Chapter 22 - Deep inside her...

Astrid lay in silence… she didn't want to tease that man, but she just couldn't help herself when she was around him.

She looked at her hands and let out small tendril of golden colored mana. She played it for a while and then closed her eyes to sort of meditate.

She felt empty in her chest, slowly suffocation overwhelmed her lungs, she tried to stir something, in the deep… deep inside her. It tried to wake at my beckoning, at my continuous, eager begging. But it was pressed back into its hideaway by an alien conflicting energy, she felt excruciating pain dancing through her veins, her head throbbed with its pressure.

"Uhh…" she let out a small cry, like a wounded pup, alone trying to lick his injuries clean.

This was not the first time she felt this way, that woman deliberately fed her with dark poisons, not just once but for years, wanting to block every inch of mana within her. she wasn't completely successful, but it was only due to the strong defiance shown by the very blood coursing through her veins and her unwavering will not to surrender.

Slowly time trickled by, taking small parts of pain with it.

"Pardon me for intrusion, madame, may I come in.", an elderly voice cracked at the doorway.

Astrid sat up and quickly composed herself. "Yes, you may come in." she replied after a few moments.

An elderly woman entered the longue wearing a solid color light gray dress. She rested her both hands atop each other on her abdomen and gave me respectful bow. She was wearing round silver frame spectacles on her nose. Her hair was tightly bound into a neat high bun. Her slightly lowered dark gaze seemed to be scrutinizing me from behind the dense cover of her glasses.

I didn't want to look at her and didn't want her to look at me, so I turned my face to a side.

"Madame, I am Jamie. The designated head maid for making the arrangements for the onboarding guests on this floor." She introduced herself, though she sounded kind, she strictly maintained a fine line of etiquette dividing our status.

"The lord sent me here to personally deliver your delivery and make sure you are fine with it." She continued. "Please follow me to your room as It has been placed there."

"Fine…", Astrid said, she stood up and went back to her room, while Jamie followed her keeping at a distance from two steps behind her.

When Astrid entered the room the room, she was enraptured by the beautiful golden dress placed in the middle of the room.

Its corset blouse was adorned with intricately intertwined embroidered metallic mesh of pure gold threads shaped into flowering vines, which extended upwards into long fitted sleeves and high neck choker band. Only Small patches of skin could be seen on shoulder and in sleeves. The design moved downward like flowing roots on black velvet. Thus, its skirt was much simpler yet sexy in design, because its front was straight fit cut with two long slits on either side, which almost reached to the hips and was connected by series of thin chain to a much more flared long skirt at the back which had a small train."

"Madame, this dress is designed by owner of belle boutique d'oiseaux. Do you want to try this dress for the fitting. We can do the small mending right now." Jamie asked.