Chapter Text
"Come, we have to clean the lady's office." Melody, one of the maids tugged on your uniform when you got carried away admiring all of the paintings this castle possessed.
You hadn't been working here, at Castle Dimitrescu, for a long time, just a little bit less than a month. Every new maid was assigned to do their duties with one of the other maids, showing them around the castle and getting used to their surroundings.
The maid assisting you was named Melody, a girl a few years older than you. You didn't enjoy working with her, as she would use her position for her own good, making you work twice as hard while she just relaxed. You had been wanting to go complain about her to your employer and ask if you could have another maid assist you, but you always chickened out as it would result in two scenarios. First, your mistress would agree and swap the maids, or second, she wouldn't listen to you complaining for longer than a minute before dragging you down into the dungeon to be drained of blood.
Just being glad that you had survived a month in Castle Dimitrescu, you swallowed your pride and kept your mouth shut, rather choosing to work twice as much as ending up dead somewhere deep below the castle.
"I swear to God, I will tell on you to the lady if you don't move your feet faster!" Melody herself hadn't been working in the castle for too long, possibly a year, maybe a little bit more, but she had been granted permission to work alone.
"I'm coming..." Hurrying up, you two entered the luxurious room. Despite the fact you had already seen most of the rooms in this castle, it didn't stop your jaw from hanging open to the beautiful sight.
The spacious rooms, which were always adorned with gold, weren't the only breathtaking thing in the castle. Your employer, Lady Dimitrescu, mostly known as the Lady of the Castle, was much more beautiful than any room in this castle could ever be. In her full 9-foot-6-inch glory, towering over everyone living and dead, she never stopped looking perfect.
Many people feared her for her cruel, abusive deeds behind the walls of this castle, punishing maids for doing the slightest thing wrong, but she had never been cruel to you. You noticed that in the first week of being here. The lady was already calling you by pet names, and she hadn't been anything more than kind to you, so you had no reason to fear her.
"You can start by sweeping the floor," Melody commanded, handing you the broom she had brought with her.
Without saying a word, you took the broom out of her hands and began sweeping. Your mistress usually spends her days here in her office, handling phone calls and paperwork for her wine company. But today she was out in a meeting with the other lords you hadn't yet met.
Hearing Melody open a window but not thinking much of it, you kept sweeping, your back turned toward the girl, before you heard a click of a lighter. Turning around, you saw Melody holding one of the lady's cigarettes in her hands as she lit it. Noticing you staring, she smirked.
"What one?" She pointed to the fancy silver box where your lady kept her cigarettes.
"No, I don't smoke." Shaking your head, you walked up to Melody and said, "And you shouldn't either. It's not your cigarettes. You can get into a lot of trouble." Even though you didn't quite care if Molody would live to see another day, you still cared about the fact that you were in the same room, and you would most definitely be accused as well. "Put it down."
"What? This already lit cigarette?" Blowing the smoke in your face, she chuckled. "Relax, it's just a cigarette. It's not like I'm stealing one of her family air looms or anything."
"But it is wrong. And it's Lady Dimitrescu you're speaking about. She was the one who took one of the maids to the dungeon just because she accidentally slept in one morning. Are you nuts?" You attempted to grab the cigarette out of her mouth, even though you wouldn't know what else to do with it as it was already burning, but Melody just stepped away.
"Go clean and stop worrying!" She pointed back to the broom you had dropped.
With a loud groan, you turned around and went back to sweeping the floors.
"Even if she found out, who would she believe? A maid who has been here working for over a year or a little pathetic one who's barely here a month."
Later the same day, as you were about to retire to bed, Bela quietly sneaked into the room where you were. She placed her hand on your shoulder, spooking you so much that you jolted back, hitting your back against the wall.
"Relax, Bambi. It's me." She chuckled, clearly amazed by how jumpy you were.
Rolling your eyes at the nickname the girls had given you just in the second week of being here, you spoke, "Oh, hi, uhh, what are you doing here?"
"Mother wants to see you in her office immediately."
"Oh." You felt your blood run cold. "Did she tell you why?" It couldn't possibly be because of what happened today, could it?
"No, she just told me to get you." Replying to your question, Bela has already turned around to walk back to the door.
Quickly following her, you showered the poor girl with tons of questions regarding the reason why you had to see her Mother.
When you parted ways with Bela when she turned around the corner to head to her bedroom, you were left all alone, already scared for your life.
With shaky hands, you knocked on the door three times before you heard "enter," allowing you to come in.
Not wasting another second, you stepped in, respectfully bowing your head towards your Mistress. "You wanted to see me?"
Lifting your eyes off the floor, you saw the tall woman standing beside the window and smoking a cigarette. Seeing this, your heart began beating faster than ever.
"Yes, indeed, I did." Blowing out the smoke, she looked down on you, her amber eyes practically burning through your skin. "Come closer, draga ."
Stepping a few feet closer, you stopped, feeling you were close enough. You were now forced to bend your neck more backward. You were trying your best to hide your anxiety, but your hands gave it away when you began fiddling with the fabric of your uniform.
Putting out her cigarette in the nearby ashtray, your lady now stepped toward you, making you almost step back.
