the readers pronouns are she/they
this has been turned into a story (same title as this one-shot) so if you enjoyed this and haven't read the story, go read it <3 [and while reading that story, do not comment things like "FINALLY" or "ABOUT TIME" when the reader finally speaks
Lady Dimitrescu hired you even after knowing you didn't speak. When you arrived at the castle, she had already told the other maidens and her daughters so no one questioned you. It wasn't that you couldn't speak — you could you just chose not to. Today you were tasked with cleaning the rooms of the daughters and that was it. No other chores for the day. You made your way to Bela's room first, knowing it would be the cleanest of the three, and got to work.
The daughters never bothered you, in fact they made sure no one bothered you while you cleaned. At first you thought it was simply because their mother had ordered them to, until one day when the lady gave you a pen and paper and asked you why they did it. You honestly had no clue but you weren't going to ask them why, you were just glad they were doing it. After you finished cleaning her room, Bela waltzed in with a smile. Her face was, surprisingly, blood free and her golden eyes seemed to shine when they locked with yours.
"There you are, [Y/N]! Cassandra wants you to clean her room last, she didn't say why she just gave Daniela and I a task to find and tell you that."
You bowed to her in understanding and grabbed your supplies, shutting the door behind you at her request. Once you entered Daniela's room, she hopped off of her bed and raced towards you, engulfing you in a hug. For a moment you hesitated, unsure if she'd want you to return it but when she threatened you — you quickly returned her hug.
"That wasn't so hard now was it, [Y/N]?" Daniela giggled, guiding you further into her room. "And for the record, I'd never hurt you, I just had to snap you out of that daze somehow. See you later!"
The moment she disappeared into a swarm, you let a smile tug at the corners of your lips. Cleaning her room was much more challenging than Bela's but a lot less challenging than Cassandra's. Yes, there was blood everywhere — mainly on the sheets — but there seemed to be less than usual. You decided to push your confusion back and get to cleaning, humming quietly to yourself as you did so.
Once the room was cleaned and new sheets were on the bed, you stepped out of the room and shut the door before making your way towards Cassandra's room. You were glad she requested you do hers last, it was always messy — be it blood or paint she left laying around. Although you did enjoy seeing whatever art she was working on when you cleaned, it made it harder to actually get things done sometimes.
The moment you opened the door you froze. Her room was spotless. You took a timid step inside the room and looked around, making sure you didn't just accidentally open the wrong door. When you spotted Cassandra in the bathroom fixing her hair, you knew you had the right room. Taking a few steps towards the bathroom, you lightly knocked on the wall next to the doorframe.
Cassandra's eyes fell on you and lit up, a wide smile on her face. When she motioned to her room, you arched an eyebrow and tilted your head, curious as to why it was already cleaned. The moment her smile fell, your heart broke. You hated when she wasn't smiling and you couldn't exactly explain why.
"I cleaned it," She whispered, her gaze dropping to the floor. "I was hoping you'd be happy. That I'd finally get to see the rare smile mother mentioned."
You stared at her, baffled, for a long time. She shifted under your gaze, becoming more and more anxious as you set down your cleaning supplies. You gently grabbed her arm and pushed up her sleeve, ignoring the confused look she gave you.
"I'm very happy, lady Cassandra. Thank you, but you didn't have to do this to make me smile." It took a bit but you finally traced each word onto her arm, listening as she muttered along to what you traced.
"But... you never smile. I thought this would work because nothing else has." She frowned, training her eyes on you.
"I do smile, usually when you or your sisters leave the room. Just earlier I smiled because Daniela gave me a hug and said she'd never hurt me. Bela makes me smile when she makes me little snacks."
"Then what do I do that makes you smile?"
You paused and looked at her, pulling her sleeve down gently before tugging her to her latest painting. When she gave you a confused look, you pointed at it. Her head tilted and you had to bite the inside of your cheek to keep your smile down, finding her to be more adorable by the second.
"Oh, my paintings make you smile?" She asked timidly, earning a nod from you. "That's all?"
You shook your head before grabbing your cleaning supplies and heading towards the door, glancing back at a stunned and confused Cassandra. When she didn't try to stop you from leaving, you headed out of her room and went to put the cleaning supplies away. As you were heading to lady Dimitrescu's private chambers to speak with her, a gloved had shot out and pulled you into a room. You tensed until you noticed Bela in front of you, meaning the one that grabbed you was Daniela.
