The Red Maze

"Let's go. I will show you a beautiful place in the back of the castle," Irene said as she motioned with her head for Ayana to follow her.

Ayana nodded her head when Irene walked toward the back of the castle. as they walked Ayana felt that the fragrance that she had smelled since she arrived at the castle became stronger. Since she spent her day mostly with Irene, she had thought that it was the woman's perfume. Irene had stayed in her room for a bit, so she thought her smell lingered in her room, but it seemed that she was wrong about it. It was less than five minutes when her eyes found something she had never looked at before. 

Ayana was astonished. She was walking absentmindedly as she looked at the scenery in front of her. It was a bright red. 

"Is it a maze?" Ayana asked as she looked at the high wall that was overlaid with red roses. That's right. The wall of the maze was fully covered with roses, creating the red high wall in front of her. 

"It is. This must be your first time seeing these beautiful roses. You can come here as you like since Luca never steps foot here," Irene said with a smile on her face. It was normal to see Ayana speechless at the sight of the red maze. Everyone that saw this red maze was always astonished by the beauty of these roses, especially women. After the astonishment, however, they started to look at Irene with envy, since they couldn't possess the same thing. 

Irene looked at the red wall proudly. A sense of satisfaction filled her heart as she eyed the wall which was covered in big-shaded-red roses. This rose was a kind of rare rose that needed special care. The petal was gigantic and the snaking stem made the wall even more gorgeous. Although no one would notice the green color steam since the roses steal all the light. 

She took a deep breath as the unique fragrance of the flowers filled her nose. One thing that she loved about this castle was the fragrance of the roses. The fragrance also can be smelt from ten meters away. It would be better if the weather is good, and the winds spread the smell in every corner of the castle.

"This is so beautiful. How do all of them bloom all at once? Did they always bloom around this time?" Ayana asked almost in a whisper. 

Irene smiled. Now she found Ayana's reaction a bit cute.

"People called this, The Goddess of Roses. The roses would bloom all year, although no one really cares for them. These flowers have a special fragrance that can make you relaxed, but when the flowers are cut from the stem, the smell disappears. So, the only way to enjoy the fragrance is by looking at them from this distance," Irene said as she sat in the wooden chair under the tree near the maze.

Ayana nodded even though she felt that something was strange about Irene's words. She just took a step closer toward the maze to take a closer look at the flowers when Irene quickly held her hand.

"Where are you going?" Irene asked. Her tone clearly showed that she knew what Ayana was going to do and she clearly did not like it.

"I want to take a closer look at the flower. This is the first time I saw a rose as big as that," Ayana calmly answered.

"We can relax here to smell the fragrance and look at this beautiful scenery. Moreover, the flowers are too delicate. They could sense people's presence and when they were stressed, their flowers would wither," Irene explained. It was a total lie, but she felt like the truth about this maze would scare her. Now she regretted saying that she was free to come here. Now she just hopes that this excuse would make Ayana not get too close to these flowers. 

"Has anyone ever reached the finish line?" Ayana asked with curiosity in her voice. 

Irene sighed. She controlled her tone and tried to explain to Ayana as calmly as possible, "I never reach the finish line and I don't know of someone who had the chance to reach the finish line. I never intended to go inside the maze since this place is so vast." 

Irene has a tiny hope in her heart that the gleam of curiosity in her eyes would disappear after hearing her explanation. Alas, now the girl was looking at the maze with more stars in her eyes.

"Don't ever think about entering the maze, dear. No one has stepped outside alive after going inside. It was said that this maze was designed and built by a great witch who worked for the Winter family around two thousand years ago. Only the witch and the head of Winter's family know the path inside the maze." Irene stared at the girl with a worried face. She decided to tell some of the truth to scare Ayana. 

A curious girl won't stay here for long. Irene didn't expect that the girl would be interested in such a dangerous thing as this maze. The other maze would be fine, but not this one. This maze ate living beings that came inside. She was sometimes terrified when she saw the red wall. 

Irene resisted the urge to shake her head. If she knows this in advance, she won't bring the girl here. From her observation of the girl since this morning, she actually found that this little girl likes everything she was supposed to avoid.

"I won't step inside," Ayana said with a smile. This is the first time Ayana answered her easily, but Ayana's answer didn't seem to satisfy Irene.

Irene got worried as she looked at the girl's odd behavior. She had a hunch that Ayana was going to step inside the moment she left the girl alone.

Irene felt her head start to ache. This morning, Ayana's mother called her. Haruka Luxon wants to meet her daughter on the weekend, which is three days from now. She needed a formal invitation from her to step into district 2. Looking at the mother's behavior, their daughter-mother bond seems closer than the rumor.

