The daughter and father were much alike. Always quick to violence.
I had decided that I would not leave this place until I had aggravated every single attendee, it appeared that my plans had come to fruition.
Eh? Why I would do that? It felt like fun.
Of course there were other reasons as well. But mostly, I thought it would be fun. They were pretty annoying after all.
I was grabbed by my shoulders, with my face pressed against the floor. Whoever it was, they did not hesitate at all. It kinda hurt.
More and more people came and restrained my body from moving.
"Would you please not be so rough to a lady," I asked but was ignored.
I heard steps slowly approaching, but as I could not lift my head, I wasn't able to see the person.
"If you beg for forgiveness, I'm willing to leave you with only your original sins."
"Why so? I quite like it rough."
I heard some cloths rustling and him saying, "I see, that is truly unfortunate."
I clenched my teeth for the incoming impact. I tried thinking about something else to endure the quick pain, as I knew that it would end soon.
But I didn't feel anything at all.
Instead, the pressure put upon me lessened and I was able to turn my head.
When I looked to my right, I saw Raya's father, with his sleeves crumpled up, revealing his thick, dark arms. As always, he had an irritated face. However, this time it was not focused on me. He wasn't looking at me at all.
I turned my head again, to see who had the honor of receiving his judging glare, and saw a male servant, rubbing his hands while shaking. He had short brown hair and was currently sweating excessively.
Ah, I see. Took you long enough, I thought.
"Can't you see that I am busy," Rayas father inquired.
"Yes, Sir. With all due respect, I apologize for the sudden intrusion," his hand rubbing became faster, "but it is urgent."
"What could be so urgent that it cannot be postponed until the next day."
"It is like that. The Sirs daughter, I mean Miss Anne, s-she," he stuttered.
"Sis?" Raya blurted out.
The servant kneeled down, and shouted "please forgive me, Miss Anne has just left the mansion."
"What," the father humphed, "does she not know what time it is?"
"I truly have no words to defend myself," the servant went lower, "but she has stated that she was planning on finding a husband for her maid."
"Husband for her maid? Who gave her such thoughts."
"It is like this, one of the personal maids for Miss Anne suddenly decided to quit her job. Of course, Miss Anne and everyone around her were shocked by the sudden news, as she had been with us for so long," he bit his tongue, "b-but the maid said she had a change of heart, and wanted to fullfill her dreams of getting married. Touched by her strong will, Miss Anne decided to help her on her path."
He rebuked him angrily, "and you think that makes this alright?"
"Surely not, but everyone knows how decisive she can be, after she had set her mind to it."
Rayas father flung his arms and shouted, "god damnit, we have to bring her back," he then stared at me, "you're lucky, we will postpone your death until we have found my daughter. Until then, you are not to leave the house."
He then promptly left through the doors, with the servants following right behind.
"Your wish is my command," I whispered, "so would everyone please let me go?"
Those who shackled me down were still indecisive, mumuring if it was just going to end like that, but unable to go against the representative of this household, they let me go, even though they were very reluctant to do so.
I massaged my neck and complained, "should have done so from the start."
As there was nothing more to do, I planned on simply walking away, but Raya stopped me.
She pulled me at my sleeves and asked, "did you plan all this?"
"Oh, how could that be," I replied quizzically.
She suddenly grabbed my wrist, to stop me from escaping and started interrogating me, "No but the maid he was talking about, isn't that the maid we bumped into? Also was it not you, who told the maid to follow her own path?"
Relentlessly she asked question, after question.
"And if I remembered correctly, did you not tell the servants to leave the hallway illuminated? Was it not so he could find this place more easily? If we add the fact that he came just when you were in trouble, it really is far too coincidental."
"Oh my dear cousin, you have too great of an imagination. Would I really be able to arrange everything to such an extend?"
"That is," she shrunk back, yet she still looked unsure.
She was about to say more, but I quickly pulled her towards me and intertwined my fingers with hers. By engaging the patellar reflex underneath her knees, I made her lose her balance. I supported her fall by placing my hand on the back of her head, and took a step forward. Her torso was turned sideways, while her head towards me. Right now, we looked like a dance couple performing a dip.
"Or is it that you want to continue where we left off?"
She pushed me away and screamed, "let me go!"
Her ears where slightly red again and she clasped her cheeks. She send me one more glare and then quickly stomped away.
As no one important had anything else to add, I too made my way out of the room. I asked a servant to guide me towards an empty room, and he gladly obliged.
The place for me to sleep in was very spacious.
The wardrobes and tables, even though big, had enough room to comfortably reside within. In the middle stood a bed, equipped with a lot of pillows and blankets. The size of the bed was enough to fit three me's on it.
I touched the mattress with my finger and felt it slightly sink in. Although it was not as soft as a modern bed, it was certainly better than all my other accommodations, that I have recently rested in.
I placed Estella's skull away, undressed myself and immediately jumped into the bed.
The first night, with my new family ended without any major incidents.
That night, I was able to sleep without worries.
-
When I woke up again, it was already past morning. My hair was disheveled and I felt a wave of coldness hit my naked body. I didn't remember what I dreamt about.
My eyes were still half opened as the strong light pierced my pupils. I tried shutting the curtains, but my arms where too short, so I gave up halfway. Still groggy from just being out of my slumber, I called for a maid.
It did not take long for one to arrive. It was an older girl, with a bob haircut. I asked her to bring me a change of clothes and left it up to her, what kind of clothes. As long as they were comfortable.
It was finally time to part with my rugged garments.
That now yellowish dress had been through quite the journey these past few weeks, indicated by the brown stains, of which I don't now if it was blood or mud, and the many ripped edges.
Lazily, I crawled out of bed, with my hands touching the ground first, followed by my feet.