"Did she tell you?!" Bela asked excitedly, causing a confused expression to etch onto your face.
Daniela let go of you and stood next to Bela, tilting her head at your expression. The two shared a look before they started whispering to each other, sighing soon after.
'What the hell are they talking about?'
"I guess not..." Bela muttered, shaking her head in disappointment.
"Sorry if we scared you," Daniela hummed, pulling you into a hug. "But we needed to know something. Looks like we need to have a chat with someone."
The moment she released you they disappeared in their swarms, leaving you to wander the halls again. As you did, you drummed your fingers on your thighs, glancing around to make sure no one could hear you.
"What a wei-weird day." You sighed, glancing out the windows as you walked. "Ho-hope the weather cle-clears up so-soon. I don't w-wanna go out in th-this weath-weather."
A frustrated sigh left you before you went silent again, frowning at the ground as you continued walking. After a few minutes you were outside of the lady's room. Before you could raise your hand to knock on the door, you heard the daughters on the other side of it.
"I'm telling you, mother, we heard someone new in the castle!" Daniela.
"They were quiet so it was hard to hear but, definitely not one of the maidens." Bela.
"Can we please search the castle, mother?!" Cassandra.
"Not yet, girls. If there is an intruder, you three will see them as you go about your day."
The lady finally spoke and it snapped you out of your daze. Your hand was already raised so you lightly knocked against the door. Upon receiving permission, you entered the room and noticed all three daughters brighten immediately.
"[Y/N] you should be careful, there might be an intruder in the castle." Cassandra warned, her eyes glued to you.
You gave a small nod before turning your attention to lady Dimitrescu, a knowing gleam in her eyes. She had heard you once on accident — even swore to never bring it up since it had seemed to make you anxious that she had heard you. Even if she had promised she didn't care for your stutter, she wouldn't push you to do anything you were uncomfortable with and that included talking.
"If you've finished cleaning the girls' rooms, you may have the rest of the day off." She mused, gold eyes staring through you.
You simply pointed at Cassandra, earning a confused glance from the other three vampires. Cassandra's eyes widened before she forced your arm down, a nervous laugh leaving her. Her sisters crossed their arms and glared at her, making her shift slightly and glance down.
"I cleaned my own room today..." Quiet gasps were heard from the sisters and a pleased hum came from the lady. "I wanted to make [Y/N] smile..."
"Did it work?!" Bela and Daniela asked in unison, their faces dropping when Cassandra shook her head.
The lady let out a laugh, causing all of you to turn your attention to her. When her eyes landed on you, you knew she heard your entire dilemma on your way here and now she knew why you were having it. The girls glanced at you, having followed their mothers gaze, and became even more confused.
"What are we missing?" Daniela whispered to her sisters, making the older two shrug.
Suddenly you did the unexpected. You laughed. All eyes snapped towards you, their shocked expressions making you laugh more. Once your laughter died down to quiet giggles, you walked towards the lady and waited for her to hand you a pen and paper.
"Girls... I promise I'll explain some day. For now, what were ladies Daniela and Bela talking about when they asked me if you had told me something, lady Cassandra?"
When you held up the paper for the girls to see, they all shared a look before swarming away. You blinked at the empty space before turning to the lady and showing her what you wrote, earning a confused expression from her.
"I'm not entirely sure myself..." She hummed, her eyes darting to the door. "Shut that for me, dear?"
You complied before walking back towards her, letting out a soft squeak when she lifted you up and placed you on her lap. That's something you still weren't used to. She loved doing it, mainly because you used her arm as a notepad, giving her warmth as you spoke to her.
"You don't think she wants to kill me, do you?"
"Of course not! If anything, I'd say she's smitten with you. She's never once cleaned her room, always waiting for the maidens to clean it. I believe they all adore you; I've seen how they interact with you."
"How... never mind."
She chuckled when you decided not to question it, the hand she had on your back rubbing gentle circles. You tapped a finger to your chin as you thought, an idea popping into your head.
"May I go see if lady Cassandra is in her room?"
"Of course, dear. You do have the rest of the day off." And with that, she helped you off of her lap.
