

Next day.

As the warm sunlight gently woke Leyla up, she had to admit it—yesterday wasn’t a dream or a hallucination.

“Oh, you’re awake, Madam.”

“Mn…”

“I’ve been instructed to take your temperature once you wake up. Please excuse me for a moment.”

“Mn…”

Leyla’s absent-minded gaze, as she responded, was directed towards the empty air above the maid, Jen. More precisely, towards the imaginary pictographs floating above her head.

〈 (〃⌒▽⌒〃)ゝ〉

With fatigue completely dissipating thanks to a long rest, Leyla’s mind was clearer than ever. And since she thoroughly washed her face with the water Jen had brought, there wouldn’t be anything in her eyes.

‘That’s not an illusion, and this isn’t a dream. It’s reality.’

‘So then—what could that be?’

Having experienced it for the second day already, she wasn’t as bewildered as yesterday. Leyla racked her brain, trying to guess roughly.

‘That picture… it’s as if it’s representing people’s expressions.’

Although it was drawn with only a few lines, the picture could be intuitively understood.

‘Facial expressions.’

Leyla quietly observed Jen’s face and the picture floating above her head alternately.

“It seems like there’s no fever.”

A stern face.

〈 ⁽⁽٩( ´͈ ᗨ `͈ )۶⁾⁾ 〉

An image showing a totally cute expression is on the other side.

‘Not fitting at all…!’

Jen, staring silently at Leyla, who was opening her mouth while thinking about something, withdrew her hand.

“Oh.”

With that, the transparent window above Jen’s head disappeared. The pictographs inside it evaporated along with it.

“What is the matter? Are you feeling hurt somewhere—!”

“It’s-it’s nothing,” Leyla immediately denied, but Jen’s forehead was tightly furrowed.

“…Yesterday, the physician prepared medicine for the madam. He said you should take it immediately upon waking up, and then take it with each meal afterward, Madam.”

“Oh? I see…”

“Yes. Here, please take it right away.”

Leyla accepted the medicine Jen offered. Only heaven knew what that medicine was—with its murky color and pungent odor that pricked her nose.

“Ngh…”

Seeing Leyla hesitate with her lips touching the rim of the bowl and teary eyes that showed she thought the medicine would be bitter, Jen said, “You must finish it all.”

“…Mn.”

Leyla couldn’t refuse outright, like a child. Of course, if it were not here but home… That was, home before marriage, she could have thrown a fit about not drinking it because of the taste.

‘But here, no one would accept my childishness.’

Feeling down, she tightly closed her eyes and swallowed the medicine. The bitter liquid filled her mouth, and stickily slid down her throat.

“Ehrk- Here.”

After Leyla managed to finish the medicine, Jen took the empty bowl.

While Leyla, still grimacing from the lingering bitterness in her mouth, shivered slightly, Jen went on her usual tasks. Starting from putting away the medicine bowl just received, she removed the basin used for washing and then prepared Leyla’s clothes for the day.

Leaning against the bedhead after sitting in bed, Leyla observed Jen’s bustling movements, but she couldn’t see anything above her head. From this, Leyla could infer one thing:

‘…Do I need to be in contact with the other person for the picture to appear?’

If so, then the picture floating above their heads must be related to the person she’s in contact with. Leyla calmly organized what she had analyzed so far:

—The pictures appearing above someone’s head seem to be brief depictions of facial expressions.

—The picture isn’t always present; it seemed to appear when certain conditions were met.

—The conditions… are somewhat related to being in contact with the other person in some way?

To verify the contents she had organized in her mind, she called out for some help.

“Jen.”

“Yes, Madam.”

She quickly approached Leyla.

“Could you give me your hand for a moment?”

“My hand?”

“Mn.”

Leyla inwardly thought Jen might refuse. However, she extended her hand without hesitation, still wearing the same stoic expression as usual.

It was nothing, but Leyla suddenly felt excited.

“It’ll only take a moment.”

Leyla cautiously took Jen’s hand. Then, as expected, a translucent blue window appeared above the maid’s head. Before properly seeing the picture inside the window, Leyla closed her eyes tightly and cleared her mind.

Although she wasn’t entirely sure of the nature of the pictures appearing above other people’s heads, just the idea that they represented their facial expressions made her tense up.

‘I mustn’t show any displeasure, even if it shows a hateful expression.’

The people here disliked Leyla. They openly scorned or considered her pathetic; she considered herself fortunate if they ignored or remained indifferent to her.

Of course, Jen had never shown any signs of dissatisfaction while serving Leyla. However, the mere thought made Leyla’s heart beat anxiously.

“…Madam?”

“Uh… wait, just wait a moment.”

Taking a deep breath, Leyla slowly lifted her gaze to Jen’s head.

〈 סּ_סּ 〉

‘Ha.’

Leyla burst into laughter unexpectedly.

“Madam?”

Jen’s face remained stern, as if she didn’t understand Leyla’s sudden laughter. However, strangely enough, Leyla felt like she vaguely knew what Jen was thinking.

Could it be because of that picture?

〈 Σ(； ･`д･´) 〉

〈 (´⊙o⊙`；) 〉

〈 「(°ヘ°) 〉

Even though she remained still, the picture above Jen’s head kept changing.

Startled and then concerned…

Then, it dawned on her; Leyla became conscious of how she might appear to Jen.

‘I did act strange today.’ Suddenly asking for Jen’s hand and bursting into laughter out of the blue…

Leyla tried to suppress the corners of her mouth from turning up.

“It’s nothing. I just remembered something amusing for a moment.”

“Is that so.”

