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THIRD PERSON''s POV
“These scallops are so savory! I think I might have to get a take-out.”
“Hey, too much could be bad for your health.”
Scolded Cal; his eyebrows furrowed in worry for his scallop-loving friend.
“While it is indeed nutritious, too much always leads to no good.”
Explained Kaden while slicing the beef on his plate; a subtle smile could be seen evidently on his handsome face. Clearly, he liked the warm pleasant atmosphere around him.
For the first time in a long while, he felt happy during a meal.
On the other hand, Isabel and Ella were relishing the warm savory broth of the chicken that immediately settled down the emptiness of their stomachs, as if healing the hunger that had been clawing at their stomach walls for many days.
Of course, mere chicken broth wouldn''t be enough to get rid of days of starvation. But accompanied with a bite of the soft warm bread, they felt full and satisfied for the first time in two months.
Unbeknownst to her, a lone tear gently slid down Ella''s cheek while gulping down a sip of the chicken broth.
Fortunately for her, the men around didn''t notice it, for that would be embarrassing.
She quickly wiped it away once she took note of it.
“How''s the food? Do you like it?”
Asked Kaden who was sitting beside her.
“It''s very delicious.”
“I feel so warm, it’s heavenly.”
The girls replied delightfully, further widening the smile on Kaden''s visage.
“I''m glad it suits your tastes.”
“Do you want some scallops? You should try them, they''re really good.”
Evan handed over the plate of seared scallops towards them. The savory seafood smell wafted to their nose and made them drool. Unfortunately, they had to refuse as their stomachs could possibly hurt again.
“Aww, that''s unfortunate.”
Said Evan in a dejected voice. He was really eager to find someone that would agree with him about how great the scallops tasted.
“Let''s not force them, Evan. They already said they couldn''t just eat everything. Besides, they could also be allergic to it.”
Cal, the matured one, explained, rendering the former to give up on persuading them to try the scallops.
On the other hand, Ella and Isabel were grateful that they did not have to explain themselves any further about why they couldn''t accept all the food they offered.
During the entire meal, they chatted and got to know each other. The most chatty one was Evan, who told them of their adventures as mercenaries. Apparently, they''d been mercenaries for years and had been through a lot of battlefields. He was also the one who asked the most questions to everyone like how many months had Kaden been running his restaurant and what was his age.
“I just opened my restaurant last November. And I''m 22 this year.”
“B-But you said we were your first customers before.”
With that, Ella and Isabel found out that Kaden lied to them when they first met. He explained that he did it because he felt bad for them and just wanted to help.
“But you could''ve just told us the truth.”
Isabel reproached him, a hint of disappointment and distrust in her voice.
“Well, that''s the only excuse I could think of to offer free food without making you feel uncomfortable. I''m sorry if I offended you.”
Like a child scolded by an adult, Kaden was dejected and Ella could almost see downcasted puppy ears on his head that she thought she was hallucinating.
The two girls knew that he didn''t mean anything bad by lying to them, so they understood and accepted his apology.
After chatting for a bit more, they finally finished all the food on the table. Ella and Isabel were so satisfied with everything they consumed and could not be any more grateful than today.
“Thank you so much for all this food. We''re really grateful.”
The two girls bowed their heads in gratitude.
“We''ll really do well in washing the dishes and cleaning the restaurant. Please leave everything else up to us!”
Ella, now with enough energy to move around, hurriedly stood up from her seat and was ready to start her job.
With their expertise in cleaning, the two girls moved around swiftly in the kitchen and the dining hall. Ella convinced Isa to do the dishes so she didn''t have to move around too much as she had just recovered her strength. The former, on the other hand, wiped the tables and swept the floor and windows.
Fascinated by the two of them moving very fast and expertly, the men were dazed for a moment, but soon realized that they should also help instead of just watching.
With that, Kaden went to the kitchen and helped Isabel with the mountain of dishes. And the other two men helped Ella in moving the chairs and tables while she was sweeping the floor.
Before they knew it, they were already done.
Kaden thanked them for helping him clean and expressed his most heartfelt desire to see them all again soon.
As the azure sky began to fade into a fiery mixture of orange and red, Ella, Isabel, Evan, and Cal bid their goodbye to the restaurant owner and their newly-found friend.
After exiting the restaurant, the two girls were about to bid the two remaining men adieu as well, but they were stopped halfway from doing so.
“Well, you see, it''s kinda getting dark. If you don''t find it uncomfortable, we can walk you home.”
Evan offered, staying tactful around the girls so as to not make them feel uneasy.
With their shadows slowly blending with the darkness creeping up from the alleys, Isabel understood the men''s concern about their safety.