The maid arrived just in time, with a frilly dress in her hands. It was completely different from Rayas tight fitting clothes, which highlighted her womanly shapes.
The dress appeared to be white at first glance, but upon further observations, it was actually light blue. On the edges, strips of pleated cloth very sewed in the inner sides acting as decorative. The fabric folded into itself several times, creating an illusion of layers.
"Stretch out your arms please."
The maid helped me put on my clothes. I was able to tell that it was made out of high quality wool. The dress only reached my knees and was thus quite light. It wasn't stuffy, but comfortable to move around in. Even though it was made out of wool, I did not feel hot as it was rather loose.
"Alright then, please also put these on."
"Uh, no, I'd rather not."
"Please Miss, I insist," that maid said with fervent passion. I suddenly regretted asking her for help.
I stuck out my feet and held up my dress, revealing my bare thighs. The maid carefully approached and put a pair of white stockings with a floral design on my legs. Afterwards, she attached them to a garter belt that she had prepared on my hips beforehand.
In addition, she gave me a type of white engageante, false sleeves cuffed to the womans elbow. They were decorated with laced ribbons.
In the first place, why did these kind of things exist in this time period?
"Alright, now for the accessories," the maid suggested, while visibly panting. The way she viewed me was eerily similar to a hunter stalking its prey.
"Is this not enough yet."
She flatly rebuffed, "no."
Like I was a doll, she put a laced headband with a veil, and a blue bowknot on in my hair. She also bound a narrow fabric around my neck, since I did not want a necklace. After incessant bickering, I allowed her to add some earrings, but that was it.
To my surprise, I was already wearing two small ones, which we had to take out first. I never wore such things in my previous life, so I didn't paid any attention towards them.
The moment she was done, she hugged me with all her strength, while rubbing her face against me. I pushed her away, but she wouldn't stop clinging on me.
"Ah shoot, you're too cute, I couldn't hold back anymore."
She brought a mirror where I was able to see myself.
Okay, she was right, it wasn't bad.
Still, the decor was a bit excessive. I twirled around causing my dress to flutter in the winds and scrutinized each individual parts.
Yep, it wasn't bad.
All that was left was to put the shoes on and I was done.
"What do you think about it?"
"It's very fitting."
"As the dress is relatively thin, it should not stick to your body at all. I chose these stockings and cuffs as they were capable of hiding your skin whilst allowing for fresh air to enter your dress. I thought that the ice-blue would definitely bring out your eyes. The the white is to symbolize purity, which is the meaning of your name."
Oh, I was surprised, "you knew who I was?"
"Isn't that natural?"
"Yes I thought so, too," I said and leered away, "but then why are you talking to me?"
The maid tilted her head and asked, "should I have not?"
"No it's not like that. I was just thinking that the servants would give me the cold shoulder, if you knew who I was."
The maid suddenly looked downcast, "of course not, there was no way anyone would dare to do that, especially to you."
I was confused by what she meant. I wanted to know more about what she said, but she had already changed the topic, "do you want to eat something?"
"yeah, sure," I nodded my head.
"Alright, will you wait here," she told me and left through the door.
I took another look at myself. My current outfit was indeed very fitting.
At the beginning, I didn't want to particularly dress up, but seeing the current me in the mirror, I felt that it would be a waste, not to. The slender body and beautiful face of mine was a true sight to behold. Although there was still a fair need of tweaking, if I wanted to bring out the true potential.
After checking my getup one last time, I set my sights on the furnishing in this room.
I opened the wardrobe and saw different kinds of clothes for females. Some were elegant, while others were cute. Some were revealing, while others were comfy. There was a myriad of colors, ranging from bright to gloomy all laid out. Each of the dresses had an unique design and would not be outmatched by what I was wearing right now.
I held a red garb against my shoulders, "This one would accentuate my waist."
"This one would make me look taller," I thought about the embroidered robe in my hands.
"Uh," I stared at the black lingerie dumbfoundedly, "I might be too young for the one."
I quickly immersed myself into all these outfits and lost the track of time.
After a while many different styles laid on the stone floor disorderly, and even though I changed through most of them, I came to the conclusion that the outfit I was wearing currently suited me the most.
There might be a chance that the maid was a bit more skilled than I initially assumed.
I was about to reach the end of the wardrobe, when a small, wooden box caught my eyes.
The box looked weary and had started gathering dust. The wood was dark and had an antique feel. I slowly took it out of the wardrobe. As I opened the lid, it started squeaking, indicating how it hasn't been touched for a long time.
The thing that revealed itself to me was a small pendant. It did not look valuable. The shape was rotund and had a golden glimmer, but it wasn't particularly heavy. I tried opening it, but it was sealed shut. There was something engraved onto the back, but I was not able to make out what it was.
I held it up against the sun, but could not find any other clues.
My thoughts were interrupted by a knock and a woman saying, "miss your food has arrived."
From the sound of her voice, I could tell, it wasn't the maid that had dressed me, but someone else.
I casually ordered, "deliver it in, please."
She opened the door, and a sweet scent immediately assaulted my nostrils. My eyes subconsciously fell upon the food. It was some ordinary white bread with dark meat, covered generously by a thick sauce. Accompanying it was a glass of milk.
Everything was skillfully balanced on one hand by a girl around the same age as the current me.
When I saw her face, my whole body immediately tensed up.
It was like I received an electrical jolt. It was like an intense tremor had hit me.
My heartbeat was rapidly rising at a dangerous rate and my eyes almost feel out of my sockets.
The pendant fell out of my hands, as I stood there solidified. A dull sound echoed from the floor towards my ears, but I paid it no mind.
I tried opening my mouths, but no sound came out. It was only my lips that were trembling.
After an eternity, I managed to weakly mutter, "Estella?"