You left quickly, making sure to bow before closing the door, and headed towards Cassandra's room. With a deep breath, you raised your hand to knock, stopping only when you heard muffled screaming from the other side.
'If she's torturing someone, I don't want to interrupt her... But I also want to know the truth...'
"What are you just standing there for?" Bela's voice made you nearly jump out of your skin, your head snapping in her direction.
"Knock." Daniela urged, motioning towards the door.
The screaming had stopped when Bela spoke so you decided to obey their orders, knocking lightly on the door. You frowned more when there was no answer, your gaze flickering towards where the sisters were only to notice them missing. Before you could walk away, you heard the quiet creaking of the bed and a few seconds later the door cracked open, a single golden eye staring out at you.
You gave a timid wave before the door opened more and Cassandra motioned you to enter her room. Once you were in her room, she shut the door and locked it, causing you to give her a confused look. She pinned you against the door shortly after, her head resting on your shoulder as her hands rested on either side of your head.
"I'm doing this so I don't chicken out again," She murmured, her body trembling. "...I like you."
You froze at her words, staring at the wall on the other side of the room. She slowly pulled away when you didn't answer and unlocked her door, stepping away from you shortly after. Before she could get too far, you gently grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards you. Her lips collided with yours — as you had hoped — and she immediately pulled back and apologized.
You simply rolled your eyes before cupping her cheeks and pulling her in for a proper kiss, feeling her tense as you did so. A soft sigh left you as you pulled back when she didn't kiss back, a frown on your face. She flinched when she saw your expression, her hands gently taking yours so you wouldn't walk away. The moment her skin touched yours you knew she didn't have her gloves on, making you dart your eyes to look at the painting she was working on. Now that it had more color to it, your heart began to speed up.
'She's painting me?'
Her eyes landed on her painting and she began stumbling over her words, making you giggle and press your lips against hers to shut her up. It worked as planned. A few minutes went by and she began to grow nervous, her lips parting to say something again.
"I like you too. A lot." You whispered, making sure to speak slowly and clearly so you didn't stutter.
Instead of words, her jaw simply hung open and she stared at you in shock. A few minutes went by again and this time, you grew nervous. You began fidgeting — you even tried to remove your hands from hers but she held yours even tighter.
"You... have a beautiful voice..." She whispered, pressing her forehead against yours. "You were the voice we heard earlier... is that why mother was looking at you?"
"It is. She heard m-me once bef-fore and.." You trailed off, getting more and more frustrated as you spoke, knowing the stuttering would only get worse if you continued.
"Hey, it's okay," She whispered, guiding you to her bed. "I have a pen and some paper you can use."
You shook your head and pushed up her sleeve, pointing at her arm. She gave you a small smile and nodded, letting you know you could use her arm instead.
"She promised to never mention it to anyone, that it'd be our secret. That she wouldn't make me talk. My stutter worsens the more I talk and I get frustrated — so I just don't talk. I've wanted to tell you and your sisters for a long time."
"Well, you can tell them later," She mused, planting a kiss on your forehead. "For now... do you want to cuddle?"
You nodded and smiled at her, making her smile widen as she quickly moved to the middle of her bed and got under the covers, holding her arms out for you. With a soft giggle, you climbed next to her and laid down, wrapping your arms around her. She quickly wrapped her arms around you and buried her face in your neck, pressing you flush against her body.
"May I ask you a question, lady Cassandra?" You traced on her back, earning a giggle from her.
"Just Cassandra is fine now, and yes you may."
"Does this mean I'm your girlfriend now?" You asked quietly, making her lift her head to look you in the eyes.
"Do you want to be my girlfriend?"
"Of course I do."
"Then let me ask properly." She hummed, pinning you to the bed.
You gave her a confused look before she connected her lips with your, making you melt into it immediately. The kiss stayed soft and innocent until you had to part for air, a small pout on your face.
"Will. You. Be. My. Girlfriend?" She punctuated each word with a kiss, making you giggle every time.
"Yes, I will be your girlfriend." You whispered before pulling her down for another kiss.
The moment you heard cheering from the other side of the door and the lady hushing her other two daughters — before telling them to get away from the room — was when your face began to hear up and you broke the kiss, hiding your face in Cassandra's neck. She let out a laugh before laying next to you again, pulling you flush against her body.
"I'm the luckiest vampire in the world."