However, she couldn''t just let them walk into the count''s territory or anywhere near his influence. No, that would throw them all into a terrible mess with the count and Ella would suffer horribly again. Besides, they had already done too much for them and she felt like they couldn''t trouble the two gentlemen anymore.
“We understand your concern, but we can walk ourselves home. We live just…n-nearby. But we really appreciate your offer.”
She politely refused as she swallowed her lies contritely.
“Yes. But, but it’s not that we don''t trust you.”
Ella reassured them, eager to avoid making them feel untrustworthy.
“Oh, okay then. Be careful on your way, alright? Walk fast so you can get home quickly before it gets too dark.”
With that, they all said their goodbyes to each other with smiles on their faces.
“You sounded like a mom there.”
Cal remarked with a smirk before turning around and started walking with hands in his pockets - a perfectly cocky appearance that annoyed Evan behind him.
“Shut up, man. You often act like my mother too.”
“Well, your mother entrusted you to me so that means I''m doing a great job following her orders.”
“Ugh, this is why I hate you…”
“Well, the feeling is mutual.”
Hearing the two banter behind her as they walked the opposite direction, Ella softly chuckled.
A soft breeze gently grazed her cheeks as the warm glow of the setting sun kissed her face.
She closed her eyes, relishing in the warmth of this moment.
The day started roughly for both her and Isa, as usual. They had to throw themselves into finishing extreme tasks the other servants passed on to them, and then go to the capital early to earn as much money as possible. But the day might just end with this blissful feeling of newfound friendship.
That was what she hoped for, at least.
But all that hope came crashing down when they arrived at the count''s manor.
The sky had already turned into a void space of nothingness when they got back ‘home’; not a single star was visible, as if signalling them of the impending trouble ahead.
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“How is that wench doing these days?”
Contrary to her unbefitting choice of words, grace and elegance could be traced in her voice and in every move she made.
She lifted the teacup and took a gentle sip of the golden liquid inside. Her dark red lipstick made from the finest ingredients did not leave a single smudge on it.
Despite her calm demeanor, her eyes, azure as the ocean, held this fathomless hatred in its depth.
Bowing in 90 degrees, the old head maid, Amabel, gulped in nervously as she looked up and scanned the countess from head to toe, determining her mistress’ current mood. Submissively, she replied,
“After she didn’t come back for four days two months ago, we disciplined her enough so she wouldn’t do the same thing again.”
“And how much do you mean by ‘enough’?”
A subtle smirk crept its way to the head maid’s face.
“Well, enough that she wasn''t able to walk or even speak for a month.”
Consequently, the corners of the countess’ mouth went up in satisfaction.
“Keep doing a wonderful job at taking care of her. Inform me if anything else happens.”
She said as she lifted the teacup near her lips once more, her face painted with immense pleasure; not a single hint of remorse.
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TW: This is to inform readers that the following scenes will contain graphic depictions of sexual assault, physical abuse, violence, and blood that are not for the fainthearted. Please proceed with extreme caution and take care of yourselves.
At an old storage room in the servant’s quarters, Isabel''s hands were tied up. She was still with Ella a while ago, but they were separated by the angered maids for the reason that they weren’t satisfied with the money they brought today.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Two months ago, when they got back from the clinic, they were tortured for being gone for days. The maids who ordered them to get their dresses from the boutique were furious. It was because they wanted to wear those dresses at the Flower Festival, yet they weren’t able to because Ella and Isa failed to come back with them. Furthermore, Isa lost the pouch of money given by the maids to pay for the dresses when she was trying to find Ella at the plaza.
As a result, the maids took all the money they had saved up. They also learned about the fact that they had been earning money by selling handkerchiefs and gloves, so they made them go to the capital more often. Then, they would take all Ella and Isabel’s earnings, saying it was to pay for the money for the dresses.
Isabel sobbed as her heart pounded inside her chest, thinking about what horrendous things they were doing to Ella while they were separated.
At the same time, muffled screams of mercy could be heard in a room not too far from Isabel as a raven-haired girl shielded herself from the storm of violence hurtling towards her.
“A whole day! For a whole day, you were both gone and you only managed to earn this much?!”
A maid roared in disbelief with crimson wrath all over her face. In her hand was the half-full pouch of copper and silver coins Ella and Isa earned from selling embroidered goods this afternoon.
“This can''t even pay half of what you owe us, you b-tches!”
“Hick!… p-please stop! Euk!... Plea..se…”
Pleaded Ella with tears streaming down her cheeks; her face contorted into that of screeching agony and her shoulders trembled in fear.
“For goodness’ sake, shut up! You''re so noisy.”
The wrathful maid hurled the bag of coins at her, hitting her left eye. The handful of metal coins inside proved to be heavy enough to cause a macabre bruise.
“Ah!”
Ella screeched in pain. With one shaky hand, she carefully touched her stinging eye that got hit; as if that could help relieve the pain.
