Leon's wish for a dramatic scene that morning didn't come to pass because of the short crisis he had with Jordyn. He had been expecting Lord Nicholas to speak about Julian's horrible condition but from the look of things, the man had changed his mind.
He would have given him a piece of his mind, Leon thought to himself.
Earlier that morning, Melina finally woke up after her long slumber. Her head ached slightly but it wasn't enough to block the memory of what happened last night.
Yesterday as a whole...
The memories were still vivid and though she had sort of calmed down, a tear trickled down her eyes when she remembered what may have transpired between her and Sir Julian.
She knew she didn't have enough knowledge yet of what happened between a man and a woman but Paloma let her know when she had started seeing her monthly visitor a few years ago that if a man touched her the way Sir Julian had done, she would lose a precious flower...her most important pride as a woman that was only meant to be taken when she was married.
Oh, Lord...perhaps she was now pregnant? She looked down at her tummy in fear, touching it to see if there was any baby when the door to her room opened.
"Ah, you're finally awake!" a woman who wore white clothes from head to toe spoke. "I should call the physician," she said before Melina could respond and left the room only to return later with a physician.
"My Lady," the man addressed her as he didn't know her name and couldn't think of anything else to call her.
He remembered the warning the prince had given him the previous night and he cleared his throat to speak, "How are you doing now? Please eat and take the pills there." the man pointed at the medications that the practitioner had brought along with food for the girl.
Melina only stared at the man and woman who were in the room, her face void of any emotions.
The royal physician stared at the girl apprehensively, like he wanted to do something and Melina noticed how his gaze raked her body from up to down, alerting her.
"My Lady, I would also like to examine you and ask you some questions," he said as he stretched his hands forward and tried to remove the blanket covering her when Melina instinctively kicked his hands away with her leg that was under the blanket.
"Don't. Touch. Me." her voice echoed.
The man winced in shock as he retreated his hands and turned to stare at the girl before locking eyes with the female practitioner who was just as shocked as him.
For a servant, she had some audacity.
The royal physician, being acquainted with many cases like these tried to understand that she was still recovering from the trauma of the incident that most likely happened to her.
He said, "My Lady, you would need to eat as Prince Leon instructed so you can get well quickly. I would send someone you would be more comfortable with to check on you."
He noticed how the girl's eyes narrowed as she heard the prince's name but he didn't have time to process her reaction and immediately rushed to call a female physician who would check on her more expertly for any issue.
Time passed but Melina refused to eat anything from the trays on the desk and when the female was brought to check on her, she did the same thing she had done earlier. Kicked her hand away.
She didn't want anybody to touch her because she could still feel the revulsion from that elite's contact with her.
"Please, my Lady, you would need to cooperate with us so we can get this done quickly," the woman who had been brought by the physician spoke. "It is to check for any injury on you and how to help you." her voice was serene, making Melina slightly calm down when she brought her hand forth to remove her blanket again.
She felt extremely uncomfortable when the woman tried to pry her legs open, igniting another memory in the library when she had been with Sir Julian.
"Please, my Lady, spread your legs." the woman said.
The way she had called Melina compelled the girl to reluctantly spread out her legs.
Since she was wearing no underwear and had only been given a white chemise, the woman had easier access to her sex and without giving a warning, the woman thrust one of her fingers that was cleaned, inside Melina, causing the girl to scream at the sudden act before she pulled away. Her eyes were so wide that they almost balled out of their sockets.
However, the woman seemed unfazed and being an expert, she had managed to gauge the laxity of her vagina by just that one thrust before Melina pulled away. She was used to these things already.
She said calmly, "Relax." but Melina was now far from that. She pulled the blanket that had been used to cover her earlier to herself, not allowing the woman to come close to her anymore. She pushed herself up, using her elbows to hold up as she stared questioning at the elderly woman.
Nobody here made her feel safe. She was nervous...extremely nervous! Why would someone even do that? What did it mean from her standpoint?
"What did you just do?" she asked the woman after gathering her courage, a crease forming between her brows.
The woman looked poised as she replied, "I was testing to know if your flower is still intact." she cleaned her hand that had been thrust into Melina's core with linen as Melina kept looking at her.
Her flower? Did she mean her dignity as a woman? How was that any way to check for it?!
"I would let the royal physician know that you are still untouched and not defiled." the woman let her know and Melina gave her a look.
Untouched? She was still undefiled?
She saw the woman write something with ink on a parchment before she asked, "How do you know that I am still untouched?"
She was curious. Though a flash of relief flushed on her face, she remembered Sir Julian had been rubbing his hand indecently on her body. So how was that possible? And how did doing what she just did prove that?
"I am professional at my job, my Lady. I know what I am doing." the woman said to her with narrowed eyes, slightly annoyed that this lady was questioning her authenticity.
"However, you have some wounds and scratches on your body that were a result of your struggle." the woman said and Melina's face turned red in embarrassment.
How did she know that she had struggled? Was this woman some sort of witch? Did they perhaps see her? She was bubbling with questions as she looked at the woman but she was still too destabilized to ask anything.
Her back still ached from the push Sir Julian had given her. Her hands were also red from the way Sir Julian had been stroking them forcefully and now, it made her want to scrub her body as she covered the bruises in shame.
"Do you remember anything, my Lady? Something you want to say?" Prince Leon had told them to give him any reports so she was writing down anything important.
"My back hurts," was the only thing that came out of her mouth as she was even too ashamed to talk about the things Sir Julian had done to her.
"That is fine. You are being treated so I would plead that you eat something and take the pills to reduce your pain, my Lady." the woman tactfully persuaded her to eat something since she was also informed that the lady refused to eat.
Melina, hearing this spun her head to look at the food that was placed on the desk for her to eat.
It was not her regular food. On a normal day, she would be too excited to eat such a meal but she had lost her appetite and even though the woman pointed it out, the food before her didn't invite her at all.
She saw the woman leave almost immediately with the parchment, now left with only the practitioner who was still trying to make her eat but she refused.
After a while, when the pain in her back increased, she tried to force herself to eat. At least, a little, she thought.
The food tasted good but to Melina, it was a punishment to eat because she felt nauseous.
After eating a bit, she took the pill the physician had placed for her before lying down again to rest, only for the door to creak open again and the one person she didn't want to see stood before her.
Instinctively, she sat up seeing Ms. Carlos standing in front of her.
The woman held a gown, one she supposed was the servant's uniform but this it looked... unused.
"I am sure you have rested enough since yesterday," Carlos said.
She hadn't, Melina wanted to reply.
"Wear this quickly. There is a lot to be done. And let's hope you didn't cause trouble earlier." the woman gave her a stern look, having already heard rumours of Sir Julian's poor condition.
She decided not to include herself in it as the prince hadn't done anything about it and it seemed he was aware. It was best to avoid inviting problems to herself.
Melina, though still feeling discomfort stood up immediately and collected the clothes from the woman before she bowed respectfully at her, all the while not saying anything.
She wore the gown that had been given to her carefully. It wasn't perfectly her size like the former one as it was baggy on her small body.
"The coronation ceremony is tomorrow. Your fellow maids have been working. You should join them immediately. Go on." the woman urged her.
..
If you are still reading this book, I would like to thank you for sharing in my fantasy world. It is touching that you find my writing interesting up till this point to keep reading and I promise to do my best in presenting this world I have created in my mind to you.💗
Your opinions, votes and comments would encourage me too.