Chapter 9
While Arjen let out a pitiful cry, Vanessa quietly untied every ribbon and let my dress fall to my feet. As the fabric slipped away, the chill of the air touched my bare skin.
I wrapped my thin arms around myself and eased my feet into the bathtub.
“Perfect.”
The water was neither hot nor cold. Vanessa was competent at her work. As expected of the fastidious Genovio’s maid.
After letting my body soak for a while, Vanessa approached and began brushing my hair with gentle strokes.
There were maids who deliberately tried to torment me with harsh scrubbing, giggling at my flushed skin after the bath. I could still picture the one who had been fired today—they had done the same.
Vanessa, however, seemed uninterested in such childish games. I lowered my gaze to watch her work, first tracing the curve of her jet-black eyelashes, then letting my eyes roam to her tightly curled ebony hair.
“You don’t resemble the head maid at all,” I remarked.
Only the porcelain-white, flawless skin bore testament to the fact that Vanessa was Lucia’s daughter.
“Yes… I take after my father.”
Did he run a leather workshop?
I recalled a man with the same dark curls as Vanessa. A kind, gentle man who had loved Lucia. The one who had discovered her secrets had drowned his sorrows in alcohol, eventually meeting his end in the river.
It had been a scandal.
Just before I was to marry Dario.
Vanessa didn’t seem the talkative type. She quietly washed my hair and massaged my shoulders.
“Do you have something to say to me?”
As the bath drew to a close, a trace of nervousness had appeared on Vanessa’s face. On the fifth time she parted her lips without speaking, I asked before she could hold back.
“May I ask why you were made my lady’s maid?”
“Well…”
I let the thought trail off, unwilling to pin it down to a single reason. Vanessa’s face stiffened.
“Am I… a hostage?”
“What? A hostage?”
Her serious tone made me burst out laughing. My laughter echoed through the bathroom, darkening Vanessa’s expression even further.
“You know your mother’s secret. Isn’t it a warning? That you could expose it anytime?”
“No, Vanessa. You’ve got it wrong.”
She seemed even more confused. She didn’t even notice when she dropped the brush she had been holding.
“What would I do with you?”
I flicked water lightly with my palm.
“Of course, Lucia might think that way. But what if I want to leave it that way?”
“My lady…”
Kneeling before me, Vanessa’s expression was a mixture of pleading and defiance.
“What are you doing?”
Water from the tub spilled across the floor, soaking the hem of her skirt where she knelt.
“I’ll do my best. Please, keep the secret.”
“You care about your mother a lot, don’t you?”
I narrowed my eyes slightly, gauging her reaction.
“My mother… she deserves her fate. But my father isn’t. My father… she’s everything to him. He’d crumble, I’m sure.”
“Stand up.”
“My lady…”
“I didn’t bring you here as a hostage, nor to blackmail you with secrets.”
Of course, if Lucia provoked me further, who knew what might happen. Perhaps it was the cold, calculating blood of an August that ran in me, but I didn’t tell Vanessa the full truth to reassure her—I needed her.
“You hate Genovio, don’t you?”
“What?”
Her eyes, so composed until now, wavered like glass.
“I know Lucia’s plan. It’s disgusting. How could she even think to marry you off to Genovio?”
Lucia had hoped her daughter would fulfill her dreams—become August’s mistress.
A foolish woman. Did she really think Vincenzo, a man capable of taking a mistress as his consort, had the capacity for such innocence? Had he been capable of it, he wouldn’t have committed his affair.
She thought her daughter could claim the position of mistress by giving birth to his child—but Vincenzo had lost interest in her entirely after that.
So Lucia placed her daughter in the household of Genovio’s inner circle, intending to take action before Genovio formally married.
Even with all her greed, she had a brother sharing blood… revolting.
“But my lady! It’s not me! Please believe me. I have nothing to do with my mother’s schemes. I’ve never acted on them.”
Vanessa’s face turned pale as she clasped her hands together, rubbing them nervously.
“I believe you. That’s why I brought you here.”
Before the reincarnation, Vanessa had been caught up in Lucia’s plans without intending to, discovered by Monica, and subsequently expelled from the castle along with Lucia.
The rest… I shivered just thinking about it. I didn’t want to remember.
