[A week later]

The weather had changed drastically, leaving only the scorching sun during the day and its warm remnants during the night. Blistering was indeed a dreadful season, not allowing anyone to leave their cooled houses until the bright moon began to appear on the horizon. 

As my hands scribbled onto some pieces of loose paper sheets, Olivia, Ivy, and some other maids bickered about the overwhelming heat. Beside them was Millicia, who was quietly standing still, observing the situation carefully.

Outside, the sun shone brightly and the birds chirped happily, without a care in the world. A hint of envy embraced me as I realized how perfect life like that would be.

“Milady, would you like some tea?” Olivia approaches me with a warm smile on her face.

“No, it is too hot,” I quickly reply before letting out a sigh.

‘All the drinks are too warm for this weather...’ no matter how I saw it, the only drinks that were pleasant to be consumed in Blistering were plain water or some fruit juice since they could be adorned with some ice cubes, nothing else, ‘If only there was something cold...’

The quill touched the paper repeatedly until an epiphany hit me.

“That’s it!” I mumble as my fingers create a drawing on the empty paper sheets, mimicking mint and peppermint leaves, “Gather everyone immediately!”

The maids trade confused glares with each other before calling for the rest of the servants working for me. Several minutes later, everyone was standing in a straight line, waiting for my commands.

“I want you to go outside and find this plant!” my body approaches them right before placing one of the sheets in their hands, “Go in groups of two and return by sunset!”

“But milady it’s so...” as one of the maids was about to refute my authority, I glared at her.

“The group who manages to capture more leaves of this plant will get two gold coins,” suddenly all their eyes begin to sparkle, displaying their greedy desires for something so trivial, “Make haste!”

Hearing my voice, they quickly grabbed a partner and exited the room, however, Millicia hadn’t been picked and thus, she was left behind. Even then, her expression was calm, as if nothing of this bothered her in the slightest.

“Milly, sit there,” her figure grows closer before sitting down on the end of my bed, “Most of the servants... They are new, aren’t they?”

She nods her head and I bite my bottom lip. This was indeed infuriating.

‘How come I didn’t notice this before...!?’ my fingernails touched the table repeatedly.

Somehow, I had gotten used to seeing the same maids, day in and day out, but, the rest of the servants in charge of my well-being were now completely different people. I didn’t know when they had been switched or what originated it in the first place but, one thing was clear: they were all wolves reporting to their alpha.

“I want you to find why the old workers quit and when did these rats begin working,” I glanced over at her, “Can you do that for me?”

“Mmh!” Millicia makes a sound before bowing down her torso. A faint grin appears on my lips as I realize that she was completely under my thumb.

“Go,” swiftly, she heads out the door, leaving me alone to my thoughts.

 

Even though there had been several predicaments along the way, things were finally setting into place.

A couple of days ago, Jade was finally able to find Luanna. She was working at a small bar in the outskirts of the capital to sustain her sickly father and her two younger siblings. The information he had gathered was plenty but I needed to know what type of person she was in order to play the perfect part, in the perfect play.

Surprisingly, Vivian had remained rather quiet. After the ball, I assumed a letter would arrive from the palace but I was wrong. Part of me wished to believe that that wretched woman had completely forgotten about me but I knew that it was never that easy.

 

“Meow,” Nero appears from under the bed and jumps to my lap, curling into a raven furball. Gently, my hand begins patting its small head while my eyes shift to the window illuminated by the bright sunlight.

 

✽✼✽✼✽✼✽

 

[A couple of moments earlier]

 

‘Where should I go first?’ after leaving Ophelia’s chambers, Millicia found herself conflicted with her upcoming task, ‘I should see which servants were replaced first...’

Having discovered what course to take she quickly heads down to the kitchen. The maids were quite quiet however, the chefs stationed downstairs and their helpers were always chatting. Sometimes it was about random themes but, other times it was about certain matters that shouldn’t even see the daylight.

“I think I saw your wife yesterday,” a tall chef was cutting the fish before storing it in salt, “Didn’t she work in a clothing store?”

“You’re crazy, she got fired two months ago,” a small yet chubbier chef states while his large hands grind some cocoa beans within a wooden cup, “Thankfully, Lord Wharton gave her a job.”

“So your wife is working here?” a younger, newbie chef comments while putting down a heavy fruit box.

“Yeah, the head maid was the one who told me she was looking for new workers,” his movements were fast and precise, making it seem like a simple and easy task, “She said that a lot of us had suddenly quit and she urgently needed new people...”

“Did she say why?” intrigued the newbie questions while cleaning some of the bright red apples.

“Ah! I tried getting it out of her but you know how she is... She never says anything!” a heavy sound echoes through the kitchen as the man cuts the fish's head off.

“Lame...” the kid snorts, displeased with how the situation had turned out.

“Well, maybe she just needs the right incentive,” the rounder chef intervenes as a mocking smirk appears on his lips, “I’m sure she is very dry... No one wants an old rag like her after all.”

“Maybe the newbie could do it... “ the other man chuckles, “Youngsters are always more lively!”

“Gross! No!” he quickly shouts while shaking his head repeatedly.