Keeping Ayana safe might be harder than she thought. This girl's curiosity could kill her one day, but she doesn't care as long as her death is not in the castle and not when she is still Luca's wife. They need her to keep a good relationship with District 4. Ayana's mother won't cause much harm, but the Luxon family can be a threat to them.

"Your mother called me early this morning. She asked me for an invitation as she wanted to meet you on the weekend. I told her that I still don't know about that since I haven't met Luca's parents yet. I will arrange a meeting for you and Luca's family first. After that, I will send an invitation to your mother. I hope that was okay with you." Irene said.

"It sounds good to me," Ayana said while looking at the red wall in front of them.

Irene blinked when she found the meek Ayana again. After Ayana said that she won't step inside the maze, the delight in her eyes was gone. It was like the time Irene told the girl to stay away from the library. She thought that she would have to warn Ayana once again, but it seemed that she was just tricking herself to think that Ayana was braver than this. 

"Let's go to another place," Irene said as she walked away from the maze. Sitting there with a heart full of worries was not that enjoyable at all. Her mood to enjoy the flower finished just like that.

Ayana walked after Irene as a smile started to form on the corner of her lips.

Irene walks to show some interesting places around the castle. However, Ayana's eyes didn't show similar light when she looked at the maze. As they walked, Irene kept warning Ayana about the dangerous maze and the other places Ayana needed to avoid again and again.

Just when they finish their tour, a maid hurriedly approaches them.

"Miss, some people come to deliver the package containing all your belongings from District 4. They said they need you to sign the recipient slip," The maid said calmly.

Ayana nodded her head at the maid before turning to look at Irene, "thank you for accompanying me around, Irene," Ayana thanked the woman with a little bow.

"Don't mention it. You are Luca's wife and that means that you are also my granddaughter. It's my job to help you familiarize yourself with the castle," Irene waved her hand gracefully. 

"I understand. I will go first then," Ayana smiled before turning around and approaching the maid who stood not far away from them.

"Let's go," Ayana said casually as the maid walked in front of her to the main building. 

The maid leads her to the front of the house. When she stepped out of the door, her eyes found three men. One of them was holding the recipient slip. 

"Good afternoon" Ayana greeted them briefly. She could see several big boxes beside the bus. 

"Miss Ayana?" the man asked when he found her. 

"That's me," Ayana answered with a nod.

"Great. Please sign here, and here," the man handed Ayana the paper. 

Ayana signed them right away. 

"Thank you. Did you need us to move the boxes inside the house for you, miss?" The man asked politely. 

"It's okay, just leave them here," Ayana smiled politely but then frowned a little when the two men dropped another big box. 

She raised her eyebrows as she looked at the several boxes she did not recognize. Ayana took out the delivery slips from her pocket and noticed that there were two different senders. There was also a note from Haruka that said she also sent her a box of marriage presents she bought with all the members of the Luxon family. 

Ayana shook her head, but the smile was plastered on her face. Her mother really took this marriage seriously. Ayana then asked some men that worked in the castle to bring the boxes to her room.

After all the maid and helper left the room, Ayana started to open the boxes her mother sent her curiously.

As she expected, those boxes were filled with clothes, dresses, pants, sweaters, and even shoes and bags. Some of them were so cute that Ayana could not imagine wearing them. 

Ayana had to search for a while before she found the letter from her mother.

//Congratulations on taking on a new adventure in your life, my dear. I hope you will be fine and well in this marriage. That might sound cheesy and sarcastic because I force this marriage on you. I am sorry. I wish I was a better mother than this. I thought I was protecting you by bringing you here, but I failed miserably. I just hope that you did not hate me too much for what happened. 

I might have said the same word on the day of your marriage, but I would say this one more time. I hope you will be happy wherever you are. Your sisters, brothers, your father, and I always wish for your happiness. Just think of this marriage as the stepstone in your life that you will pass and forget. 

This box is filled with mostly clothes, accessories, and several other presents that we had bought. I hope you like them. Please wear them and don't wear your shabby clothes anymore. People will think that our family treated you poorly. 

That would be all since I would be only repeating all the words I have said before. 

Love, Your mother// 

Ayana smiled with a bit of sadness in her eyes. She felt a bit guilty that her mother felt that way. This is her choice and she made this happen. 

Ayana sighed and shook her head, then took a quick look at the clothes in the big box. She had never thought that her clothes were so bad that her family would give her clothes and accessories at her wedding. 

After checking the package from her family one more time, Ayana found several boxes of jewelry that screamed expensively and a letter from her family. All of them were worried about her and wished that she would take care of herself. Like Irene's letter, their letter was also filled with things they had told her before. 

Bryana was the only one who did not send her anything. She knew that although her mother tried to include Bryana, the girl might be too busy to do anything.