Letters of Admiration

Daniela

You're building a considerable stack of letters. At this point, you're starting to feel them beneath your pillow when you rest your head on it. You really ought to find a better place to put them before they start affecting the quality of your sleep. You don't want to throw any of them away.

The words filling them are that of an incurable romantic and true flirt.

You have often wondered who the writer is. A few days ago, you found yourself sure that you've figured it out.

It began with a book. Recently, she mentioned that you remind her of a character from a novel she started reading. While you were cleaning the floor on Monday, Daniela and Bela passed by. They were discussing something, but you didn't catch what. You ended up too focused on what Daniela was carrying. It was the exact same book.

Sure, with the sheer number of books in Castle Dimitrescu, there very well could have been a few copies of a particular title.

Part of you didn't want there to be any of this one.

Daniela used to monitor the section of the Castle you were always assigned to clean. She's flirted with you more than a few times before, leaving you a flustered mess. But the head maid told you that she does that with a lot of the maidens. You thought about it more, though, and you realized that you hadn't actually heard any more talk of that in quite a while.

Did you manage to catch her interest?

On Tuesday, you reread all of the letters, imagining the words in them spoken with Daniela's voice. You tried to picture her saying them to you.

On Wednesday, you manage to build up the courage to try and find out if you're right. You leave a letter where you normally find new ones, asking the writer to meet you in the garden.

You finish your daily duties a bit later than anticipated. When you return to the maid's quarters, you find a response.

'See you there, Angel.'

Hopefully, you're not too late. You rush down to the meeting place.

Daniela Dimitrescu is there. She's laying on a low stone wall out in the sun, one of her arms being used as a pillow and the other holding up the novel, a leg dangling over one side and idly swinging back and forth. She sits up when she sees you approaching, her face breaking into a grin.

You match it.