“If it weren’t me, you’d have to return to Genovio. Doesn’t my side seem better?”
“My lady…”
“According to the head maid, there’s no one who wants to serve as my maid. That makes you the only one. Nothing more.”
Her experience in serving the fastidious Genovio had honed her into a capable maid. That was just a bonus.
“By the way, the water’s getting cold.”
Startled, Vanessa hurriedly finished her service.
I changed into the soft pajamas she brought and returned to my room. Vanessa busied herself stoking the fire.
I crawled into the disheveled bed she had arranged, leaving only my eyes visible. Warmth and the bath’s lingering comfort made my limbs heavy.
Curled up on the single sofa, Arjen’s sleepiness was contagious. And yet…
Vanessa, stepping back from the fireplace, whispered something, her words fading into the distance.
Wrapped in the cloud-like comfort of the blankets, I drifted into sleep.
The next morning, the clatter of breakfast roused me. I rose slowly, feeling the soft carpet under my toes.
It was a far cry from waking at the desk yesterday. Warm air filled the room. Breakfast had been laid out on the table, Vanessa smiling brightly.
“Good morning! Please eat, my lady!”
Her expression was lighter than yesterday, but the table told another story.
“Isn’t this too much?”
The array of food was excessive in both variety and quantity.
“You need to eat well. You’re still growing, after all.”
Pushed into my seat by Arjen, I marveled at how so much could fit in such a tiny body. The clever little serpent had already claimed his spot at the table.
While I chewed on a tomato, Arjen swallowed a whole grilled salmon in one bite.
[Cheeky little maid. Could you stop glaring at me?]
Vanessa clearly didn’t approve of her pet snake wasting food. She kept snatching plates away whenever Arjen flicked his tongue, placing them before me.
[Talk to me, master!]
Arjen’s voice seemed only for me. But I had no intention of helping him, shrugging lightly to ignore his plea.
“Vanessa, I’m full now. Fix my hair. Arjen, out.”
[Tsk.]
At my firm tone, Arjen slithered out of the room.
“Cheeky, but a very obedient little pet,” I remarked.
“Indeed,” Vanessa said, briefly disappearing to return with a pale pink dress adorned with frills.
The dress, reflecting my past tastes, looked utterly frivolous.
“Do you have anything darker?”
“Didn’t you like this color?”
“Yes… but I preferred it only because dark colors scared me.”
Regina had always mocked my childish taste. In reality, light colors clashed horribly with my hair.
“I think I have a few options. I’ll check!”
While Vanessa vanished into the wardrobe, I scrutinized my reflection. Familiar yet strange.
I had died at twenty-one. Now, at eighteen—only three years younger—I looked almost innocent. I poked at my plump cheeks. Hardly intimidating.
I scowled at the mirror. Vanessa returned, carrying a black lace dress.
“Luckily, I found one!”
It had been worn at gatherings of the August family, both direct and collateral lines.
I’d likely need more dresses—but for now, I donned the single black dress.
“Arjen.”
The loyal serpent slithered in through the door crack.
“Are the guards outside?”
[No one.]
Fortunately, the sentries had returned to their posts. Fabio hadn’t noticed anything, so his vigilance had dulled.
I stepped out, quickening my pace. Even a few minutes’ walk now felt slow compared to the tense waiting before.
‘I hope everything goes well…’
Though I reminded myself that Fabio, destined to become the world’s strongest, had extraordinary endurance, I couldn’t shake my unease. Back then, around this time, he’d never been beaten like this. No guarantee he’d be safe now.
[Where are you going?]
Vanessa followed silently, but Arjen grumbled as we walked the dirt road beyond the castle.
“You didn’t need to follow…”
[You’re my master!]
“I’m serving my lady! Of course I accompany her!”
Both Arjen and Vanessa shouted in unison.
How uncanny—they weren’t even communicating, yet their reactions mirrored each other perfectly.
“All right. If you insist on coming, thanks.”
Arjen’s mood lifted slightly, and Vanessa’s cheeks flushed faintly.
Past the sullen guards at the inner castle, the outer keep’s desolate landscape unfolded. All eyes naturally turned to me—workers and knights alike.
I ignored them, heading straight for the stables. Arjen, disliking horses, waited outside.
The moment we stepped inside, the pungent smell of manure assaulted my senses.
