Adeline and the Ovunque's Key || Ongoing

019

I finally got out of bed and slowly walked towards my door, taking a brief peek into the living room, only to find it empty. He left. He had already left, despite the fact that it was still very early.

A part of me was relieved that he was gone, but another part was disappointed that he had left so early in the morning.

Could it be that he was attempting to avoid me?

Is that why he left so abruptly?

Having the space to myself might be for the best, I thought. I went back into my room and looked through my closet to see if there was anything I could wear today. Upon opening it, I was bestowed with a few pretty dresses, which I don't see fit to wear. After all, I'm just a servant. Do I even have permission to wear any of these?

I was engaged in a stare-down with the dresses when I heard a knock on the front door, which I hesitantly went to answer. Hilda greeted me from behind the door, her hands crossed around her chest as she scowled. I shivered in my place at the look on her face.

Without a second to lose, she took my hand in hers and began dragging me away from my temporary safe haven, sighing dramatically in her very Hilda exaggeration sigh. I could only follow her, struggling to keep up with her quickening pace, because when Hilda sets her mind to something, nothing can stop her.

I was in a completely different room before I had a chance to think of something to say to her. As soon as I walked into the room, I was greeted by a sienna yellow wall.

"Where am I?" I asked the lady who once and still does, have ownership towards me.

"My room. I'm genuinely shocked you haven't even taken a bath yet."

"You can't blame me. It's still early morning and besides, I shared the washroom with Nicholas."

She remained silent for a while after hearing that, but then her mouth started to move, letting me know that a snarky retort was about to land square in my face. "Does it hurt you to get up earlier and run up there before him?"

"Yes," I replied with a flat tone.

You have no idea how much I wish I didn't have to face him anymore.

Sighing another low sigh, She had had enough of my nonsense and immediately went to her closet, where she began throwing sets of gowns out of her wardrobe, heaping a mess on her bed. I was pushed into her bathroom, where she instructed me to take a bath while she went to get a gown for me.

Like before, all I could do was obey her instructions. I walked out of the bathroom after a refreshing bath to find Hilda had already laid out a few pretty gowns on her bed. Among the gown available is a light pink gown that is as lovely as the garden flower, a light yellow gown that is as pretty as the morning sun, and a dark green dress gown that is as calming as the terrifying forest. A deep dark red gown, as dark as the colour of blood, is also laid on the bed, serving as another option to choose from.

As soon as I put on the red gown, Hilda practically dragged me to breakfast in the Great Hall, ignoring my protests and insisting that spending time with people would cheer me up. Apparently, my anguish over all of the flashbacks from the incident with both Pierre and Nicholas was blatantly scrawled across my face. Hilda would have typically left me and my melancholy alone if I had asked her to do so. She did say, however, that I looked worse today than when I was seriously injured a few days ago. I eventually decide to accompany her and the others, hoping that some sloppily spoken conversation will take my mind off my confused state of mind.

I sat on the outskirts of the small crowd, indulging myself in a book that Hilda had lent to me. I lifted my head and glanced around the group, moving my distant gaze across a group of people who I may have met once or twice, and back to Hilda, who was at my side, frowning when I realised that a question had relentlessly popped up in my mind.