Jen’s response remained as stiff as ever, showing little change in expression. However, as Leyla held her hand in silence…

〈 (●ó⌓ò●) 〉

An expression similar to that of a child blushing in embarrassment appeared.

As the silence stretched…

〈 ( ˊ࿁ˋ ) ᐝ 〉

‘Huh? Did I see it wrong?’

When Leyla glanced down from the picture with a sleepy expression, Jen looked the same. There was no sign of drowsiness on her face, which remained rigid and stiff like a soldier.

‘…Why does the picture look like that?’

〈 ( ˊ࿁ˋ ) ᐝ 〉

Even after several seconds, it remained unchanged. As Leyla tilted her head—wondering if the picture wouldn’t change anymore—she asked,

“Perhaps—do you feel sleepy right now?”

“Yes… Yes?”

Leyla marveled at seeing Jen’s bewildered expression for the first time.

“I’m not scolding you. I’m just really curious.”

“Oh, I…”

As if she truly had dozed off while standing, Jen, who usually spoke clearly, even stumbled over her words.

“I apologize!”

Without being able to withdraw her hand from Leyla’s grip, Jen bowed deeply, apologizing.

“You don’t have to apologize. It must be hard taking care of me when you’re tired.”

“No, not at all. It is my duty to do so.”

As Jen responded dutifully, the picture above her head suddenly changed.

〈 (＞Д＜)ゝ 〉

Staring silently at the picture, Leyla became certain of its nature.

‘Could it be like… their inner feelings? Their hidden emotions.’

Thinking of the pictographs in the floating window as their ‘inner feelings’ wasn’t just a simple intuition—it was a conclusion reached through reasonable inference.

She first saw the window when talking with Siegfried, earnestly wishing to ‘see his hidden emotions.’ Suddenly, a bright light emanated from the pendant, then disappeared, and these pictures began to appear.

‘The pendant was a treasure from the dragon’s lair, so it’s not surprising that it can produce such mysterious phenomena. Perhaps it’s enchanted…’

‘Magic?’

Leyla had been interested in magic since she was young, but magical items were hard to come by. Moreover, she had never heard of a magical item that could reveal someone’s inner feelings like this.

“Madam?”

“Oh.”

Jen’s cautious voice brought Leyla back from her reverie, making her realize she had been lost in thought for quite some time. And as she lifted her head, she still could see the maid’s ‘hidden emotions’ above her stoic face.

〈 ヾ(´･ ･｀｡)ノ” 〉

Leyla’s heart stirred.

‘She’s worried about me…’

Jen had been Leyla’s personal maid for the past year, attending to her needs. Before Jen, ten different maids had served her.

Even though she hadn’t done anything particularly wrong, her personal maids kept changing. At first, Leyla was curious why they didn’t want to stay by her side. But it wasn’t until her husband’s aunt, Vanessa, explained the reason behind the constant changes that Leyla finally understood.

“Leyla, rumors are going around that you’re mistreating those maids. Is it true?”

Leyla was taken aback. She had never mistreated any of the maids! If anything, she was the one who had been mistreated, and yet she had never been anything but kind to others.

“I-I have never. I didn’t mistreat the maids, no.”

“Really? Oh dear, what should we do… I trust Leyla, but… the rumors are spreading wild. They say Leyla cruelly mistreats the maids when no one is looking.”

As she said, Leyla’s reputation had already spread far and wide.

Even though Leyla tried to correct the truth after learning about it, the rumors had already spread beyond her control. To begin with, it was difficult to try to correct the rumors because few people knew Leyla.

Discovering the reason the servants looked at her with cold eyes made Leyla bitter. And perhaps due to the rumors, no maids were willing to come near her anymore.

After several rejections, Jen, with her honest temperament, ended up becoming Leyla’s personal maid. Unlike the previous maids, Jen stayed by Leyla’s side for a long time. She never complained, nor did she spread false rumors about Leyla mistreating her.

However, Leyla thought that Jen would be reluctant to serve her. She might not have quit yet because of her good nature, but eventually, she would choose to leave her side if given the opportunity.

Leyla had reasons to think that way. Since bad rumors have already spread among the servants, there will be prejudice. Furthermore, whenever Jen looked at Leyla, she always had a stiff expression, as if she didn’t want to be involved with her at all.

But if the picture she saw truly reflected Jen’s inner feelings…

‘Perhaps Jen doesn’t dislike me after all.’

A sudden swell of hope filled Leyla’s chest. Her cheekbones rose.

But…

‘No, I shouldn’t just assume things.’ Leyla pressed her lips together firmly, trying to calm her fluttering heart.

Feeling tired of expecting things and facing disappointment alone, Leyla was reminded of how many wounds she had received since coming here. However…

〈 (｡ŏ﹏ŏ) 〉

Just looking at the picture made her start to entertain expectations she shouldn’t.

‘Just once more, this one will be the last…’

Leyla bit the inside of her cheek and squeezed Jen’s hand that rested on hers.

‘Other’s warmth is so comforting.’

Feeling the warmth transfer from the woman’s hand to hers, Leyla couldn’t help but wonder if Jen’s hidden emotions were similar to this warmth.

Caught up in the sudden rush of expectation, Leyla couldn’t hold back the words she had been holding in for so long.

“I’m always grateful to Jen.”

“Wh-what?”

Taken aback by the unexpected words, Jen lost her usual composure.

Leyla almost cringed at the maid’s reaction, but she gathered her courage, clenching her free hand with determination, and continued.

“You must have had a hard time serving me all this time. Thank you for silently standing by my side for a year. And… I’m sorry for my many shortcomings.”

Leyla realized she had never expressed her gratitude like this before.

She had always assumed she would be rejected and hurt, so she hid, nervously conscious of herself, without expressing her feelings.

_