“You''re so annoying!”
“Ugh!!! Madam Clementine has been asking us for the payment of those dresses.”
“Why can''t you just give us all your money?!”
The other maids, equally raged and seething in fury, kicked her stomach ceaselessly until she vomited blood. The others pulled her hair and arms then dragged her towards the center of the room.
There, a maid whose hair the color of chocolate named Margaret grabbed Ella''s hollow cheeks. The former''s long nails sank so deep into the latter''s pallid skin that it left a temporary mark.
Margaret''s grey eyes resembled the eye of a storm; brewing intense catastrophe behind a calm facade. She tightly held Ella''s face close to her. With gritted teeth in an attempt to hold back her anger, she asked,
“Is this really all the money you have? You''ve got to be kidding me. If I have to strip you naked for you to spew out every penny you''re hiding, I''ll do just that.”
With every bit of her patience running out, she aggressively tore down the thin rags enveloping the poor lass'' body.
“No! Help! P-Please, stop… Heuk! Help me… Isa…”
There were five maids around her and she''s got only herself to fight back; not like she even had the strength to do so.
“Tear off everything she has! She may be hiding a few coins with her.”
The rags she painstakingly stitched together, so she could have something to cover herself with, were torn into pieces simultaneously by the hands of the maids. Their long beautiful nails scratched her pale skin as they pulled off her clothes.
Then, there was a clink.
One of the maids, who threw away a piece of fabric from Ella''s upper body, stopped when she heard the sound of metal that clashed against the rigid floor.
When she looked back to the direction where she threw the fabric, she saw a piece of silver coin that shone reflectively under the light.
The maid took it and scoffed maliciously at the raven-haired girl.
Stricken with fear, the wretched lass dreadfully hugged herself in humiliation and misery. There was nothing that covered her trembling body but her wavy tresses that stretched down to her waist.
Her ebony black hair and the red blood on her lips contrasted perfectly on her pale snow-white skin.
“Hah! She''s really hiding a silver coin from us.”
Angered by the fact that Ella was indeed going to save herself a silver coin from her own earnings; and deep inside, jealous of her white skin; Margaret gnashed her teeth and grabbed Ella''s hair, pulling her to stand up.
The latter’s thin hands and arms tried to pull her hair back to lessen the pain as she trembled from the cold, shame, and agony. Her bony feet shook and shifted on the floor, finding strength and balance to stand.
“Hick!… I''m sor… I''m sor..ry…”
Without a single hint of remorse, Margaret harshly pushed her against the wall. Using her free hand, she sharply landed a slap on Ella''s cheek, causing the latter’s lips to bleed even more.
But the grey-eyed maid was not yet satisfied. She hurled another slap,
“Ella, you’re such a greedy little bitch.”
and then another,
“How could you be so selfish, you stupid little good-for-nothing!?”
and another.
“You should be grateful we''re not allowed to kill you, or else you wouldn''t have lived until today.”
Ella felt her breath slowly fading away as her vision got dimmer and blurrier.
The maids stopped beating her only after she passed out.
One maid, who collected the scattered coins around Ella''s unconscious and naked body, wasn''t content enough and kicked her stomach once more before they all left.
It was only after Margaret and the others were done with Ella that Isa was freed by them.
Once freed, she frantically searched every room to find Ella; terror painted all over her face.
Once she found her, she saw the girl, whom she treated as her last remaining family, breathing faintly with bruises and wounds all over her body.
“E-Ell…a…”
Her voice cracked; her expression shifted into that of pity, anger, and agony all within a matter of a second.
Isabel swallowed the sharp stinging lump of pain in her throat as she knelt down and hugged the thin and frail body of her friend.
“I''m sorry, Ella…heuk… Sorry I couldn''t protect you.”
She wiped the blood on Ella''s lips with trembling hands as tears raced down her cheeks.
Having nothing else to cover Ella''s body, Isabel hurriedly searched for any fabric she could find in the room, shook it off to get rid of any dust, and then wrapped it around her friend. Her face a mess of her own tears as she trembled in anxiety for her friend''s condition.
Despite being in a weakened state herself, she carried Ella on her back and walked up the stairs, until she reached their room that was on the highest part of the building - the attic.
Even though it was almost summer, the warmest season of the year, the attic was still enveloped in a breezy cold air. There was a fireplace, but they had no firewood. So, all they could do to keep themselves warm was to wrap their bodies with whatever cloth and blanket they have.
That night, Ella and Isabel''s lives hung precariously on a thread once more.
It was nothing short of a miracle they had survived this long. With their trembling, weakened bodies, Isa could only hope for an escape from this living nightmare.
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CAL''s POV
“Your highness, it''s already late. Please rest.”