“But you need to have your first-time little sprout... We are only helping you...” their laughter echoed through the room and Millicia, who was standing right outside of the door, quietly left.

‘The head maid...’ she knew that staying there was useless since from then on out, all their comments would be related to sex.

As far as she could see, this little trip had been quite insightful, however, a doubt echoed in her head over and over again.

‘Was this a coincidence?’ that woman was in charge of managing the servants but firing or hiring people was out of her reach. Even then, the chefs spoke as if she had control over such matters, ‘Strange... I just need to keep a close watch on her.’

 

As Millicia wandered around the mansion, attempting to find some leads by overhearing some of the working maids, a loud sound is heard from the courtyard.

‘What’s wrong?’ her curiosity took the best of her and in no time she approached the window.

The scenario down below was a true magnanimous sight. All the guards were training hardly as their leader screamed at them, strictly. Their bodies looked sluggish and sweaty from training below the overwhelming heat of the sun.

‘Serves you right,’ a smug appears on her lips as she found pleasure in their struggle. Alphy told her what had happened with the guards and Ophelia and, because of that, a large grudge had been placed in her heart.

Her eyes interlock with one of the guards whose hair was tainted with a beautiful dark blue. A shiver ran down a spine once she saw the growing disgust in his eyes.

‘I’ve never seen him before... What the...’ she quickly turns her feet and heads towards the front garden where some of the maids used to take a break.

 

“You won’t believe what Lord Mace told me the other day,” a maid in her twenties says with blushed cheeks.

“I’m already guessing...” another maid stood beside her, munching on a bright red apple, unbothered by the other girl’s remarks.

“He said that I was becoming more beautiful by the day... Ah...!” her small hands find their way onto her flushed skin as she squeals in happiness, “Just imagine Josephine...! If I could only make him fall in love with me... I wouldn’t need to do anything else! I could even be the Duchess!”

“Aren’t you quite deluded Anastacia? Don’t forget about Lord Terell, he is the right heir,” amused, she faintly chuckles, “Or are you going to do something about that?”

“Don’t say such blasphemy!” shocked, the young woman bites her lower lip, “Well, I can’t do anything about it but maybe God has other plans! He is such a foul man after all.”

“I have to agree with you there,” a loud crunch is heard when Josephine’s teeth penetrate the hard apple.

“I feel so bad for Lady Ophelia... May the Gods be with her,” the maid's words sounded polite and warming but, in truth, they held no such feelings. These were words that come from her mouth instead of her heart.

‘Nothing here either...’ during all their conversation, Millicia was laying on a large tree right behind them. Of course, they didn’t notice anything since their minds were too self-absorbed in such a futile conversation.

As she walked around the garden her brain kept on turning over and over again. Nothing made sense.

‘How come no one knows anything!?’ frustrated, Millicia begins biting her nails. After wandering through the mansion for hours she found out that the majority of the servants who had been replaced belonged to Ophelia’s side, however, there were a couple of exceptions in other areas. Even then, it was as if those people had completely turned into ghosts.

Some maids commented that her friends had found true love and had eloped to a foreign country, others stated that they became extremely ill, unable to even leave their bed and, others declared that they decided to go on a mindfulness journey. The problem regarding maid’s gossip is that there is not exactly a line of truth guiding them since they can all be completely made up just to fit in the horde.

There was something that was reflected in all of these stories: the justifications were all delivered by the head maid.

Her attention shifted onto the warm sun who was beginning to turn the blue sky into a citric color warning her that the day was coming to an end.

‘It’s already this late...’ it was clear she wasn’t going to finish the task today, after all, the only actual lead she had gotten was regarding the head maid.

What was her involvement? Is it just a pure coincidence or is it as it seems? Why is the head maid in the center of it all?

Were some of the questions echoing through Millicia’s mind as she realized that all her leads so far lead to that old woman.

‘It doesn’t make any sense...’ accidentally, her body bumps into someone, making her almost fall on the floor.

“Watch it,” a faint yet rough masculine voice spoke and, once she looked upwards, she saw a man without an arm whose face appeared to be in extreme pain.

‘Isn’t this...?’ she observes him walk towards the entrance. His body was flimsy and so was his pace, most likely from the harsh recovery from losing a member.

Millicia knew that it was too early for him to wander about as he pleased but, somehow here he was walking outside as if it was nothing. Finding the situation suspicious, she decides to follow him, quietly as a mouse.

 

‘Who’s that?’ the man finally stopped a bit further away from the entrance of the mansion and, surprisingly, a large yet simple carriage awaited from him.

The coachman gets up and begins talking but Milly couldn’t understand anything since she was standing too far from them.

‘Should I get closer...?’ she questioned but, as she was about to make her decision, the guard begins to yell.

“Stop!” he screamed but another man appeared from behind him, knocking him out with one blow. His face was being covered with a hood so nothing could be actually seen.

‘What’s going on...!?’ her eyes widen in shock as she watches the scene unfold. The men grab his body and swiftly place the unconscious and wounded guard inside the carriage.

At the right moment, reality hits her and Millicia quickly runs towards the mansion. She needed to let Ophelia know for she might be the next.