Try and Catch Me

Flower
As Lia continued to muse and daydream about the capital, her eyes caught sight of the flower at her bedside. She had not seen this flower before as it was not available near her house. But she could not help but be entranced with its loveliness. It was small and white. ‘Cute,’ she thought.

She reached out for a stem and smelled it. It had a light fragrance she liked. She may not be well-versed with flowers but she knew how to appreciate them. If she only knew where to get this kind…

‘Maybe the servant knows? She is the one changing it every day after all.’ As she did not have any other visitors, the only ones who could get her something as fresh as this was her assigned servant.

She continued to stare at the flower in every angle and realized that it was not the same flower as yesterday. The one she had the day before had been yellow. It seemed like the servant was diligent even to this work. ‘I should thank her for the next time she comes in.’

Like how she did before the mission, Lia spent her day in bed, cooped up with a book. In the afternoon, a servant eventually came in and delivered her snacks. She took this chance to thank her.

The servant answered her with a confused look. “I never do such a thing, Miss Lia. Every time I come here, it is always new so I assumed you have a visitor who brings you these.”

“Jeremiah is the only one visiting me and he doesn’t bring any of these either.” Lia thought for a while. “Do you know where to get these flowers?”

The servant nodded. “There are many kinds of flowers near the riverbed at the border.”

“At the border?” Lia asked incredulously. This place was the border between this town to their neighboring country and it was far from the mayor’s house or at least one would need a ride to get there faster. What kind of person would go to such lengths just to get her these? “Are there any other servants who come here other than you?”

“There’s no one that I could think of. The General appointed me as a personal servant for the Miss.”

‘Ah.’ Lia smiled and thanked the servant anyway for all of her efforts before sending her away.

As the day turned to night, Lia fell asleep after her dinner. But she woke up after only a few hours of sleep. The moon was high above and she guessed it was midnight so she just laid on her bed watching the moon outside her window and waiting for sleep to visit her again.

Then, she heard the door opened followed by soft padding on the floor. The footsteps came closer to her bed. She was lying on her side with her back facing the door so she could not see who came in or what was happening behind her other than the hushed rustling.

She heard the rush of blood in her ears. It could not have been her servant. She never came after getting her empty plates, knowing full well that Lia was resting. Did someone come to murder her in her sleep then? But they were taking an awfully long time.

Her heart thudded faster and harder every minute, waiting for the next movement of this person. She really wished she had the dagger right now.

Then she noticed the sound of the vase being lifted and replaced. She twisted her body as quiet as she could to make it looked like she was only tossing in her sleep. She would not want to alarm her visitor, not when he was going through the pains of not letting her know of his actions.

“Look who’s here,” she said and watched in amusement when her visitor almost jumped in fright before continuing, “long time no see, General.”