"AAAIIEEEEEEE eeeep!" A feminine shocking scream followed by a muffled gasp echoed in Audrey's room. This attracted the attention of the pair that was sitting on the floor, who caught glimpse of the housemaid scuttling out.
A few minutes ago, Audrey had one of her knees up while rubbing her now pasty white legs and the man was pointing at her legs telling her that she missed a spot. Which stopped promptly at the sound of the annoying interruption.
"Hey, hey! Come back in and explain yourself!" Frederick commanded in his authoritative tone, clearly irritated by the noise she made.
The woman tiptoed back in with her head down and whimpered, "Nothing, Sir."
"Damn it, woman! There's nothing 'nothing' about that scream. Out with it!"
The housemaid glanced nervously on Audrey's legs and back on her own feet once more. She threw in some umms and aahs while grabbing the hem of her skirt.
Frederick grew impatience by the minute seeing the woman idling by and so, he threatened, "Say it now or say your prayers."
Both of the women gasped as Audrey's eyes widened at the drastic encounter while the helper shakily pointed her fingers at the prisoner's legs.
"M-m-mister Mortcombe. I believe the- there's s-s-steroid in that cream."
"I hope so! I want them healed and scarless ASAP!"
The maid was confused. She was not sure whether her master is clueless or the young miss did not dare to defy. Either way, she knew her Mister Mortcombe cared for the young miss and would not wish harm to fall on her.
Thus, against her work rule, she insisted to speak her mind. "B-but Sir, there are side effects."
"Psshh... They do that just to scare you. It's fine."
"If the young miss overused them every day, the skin on her legs would be damaged."
"Mmhmm... Yeah." Frederick disregarded the warning and continued what he was doing.
The maid stepped out quietly and brought Gerard after a while, who knocked on the door outside seeking permission to enter.
"What is it this time, Gerard?" He dragged his words longer, purposely trying to question his Head Butler in a lazy tone. A hint to tell the man to bugger off.
"Our Maria has voiced out her concern —" Gerard spoke from behind the leaf of the door.
Frederick jumped up at the sound of the housemaid's name, knowing full well that she had chosen to directly disobey her master, "Damn you, Maria! Come here, you!"
His hands were already outstretched trying to do whatever goodness knows what he planned to do once he laid his hands on her. But his Head Butler cleared his throat and began stating out facts about overusing steroid-based topical cream while flashing the phone with images of its side effect.
"Prolonged use of topical steroids can cause the skin to have permanent stretch marks, acne, bruise easily —"
Immediately, he stopped in his tracks chasing the poor maid and took a hard look at the images. It did not take long until he scooped his guest on the floor and carried her to the bathtub.
He pulled down the showerhead and began washing her legs with his bare hands, causing his 'guest' to feel uneasy but remained very still on her spot nonetheless. However, the oblivious man himself was not aware of what he was doing. His head was filled with worries about the prisoner he had captured, worried he would be adding more discomfort to her life.
When the thick paste proved to be difficult to be washed, he pumped some of the bath gel onto his hand making her legs slippery as he massaged as hard as he could to remove the slimy texture.
Gerard ushered Maria out of the room, closed the wardrobe door from the outside and immediately locked his Master's bedroom door. Anything to prevent any unwanted disturbances that may potentially happen.
Audrey, on the other hand, had her hands grabbing tightly onto the sides of the bathtub for balance as Frederick pulled her legs closer to him. She had her knees up and joined together to stop her skirt from falling down to her hips, only slightly more to exposing her already soaked bottom from the warm soapy water.
It took a good half an hour until Frederick wiped the sweat off his forehead and breathe a sigh of relief, "There. I think we washed it all away."
He looked at her legs with pride at his job well done until his eyes met her shy brown eyes. He was mystified why her cheeks were red, and instantly he placed his hand over the water.
'It's not that hot,' he thought to himself. But it all dawned unto him when he saw her in full-frame. The water that splashed onto her peach blouse made her dark-coloured bra visible to the naked eye and the thin clothes clung tightly to her body. One look was enough to know she sat in a vulnerable position.
He turned around swiftly to protect her modesty and asked her to change while he exited the bathroom. A few moments later, Audrey stepped out with dry clothes and was directed to sit on the sofa.
Her embarrassing times were not over as Frederick, who sat on the floor across her, pulled her leg to his. With a flick, he pushed her long skirt upwards and examine her leg. Audrey was having a hard time adjusting to such an environment but her captor did not appear to be as bothered as her.
"Does this sting?" he asked as he ran his finger down, meeting her in the eyes.
She could only shake her head as she tried to hide a timid smile. Never had she been treated so nicely and gentle nor was she ever been pampered by people concerned about her being.
"Are you sure? It looks too red and raw."
"Yes." She lied. Only because she wanted to assure the man, the very first person, who ever showed her a tiny hint of kindness.
"Naaah, your legs looked like a boiled lobster. Wait here. I'll get something."
He was right. Her legs did look like a boiled lobster. Was it the cream? Or was it the rough way he scrubbed her legs? Either way, it is less painful than what her family put her through.
When Frederick came, he brought a bowl filled with translucent slimy jelly. He plastered her raw reddened legs with it, which appeared to soothe and calm her skin.
"Trust me. I know I was wrong before but this is au naturel." He explained. "Luckily that blabbermouth opened her mouth. Otherwise, this precious would have been roasted."
Even if he did not explain, Frederick's kindness had already reached her heart. But to hear his words, to refer to her legs as precious when she's been growing up to be told that she's worth nothing, Audrey finally smiled.