When the maids noticed Alina, they immediately stopped. Both of them stiffened as if caught doing something illegal. They muttered something about forgotten sheets and scurried away before Alina could say a word.

Alina kept standing there for a few seconds, then continued her walk to the sewing circle.

The atmosphere of the garden was lively as always.

"The last shipment will be completed by Friday," Marguerite announced proudly while checking a stack of folded uniforms.

Everyone cheered at the announcement.

"We actually did it," Lady Brennan said. "We completed our first assignment."

"And ahead of schedule," another woman added proudly.

Alina smiled subtly and took her seat. It should have made her happy but instead, her mind kept drifting back to the maids’ words.

Marguerite glanced at her while sorting threads.

"You look distracted."

Alina hesitated a little but then decided to speak.

"Did you know Rosilyn well?"

Marguerite shook her head.

"No," she replied. She had already left by the time I arrived at the castle," she paused. "If you need reliable information about her, ask Lady Talbot. She is the only one who can help you."

Alina glanced around, only now noticing Lady Talbot’s seat was empty.

"Where is she?" Alina asked.

"She had some family emergency. She left early in the morning," Marguerite replied.

Alina nodded feeling a little disappointed and tried to focus on her work.

A little later, she walked to the storage table to count the finished uniforms. Alina picked up a shirt and felt proud of her sewing circle. Their work had improved so much from when they had started.

Nearby, a group of young girls had abandoned their work and were busy gossiping.

"She’s so pretty," one of them whispered.

"I know," another one said. "But how terrible is her husband? What kind of man sends men after his own wife?"

"The worst kind. He should be thrown in prison."

"I feel sorry for her."

Then one girl lowered her voice before speaking.

"But her coming here will definitely complicate things for Alina."

"I know, right? She was His Grace’s previous bed warmer. I heard she was the only one who stayed here for one whole year. The others never stayed with the His Grace for this long."

Alina quietly walked away before she could hear more.

About an hour later, Rosilyn came to them.

"I hope I’m not disturbing anyone," she said.

The circle went quiet and several women glanced at Alina to answer.

"You’re not," Alina smiled. "Come. Sit."

Rosilyn smiled and sat beside Alina. She noticed the women working and her smile widened.

"The castle has changed so much," she murmured. "This garden used to be almost empty when I lived here."

"The credit goes to Alina," Lady Brennan replied.

She then turned to Alina.

"When I was here women didn’t work like this. The only women in this garden were planting herbs for the kitchen," she smiled. "What you created here is amazing."

"I didn’t do this alone. They all helped me," Alina replied politely.

At first, the conversation stuck to the sewing, uniforms. But gradually, the younger curious girls began asking her about her life at Ravenmoor.

She told them which servants gossiped the most, which part of the castle was the coldest and who is the best cook in the castle. She didn’t stop at that. She even mentioned Austin’s old habits casually.

"His Grace always skips breakfast when he’s stressed," Rosilyn said absentmindedly. "The kitchen staff used to panic trying to force him to eat."

Rosilyn froze after saying it, as if only now realizing how personal the comment sounded. A few women glanced at Alina but Alina kept smiling.

It didn’t mean it wasn’t affecting her. The discomfort in her chest was increasing with her every word. Rosilyn wasn’t saying anything intimate. But it sounded so natural that it felt like she belonged here too.

In the evening, Harrington requested a meeting with Rosilyn in the study. He stood near the desk with a thick file in his hands.

Austin sat at his usual place while Alina and Rosilyn sat opposite him. But Austin’s eye’s instead of looking in front kept moving around the room.

"We’ve located the men who were following Miss Rosilyn," Harrington reported."They have camped near the eastern border. They haven’t crossed Ravenmoor yet, but they are waiting for an opportunity."

Austin nodded.

"We’ll increase the patrols there," Harrington informed.

"Good," Austin finally spoke.

Harrington continued explaining about possible routes and suspects, but Alina barely listened. Her attention was on Austin instead. He hardly spoke during the entire briefing. Normally, he asked about every detail and had a lots of follow up questions. But today, he remained silent. Sometimes he stared at the window, sometimes at the papers in front of him. But never at Rosilyn.

And Alina realized, Rosilyn’s presence was making him uncomfortable. Rosilyn seemed to notice too. Her hands twisted in her lap and her posture stiffened. She stopped looking at Austin as well and stared at the floor instead.

By the time Harrington finished speaking, the tension in the room was so suffocating that it felt like the room might explode at any second.

"I’ll report when we have more details," Harrington said as he closed the file and left.

"Is there anything else?" Austin asked.

"No," Rosilyn answered softly. "Thank you."

He nodded. Rosilyn lowered her eyes and quietly left the study.

"You barely said a word," Alina said, the moment the door closed.

Austin let out a tired breath and streched his legs, relaxing after forcing himself to sit through the entire briefing.

"I didn’t have anything to say."

"Really?" she crossed her arms.

Austin just looked away and drank the water from the glass in front of him.

"Are you uncomfortable around her?" she asked finally.

"Is it that obvious?" He laughed.

"To me? Yes."

He sighed.

"She reminds me of a part of my life I don’t like remembering," he said vaguely.

"Because she was your bed warmer?"

He nodded.

"That’s all?" she asked.

Austin’s hand froze for a second before he looked away.

"It should be enough, shouldn’t it?" he replied.

The answer only confused her more as it felt incomplete. Before she could question him again, he spoke.

"I don’t hate her. I just don’t know how to act around her anymore."