"I could take care of them," Huig uttered, his expression morose.
"There is no need to do that now."
"They are going to take you. I do not have all the details but I don't want to risk it. His grace asked me to do everything to keep you alive."
"And you will," Rosalind replied. "You will keep me alive, but I do not want you to intervene."
The man narrowed at her. "Do you understand that a woman who had been taken by men will have her reputation torn to tatters even if she survived?"
"Yes, I do." The man was telling the truth. Being taken by a group of men is akin to death. Many people would immediately see you as dirty and would literally avoid you like a plague.
This concept does not make sense but many people especially the nobles seemed to think that being kidnapped is the same as being sexually assaulted.
"Do not worry, it will not come to that. And I would need your help to make sure that I am safe."
"But "
"Please" Rosalind met the man's eyes. "I would not drag the Duke's name down with me." She looked outside and smiled. She was right.
Dorothy was slowly losing her head and was doing things that were very much unlike her. She was getting impatient as she knew that Rosalind would be leaving very soon. The fact that Atior failed was enough to trigger her into madness.
Now, she wanted more. She wanted revenge and the best way to do that was to make Rosalind stay in the mansion. After all, Dorothy could never touch Rosalind once she reached the North.
"Very well, since that is what the future duchess wants. However, I am going to let the Duke know about this."
Rosalind nodded. The Duke does not know why she was doing this, but she trusted that the man would allow her to do what she wanted as long as she went to the North with him.
And just like that days passed and the day of the awakening Ceremony had finally come.
Rosalind looked at her appearance in the mirror. She was wearing the black dress she chose, her make-up was simple, only to be highlighted by the color red she chose for her lips. Her black hair fell down her back with beautiful large curls.
"Young Miss, you look beautiful," Milith sobbed next to her. Rosalind rolled her eyes inwardly. Her maid had been switching from crying to laughing while watching her. At one point, she wondered if Milith was doing alright in the head. But then again, a part of her understood that her maid was simply happy for her. After all, Milith would be with her in the North.
Milith suffered with Rosalind yet, she never left. The woman never left her despite the lack of food or heat. She was just Milith being Milith. She would make her food and scold her if she did something stupid, like reminiscing about her time with her family. She would help her out with everything yet forbid her to spend so much time under the sun as it would ruin her pale white skin.
"I never thought that I would see you wear something like this dress," Milith continued. "Young miss, I am really lucky to "
"Will you stop crying?" Rosalind signed in exasperation. "You look like you are drowning in sadness. Are you perhaps sad that I can wear something like this?" Rosalind pretended not to smile.
"What? I would never "
"Milith " Rosalind turned towards her maid. "This is not going to be the last time that I am wearing a dress like this. Are you going to cry every time that we experience something nice?"
"I "
"Once we leave this house, everything will change. We must prepare ourselves for those changes." Rosalind smiled. "Let us live our lives do you understand me?" she asked.
This time, Milith nodded.
"Good. Now raise your head and let us walk out of here with smiles on our faces."
However, their conversation was interrupted by a man walking into Rosalind's room.
....
Dorothy's Quarters
"Are you certain this is going to work?" She stared at Jeames from the mirror. Dorothy was well aware that she was losing weight, but lately, she felt lighter and better compared to what she had to endure in the past few days. The humiliations and those gazes that haunted her dreams had slowly disappeared.
In response, Jeames held her shoulders and slowly squeezed them. Then he let go and took a few steps back when he heard Dorothy's maid coming their way.
Since that night, the two of them had been spending a lot of time together, and to say that it was good was an understatement. Dorothy never had any experience with any man before Jeames as she thought she would become the crown princess. She was taught to save her body for her husband and that holding a man's hand was embarrassing not just for her but for the whole Lux Family.
But she no longer cared about those norms.
Since her mother abandoned her, she decided to follow her heart and stop thinking about the Lux Family. Sooner or later, she would leave this place for her wedding, and then she could easily spend most of her time with Jeames. Anthony Delibar is not someone that could stop her.
She narrowed at her reflection.
"I want to tie my hair up," Dorothy said.
"But young miss, your beautiful hair is "
"Tie it up," she ordered. She hated her hair and everything about it as it was just a reminder of the blessing that does not belong to her! After the failed awakening she had asked herself so many questions about the blessing. It was supposed to be hers. She had the perfect hair, she was the perfect student and she had strived to be the best at everything. She asked herself so many questions until she started to hate everything about herself including her hair.
"Young miss, are you going to be alright?" her maid, Lellana, asked.
"Is there any reason for me not to be alright?" she fired back. Since that incident, her relationship with Lellana had changed as she blamed her for what happened back then.
If Lellana had been more careful. If she was just watching enough she would have avoided that fate! But she wasn't! And now, Dorothy had to suffer because of her maid's incompetence.