His lavender eyes, the symbol of royalty, blinked as he yawned and stretched his arms up in the air. In front of him were piles of papers he needed to review as the crown prince.
“I still have so many things I need to do.”
He reasoned with an exhausted look.
“Well, I thought you expected this to happen since you have been sneaking out too often lately.”
“I always finish my work before sneaking out. But then, when I come back, there’ll be piles of documents on my table again. Haahh… they’re just endless.”
With a look as if he was resigned to his fate, he heaved a deep sigh of frustration.
“Hey, man. Don’t you want to be the prince instead?”
“I’m already satisfied with who I am, my lord.”
He frowned upon hearing my response, then propped his arms on the table.
“Well, good for you. Oh, to be a normal citizen of this empire and have all the freedom you want! Oh, if I could just run away and be an ordinary man!”
I rolled my eyes at him before taking the effort of asking what his problem was that he was being this overdramatic again.
“Yeah, yeah. So what’s making you act like this again?”
Arms crossed, I raised an eyebrow at him and waited for his answer.
Once again, a deep sigh escaped his mouth and he explained.
“Well, aside from all the usual political and economic stuff, father told me to choose my fiance before this year comes to an end. He sent me all these young ladies’ profiles and told me to pick who I like the most.”
He annoyingly pointed at the piles of paper with a distressed look.
“But I haven’t even met these ladies!”
He exclaimed; his forehead creasing in irritation.
I curiously scanned the papers and saw a familiar face.
“But you have met Lady Millicent before. Even too many times, I dare say. I even thought you two were already engaged years ago.”
“Nah, we’re not that close. I want to marry someone I actually get along with. Besides, she’s a bit, well, unapproachable?”
Reluctantly, he explained, as if scared that he was being too mean with the way he was describing her.
Well, I get where he’s coming from.
“You see, whenever we see each other, she’s got this straight uninterested look on her face as if she was forced to be there in front of me. I don’t even think she likes me either.”
Sharing the same sentiment as him with how uninterested Lady Millicent always looked, I scanned the papers once again and saw another familiar face.
“Oh, Princess Jeanneva’s here too.”
“Yeah, I don’t really think we’ll get along.”
There was a look of dejection on his face. He explained,
“In the few times we met, I couldn’t handle her personality at all. I feel like she is a tiger and I am just a bunny she could prey on.”
He dramatically hugged himself, causing a disgusted look to appear on my face.
I scoffed,
“It’s funny that the prince known as the Iron Statue of the empire is referring to himself as a bunny. If others heard you, you’d be the empire’s laughingstock for about a week.”
A sharp glare was thrown at me, glinting with a chilly purple hue.
I awkwardly looked at the side, avoiding his menacing gaze with my lips pursed, attempting to hold back my laugh.
“.......”
Still sensing his threatening glare, I chuckled and promised to stop teasing him again before relaying my serious opinion.
“Well, I feel like the Princess just has this naturally playful personality. She probably likes it when you feel on edge with her and would feel like teasing you even more.”
I recalled that one time when Princess Jeanneva and Evan had teatime at the Emerald Garden.
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“Good afternoon, Princess Jeanneva. Please take a seat.”
“Good afternoon as well, Prince Evander.”
The two people of royal blood sat down after exchanging greetings. As his personal knight, I stood a few feet behind Evan as I listened to their conversation.
“So, my dear prince, I have heard you have fallen for me.”
With her dreamy eyes, she stared seductively at the lavender-haired prince, who froze on his seat from what she said.
“Pardon me, your highness, but whom did you hear this from?”
He politely replied, still taken aback from her unexpected statement, though he tried to hide it with a straight face.
“Oh, so it’s not true? That is quite sad.”
“Please do not be disappointed.”
“But, of course.”
She smiled.
“That’s weird though, I thought you always looked at me at balls. If perhaps you’re feeling shy to admit it, oh, you need not to.”
She fluttered her long thick lashes framing her pink almond eyes, waiting patiently for Evan’s answer.
“That is not the case, your highness.”
The princess chuckled, her seductive voice echoed across the lush green bushes, and then alluringly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Oh, it’s merely a jest, your imperial highness.”
Even though I was behind him, I could imagine his face looking like he needed to take a huge dump. The awkwardness and tension from them was so strong that I almost laughed at him.
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“Hey! What are you laughing at?”
I came back to my senses when I heard Evan’s irritated voice, his glare piercing through my soul.
“I just remembered a good memory, your imperial highness.”
I bowed at him in an attempt to hide the huge grin on my face.
“Hah, no matter what. I’m gonna delay choosing a fiance until the last month of this year. I’ll get this out of my head first.”
“Of course, your highness.”
Still trying to hold back my laughter, I simply nodded at him as he looked at me with suspicion before he went to bed.
?*????????*?????。? . to be continued .。? .?*?????????*?????