"If I'm not mistaken, you were assigned to clean my office today, is that correct?" Seeing how you were finding it hard to look up at her due to her remarkable height, she walked over and sat down on the sofa right opposite where you stood.
"Yes, M'Lady." Nodding your head at her question, you replied, now only finding it hard to keep eye contact with her.
"And do please tell me if you were alone." She asked, crossing her long legs one over the other, as her gaze never left you.
"N-no, M'Lady, I was with Melody." Now, shaking your head and denying her question, you already had a feeling where this was headed.
She, of course, knew who Melody was. Mistress herself had assigned the maid to assist you for the time being while you learned your tasks around the castle.
"Now." Drastically changing her tone, she finally looked away, this time observing the little silver box where her cigarettes lay. "I wouldn't call myself a control freak, but after coming back from my meeting, I noticed something different, something out of place."
Shit! She knows, and she probably knows that you know, just by hearing your racing heartbeat. Maybe you will be the one to not live to see another day.
"Hmm, how do I put it?" flashing you her fangs, she sharply stood up, making you step back in fear of her already launching at you, but no, she just walked up to her desk. Tapping at the silver box, she kept speaking, "One of my cigarettes went missing."
"O-oh..." Trying to play dumb, you kept looking at her, no matter how much you just wanted to stare at the floor and escape her intimidating stare.
"I don't care if a cigarette or two goes missing. They don't hold much value to me." Taking one of the cigarettes out of the box, she pointed toward you and asked, "Want one?"
"N-no," shaking your head, you replied, "I don't smoke." But why would she believe you? Anyone could say they don't smoke when offered one, even Melody would probably say it in this situation.
"Good girl, they are noxious for your pretty lungs." Lighting the same cigarette with a lighter that matched the silver box, she brought them up to her lips as she maintained this painful eye contact with you. "But you see, draga . What I do care about is stealing."
Blowing out the smoke towards the opened window, she began stepping forward, closer to you. Despite wanting to step back as far as you could to be closer to the door just in case you couldn't, you were completely frozen. You couldn't move your legs as much as you hoped to, and now you understand why all of those people froze in horror movies when they were supposed to run. This will not end well for you.
"Stealing. Especially stealing from me. I see it as disrespect to me and my family. A person who steals doesn't deserve anything more than rotting in my dungeon for the rest of their mortal lives. Do you understand, draga ?" Running her hand through your hair as she walked past you, she asked.
"Yes, M'Lady."
"Well, then do please explain to me why Melody accused you of taking my cigarette when I asked her about this? Hmm?"
You could feel your stomach drop. You wanted to cry, run away, hide somewhere in the woods to never be found, and die on your own. But with every passing second, it seemed like you were closer to death than you had ever been.
"I-I don't know. I didn't take them, Mistress." Despite how much you hated Melody, you didn't want to rat her out either.
"Melody's story sounded quite convincing to me. Melody explained how you took one of my cigarettes and didn't listen when she asked you to put it back down." Now going back to stand where she stood first when you got here, you were already preparing to be sliced to ribbons. "It is better to confess now, or else you will make things harder for yourself."
Knowing that your lady valued honesty quite highly, you decided to swallow your pride and say you did it with the hope that perhaps you might get to live.
"I did it... I took your cigarette. I knew it was bad, and I shouldn't have. I have disappointed you. I apologize, M'Lady." Closing your eyes, you waited for the woman to end your life right here, right now, in her office, when you heard her chuckle as she walked up to her table to put the cigarette out.
"You're lying, draga ."
"What?"
"You're lying, and you're quite bad at it." Seeing your confused expression, she decided to explain it more. "I knew you didn't take my cigarette, and I know you don't smoke."
"How, M'Lady?" How could she tell you don't smoke? Yes, you did tell her you didn't smoke when she offered you one, but it most definitely didn't sound convincing.
"I have known since you first got here. You see, people who smoke have a particular scent to them, but you don't."
"But Melody said..."
"Who cares about what that ratchet woman said? She stole from me, and she tried to frame you, and now she got what she deserved." Hearing Melody's name pass your lips, the woman lost her temper for a second. She didn't like that you were still trying to protect her, trying to throw yourself under the bus, while she only cared about surviving.
"She got what she deserved?"
"Of course. What? You thought I would let this woman walk on my grounds for a minute longer? Absolutely not!"
It seemed like the lady was getting a bit too enraged, so supposing she scented that Melody had smoked, and that is how your lady found out, you decided not to ask any further questions.
An awkward silence fell between you two. You didn't know if you would be further lectured for this or something else, so you began shifting your weight on your feet to pass the time.
Seeing as you weren't about to speak anymore, the tall Mistress stepped forward, crouching down so she would be at your eye level before clutching your waist and pulling you closer, so much so that you almost bonked your head into hers.
"I would suggest you leave now before I'm forced to punish you for lying and attempting to protect that maid." She whispered in your ear before releasing her hold on you.
"Yes, Ma'am." You bowed your head once again before turning your heel to head out of her office.
As you were about to slip past the door, you heard the lady speak, "And if I ever catch you with a cigarette in your hand, you'll be sure to regret it. Nu ai vrea să primeşti pedeapsa mea, dragă."